What are good Power Supply Units?

[Swordfish]

Hey I figured out my graphics problems may be from a lacking power supply unit. ATI cards reccomend a psu of 300w or higher. I called Dell and it turns out my psu is 250w. So this may be the problem.

So what are some good psus out there? I did a little research and I think the 550w is the max that psus go. I think I want a 450-550w PSU for max preformance and upgradability. What are some good brands/models/quieter fan speed psus?

also what do you need to install them?

http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16233

 

[T2k]

Zalman Noiseless 400W - check my sig + 2x 15000 RPM 73GB SCSI drives, 1x 300GB Maxtor 7200 RPM 16MB cache, DVRex-RT takes up 2 PCI slots and has an external breakout box, two optical drives, external Firewire 800 with no external power etc... EVERYTHING running from this. 8)

 

[epicstruggle]

what are you looking at spending? is noise a big factor for you? There is a good list of good psu's over at H, ill get a link for you in a few minutes. Should answer most of your questions.

epic

 

[vb]

I called Dell and it turns out my psu is 250w. So this may be the problem.

AFAIK, Dell PC's don't use standard ATX PSU. they have the same plug but it is wired different. It is not a big deal to modify a standard PSU to work (or so i've read), but if you plug it as it is you may fry your MB.

 

[Mariner]

Very good reviews of quiet PSUs can be found at:

www.silentpcreview.com

The ones designed to be 'silent/quiet' tend to be of very good quality with high efficiency. Of course, they also tend to be rather more expensive than your standard PSU!

 

[Luminescent]

The PC Power and Cooling Turbo Cool series is among the best.

 

[cloudscapes]

Antec make good PSUs. Couldn't name a specific model though.

 

[Swordfish]

I called Dell and it turns out my psu is 250w. So this may be the problem.

AFAIK, Dell PC's don't use standard ATX PSU. they have the same plug but it is wired different. It is not a big deal to modify a standard PSU to work (or so i've read), but if you plug it as it is you may fry your MB.

they said I could go buy a PSU from anywhere and install it and it would work...

 

[Sxotty]

That was in the past that they wired em differently that way people couldn't upgade their pc's and had to buy from dell. I guess they have quit by now eh.

 

[fiezukem]

I'd look into a company called Tagan. The reviews I've read show everything you could hope for. Good price, stable rails, long cables, and active PCF.

 

[thegrommit]

Call Dell up and confirm whether you have a regular ATX PSU. If so, I second the recommendation to check out silentpcreview, or this comparison.

In case it isn't obvious - the top line wattage number isn't what's important.

 

[Nite_Hawk]

If you are looking for a cheap option, I'm very happy with my coolmax 500w from newegg. The only problem it had was that the fan grill was slightly bent inward and was hitting the fan making a lot of noise, but I just flexed the grill back out a little bit and everything is fine. The voltages on the PS are very good, especially the 12V rail. I think it puts out like 28amps on 12v too, so it should be pretty future proof. It's got a good heft to it, better than I was expecting from a ~$50 unit.

Nite_Hawk

 

[Guden Oden]

Hey I figured out my graphics problems may be from a lacking power supply unit. ATI cards reccomend a psu of 300w or higher. I called Dell and it turns out my psu is 250w. So this may be the problem.

Dell's 250W PSUs are very good though. I run a highly loaded system on a 250W Dell unit, no probs. What's your full system specs?