new power supply? Or new case?

[islandguy999]

I am going to upgrade my celeron to a 2.5 barton. The generic case I am using has a generic 350watt P4 power supply in it. I am thinking that should definatley be upgraded. The case is so plain and boring after seeing some of the nicer cases available, but maybe i should just spend the money on a good brand name power supply (keeping this case to put it in) like an antec truepower 430watt? Or is it fine to just get a nicer fancier generic case with a bigger generic power supply? Suggestions? I am thinking of using Vibe (canadian) http://www.vibecomputers.com/

[John Prophet]

If you are going to bother upgrading at all..go for more of a power jump than just 80 watts. Go for a 500 watter so you have plenty of headroom....then again, you see all of those nice super compact small form factor machines now??? They have like 200Watt supplies running big P4's and stuff, lol.

A nicer fancier case with a 400w generic (or whatever) will be ok 95% of the time unless you do some overclocking and then it gets a little more critical.

JP

[VHockey86]

Well you can get a nice looking antec case with a 400+W antec psu for less than for instance an antec truepower 430W by itself. I dont think theres really any need for more than 400W, and antec PSUs can normally take a pretty good load (more generic ones tend not to live up to their spec'd power).

Omardeth I know is big on the "Achieve 500W" psu thats dirt cheap.. so he might recommend tthat too you. Definately a good possibility for a low cost option.
Link here... http://store.yahoo.com/akidacomputer/acpowsup50du.html

Personally I run an Antec TruPower 430W, but it was probably overkill for my XP 2000+... my generic 350W PSU died so I decided to get something that I hope will last awhile

[unknown9]

i just got a mecca case (wont look too bad after i mod it and such), and a 500W power supply from amamax for 25 bucks plus free shipping. might wanna look around there

[burningrave101]

I ordered an Antec 1080AMG case that came with a 430 true power psu, and IMO any 400 watt name brand psu would be a whole lot better than any 500+ generic psu you could find. Those generic brand psu's run a high risk of crapping out on you within a few months of usage. But seriously who would ever even come close to needing a 500 watt psu. I have a farely high end hp machine in my collection with a p4 and a gig of ram and a Nvidia ti 4600 in it and 2 cd burners, and as we all know HP uses those propriety 200 watt psu's but i've never had an issue with with the psu not giving enough power to the system.

[islandguy999]

Thanks for the info. In reply to the generic ones crapping out, im surprised that my totally generic PS at 350watts hasnt crapped out yet. But then its not running much really i guess. Ya I will have to think on it i guess. Maybe this case aint that bad, if it means putting spending the money on a really reliable PS.

[islandguy999]

And about those little cases...the ones with the 200watt supplies. Are those good? I think theyre more expensive and would be hard to fit some components into i bet.

[Willy Red]

I have a 185 watt power supply. I'm VERY limited when it comes to upgrades. Right about now is the time that you're supposed to feel sorry for me........

[burningrave101]

The case i have with the 200 watt psu in it is an HP custom build and its a midtower and is extremely heavy. Your pretty limited on upgrades in OEM machines cause they put propriety psu's in them and HP doesn't put anything over 200 watts in their systems i've seen.

[John Prophet]

Willy Red..do some searches on google for mini atx power supplies...I have seen some 245 watters in mini atx.
(Im assuming you have mini ATX)
JP