PSU question. Convince me...

GHoosdum

Zanthian and I were in OfficeDepot yesterday and they had an Antec Neo Power 500 on clearance for $50.

I'm considering picking this up to replace the 350W generic in my Dell Inspiron 531.

I'm on the fence about this. On one hand, the PC is working okay right now with the generic and I don't know much about the NeoPower. On the other hand, $50 for a modular 500W PSU by a major brand name seems like a deal that's too good to pass up...

Opinions?

PS: Zanthian and I each picked up an 80GB laptop form-factor external WD hard drive for $30. Sorry, they're out of stock now.

muddocktor

I was reading over at the jonnyGURU forums that there are 2 ODM's for the Neopower series, depending on how old it is which one is the ODM. IIRC, the older Neopowers use CWT as the ODM and the newer ones have Seasonic as the ODM. I'll see if I can find that thread for you, so you can see which ODM is the actual manufacturer of the Neopower that Office Depot is selling.

EDIT:Here's the thread at jG, GH.

GHoosdum

I'm guessing if it's Seasonic it's a better proposition than if it's CWT?

From that thread it looks like if it's a NeoHE it's Seasonic, NeoPower it's CWT...

edcentric

As much as I like high quality PSUs you don't want one that is too big. Unlike other parts of your life and computer, more is not always better. You really want to run a PSU at about 80% of its rating to get better efficiency and regulation. If your 350 is working then a 500 sounds like overkill.
That said the other side of the coin is that even underloaded a good 500 may be more efficient than the pos 350 that came with your Dell.
There have been a bunch of PSU reviews at anandtech.com that will give you an idea of what happens at various loads on a PSU.

muddocktor

Ed, I'm going to disagree with you somewhat on your statement above, with today's modern power supplies, efficiency and load. While what you said is true about getting a far too big a psu being less efficient with less than 20% load on them, the load numbers for max efficiency generally run a lot less than 50% on most of today's quality psu's such as the Corsairs, PCP&C and such as that. If you can keep around 40-50% load on them minimum you are right in the sweet spot of efficieny, all the way up to your stated 80% load. That Neopower would be a good upgrade choice for that Dell box IMO, especially if it's a Seasonic-made version.

EDIT: Another thing to consider is that even if the Neopower isn't running at the absolute peak of it's efficiency, it will still most probably be much more efficient than the cheap psu that Dell put in the box. I know you mentioned this fact too Ed; just wanted to agree with you on that point too.

primesuspect

I think the exercise becomes one of: What will this PSU do for you?

Do you want it just because it's "better' than what you've got? Is it better? Your computer is running fine, right? What makes the new PSU better? It sounds like a matter of principle.

GHoosdum

Brian, you have basically restated my feelings exactly. I feel like it'd be stupid to pass up a good deal, but the current PSU is "working" just fine at the moment.

The "Convince me" in the thread title was basically an invitation to put forward opinions about the PSU and whether or not I should even bother upgrading at this time... I am quite literally undecided about this.

Thelemech

You could buy it for a future build :bigggrin:
Seems like a hell of a deal to pass up on.
IMO

TBonZ

Are thinking of upgrading/building a new system anytime in the next year? If so, that PSU could be used in the build, saving you some moohla. It will run a dual-core just fine, although, quad may need some looking into.

If not, don't bother.

GHoosdum

Well, I just bought the machine in December. I was planning to upgrade slightly (but not replace) next December with:

Modular PSU
New video card
Aftermarket HSF

But is the fact that I wanted to upgrade the PSU enough of a reason to upgrade the PSU by itself?

Leonardo

It will run a dual-core just fine, although, quad may need some looking into.

It will run a quad just fine, even at a 1GHz+ overclock, as long as you don't go bonkers with multiple drives and/or power sucking dual video card. I run one of my quads, a Q6600 2.8@3.5 full load on an Antec 430. That PSU is two years old. I don't know who the ODM was.

muddocktor

If I'm not mistaken GH, I'm pretty sure that is a Seasonic-built NeoHE, at least according to the product link that Newegg has on your linked psu. And buying it now for this price gives you some future headroom for a good upgrade on your vid card later on; that psu should be able to run any single vid card with no problem. And like Leo said, it should also do fine running a quad with a moderate overclock too. It will also be more efficient than the oem psu in the box, meaning less total power draw and less heat.

Leonardo

it should also do fine running a quad with a moderate overclock too

Assuming the motherboard is quality, that Antec Neo 500 should have no problem running a Q6600 at a high overclock. See system No. 4 in signature, which is running an Antec 430.

muddocktor

Yeah Leo, that will probably be a moderate overclock with the cheaper 45nm quads when they are released. Really and truly, a 500 watt psu should be more than enough for any single vid card system, no matter what processor you have unless you also have 10 hard drives in the case too.