Power Supply Unit (PSU) FAQ |
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Power Supply Unit (PSU) FAQ |
 Aug 16 2004, 03:33 AM
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 OCC Beefcake  Posts: 7,752 Joined: 22-February 04 From: Madison, IN Member No.: 8,628  |
Ok... this is a place that we can kinda orginize many of the commonly asked questions about Power Supplies.
Feel free to submit to this thread in a Q&A format... a staff member will edit this message from time to time with the new FAQ.  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Search The Forums : Asking For Help Guidelines : Overclockers Club Site Rules -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- Main Rig :: Q6600 @ 3.8Ghz :: 2x HD4850 Crossfire :: Asus P5K3 Premium Black Pearl :: HTPC :: 4850e :: HD2600xt :: Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H :: 1TB Storage :: Ubuntu Server :: Athlon XP 2500+ :: Radeon 9800xt :: MSI K7N2 ::  OCC Site Rules :: Site Help FAQ :: Extreme Cooling FAQ :: OCC Benchmark Team |
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Dec 22 2008, 02:56 PM
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Member Posts: 55 Joined: 22-December 08 Member No.: 65,499 |
I'd like to share some of my experience:
Q: What do I risk by using cheap PSUs? A: Basically the PC. At worst (I'm a IT Consulatant and I've seen much) The Mobo + RAM + CPU + HDD. I've seen many PCs burned to the case by CODEGEN PSU as well as Tracer PSU. However there are more cunning beasts than that. For example IBox or ModeCOM PSUs. It's common knowledge that a Codegen or Tracer fits perfectly only for long distance throwing practice. The IBox or Modecom can perform quite good at times. But they have this nasty habit of going out all out sudden when they get a little too much heat (and I really mean little). Seriously; it's safe to use a ModeCOM when You clean It VERY regulary and I mean it  Q: Are cheap PSUs completely useless? A: No, You can salvage some capacitors, trafos, fans and wires for Your home DIY hobby. It is sometimes good to put a 400W tracer to a very low power consuming PC. Like a router that has an old Mobo + CPU 1xHDD and is used to serve minor services like dedicated games for Your household. They are performing quite well when You clean them every now and then. Q: Are all cheap PSUs the same? A: No, some, like ModeCom would rather burn themselves than harm the PC's components. Whereas a CODEGEN usually takes the whole PC under. Q: Are Zalman's PSUs good? A:Well, basing on my expeerience Yes and No. Yes if it isn't really a gaming rig (their Amp ratings aren't that marvelous but still are impresive) No, because Zalman did the best cooling for years and no PSU whatsoever. In My opinion (and experience) They lack (with all the respect) the experience to do a good PSU. In Poland a 550W Zalman's PSU would cost about 400PLN (about 110USD) and a Modular 600W Tagan nearly 430PLN(120USD) The Tagan went overall much better with keeping the voltage of 2xHD4850 in XFire. Tagan was just more stable with surprisingly few (and minor) peaks on 12V rail. Again, please remember that I am just describing my experience. This post has been edited by wiewior1984: Dec 22 2008, 03:00 PM -------------------- ASUS A7N8x-E Deluxe + ASUS Wifi card
AMD Athlon XP 3000+ 2x1GB Corsair TwinX DDR (400MHz, CL2 @ 2,6V) Sapphire ATI Radeon HD3850/512MB AGP (slight OC) Tagan 380W U33 Seagate 80.0GB HDD -- There are 10 kinds of people: those who can read binaries and those who can't -- Everybody should know 2 languages: C++ and english. |
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Mar 26 2009, 09:51 PM
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 Mysterious Lord of the Retro... Posts: 2,558 Joined: 17-April 03 From: S.E. Australia Member No.: 3,835 |
