New Power Supply

Status
Not open for further replies.

justinone

Posts: 152   +1
OK i was wondering if any of you could help me out.
I currently have a 230v power supply for my pc. would i need to upgrade my power supply to support this hardware:

ATI Radeon 9600XT
2GB Ram
Pentium 4 3.0GHz HT

i do get VPU errors alot and lag in games. I was told getting a better power supply would resolve this.
 
I would say that you defintely need to upgrade the PSU. most 230 Watt PSU's only put out about 9-10A on the 12V rail which is not nerely enough for a P4 system.
 
Most new computers won't work well with less than 450W. Running an underpowered system can seriously damage your computer.
 
So can i just buy any PSU? non of them are like system specific? they all fit into a system the same way?
 
Most of them are just standard PSUs for ATX cases (your regular desktop tower). The only types of PSUs that arnt your regular ones are propriatry components used in for example Dell systems, (but those are rare, although applicable if you have a prebuilt machine..) and other case types, like those Shuttle cases, BTX, SFF etc.

Go with the info given above to determine your power needs, and probably have 20Amps or more on the 12V rails...
 
ATX is the most common, but that may not be what your system uses. if it's not ATX then you can't just stick an ATX PSU in there.

a 230w PSU could easily be mATX or proprietary.

is your system a branded PC (like dell, HP, emachine, etc)? or is is custom built? does the current PSU say "ATX" on it?
 
emachines do indeed use ATX power supplies, so you're good there.

I buy a good share of computer parts off ebay, but I have only seen junk PSUs on there. as far as the PSU you linked to...I have no experience with them, but q-tec's website only lists total system wattage and aesthetic features, and doesn't give any specific power info, so I wouldn't trust them.

also q-tec is on the [H]ard|Forum's list of PSUs to avoid

some known good PSU companies include PCP&C, SeaSonic, Antec, Enermax, Fortron (the first 2 are usually expensive, the last 3 have models in your budget range that are still decent quality units)

cheers :wave:
 
ok thanks kingcody. I would like to get a decent quality PSU but unfortunatly i am only 15 and i dont work so i have to ask my parents who just spent around £200 on pc parts for me.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back