okay, now most people don't understand the importance of a good power supply unit. I myself just built a new system and need a new PSU. I spent a lot on my other parts and created a true monster. Given that, I originally bought some junk 400w power supply knowing that my old 300w sparkle wasn't going to cut it anymore. After much research I know why my new 400w was a complete failure, it was even worse then my old 300w sparkle. Despite what many have said and stated there really is only a couple things to look for in a pwoer supply and total max peak wattage is NOT IT. Just because something claims to be 600 watts only means that maybe it might hit 600w in a blue moon and immediately fry everything in a 10 ft radius but it's actuall operating wattage is a crappy 100 watts.
What to look for in a PSU... total +3.3v and +5v COMBINED wattage. In the above example my old 300w sparkle had a rating of 180. More then enough for anything less then the new p4's and xp chips and systems but finally falters at the new system requirements. My new 400w (brand name I won't mention) was a measly 160w. The reason this is important is because the motherboard, cpu, agp/pci, and usb devices all run off this part of the power supply. Your HDD's, optical drives, and a few case fans/lights run off the 12v lines which make up the rest of the wattage. These devices don't draw nearly as much wattage usually as compared with everything running off the 3.3v/5v lines. The new XP's and P4 systems really require a minimum of 220 watts total for the +3.3v/+5v lines combined wattage. Many of the newer 450+w PSU's provide just that 220w minimun but cost an arm and a leg. There are however a couple PSU's that won't and I consider VERY hot deals for the quality you get out of them
350W fortron/sparkle fsp350 model for $48 shipped from newegg right now
this has a total wattage of 220w for those rails with a less then 1% variance on any of the given lines. This means that no matter how hard you push the power out of this supply the power coming from it will never dip below it's specified amount and crash your PC. Also, power supply has been shown to actually have a MAX wattage of 454 from testing all the lines combined +/- 3.3/5/12.
The other one I can recommend and it's actually even a bit cheaper but I put it second compared with the above is the
450W true power Allied ATX450BE model for $46 shipped from newegg right now
While allied power supplies in the past have been absolute crap this new product is their very first attempt at trying to turn themselves around and it's looks to finally be a winner. It's total combined wattage for the +3.3V/+5v lines is 230 watts! The variance while under max load is less then 3% (still better then the defacto standard of 5% that other more expensive "good" PSU manufacters adhere by) and has a max output wattage measured over 500W for all the lines combined +/- 3.3/5/12.
So if you are looking to finally fix those blue screens of deaths or checksum errors in your current system, or are looking to upgrade what you have but are worried if your power will handle the supply, or are building a new system from scratch then look no further then these 2 PSU's. Cause you won't find anything better for the price PERIOD. As for those fancy colors, or double fans, or other gimical crap, well those companies can keep them until they come out with a product that beats either one of these for these prices.
Sorry about the long informative post on an actual hot deal but most people are sooooo completely unaware of how to tell a difference between a good psu and a crap one that finding a antec true power 430 for $60 might sound like a hot deal until they realize what they are buying is overprices junk.
For more information for the curious here are some really good discussions about power supplies.
Link 1
Link 2
What to look for in a PSU... total +3.3v and +5v COMBINED wattage. In the above example my old 300w sparkle had a rating of 180. More then enough for anything less then the new p4's and xp chips and systems but finally falters at the new system requirements. My new 400w (brand name I won't mention) was a measly 160w. The reason this is important is because the motherboard, cpu, agp/pci, and usb devices all run off this part of the power supply. Your HDD's, optical drives, and a few case fans/lights run off the 12v lines which make up the rest of the wattage. These devices don't draw nearly as much wattage usually as compared with everything running off the 3.3v/5v lines. The new XP's and P4 systems really require a minimum of 220 watts total for the +3.3v/+5v lines combined wattage. Many of the newer 450+w PSU's provide just that 220w minimun but cost an arm and a leg. There are however a couple PSU's that won't and I consider VERY hot deals for the quality you get out of them
350W fortron/sparkle fsp350 model for $48 shipped from newegg right now
this has a total wattage of 220w for those rails with a less then 1% variance on any of the given lines. This means that no matter how hard you push the power out of this supply the power coming from it will never dip below it's specified amount and crash your PC. Also, power supply has been shown to actually have a MAX wattage of 454 from testing all the lines combined +/- 3.3/5/12.
The other one I can recommend and it's actually even a bit cheaper but I put it second compared with the above is the
450W true power Allied ATX450BE model for $46 shipped from newegg right now
While allied power supplies in the past have been absolute crap this new product is their very first attempt at trying to turn themselves around and it's looks to finally be a winner. It's total combined wattage for the +3.3V/+5v lines is 230 watts! The variance while under max load is less then 3% (still better then the defacto standard of 5% that other more expensive "good" PSU manufacters adhere by) and has a max output wattage measured over 500W for all the lines combined +/- 3.3/5/12.
So if you are looking to finally fix those blue screens of deaths or checksum errors in your current system, or are looking to upgrade what you have but are worried if your power will handle the supply, or are building a new system from scratch then look no further then these 2 PSU's. Cause you won't find anything better for the price PERIOD. As for those fancy colors, or double fans, or other gimical crap, well those companies can keep them until they come out with a product that beats either one of these for these prices.
Sorry about the long informative post on an actual hot deal but most people are sooooo completely unaware of how to tell a difference between a good psu and a crap one that finding a antec true power 430 for $60 might sound like a hot deal until they realize what they are buying is overprices junk.
For more information for the curious here are some really good discussions about power supplies.
Link 1
Link 2