psu upgrade help help aSAP!!!

4

405volume

New Member
405volume said:
my computer supports agp 8x or w.e
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What is "w.e"?



While the PSU you linked to is rather inexpensive, you are better off with a more reliable source. Do not skimp on power supplies! Despite what many people will say, the power supply is the most important part of your computer. Period.

Here are a few alternatives:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103941


Yes, they may cost more, but it will save you in the long run.
 
w.e= what ever.

i only have 55$ to spend right now on a power supply...

and like 70$ on 2gb ram for the video card. so do i need a new psu for sapphire hd card? can i use that one i linked?
 
Well it is rather late here in england so i am not going to write a big thing about power suplies. If somebody hasn't by tomorrow then i will for you when i am a little more perky and not as tired.

Basically that PSU will power the system, however it is extremely inneficient compared to other, better models of power supplies and also it has no future in upgrades because it is baseline for the system and if you try to dual card or upgrade your HDD storage or put a new CD/DVD drive in it will, litteraly, blow up, taking itself completely out of working order and, if the safety devices in it don't work correctly, the motherboard too, which then leads to the possibility of the procecssor, video card and ram going, so new system time. That is worse case scenario though.

I would say scrap the card and get a cheaper one and a better PSU because the card may be flashy and awesome but you try playing anything through it, be it games or videos, in HD and it will lag like hell because of your lack of RAM and processing power. The secret to building a system is to get everything balanced. Having a core2duo quad extreme processor with 512mb RAM and a 6400 video card will clearly be a ridiculous build because you will not be able to use all of the processing power. The same can be said about that card and your system. The card will make up 50% of your systems value straight away because it is up to date, your system is not.

I would use your system for storage and nothing else. Obviously if:

a. The system handles all of your needs (word processing, e-mails, viewing (not editing) pictures etc)

or

b. You cannot afford better

then it is a great main functional system, however spending over $100 on a video card which won't give you better performance than the one you have now because it won't be able to utilize the power it has because the rest of your system will hold it back.

Now i am not having a go, i think you are brilliant for upgrading and maintaining yourself rather than getting a prebuilt system kept up to date by dell's may-as-well-be-non-existant support, but i think you must look at the rig and say "the processor and RAM can be upgraded for much cheaper than that card.

I see in the original post that you have thought of all of this so i am guessing you know the basis of what i am saying, however upgrading the video card and RAM won't show major increase in performance. Upgrading RAM, deffinately it will, upgradeing the video card to one that out of the systems range, no, you are better off getting a processor.

As i say what do you use the system for at the moment and what do you plan on using it for?

Also what is your price range?

And finally tomorrow when i have time and am not tired i will look for some processors and power supplies for you that are suited to your system alot better and will give better perofrmance to give you an idea, but obviously if you are hell-bent of getting a new graphics card despite my advice then it is your build and i will still give you a hand in finding a PSU and either a cheaper equivelent card or a more suited card to your system
 
Why does we need to go w/ corsair?, its only a p4 system...
I would go for something like this.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182009
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171028

These power supplies would be MORE than enough to suite you system...

My build came with this crappy power supply that only came w/ the case and it has worked good, 14amps on 12v and 420watt, it is probably one of the least effecient power supplies out there, but it powers everything fine.
 
mx344 said:
Why does we need to go w/ corsair?, its only a p4 system...
I would go for something like this.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182009
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171028

These power supplies would be MORE than enough to suite you system...

My build came with this crappy power supply that only came w/ the case and it has worked good, 14amps on 12v and 420watt, it is probably one of the least efficient power supplies out there, but it powers everything fine.
Click to expand...

More than enough perhaps, but the recommendation for the Corsair power supply was for a quality power supply with ample headroom where it counts. Just compare the 12v rails between the Corsair PSUs recommended and the two you suggested. I would trust the Corsairs over Rosewill or Cooler Master. There is more to a power supply than just the wattage.

The prior Pentium series of chips used significantly more power than the Core series. Have a look at this article for some further information. Also, it becomes necessary to upgrade the PSU in this case since 405volume is also looking to upgrade his GPU. Depending on what he goes with it coudl require more power than his current PSU can handle effectively.
 
