power supply question. what should i do?

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ncderek

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#1 ncderek
Member since 2004 • 5513 Posts
so i heard my power supply isnt that good, it came with my case, i forget what kidn it is, but its 450 watts, and runs my specs below. is that something to worry about. havinga bad psu. i mean i didnt know a psu could even be bad, i dont see how they break, but people said it was crappy, which is odd to me. is it something to worry about? or should i just use it till theres a problem? what kind of problems arise if it was a bad psu. i havnt had any problems yet? and i dont want to spend mroe money unless i have to.
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Generalkill8888

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#2 Generalkill8888
Member since 2004 • 5305 Posts
so i heard my power supply isnt that good, it came with my case, i forget what kidn it is, but its 450 watts, and runs my specs below. is that something to worry about. havinga bad psu. i mean i didnt know a psu could even be bad, i dont see how they break, but people said it was crappy, which is odd to me. is it something to worry about? or should i just use it till theres a problem? what kind of problems arise if it was a bad psu. i havnt had any problems yet? and i dont want to spend mroe money unless i have to.ncderek
Well what kind of PSU do you have? I would look into either Corsair, or Thermaltake for PSUs, even OCZ is great.
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-GeordiLaForge-

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#3 -GeordiLaForge-
Member since 2006 • 7167 Posts
Crack open your case and look at the spec sheet on your power supply. See how many 12v rails you have, and how many amps each one can push.
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ncderek

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#4 ncderek
Member since 2004 • 5513 Posts
well this is what it came with...
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1289171&Sku=A406-1028

this is a pic of my psu
http://img483.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hpim2599de5.jpg

not sure what that tells me about how good it is
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mrbojangles25

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#5 mrbojangles25
Member since 2005 • 58305 Posts
If it hasnt blown your PC up by now, it wont in the future.  It might crap out on you and you will have fluctuations (i.e. video card will underperform) on your rig, but no serious damage will occur.  My suggestion is to just be patient.  When it starts acting finicky (if it does at all), just buy a new one.
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StonedCaO

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#6 StonedCaO
Member since 2006 • 25 Posts
With power supplies, it all depends on the rest of the hardware inside your PC. If you're not running anything stressful (ie. mid-range video card, mid range memory modules, modest to good performance CPU), your 450 watt should be good enough. But if you're looking at a new power supply, don't look at the wattage rating that it gives you on the box. Look at the total current (measured in amps or A) that the +12V rails can push on it. Usually it's given on a sticker on the side of the PSU on a graph. A good PSU comes with at least 2 +12V rails (higher end ones have 4) that push around 20A per rail.
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LordEC911

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#7 LordEC911
Member since 2004 • 9972 Posts
[QUOTE="StonedCaO"]With power supplies, it all depends on the rest of the hardware inside your PC. If you're not running anything stressful (ie. mid-range video card, mid range memory modules, modest to good performance CPU), your 450 watt should be good enough. But if you're looking at a new power supply, don't look at the wattage rating that it gives you on the box. Look at the total current (measured in amps or A) that the +12V rails can push on it. Usually it's given on a sticker on the side of the PSU on a graph. A good PSU comes with at least 2 +12V rails (higher end ones have 4) that push around 20A per rail.



Don't be mislead into the "more +12v rails is better" myth.
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matthewjackman

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#8 matthewjackman
Member since 2006 • 407 Posts
When you are building a new system or upgrading you will want to pay quite a bit of attention to the PSU as it is a very important component. However if your PC is running fine and you don't plan on upgrading to power hungry graphics cards and the like just stick with the one you have. On the vast majority of rigs the PSU can be forgotten about it is only when running high end stuff that it becomes important. So post up your spec's so we can have a look.
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X360PS3AMD05

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#9 X360PS3AMD05
Member since 2005 • 36320 Posts
You're looking for thishttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817139001
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SilentSwirl

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#10 SilentSwirl
Member since 2006 • 69 Posts

I have a P4 HT 3.2 Ghz, 1 GB RAM, 150GB HDD and a 7600Gt running on a 300W PSU (13A on 12V) and so far i've had no problems at all.

And I know the PSU I have is garbage because so far I haven't seen the brand metioned on here... This is it >>>  http://www.fsp-group.com.tw/english/1_product/2_detail.asp?mainid=1&fid=53&proid=82

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bluealien2

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#11 bluealien2
Member since 2006 • 930 Posts
I'm going to highly recommend that you buy a quality PSU. Bad PSU's can go out - and take your whole PC with them.
I have a funny story to tell about Case PSU's - This one was from TigerDirect also...

This happened just last weekend...

So my friend came over with his pc, because we were gonna play BF2142 and stuff like that. He hooks up his computer, and turns on the power for it, we smell burning, and I tell him it smells just like a burnt out resistor, LED, or capacitor. We cannot find the source, although I suggest that it is the PSU.

So, the computer runs fine, we go to sleep, wake up, and we play BF2142 for an hour or so, and all of the sudden, his computer goes out. So we think "Hey, maybe the Power Cord just came loose." and just wriggle it a little, and turn it on, it stays on for about 30 seconds, and shuts off, we attempt to turn it back on, it won't. I suggest that his PSU is fried, and I take the computer upstairs to swap his 450W PSU (like 12A on 12V rail lol) and we swap it out for an extra case PSU that came with the PC I'm using now (I know not to trust those things), and it boots up fine, just goes to show how high quality those case PSU's AREN'T lol.

Oh, and for the people that are wondering what was wrong with the PSU, I opened it up, and sure enough one of the Disc Capacitors was all melted-like and covered with black soot.
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X360PS3AMD05

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#12 X360PS3AMD05
Member since 2005 • 36320 Posts

I have a P4 HT 3.2 Ghz, 1 GB RAM, 150GB HDD and a 7600Gt running on a 300W PSU (13A on 12V) and so far i've had no problems at all.

And I know the PSU I have is garbage because so far I haven't seen the brand metioned on here... This is it >>>http://www.fsp-group.com.tw/english/1_product/2_detail.asp?mainid=1&fid=53&proid=82

SilentSwirl
Actually FSP is one of the best brands money can buy............
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ncderek

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#13 ncderek
Member since 2004 • 5513 Posts
hmmmm....well i would never want it to take out my whole pc, but i dont want to spend money unless i have to

its 4 weeks old and nothing has happened yet

and the specs are in my sig for whoever asked ,i thought a 450watt would be plenty for a 1900gt, 2 gigs of ram, and e6300
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SilentSwirl

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#14 SilentSwirl
Member since 2006 • 69 Posts
[QUOTE="SilentSwirl"]

I have a P4 HT 3.2 Ghz, 1 GB RAM, 150GB HDD and a 7600Gt running on a 300W PSU (13A on 12V) and so far i've had no problems at all.

And I know the PSU I have is garbage because so far I haven't seen the brand metioned on here... This is it >>>http://www.fsp-group.com.tw/english/1_product/2_detail.asp?mainid=1&fid=53&proid=82

X360PS3AMD05

Actually FSP is one of the best brands money can buy............

Really!? I just thought that mine would have been garbage because most companies that make PC's tend use cheap parts... I guess Fujitsu Siemens are different :D