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General discussion

power supply

Oct 2, 2004 2:42AM PDT

I'm rebuilding, or possibly building, a computer. I need info on power supply. How much is good and why.

Discussion is locked

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Re: power supply
Oct 3, 2004 1:41AM PDT
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(NT) (NT) Will a bad PSU fry my motherboard?
Jul 11, 2005 3:50AM PDT
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A story.
Jul 11, 2005 4:01AM PDT

You had to be there. The shop was fitting a second hard disk to a machine and the PSU decided to fail while it was on the bench. A funny whine and then smoke began to curl out from the case.

The aftermath was that every part of the PC was fried and the owner didn't have a backup. Good thing the shop has a standard disclaimer about hard disk data.

I took the PSU to another bench and put a load on it. It was tossing some 40+ Volts out on the +5V line with a big 20V ripple on it. I dissected the PSU and found the manufacture had removed the overvoltage protection circuitry by leaving out some components. I'm sure it was a cost cutting move.

Hope you like this story.

Bob

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Good, Bad and Ugly of Power Supplies
Jul 9, 2005 2:15AM PDT

Until recently, I thought Antec was a great brand. Many people seem to feel the same, but I'm here to tell you I've had not one but two of them fail. Some people just couldn't believe it (since these seem to get good reviews on PC hardware sites), so I wrote this little web page to prove it.

http://www.pjrc.com/about/rambling/antec.html

So I'd suggest you stear clear of Antec!

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thats just you
Jul 9, 2005 2:25AM PDT

just because you had 2 bad ones doesnt mean that the whole company is bad. RMA it to antec, get another one.
my antec true 480 is running fine, and it is the first antec product i've ever used.

konny

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I know this story.
Jul 9, 2005 4:38AM PDT

What few realize (Antec as well) is that when the manufacturing begins, the subcontractor will look to shave some pennies off the costs. It can be cheap capacitors (research and find that horror story) or moving to small wire gauges.

This story is not just Antec, but the industry. I only look at the 90 day and 1 year warranty as proof the industry has no faith in their products.

Bob

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More Antec Problems
Jul 10, 2005 7:21AM PDT

I wanted to add my 2 cents also....

I have an Antec "TruePower" 480. I have owned not one but 2 of them. I have also had similar problems with voltage degredation over time. The first power supply had problems with the 55V degrading by up to 30%. Antec sent me a new power supply and the unit worked well for about 2 months and now the +3.3V rail barely gets to 3 V.

Antec of course cannot figure out the problem. I have a ASUS P4C 800 Deluxe mother board and they say that they have no problems functioning in an ASUS environment.

I am currently looking to replace my Antec with a fully functional power supply and I would NOT recommend Antec to ANYONE.

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thank god i got a good one
Jul 10, 2005 7:27AM PDT

i have the same power supply you had. antec true 480. replaced the 300w power supply that came with my gateway. i swear, works like a charm. i am glad i didnt get a faulty/bad power supply. try ocz, they make good ones.

konny

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Re: How much Power Supply
Jul 9, 2005 4:34AM PDT

Not knowing what all you will have in your PC, I would say get a minimum of 400W.
Why? Well, now-a-days putting so much in like a large Hard Drive & more than one, powerful CPU, powerful CDRW's or DVD's with double layer stuff, and especially the high end PCIe or AGP video cards, some requiring an extra additional cord plug in to the power supply.

Depending on your $ budget, it is best not to get a really cheap power supply, as they usually will not maintain the proper power to run everything even one with 550W, (costing $20).

Course' I just recently bought & installed this 420W inexpensive one as a replacement since I soon will be adding a DVD and 6600GT AGP card to one of my computers. Well, what sold me over on getting this one is the 305 review testimonals. Easy installation, so far works well, and for the price, I'll take a chance on it handling anything I can throw at it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153006

Check out others there:
http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/Category.asp?Category=32

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(NT) (NT) Opps...just noticed date..kch must allready have
Jul 9, 2005 4:46AM PDT
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Wow thats old...
Jul 9, 2005 5:44AM PDT

Hey you never know! Remember that Steve guy with the desktop. I forget his name....

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(NT) (NT) LOL......
Jul 9, 2005 7:26AM PDT