Zatharus said:
More than enough perhaps, but the recommendation for the Corsair power supply was for a quality power supply with ample headroom where it counts. Just compare the 12v rails between the Corsair PSUs recommended and the two you suggested. I would trust the Corsairs over Rosewill or Cooler Master. There is more to a power supply than just the wattage.

The prior Pentium series of chips used significantly more power than the Core series. Have a look at this article for some further information. Also, it becomes necessary to upgrade the PSU in this case since 405volume is also looking to upgrade his GPU. Depending on what he goes with it coudl require more power than his current PSU can handle effectively.
Click to expand...

You make a good point, but i still have to disagree with buying an 70+ dollar power supply, when all he wants is to be able to add the 3850 in there...Also you know, he could upgrade just abouevery part in this computer and still be fine, i don't understand what you mean by that.?BTW: he has a 300watt psu, w/ probably 18amps on the 12v rail. right now,(if that) and the ones i am suggesting have 500+ watts with dual 12v rails with 18 amps, and the onther one is a single 26amp rail. That is so much more than he needs.

Look:

ATI 3850 55W
PCI Card 10W
DVD Drive 30W
Hard Drive 30W
Case/CPU Fans 3W x2
Motherboard 80W
RAM 30W for 2 gigs
Pentium 4 Processor 125W
These are conservative numbers and look at the total wattage.
=336watts, and these are conservative numbers, and you dont think dual 18amp rails wont supply enough power?I know wattage isn't everything...

That is why i would recommend mine over his, even though, corsair is a better brand, for you you need it will be More than enough for many future upgrades.

Yes you could go with the one you linked us.

EDIT: You could also go with what StrangleHold suggested, i myself have had no problems with rosewill.
 
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Thank you for your candor mx344. You make an equally compelling argument.

I do agree that the dual 18v rails may be adequate if properly balanced. The reasoning behind my suggestions were twofold:

1) Purchase a power supply as close to budget that will have ample expansion/overhead and live long enough to be used again. Thus, it is a more worthwhile investment. Why buy two power supplies in two years when you can purchase one?

2) The 80Plus units suggested are also much more efficient and should wear better in use. They also handle uneven loads better (depending on the make/model granted).

I also strongly caution against getting "just enough" in a power supply. As the power supply ages, it is not able to supply the same amount of current. And, the more it is run close to capacity, the quicker it will age.

A power supply is typically in its peak efficiency between 70-80 percent load. The closer you push it to the maximum rated output, the more problems you can have (i.e. sudden voltage dips/spikes, noisy power, etc...). This is true for any power system.

I have nothing against being thrifty and purchasing something inexpensive to get you buy in the short run if that is all you can do. There are times when sacrifices must be made. The power supplies you recommended should work just fine. I do want to make sure that the original inquirer and further readers are well enough informed.
 
Both points are very well justified, and I agree that both points of view are valid. Where I would pose a question to the original poster is how long he would like to keep this PSU and if he would want to transfer it into another computer at a future date.

If you are looking to put a PSU into the current computer to have as a permanent solution to that specific computer, you would be fine with a 500W to 600W PSU. However, if you would like to transfer this PSU to future builds and want to keep the PSU for quite a few years, it would be better to invest an extra $30 to $50 right now and save you double that amount when you are ready to build a new system and need a new PSU which is going to cost you another $60 to $100 beyond what you've spent because it doesn't have enough power for the new components.

I myself bought a 750W power supply, which is waaaay more than I need right now, but for $105 I am able to have the same PSU for potentially up to 5 years, rather than buying two $75 PSUs during that same period of time because I only bought enough to cover what I needed at that time.

So, to sum up: both points of view are valid, it is now up to the original poster to decide which route he would like to go.
 
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ok i have 70$ to spend on a psu. now i want it reliable..and not to blow up cause this is all the money/computer i can afford. So can anyone link me to one? that will fit...and work/ last long? cause i play everyday all the time...24/7 a day...:)
 
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