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Help find me a psu

R

Rahnter

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 30, 2008
Messages
81
The first obstacle is that it has to fit in my htpc case, which is 5.8" wide (athenatech A100BB). The second is that I'm cheap, so $40 or lower is the target. Here is my rig:

X2 2400
ECS Micro Atx
2GB 800
Powercolor 3870
7200 HDD
Dvd/dvd-r

Current psu is 270, and while it does the job it gets rather loud and hot (130F+) during gaming. Here are some psu I'm currently looking at:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153023
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153052
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182021
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817159062

400w is the target. I haven't owned a pc since 2000 and this is my first build, so any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

edit: fixed links and here is my case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811190057
 
400 watts won't be any good..unless its of "efficient" energy. i'd recommend the corsair hx 520 for your current setup. its modular and its pretty cheap atm. and honestly you can't get a psu of quality under 40bucks.. PSU is one thing in a rig where ppl can't put on a budget if they want it to last long and for upgrades...PSU=heart of the rig...
 
None of those links work. Please fix them. (though for the energetic, just enter 'N" and those numbers at the end of the link into the search bar to find those PSUs)

And what athenatech case do you have?

Oh and none of the PSUs you chose are good quality PSUs.

Bare minimum and around $40 PSU that I can recommend is this:
Antec Earthwatts EA380 380W PSU - $39
 
Sorry about the links, fixed them in the op.

The Antec you linked is too large for my case, but at least it listed the dimensions.

I don't plan to upgrade anytime soon, and if I do, I'll build a new pc and keep this for my media needs (minus the vid card.) So far it's cost me less than $300, I just wanted to get back into pc gaming after my long hiatus.
 
The Antec Danny linked is no bigger than the PSUs you mentioned in your original post, so if you can't fit the EA380, you won't be able to fit any of the ones you were looking at either. If you could provide the maximum dimensions for a PSU that you can fit in your case, it would be a lot easier to recommend something.
 
Zero82z said:
The Antec Danny linked is no bigger than the PSUs you mentioned in your original post, so if you can't fit the EA380, you won't be able to fit any of the ones you were looking at either. If you could provide the maximum dimensions for a PSU that you can fit in your case, it would be a lot easier to recommend something.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but I can't really say what the max dimensions are. Though after some quick googling, I found that the 350 psu in a similar a100BB is Height: 2.5 inches Length: 5.1 inches Width: 5 inches, made by Sparkle Power Inc.

So I assume something similar in size, but I can't say exactly. My main question is, is the stock 270 enough? I've played a couple of hours of COD4 at near max, without any problems, but speedfan shows the psu temp as high. What should be the temp rangebe ?

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm pretty lost here.

edit: found the specs on my current power supply:
http://www.sparklepower.com/pdf/FSP270-50SNV.pdf
 
Rahnter said:
So I assume something similar in size, but I can't say exactly. My main question is, is the stock 270 enough?....

edit: found the specs on my current power supply:
http://www.sparklepower.com/pdf/FSP270-50SNV.pdf
Click to expand...

Remove the video card and that PSU will be enough. That 270W PSU has a pretty weak +12V rail. I frankly wouldn't trust it for long, especially since you said that it was running hot. So it may not even be capable of even producing the 16A on the +12V rail like its specs say it would.

However, luckily for you, that link actually saved you. It shows that the PSU you have now is SFX12V. There is one SFX12V PSU that you can upgrade to and its Seasonic made:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151063
 
Thanks for the help. But I found two psu that seem to be compatible for $20 & $30:

http://www.outletpc.com/c0874.html 350W
http://www.outletpc.com/c1014.html 400W

Both fit my case and after looking around, anything higher becomes very pricey. $10 dollar difference between the two and I assume bigger is better.

Yeah, I wasn't planning on getting a vid card, but my roommate pushed me into. Should've just gotten a mid tower. :mad:
 
Unfortunately both those PSUs are crappy. Both those companies are well known for making low-quality PSUs that are not capable of providing their rated output in real world scenarios. No computer builder worth his/her salt would ever recommend those manufacturers. If you want a safe and reliable system, then get the Seasonic PSU I recommended earlier or just drop the video card and use the onboard video and the PSU that already came with the case.
 
Rahnter said:
Thanks for the help. But I found two psu that seem to be compatible for $20 & $30:

http://www.outletpc.com/c0874.html 350W
http://www.outletpc.com/c1014.html 400W

Both fit my case and after looking around, anything higher becomes very pricey. $10 dollar difference between the two and I assume bigger is better.

Yeah, I wasn't planning on getting a vid card, but my roommate pushed me into. Should've just gotten a mid tower. :mad:
Click to expand...

The first psu you link to is a Logisys (aka feces) and has a whopping 12A on the 12V rail. It's far worse than what you have now. The second one (Athena) is still low quality and is mfg'ed by Sun Pro (E210743) · Sun Pro, Home Pro, some Rhycom, some Raidmax. In other words.....avoid.

The Seasonic that Danny linked to is a quality psu.
 
And here I thought a psu is a psu. Will go with the seasonic, Thanks for the help
 
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