power supply uestion

[WingWizard]

Hey all,

How important is the quality of the power supply? I'm putting together a new system, and I was just wondering if it was to go with an OEM psu (400 watt + ) or to shell out the extra bucks and get a raidmax or antec or something.

Thanks!

[cracked]

from my experience, a generic will do the job, but a high end will be more dependable. i used a generic 300w with 11 fans and a neon light for almost two years with no problems.

drew

[DPA]

just do the right thing and shell out the extra cash, its too easy to get a screwy Power Supply these days. Raidmax seems to do my friend a lot of good, and personal experience with enermax and antec are also very good.

*edit* personal experience has also shown me that a $22 generic PSU can run a lot of stuff dependably, but more often than not they are louder than crap.

cracked... thats as much stuff as i ran on mine, just 5 less fans and 2 more drives

[JPMiller]

As the others said...it can be a toss up on how well a "Generic" PSU will work. I myself have had good luck with several of these randomly named power supplies...but when it matters I always recomend a well known name like antec, enermax and the like.

[ragtop]

After having some bad experiences, I now spend the extra money for good PSU's (for my main systems). On the other hand, I still use leftover cheapo PSU's on my cheapo systems (for DC crunching).

If you already have a generic PSU, its probably OK to use it - but if you're buying a new PSU for a new high end system - do yourself a favor and spend the extra $10 or $20 to get something decent.

The quality units are generally quieter, last longer, and provide cleaner power (which is important if you want a nice, stable system).

[squeech]

I agree with others that OEM units tend to have a high count of screwy power supplies in them. I'll also attest to the fact that a higher quality PSU is much quieter and more efficient.

I replace countless power supplies in a week because the OEMs just burn after a few months. However, all my systems have generic PSUs in them and they truck along great. The system that I did some OC on for awhile (and it has some increased power settings) is a bit noisier and the PSU can really heat up at times, but it's never died.

If you find a good deal with negligible price difference, spend the extra bucks for a dual fan or something

[Omardeth]

it is hit or miss with the genics out there but there are some good "lesser" named ones that are a bargian . alot of people say antec enermax only . but the one antec i did get , spent bucks for it , died in 6 months . so you can get a bad one even when you get a name . but don't be afraid of going with a cheaper supply . do some research . a good thing to do is go to newegg and look at the power supplies . every thing they sell has a link with reviews . read the reviews you will be supprised how some of the lower priced power supplies are . some of them people have a ton of stuff in there ps's and they are running 35$ ps's .

don't listen to ANYBODY that says this ps is great get it . do your own research ...

right now i got a 23$ 400w dual ps in a system and it is running great . now how long it will last who knows but for what the "high end " ps's cost i can get 3 of the cheap one's

[RamonGTP]

Best thing to do is this... If the case comes with a PSU, go ahead and use it. If it does the job well, then you're set. If you get a case without a PSU, or if the one that comes with it doesnt' do the job, then go ahead and shell out the extra cash for a quality Antec, Enermax, etc etc.

[DanU]

I've had some pretty bad experiences with generic power supplies. When they go, they usually take other parts with them. After losing several motherboards and hard drives to bad PS's, I decided to stick with quality power supplies from then on. IMO it's cheap insurance.