How Lucky Am I?

albert said:
So can i ask why the more expensive PSU is better? I thought a PSU was a PSU :rolleyes: I take it the more expensive one i would be paying for reliability?

Cheers chaps , you've made my mind up :D I've built PC's for years and have never given the power supply a second thought. Even now it's still a learning curve.
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Its cheap for a reason. The components are cheap, Voltage regulation is poor, does not actually supply the power its rated at, high failure rates, limited protection when things go wrong, the list goes on mate. The PSU is the heart of your PC never skimp on PSU's its just a bad idea the XFX range of PSUs are also very good but that antec is a Steal.
 
Cheap PSU: 'Exaggerated' power rating, cheap unreliable components, few if any safety features, generally extremely bad news. You don't really want to skimp on a device that's processing up to 600 Joules of energy every second, in this case.
 
more expensive PSU's can deliver more power where it matters: the 12V line.

90% of the computer is powered off the 12V line these days, so you will find something like this with PSU's:


PSU____________________12V load___5V load___3.3V load___combined load
cheapo EZcool 650W_____400W_______125W______125W________650W
good quality PSU_______630W_______75W_______75W_________650W

also, good quality PSU's come with a list of safety devices as long as your arm. from what i have found the only safety device your PSU has is short circuit protection

*edit*
table now aligned
 
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albert said:
So can i ask why the more expensive PSU is better? I thought a PSU was a PSU :rolleyes: I take it the more expensive one i would be paying for reliability?

Cheers chaps , you've made my mind up :D I've built PC's for years and have never given the power supply a second thought. Even now it's still a learning curve.
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Yea, these days with such high power and delicate components you need to make the PSU choice very carefully and if you are running a high-power gaming system with a power-hungry graphics card then you shouldn't push your luck with cheap power supplies that are rated at low temperature, use low quality components and generally don't perform as advertised. The risk is they may just spontaneously explode or catch fire, but even if they don't the power they send to your DC components will be anything but "clean", which isn't good for your PC parts.

Cheaper PSUs like EZcools are generally fine for the majority of PC builds, but when you install a £200+ graphics cards then you own one of the top few % of PCs and need a PSU that can keep up.

The benefits high quality PSUs bring to the table are:

- better voltage regulation
- higher efficiency
- lower noise
- protection features (to shut down the PSU in the even of problems and if the unit has an issue it will reduce the risk of the rest of your PC being killed)
- run cooler/kick out less heat
- less ripple
- higher quality components (that last longer)
- long warranties

Here is a review from Jonny Guru (my favourite PSU review site) of the 900W version of the Antec High Current Gamer PSU.
 
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Never ceases to amaze me how someone can spend £500+ on components and run them off a £25 PSU. I will always buy Corsair PSU's in the future, very impressed with the quality of them.
 
Embarrassing confession time; I was going to use the cheap PSU that came with my cheapo 20 pound case but only for it not having a PCI-e connector I didn't use it and whet on a search for a new one. That's when I first heard about not skimping on the PSU.
 
Moothead2 said:
Embarrassing confession time; I was going to use the cheap PSU that came with my cheapo 20 pound case but only for it not having a PCI-e connector I didn't use it and whet on a search for a new one. That's when I first heard about not skimping on the PSU.
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dont worry, before i came on these forums, the PSU was in the 'get a cheapo one' category. however (still before i came on these forums) when i said this to my dad he said a cheap PSU was a complete no-no

i now really know how important the PSU is
 
Why the hell were/are you using a cheap and nasty psu on a high end rig anyway? The psu is not the place to save money. A quick look through the psu threads on here would have told you that.
 
Just to say thanks for all the advice on the importance of a good PSU. A few of you recommended an Antec PSU but i couldn't get one locally and wanted one straight away so i bought this one ..... http://www.ocztechnology.com/ocz-600w-stealthxstream-power-supply-eol.html ... like i say after years of building PCs it's still a learning curve for me.

.... Also my GPU temp on my old PSU running Crysis 2 on Extreme settings was 75degrees. After running Crysis 2 for over an hour on the same settings tonight my GPU temp has dropped to 65 degrees :D

BTW- After the blue flash followed by the crackling noise I'm still in denial that everything is still working OK , definitely think I've been lucky :eek:
 
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OK lets stop moaning at the poor guy, He made a mistake and got away with it, I think its fairly clear in his mind to get a good PSU now,

Glad to hear your hardware survived you where very lucky indeed. Good luck with grabbing yourself a good psu when i got my corsair you can just feel the quality in your hands plus some of the reviews out there on the corsair units really make you feel like you done the right thing
 
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