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Replacement PSU for old Dell

A

AssMan

2[H]4U
Joined
Mar 9, 2000
Messages
3,040
I've got a Dell Optiplex gx280 a friend gave me to fix and it's needs a new PSU. It's a 3Ghz P4 Prescott and the original PSU is 305 watts. He doesn't want to put much money into and old computer and it's not gonna be used for any gaming.

I was looking at HEC HP585D 585 watt PSU. Some of the customer reviews weren't so good on it saying it shouldn't be rated at 585 watts which I'm sure is true but it's not gonna be powering anywhere near that. I've never had a HEC PSU before and don't know how their quality is. Do you guys think this would be a good PSU as a replacment? If not any other suggestions?
 
Might want to check to make sure that is even a standard ATX power supply. Dell was known for a while their to use their own designs for power supplies that used ATX connectors but were definitely not compatible with the ATX standard.

But yeah if it is standard than the 380D's a good choice.
 
The original had some slots that helped support it but the screws line up for my Antec basiq 500 watt and it fits so I think it's standard ATX. That Antec is a bit more expensive not sure he's gonna wanna pay that much especially for and old comp that's just gonna be used for basic stuff like web browsing and office programs.

Would you guys say this HEC is at least as good as the original PSU? It's a pretty basic computer.... one HDD one DVD drive and a floppy. Not even a single expansion card in the thing.
 
Check the wiring on the motherboard connector and make sure they follow the standard ATX pattern, if not you will have to get the wire cutters out as for a while dell used a nonstandard pinout (i'm not sure exactly when they stopped, I think your machine is recent enough to be after that era but I would still strongly advise checking).

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=339053

As for the PSU you mentioned looking at the customer reviews it seems to have build quality and RF supression issues as well as the honesty of ratings issue you mentioned.

Is the risk of getting a DOA PSU which you have pay to return (afaict in the US suppliers don't seem to pay shipping on RMAs) or worse a PSU that fries other components or creates RF interference problems worth saving $20 over something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ckTab=true&Keywords=(keywords)#scrollFullInfo ? If it was a new machine I would say the answer was absoloutely not but with a machine that is probably on it's last legs anyway I might make the call differently.
 
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I plugged my 500 watt Antec Basiq PSU into it and it works just great with that.... that's how I know the old PSU is broke.

I'm not the one paying for it but if I was I'd think spending $40-50 on a decent PSU would be as much as the system was worth all together.... just doesn't seem worth it.

As far as DOA.... I'm willing to take my chances..... customer reviews do depend on if the customer knows what they're doing as well too.

I'll have to ask if there's any documents or data important on it but other than that I've got stuff sitting out in my garage that's probably about as fast as this.

I'm not a PSU expert but it just seems to me that this would be as good if not better than whatever cheap PSU dell threw in a low end system.

One thing I did notice with the broken PSU hooked up is the power light would just flash amber..... wouldn't power up at all just flash amber.... hooked up my Antec and all is good.

I opened the old one up and I think one of the capacitors bursted a little but I don't know that much about that stuff.
 
And one thing that does suck..... I have a PSU from some old computer I got free that I might have been able to use but I modded it to test out my car CD player. I'm not sure if it was a 24 pin or not but I did find a 20 pin I could have used instead.
 
The Antec EA-380D gets my vote as well. I rebuilt a older PC with that power supply and it still works to this day.
It's available for $39.99 with free shipping from amazon...
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Antec-EA-380D-Power-Supply/dp/B002UOR17Y"]Amazon.com: Antec EA-380D Power Supply EA-380D: Electronics@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/212rMsSHB8L.@@AMEPARAM@@212rMsSHB8L[/ame]

