Need new Power Supply

fmuellerfmueller Auckland, NZ Icrontian
edited December 2009 in Hardware
Can somebody recommend a decent power supply for my rig (AMD Athlon 64 3700+, Biostar Geforce6100-M9 nVidia Socket 939). I think my old one just died with a bang. My computer shut off suddenly while I was working on it. My first thought was power outage, but everything else was still running, and the case was hot as hell :rarr:

I hope it's just the power supply. I am on a tight budget, as always, but willing to spend a little more than for my old PS to get something more reliable.

Many thanks

Frank

PS: Posting from laptop now, but I'd like to get my desktop running again ASAP.

Comments

  • lordbeanlordbean Ontario, Canada
    edited December 2009
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017

    That should be good quality without breaking the bank.

    Here's hoping your old PSU didn't take any other parts with it. Unfortunately, it happens quite commonly when a power supply dies.
  • fmuellerfmueller Auckland, NZ Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    Thanks, and thanks for the encouraging words. Last time it fried my HD. I need to spend more on power supplies :tim:
  • lordbeanlordbean Ontario, Canada
    edited December 2009
    Not necessarily more, but more intelligently, perhaps. Brands can really be significantly different in quality.

    The OCZ PSU should keep you going pretty much indefinitely, unless you put too much load on it.
  • miragemirage
    edited December 2009
    A good quality PSU should never fail under too much load, just shuts down safely, gracefully. Check Corsair, Seasonic, PC Power and Cooling, and Enermax as well. They are all good.
  • lordbeanlordbean Ontario, Canada
    edited December 2009
    mirage wrote:
    A good quality PSU should never fail under too much load, just shuts down safely, gracefully. Check Corsair, Seasonic, PC Power and Cooling, and Enermax as well. They are all good.

    read: good quality. Key in that statement. A lot of cheap PSUs fail this particular test and pop instead of successfully powering down.
  • fmuellerfmueller Auckland, NZ Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    I don't think the problem in my case is too much load. The problem is a cheap PS that gunks up over time, fan gets stuck, overheats, and dies a painful death. I just opened my case and I can hardly move the fan in my old PS when pushing it with a screwdriver.

    I've had good experiences with other products from OCZ in the past - RAM and SD cards. I want to order a new PS today, and don't have time to do much research. Very tempted to follow lordbean's recommendation. Does anybody else think that would be a good PS. If I get a second vote for it, I'll probably put in an order right away :)
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    The OCZ unit is a very good power supply. Cannot go wrong with it.
  • miragemirage
    edited December 2009
    fmueller wrote:
    I don't think the problem in my case is too much load. The problem is a cheap PS that gunks up over time, fan gets stuck, overheats, and dies a painful death. I just opened my case and I can hardly move the fan in my old PS when pushing it with a screwdriver.

    I've had good experiences with other products from OCZ in the past - RAM and SD cards. I want to order a new PS today, and don't have time to do much research. Very tempted to follow lordbean's recommendation. Does anybody else think that would be a good PS. If I get a second vote for it, I'll probably put in an order right away :)

    Here is the second vote :rockon:
  • fmuellerfmueller Auckland, NZ Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    That's three! Off to order it. Many thanks :thumbup

    Frank
  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    Well, yea. That is just a given ;D
  • fmuellerfmueller Auckland, NZ Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    I got my new OCZ PS from Newegg today, installed it, and all is good. Luckily the old PS seems to have simply died a lonely death without affecting anything else - thank the gods!

    The OCZ PS is definetely a class or two above the junk I have used so far - heavier, better built quality, and boy is that thing more quiet than my old PS! In short, many thanks for the recommendation.

    Now one more stupid question, the old PS was the second one to die on me within a couple of years. The reason in both cases seems to be the fan getting stuck. I don't know if it gunked up with dust or if the bearing wore out, but the fan in each case was very hard to move. My computer is under my desk in a normal household environment - ie not a dust free lab, but also no wood workshop with tons of sawdust in the air. Is it necessary to open the case at regular intervals and service the fan, ie remove dust and lubricate, or should I not have to worry about this with a quality PS like the OCZ I have now? Obviously lubricants can harden over time and might also make dust stick in areas were you don't want it, thus doing more harm than good. How do other folks handle this?
  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    Dusting yes. Canned air (or if you have a small air compressor in garage/etc) blown through PSU like you would on your other fans in the case/CPU, etc.

    No lubrication and you can't open the PSU ;)
  • fmuellerfmueller Auckland, NZ Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    Thanks for the official OCZ response :thumbup

    As an aside, I wasn't planning on opening the PS, just the computer case :)
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