Anything better than this $30 Seasonic PSU?

Personally, even if 500w was enough, looking at the 650 for only $10 more, I'd probably get that to make sure it was enough, and room for later upgrades if they needed more power.
 
Personally, even if 500w was enough, looking at the 650 for only $10 more, I'd probably get that to make sure it was enough, and room for later upgrades if they needed more power.
Problem with blindly going up in PSU power rating is that your typical load will likely shift down on the efficiency curve. Many PSU's are at their worst at lower power draws. If there's no realistic chance of needing the extra power, I wouldn't advise it.
 
I'd say go for it. I've used that line of PSUs (and the previous S12II) for quite some time in budget builds for people I know, and they are the only ones that to this day have never given me an issue, even the ones that have lived long, miserable lives in machines that run 24/7 with (at best) a single annual cleaning.
 
Not bad at all. For $35, Best Buy has a couple EVGA options you could probably pick up same day:

W1-series 600W 80 Plus: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/evga-w...us-power-supply-black/8511029.p?skuId=8511029
BA-series 500W 80 Plus Bronze: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/evga-b...v-bronze-power-supply/6459377.p?skuId=6459377

The warranty on the Seasonic is superior though. Not sure if they use the "high quality Japanese caps" like the Seasonic, either.
I only consider Seasonic power supplies. I would buy a Corsair or other higher end unit --IF-- Seasonic was the OEM of those supplies.
Personally, even if 500w was enough, looking at the 650 for only $10 more, I'd probably get that to make sure it was enough, and room for later upgrades if they needed more power.
The computer probably only uses 150'ish watts at most anyways and since the machine is going to my 90 yo pops who will never need a video card, 500 watts is more than enough.
Problem with blindly going up in PSU power rating is that your typical load will likely shift down on the efficiency curve. Many PSU's are at their worst at lower power draws. If there's no realistic chance of needing the extra power, I wouldn't advise it.
Yeah this would be a concern as the system will only be in the 20-30% power range of the PSU now.
I'd say go for it. I've used that line of PSUs (and the previous S12II) for quite some time in budget builds for people I know, and they are the only ones that to this day have never given me an issue, even the ones that have lived long, miserable lives in machines that run 24/7 with (at best) a single annual cleaning.
Yeah I went for the listed Seasonic. It was only $30 so that makes it a solid decision. If it was $60-70 then better options start to make sense.

Thanks for the input guys.
 
That's a pretty sweet deal for $30. It's $60 on Newegg now. Also more than enough for a basic PC with no vid card. I wish my grandfather could use something like that. He used to be able to, but he's 91 and his mind and eyes are going.
 
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