Power Supply

Brinson · 06-13-2007, 06:02 AM

I bought my PC at a local PC store a ways back (year and a half) for much cheaper than I could build (seriously, I was looking around) and have been very satisfied. Its a pentium 4 3ghz. But...after adding: 2 gigs of ram, a video card, a tv capture card, a firewire card, a wireless card, an extra DVD burner an 2 HDs my 320 watt power supply is no longer working for me.

I don't have much money, though, to spend. My case is also beat to **** (Oem cases break whenever I try to open them, heh). Newegg is running a free after rebates case without a power supply. So I figure I'll rebuild my PC witth the power it needs.

If I bought a second power supply, I could have 2 and it would be cheaper. I could use one to power the MB and cards and the other to power my drives. Is this a good idea? Would there be a major heat concern? Is it better off to just buy a bigger power supply...if so, how much do you think I'd need?

I've used those calculators...and they confuse me, haha. I've built most of my PCs, but I just buy the parts and put it together, don't know too much about the technical aspect of it.

Price is definitely a concern. What do you think would be best? I see newegg as a 300w and a 500w up for under $10, HOW sucky are these? They have 1 year warranties..so if they go out I could just replace them, right?

Any advice would be helpful.

Brinson · 06-13-2007, 06:04 AM

I've also been thinking of upgrading to an SCSI 15k rpm drive for my OS to increase primary usage speed. I'm not a gamer, just someone who loves his computer.

RGELLIS · 06-13-2007, 06:43 AM

Just get a large 500W+ Power Supply i.e. a OCZ GameXStream or one of the Fortron (FSP) units. You dont want to be spendinig any less than $100 on a PSU really as they are likley to blow up and take your rig with it! I wouldnt get a 15k SCSI unless you are really bothered about speed, just get a fast SATA2 drive.

turtile · 06-13-2007, 09:07 AM

What exactly do you have? (Specs) NEVER get a cheap PSU. They can take down your entire system.

b1gapl · 06-13-2007, 09:12 AM

Just get one power supply, rather than two cheap ones. Like turtile said, don't skimp on the power supply. It has the potential, to destroy your whole system, if it fails.

I'd suggest this one. It's enough to run any system, right now:
Newegg.com - Rosewill RP550V2-D-SL 550W SLI Ready-ATX 12V V2.01 Power Supply 115/230 V CSA,UL,TUV - Retail

Member Login