Yalpe

My sig is not the pcs on which I install those psus.

Why would I need 535W when I have only 1 HDD, 1DVDROM, 1 video card (x800 pro...) and a single core cpu? I have a question about the PSU however. There is 2x 4 pins connectors with a sticker saying "FOR CPU ONLY". Would that be the connector just over the 24 pins one? I'm pretty sure it is but since there 2, one of them is labeled "12V" and the other isn't. Should I use the 12v one? EDIT: NM, I guess that's for dual CPU's. I figured that you can combine them to make a 8 pin connector... Never knew this was for the CPU tho

Quick update, I went to the store last nigth and got a bargain on 2 Enermax NoiseTaker II 485W for 89$ CDN each. They also gave me a free 1 year waranty so that if another one dies, I get a free replacement. Now there is still my machine that has a 450W... I might have to fix that soon.

Thanks for all the input guys. I don't know much about power, I'm mostly a software guy. It just puzzles me that mine hasn't died yet... but whatever. It is also weird that a 500W PSU died. I guess its not recommended. I submitted a ticket to Antec to get their version as well, if you want I'll keep you updated with their answer.

According to this tool I use 315W. http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp I don't know if it is accurate or not, probably not. But usually PSUs are more then 80% efficient no? So taking .8 as a factor we get 360W left. That should be far enough. And that is with the x1800xt. Why are you recommending 480W?

I just spoke to the tech guy at the shop where I got the cases. He said that they RMA 8 out of 10 Antec PSUs. After a bit of conversation I have a theory on the cause of the problems. Both of the other PCs were in a house or appartment. Mine is in a dorm at university (quite recent building). My guess is that their PSU died from power surges since they aren't using shielded power bars. Now I could either get a good PSU for 100$ + or RMA for 20-25$ and get them a shielded powerbar. What do you think tsar? Could it all be caused by power surges?

Alright, thanks for the info. However, would sender the dead 450W for RMA be a bad idea or should I try to push him into buying the 550W at 75$?

Thing is, I don't care about overclocking on their machines since they don't see the difference and if I'd overclock enough so that they would, it would only mean more support for me. I've been running my x1800xt fine for a month using a 450W PSU. It might die on me but I've been pushing it a lot harder then they were. I could get a NeoHe 550 for 75$ CDN but that's Antec again, I'm scared. I always wondered what the extra 2 power connectors were for (floppy/HDR alikes) on the board. Think that might have helped the cause? Some tech. at the shop where I got them told me it could cause problems. So RMAing the 450W one would be pointless then? My friend is kinda short on money so I doubt he could fork 100$ into a 500W PSU. Remember, I don't want to overclock them. Everything at stock can't run with a 450W in any case?

Hi, Last october I built 3 exact same computer. One for me, one for my friend, one for his brother. You can check my sig for the specs, but I have upgrade the ram from 1GB Dual Channel Kit PN- OCZ4001024PFDC-K and Ati Radeon x800 Pro VIVO. They still use these. Around May, my friend's brother called me saying that his PC stopped working. Turns out the PSU had died. He didn't want to wait on a RMA so he bougth another one (SmartPower 2.0 500W I think). A couple of weeks ago, my friend's computer stopped working as well. No fans were spinning. It was totally dead. Couple of days more, his brother's computer has the same symptoms. They get their PCs back to me, and I test them with my own PSU. Both PCs were working perfectly on first try. So the 2 PSU died again... I had set a small overclock on them both (+200MHz). I raised the voltage a bit on the ram (1:1 ratio gives 220 MHz) and on the CPU (maybe the chipset as well) to make sure it would be stable. Didn't want to have to do much tech support on these. I don't have the exact numbers right now since I'm at work. It was 1 increment for each of them so nothing too high. Anyways I defaulted everything yesterday. Now to recap, I have had 3 PSU die on me in a short period. But mine is still alive and my setup should be eating a lot more power. My CPU is OCed at 2600MHz so I had to raise the voltage higher then theirs. The x1800xt has to be more power hungry than an x800 Pro. Remember, I have a 450W too. What the hell is wrong here? I will RMA the PSUs but I don't want to have anymore to blow up on me. Everyone's getting very angry with this situation. I really don't know what is causing the problem so I'm asking here. Thanks for any info you can provide me with