Though I'd check the motherboard of that Dell... They have known issues with "bloated" and leaking capacitors. Specifically the ones near the CPU. Check those out and make sure they don't have any brown crud on the tops of them or "bloated" looking. They may have also leaked from the bottom. If the caps are indeed bad it may not be worth replacing the power supply only to have the mobo crap out in a few months time...
More info on "bad caps" can be found here:
http://www.badcaps.net/
 
pwrusr said:
The Antec EA-380D gets my vote as well. I rebuilt a older PC with that power supply and it still works to this day.
It's available for $39.99 with free shipping from amazon...
Amazon.com: Antec EA-380D Power Supply EA-380D: Electronics

Though I'd check the motherboard of that Dell... They have known issues with "bloated" and leaking capacitors. Specifically the ones near the CPU. Check those out and make sure they don't have any brown crud on the tops of them or "bloated" looking. They may have also leaked from the bottom. If the caps are indeed bad it may not be worth replacing the power supply only to have the mobo crap out in a few months time...
More info on "bad caps" can be found here:
http://www.badcaps.net/
Click to expand...

Corsair is also a good choice.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026&cm_re=corsair_power_supply-_-17-139-026-_-Product
 
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HEC PSUs are shit, and their low-end PSUs are complete shit. Grab an EA380 like other people have recommended, or get a Corsair CX430, Antec NEO ECO 400W, or Seasonic SS-350ET.
 
Are they really that bad for such a basic system? Would you guys say the HEC is any worse than the original Dell? I might go for the Corsair but I hate dealing with rebates.
 
Yes, they're really that bad. Yes; not just worse, but much worse than the original Dell PSU.
 
Zero82z said:
Yes, they're really that bad. Yes; not just worse, but much worse than the original Dell PSU.
Click to expand...

Damn thanks for the info it looked looked like a good deal... to good to be true I guess. To bad too I think that Coarsair was just on sale but I didn't wanna deal with the rebate card.

How would you guys rate the original Dell PSU? I always thought they put real cheap ones in.
 
AssMan said:
How would you guys rate the original Dell PSU? I always thought they put real cheap ones in.
Click to expand...
OEM PSUs are generally pretty good. Just because they look cheap on the outside doesn't mean they're bad.
 
I've been building my own comps for a long time now I guess I just assumed they cut corners and went cheap where ever they can to save a few dollars.
 
pwrusr said:
The standard dell PSU isn't too bad, However Dells of that vintage have major issues with their caps popping/bulging.
little article about it here:
http://news.cnet.com/PCs-plagued-by-bad-capacitors/2100-1041_3-5942647.html
Click to expand...

I think I read that about another company too.... I'm thinking Gigabyte but I could be wrong. That's the kind of thing that makes me think they'd put a cheap PSU in to begin with.

I looked over the board didn't see and capacitors that looked bad. The PSU had one that leaked a little and one that was slightly bulging.
 
Chances are good that if another PSU powers it fine you should be ok with a replacement if all of the caps on the board look ok.
 
pwrusr said:
Chances are good that if another PSU powers it fine you should be ok with a replacement if all of the caps on the board look ok.
Click to expand...

I know the board is fine just the PSU is fried. I can't even jumpstart it.

It's for a co-worker not me but I can't see putting in much money for a PSU for this thing unless he was planning on using it for a future upgrade which he isn't.

And I agree with you guys that the power supplies you suggested are better but he doesn't wanna put any more than he has to in an old system. I'd probably just sell it for parts myself.
 
The 380D is a good choice, I use them in all of my pc's at the office and I haven't had a single problem with them, but with the 80mm fan, these are kind of loud in my opinion. If you're looking for cheap, quiet, and at least Bronze rated...I'd check out this Xigmatek. Click Here

I've used these in a couple of old HP computers recently without a hitch...and right now they're pretty darn cheap with the $5 off code and Free Shipping...hard to pass up IMO. Heckuva lot quieter than the 380D's. I think some of the lower wattage Seasonic's we're also on sale too.

Best,

Liquid Cool
 
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I'd get a seasonic over that delta-based earthwatts-- but for a system on its last legs might not make sense.
 
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