Support NeoGAF

[Christoff Yurievich]

I am about to replace my power supply. Now, that may not seem odd but it will be the third one in my computer in less than a year (The first burnt my motherboard to a crisp and the second is currently rattling like crazy for no good reason). My first question is why would both of my power supplies die so quickly? Second, is there a good brand to buy for power supplies? Something that is reliable and won't die on me?

 

[Vlad]

Don't know why you're having so many problems... first suggestion that comes to mind, though, is to get a good surge protector if you don't have one on there already. Maybe you're getting weird power spikes that are wearing the thing out.

I had a PSU die on me a while back, and got many recommendations for Antec. Picked one up on sale and haven't had any problems so far.

 

[belgurdo]

Are PSUs safe to put in or should I have one of those Best Buy guys do it?

 

[Straightballin]

Are PSUs safe to put in or should I have one of those Best Buy guys do it?

Its really easy to put in but if your really scared ur going to f it up and I dont see how you could then yea just get them to do it.

 

[Excelion]

It's always a smart decision to buy a good PSU.

- what's your config (CPU, GPU, how many harddrives...)
- how many watts did your PSU deliver ?
- if you've a recent motherboard, what's the temperature in your case ? (check it with speedfan

good brand:
- Tagan: i have one in my Antec Sonata, it's really quiet. It doesn't cool the PC case that much, so if you don't have a rear fan don't buy one.
- Fortron, best quality imo
- Antec Truepower line (smartpower = shitty PSU)
- Enermax

 

[Hitokage]

- Fortron, best quality imo

Only one 15 amp 12V rail and 65% efficiency at full load? Best quality?


Antec is good if you don't care about noise.

 

[rc213]

Antec, Enermax, Vantec, Thermaltake, OCZ, Sparkle should all do the job. Also the suggestion of a surge protector sounds good, could be nasty power spikes killing those suckers off.

 

[Vlad]

Are PSUs safe to put in or should I have one of those Best Buy guys do it?

They're super-easy to put in. It's not like you're going to be doing electrical wiring or anything like that. Basically, you just take out the old one (held in with four screws to the back of the case), unplug all the plugs that the old one was plugged into, then reverse the process for the new PSU.

 

[Hitokage]

They're super-easy to put in. It's not like you're going to be doing electrical wiring or anything like that. Basically, you just take out the old one (held in with four screws to the back of the case), unplug all the plugs that the old one was plugged into, then reverse the process for the new PSU.

Just make sure that everything is properly turned off then cut power from the wall before doing anything.

 

[Parallax Scroll]

Don't forget to ground yourself.

 

[Excelion]

Only one 15 amp 12V rail and 65% efficiency at full load? Best quality?

yeah sure, if they deliver their 3 years old models to america that is. btw, Fortron rates their PSUs while operating at 35-40°C , most of the other companies rate at 20°. Specs means nothing when talking about Fortron.

 

[Diablos]

Antec is good if you don't care about noise.

My 400W Antec TruePower is the quietest thing in the case.

Anyway, Antec or bust. That's my rule. I wouldn't trust anything else.

 

[Nerevar]

I really love my new Antec. The power cables aren't hard wired to the power supply, so you can only hook up the number of outputs you need to wire the whole case. This really reduces clutter inside the case. Highly recommended.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

hey, thanks for the advice. I"ll be looking tomorrow at Fry's.