QUOTE (wiewior1984 @ Dec 23 2008, 09:56 AM)  Q: Are cheap PSUs completely useless? A: No, You can salvage some capacitors, trafos, fans and wires for Your home DIY hobby. It is sometimes good to put a 400W tracer to a very low power consuming PC. Like a router that has an old Mobo + CPU 1xHDD and is used to serve minor services like dedicated games for Your household. They are performing quite well when You clean them every now and then. IMHO there are no capacitors worth salvaging in low end cheapo PSUs, almost always you'll find their filtering stage components have vented (or are ready to), however providing other components are of a reasonable standard a cheap PSU can be transformed into something rather useful with a quality capacitor upgrade
This post has been edited by tazwegion: Mar 26 2009, 09:57 PM --------------------  Viva La Retro! |
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Mar 27 2009, 04:10 AM
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 Old fart and still learning! Posts: 1,936 Joined: 31-October 06 From: N.W. England Member No.: 32,188 |
QUOTE (tazwegion @ Mar 27 2009, 05:51 AM) IMHO there are no capacitors worth salvaging in low end cheapo PSUs, almost always you'll find their filtering stage components have vented (or are ready to), however providing other components are of a reasonable standard a cheap PSU can be transformed into something rather useful with a quality capacitor upgrade Be careful when "upgrading" cheap power supplies. They quite often omit some filter stages, do not have power factor correction and awful efficiency, all to save costs, which no amount of new quality capacitors will rectify. Cheers Paul --------------------  <E8500+Zalman 9500>||<GA-EP45-DS4>||<Corsair 4GB (TWIN2X2048-6400C4 X 2)>||<2 x Asus 9600GSO>||<2 x WD320GB>||<Antec Signature 850W>||<Win XP Pro>||<Samsung 2032BW & Acer AL1916W> Folder:<E6600>||<DFI Infinity 975X/G>||<2GB Buffalo Firestix>||<XFX 8800GS>||<WD200GB>||<OCZ 600W>||<Win XP Pro>||<Iiyama Prolite E380S> |
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 Apr 20 2009, 04:10 PM
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Mysterious Lord of the Retro... Posts: 2,558 Joined: 17-April 03 From: S.E. Australia Member No.: 3,835 |
QUOTE (paulktreg @ Mar 27 2009, 11:10 PM) Be careful when "upgrading" cheap power supplies. They quite often omit some filter stages, do not have power factor correction and awful efficiency, all to save costs, which no amount of new quality capacitors will rectify. I said cheap NOT nasty!  I got both my pre-loved (and cap venting) Antec's for a song, however 'off the shelf' (retail) cheap are just cheap AND nasty, additionally I believe I also used the "providing other components are of a reasonable standard" qualifier to my recapping suggestion... FSP (Sparkle) PSUs aren't terribly expensive new either and make excellent candidates for a capacitor retrofit
This post has been edited by tazwegion: Apr 20 2009, 04:17 PM -------------------- Viva La Retro! |
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Nerm Power Supply Unit (PSU) FAQ Aug 16 2004, 03:33 AM
lilkev715 Q: How do you measure voltages?
A: With a digital... Aug 16 2004, 06:53 PM Some_Guy_ Q: My case came with a (high wattage) power supply... Sep 11 2004, 04:04 PM lego Q: How much power am i using?
A: Find out how muc... Sep 30 2004, 09:11 AM lilkev715 Q: How much power does a power supply use (both AC... Oct 7 2004, 05:00 PM fire_storm Q:How do I turn on my power supply without pluging... Nov 13 2004, 06:20 PM lilkev715 Q: My motherboard has a ATX 24-pin connector, do I... Feb 24 2005, 08:15 PM snipermav Q: What is PFC?
A: PFC is Power Factor Correcti... May 25 2005, 11:19 AM tazwegion Firstly, the image Firestorm is refering to in his... Oct 5 2006, 09:03 PM Rman777 Useful link http://www.pcpower.com/technology/myth... Oct 20 2007, 01:41 AM
gustie QUOTE (Rman777 @ Oct 20 2007, 09:41 AM) U... Dec 30 2008, 10:21 AM get_saif well i was wondering if this psu is a good one. i ... Oct 20 2007, 11:44 PM paulktreg get_saif
A late reply to this question but it may... May 17 2008, 03:03 PM Neebitemnemo I have an Apevia / Iceberg / 680-Watt PSU with 2x6... Sep 9 2008, 05:02 PM damian Q. Is a power supply with multiple 12V rails bette... Sep 16 2008, 04:29 PM |
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