Power Supplies....

Ok ive got 2 PSUs and i want to know which would be better for my new AMD A64 3000+ and ATi X800GT 256MB....

COMPUSA Brand PSU 400Watt
AC INPUT l +3.3V l +5V l +12V l -5V l -12V l +5Vsb l Total l
DC Out l 14A l 30A l 16A l 0.3A l 0.5A l 2.0A l 400W

OR

Turbolink (came with ASPIRE case) 420Watt PSU
Picture below is of Turbolink PSU

 

when it comes down to it, the only thing that matters in power supply's is the power!! go with the Turbolink, thats my opinion, it will just work out better!!

 

When it comes down to it, they are both generic / no brand name. They have a high chance to fail, implode, or not send sufficient wattage from the rails, also they have a good chance to power flux and cause harm to your components.

 

i know i know, but he only has those two!! why not pick the one with the higher power, but honestly a better power supply is recomended!! those will cause u chaos!

 

Turbolink

 

Yah people have been telling me that.... but they are good to me! I havent had one powersupply related problem since i've gotten them... I am going to hold on to them for as long as possible (seeing as ive just spend all my cash on my new rig.....)

 

if u havnt had problems then by all means keep them!!

 

Sorry -- I'd have to disagree. Rated output power is only part of the story.

A cheap/poorly designed power supply may be able to provide the claimed current on the +5v and +12v rails, but there are always questions like:

• how stable are the output voltages when input voltages fluctuate?
• how much ripple is there in the DC voltages it provides?
• how well does it reject/filter out disturbances in the mains supply?
• does it provide adequate cooling for itself and the computer it's installed in?
• can it supply the rated current on all rails simultaneously?
• how quiet is it?

Unfortunately, there isn't any easy way to determine the quality of a power supply, other than the reputation of the maker. One thing you can do, though: for each voltage output, multiply it by the max current provided at that voltage to get the power available on that rail. Sum the power outputs. If that number exceeds the rated power for the unit as a whole, you're dealing with a PSU that is not capable of providing rated maximum power on all rails simultaneously. However, that's not a common situation, so it may not be important -- beyond what it says about the quality of the unit and the way the manufacturer has rated it.

But if a PSU works satisfactorily, who's to argue with that?

 

Rob M.'s explanation is why i asked... I knew about the general wattage... but im not the one to ask about the rails...

 

Is Coolmax considered a generic brand (that's the brand of my new PSU, 450W)?

I got it for its price and nice newegg reviews.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817159031

 

thats a good brand, and it should be fine!!

 

Coolmax = Poor PSU, no better than any other generic psu, ya get what ya pay for & sometimes less.
Reviews on Coolmaxes are poor

 

Im using my 420Watt PSU with my new setup and it works good....

Ive only got a 20 pin connector... and a 4 pin connector, so when i save up more ill get a new 24 pin connector....

My PSU not having 24 pin connector could lower performance right?