Power supply (PSU) concerns

Doesn't a 500w power supply use twice as much electricity as a 250w power supply?

I've read that 250w is plenty for desktop use, unless using for high end games.

And shouldn't a 250w power supply last just as long as a 500w?
 
"Doesn't a 500w power supply use twice as much electricity as a 250w power supply?"...

Under full load, technically yes

"I've read that 250w is plenty for desktop use, unless using for high end games"...

Hi-end games, need hi-end motherboards and hi-end CPU's and hi-end video cards. These in turn need and take more power (electricity)

"And shouldn't a 250w power supply last just as long as a 500w?"...

It will probably last longer. Quality Power supplies built 6 years ago would power most systems of today. I just replaced a 600 Watt cheapo with a 6 year old Antek 150 Watt, and the system ran fine
 
What if my current PSU has not enough power but i juz juz bought it and not a wise idea to discard it? can i juz buy another say 250W PSU and join it up wif my current 500W to make it 750W?
 
Not necessarily true. It is true that a power supply with high quality components and clever engineering design will provide better output. But some of those high quality components with narrow tolerances can burn out more quickly.
It all depends upon how you define "quality". Some consider steady output on all rails. Others devine it as "will not fail under load."
The best, but more costly solution is use a power supply with great engineering, high quality components AND higher output. This reduces heat, the major cause of failure.
 
I am looking to replace my psu soon,i would like to know what you guy's would recommend with my pc spec's =amd 5200 brisbane,asus M2R32-MVP,4gb ram,X1950GT,asus 20X drive,front card reader,2x160gb and a 320gb hard drive's,9x120mm and 1x200mm and a 92mm all with led's. I am using a areocool zerodb 500watt at the moment i am wondering if this is good enough and if i do replace is quad\triple rails better than a single rail with a high amp. PS i will be getting a 3870 in this month and maybe a X3\X4 at the end of the year
 
Never seen anyone prove multiple rails are better. Single rails with constant power in amps, along with a very quiet fan and motor is what I hope for.
Quality counts, howerver, so look for one with good reviews that has been out for a year or so.
Avoid the real cheap one.
There is a posting on this forum which rates about 75% of the 100+ power supplies sold. I don't agree with everything he says, but it is an all-encompassing list that is very helpful.
 
It's a good PSU, about identical to the Corsair 550VX in power output but the GT550 is modular and has 41A split across three +12V rails as opposed to the single rail on the Corsair PSU. Both are made by Channel Well, so they're decent enough units. You shouldn't have any problems.
 
burnt out psu

I need to replace a 520watt(psu).can anyone suggest anygood ones.
i need it to have a 8 pin cpu plug,i have a AMD Athlon 4400+ Duelcore,2gb ram,
Nvidia 8500GT 256mb. A 500GB Hard Drive.

thankyou for any help.
 
Rocketfish Rocks

Not sure what brand they really are but the output on them looks impressive. 4 +12v rails with 70 amps. They are also really heavy. Have one in my sons computer for close to a year and it seems to be holding its own.

Good news is that when I got it close to year ago it was on special at Best Buy for $100 and was a steal compaired to its regular price!!! Unless you need it today RIGHT NOW !!!!! You can get somthing a lot better for $187.
 
The Rocketfish 700W is overpriced garbage, to say the least. It's a rebranded Huntkey Titan 650W, which itself is able to only output 650W at 25C, the actual power output in real-life conditions i.e. 50C operating temps being 550W. It has a combined total of only 41A on the +12V rails, a very low number for a 700W PSU.

Note: No offence meant, just providing information for others, that's all.
 
raybay said:
Please keep us updated on how things go.
Click to expand...

So far it's been very good,it's nice to see how many watts i am using at one time and what temp my psu is sitting at.The highest watts i have seen so far is about 375 running prime95 and a slightly overclocked X2 6000(at 3,2ghz) and running rthdribl_1_2 to see how my GPU runs aswell at it's slght overclock.The highest temp i have seen was about 33\34.
 
Look at the UL label to see where and when it was made, and what other much less expensive ones are identical.
Most power supplies, in our investigation, are what they appear. Most power supplies are made in a very few plants, with the same UL number, and are a scam to make HUGE amounts of extra money...
There are very few bad ones, and very few good ones... but there are a LOT of overpriced power supplies with inflated statistics.
 
In A Pinch...

From Hardwaresecrets.com

"We were expecting to burn or explode this power supply but, hey, it survived to our load tests! So it isn’t as bad as we originally thought (and proved that not all Huntkey power supplies are a piece of you-know-what). We could really extract 700 W from it at 50º C, so at least its label isn’t a lie, especially when we think that this model is originally labeled as a 650 W by the original manufacturer (Huntkey).

However, power isn’t everything. Ripple and noise levels were far above we wanted to see, it doesn’t come with four video card cables, the video card cables don’t use 6/8-pin connectors and comes with just one year warranty (all power supplies from well-known manufacturers come with at least 3-year warranty in the United States). These flaws can’t be tolerated on a USD 165 product.

USD 165? Wait a minute… Are these guys crazy? We can buy a PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad for less than that! Just to remember this PC Power & Cooling unit has far higher efficiency, lower noise level, a far higher maximum power, four video card cables and a five-year warranty.

Rocketfish 700 W would be a terrific product if it cost USD 70, tops. But at USD 165 it makes absolute no sense buying this unit."
____________________________________________________________________________

I guess that sums it up epspecially about being a $70.00 tops PSU. I understand that it isnt a PC Power and Cooling or even a fricken Enermax, however. If it were $100 and I was in a real pinch as I was around x-mas time last year when I had my sons computer all put togeather and what do you know the Antec 600 I had ordered didnt power up, I ran to BestBuy and grabbed the cheapest alternative I could which at that time was this unit for $100. It felt surprisingly heavy, had decent specs ( apparently ) and had a decent amount of cables.

Just saying I didnt do that much research into what it exactly was until now. Besides that there was no reason as it has been powering a pretty meaty system for close to a year now without a hiccup. If it isnt the most efficent PSU thats fine by me, he doesnt leave it on 24/7 anyways. Maybe spends 2 hours a week on it.

No Offense Taken !!!

For most systems it isnt a bad buy at that price.
 
Cannot imagine how you could accurately do that and get the results you describe. You must be a technical magician.
 
Got a bad psu :(

Ok i built a pc for my GF's work and in a matter of 2 weeks she fried it. i took it apart the psu the cause the power led in back wasnt coming on and sure enough the fuse in side was toast. now all i need to know is what size fuse should i get for a 450 watt psu?
 
Get one like the one that you removed. You likely have another problem.
Most power supplies do not have fuses. Some are fusible resisters. Some have nothing.
 
the only problem with getting a new is tht a the fuse literally blew and the to metal pieces that i do have are cover in solder and cant be read. like look like little glass pipe bombs just so u all know what fuse im talking about.
 
IceBoxPDX said:
the only problem with getting a new is tht a the fuse literally blew and the to metal pieces that i do have are cover in solder and cant be read. like look like little glass pipe bombs just so u all know what fuse im talking about.
Click to expand...

I would try and borrow a PSU before you do anything else.
With a failure like that there is a chance of a domino effect and a power surge to powered components like the motherboard.
 
my psu

ok i have already taken the psu out of my gaming rig and tested the other system it works fine all im want to know is what size fuse i need i dont need to get a new psu yet i just need to know what size if you know then please tell me......
 
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