New power supply / PC specs

[skankerer]

specs:

I have AMD sempron 3100+ processer, Socket 754
NF8-v nForce3 250gb Socket 75 DDR400 motherboard with sound, sata, raid & gigabit lan
ATI Radeon XT 9600 256mb video card with DVI & TV-Out
1GB pc3200 DDR400 Ram Dual Channel (2x512mb, 400mhz, cl2.5 with heat spreaders)

(Although one of the sticks was bad so I had to get another stick,may not be exactly the same)

Western digital WD1600jb 160gb 7200rpm ata100 hard-drive with 8mb cache
16x DVD writer, black 6x dual layer DVD+r/-r, 16xDVD-r/+r DVD


current (third) dead power supply:
Pentium IV ATX Switching power supply
model: 400W P4

AC input 221/110vac 50/60hz 2/4a
fuse pating:F 5a 250VAC
DC +3.3v +5v +12v -5v -12v +5VSB
Output 14A 20A 10A 0.5A 0.5A 2A
MAX 400W

I have now gone through three power supplies with this computer.
Two when I plugged the cord into the power point first, then the computer, or just unplugged it from the back & plugged it back in ( I didn't realise this could kill one), the other when (according to my mother, she turned the computer on, then she tried to turn the monitor on but it wouldnt come on so she turned the computer off and on, then it just died)

But on my dell computer, I can plug it into the power point first then the back of my computer and it doesn't kill it. Does dell have surge protectors or something on their power suppliess? Because if they do when I go shopping for one I want that. Can someone shed some light on this? + what watt psu do you think would be appropriate for my hardware?

Thanks.

 

[nickslick74]

Well, 400 watts should be plenty, but you also need to consider the amps as well. If I am reading your psu specs correctly, you only had 10a on the 12v line. While your computer isn't a screamer, 10 amps is pretty low. If you live in the USA you can get a decent 350w FSP power supply from Newegg.com for about $35. It will have more than enough power for your rig.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104901

Also, you should always protect your equipment with a surge protector! You may want to check the outlet you have been pluging into and make sure that it is operating correctly.

 

[skankerer]

Yeah, I use a UPS. I noticed when I was plugging whatever into the back, mouse,keyboard etc if i touched the power cord it would "crackle". It doesn't on my dell machine though. I'm guessing it was just a crap psu.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

You could also have a bad power cable, but your PSU-specs point to a serious piece of crap!
The 350W that nickslick pointed you to will work fine, however I would go to the 400W version of that same PSU, to have a bit more reserve.