PC Power Supply Question
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 19,257
Likes: 19
From: San Diego, CA
PC Power Supply Question
This one is is for the games/people who put together their own PC. Last Sunday, there was a very brief (split second) black out at my apartment, and my computer died as a result (pressing the power button does nothing, tried holding down the power button - nothing, unplugging the cord, and plugging it back in didn't help, basically I tried everything I know), due, I'm guessing, to power surge. I hope it's just the power supply that's fried, and not something more expensive like the motherboard.
So anyway, I'm looking for a new power supply. My current one is a 250W unit, and I'll probably get something similar or perhaps up to a 350W unit. So I did a quick search and found that for a given wattage, the price can range from as low as $25 to as high as around $60.
My question is, are the more expensive ones really better? Will it, for instance, withstand the power surge problem that I encountered on Sunday? 'cos I'll buy the the more expensive ones if they are really much better, but I don't want to end up shelling out more money if they are all the same.
Thanks.
So anyway, I'm looking for a new power supply. My current one is a 250W unit, and I'll probably get something similar or perhaps up to a 350W unit. So I did a quick search and found that for a given wattage, the price can range from as low as $25 to as high as around $60.
My question is, are the more expensive ones really better? Will it, for instance, withstand the power surge problem that I encountered on Sunday? 'cos I'll buy the the more expensive ones if they are really much better, but I don't want to end up shelling out more money if they are all the same.
Thanks.
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 254
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From: SF Bay Area
It could very well be that the surge fried your power supply. Hopefully the transient was short enough that the power supply took the brunt of the surge. Your best bet is really a surge protector - the power supplies won't really protect themselves. I use a small UPS (uninterruptable power supply) to feed my computer. This way, the UPS filters out the crap in addition to providing a bit of power after a black out, which allows me to safely shut down my system or save my data files.
With regards to computer power supplies, they can be very varied. I would suggest an Antec TruePower supply. The reason is, the wattage determination can be sketchy. You want to make sure you can enough power to your small peripherals (those 5v and 3.3v plugs). Often, the cheaper power supplies will rail on those 5v/3.3v lines before the full system capacity is met. This means that you still don't have enough power for all your drives and CDROM's, even though you might have a 350 or 400watt power supply.
You should read this article:
http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20021021/index.html
Hope that helps
With regards to computer power supplies, they can be very varied. I would suggest an Antec TruePower supply. The reason is, the wattage determination can be sketchy. You want to make sure you can enough power to your small peripherals (those 5v and 3.3v plugs). Often, the cheaper power supplies will rail on those 5v/3.3v lines before the full system capacity is met. This means that you still don't have enough power for all your drives and CDROM's, even though you might have a 350 or 400watt power supply.
You should read this article:
http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20021021/index.html
Hope that helps
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 19,257
Likes: 19
From: San Diego, CA
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Flayer
[B]It could very well be that the surge fried your power supply. Hopefully the transient was short enough that the power supply took the brunt of the surge. Your best bet is really a surge protector - the power supplies won't really protect themselves. I use a small UPS (uninterruptable power supply) to feed my computer. This way, the UPS filters out the crap in addition to providing a bit of power after a black out, which allows me to safely shut down my system or save my data files.
With regards to computer power supplies, they can be very varied. I would suggest an Antec TruePower supply. The reason is, the wattage determination can be sketchy. You want to make sure you can enough power to your small peripherals (those 5v and 3.3v plugs). Often, the cheaper power supplies will rail on those 5v/3.3v lines before the full system capacity is met. This means that you still don't have enough power for all your drives and CDROM's, even though you might have a 350 or 400watt power supply.
[B]It could very well be that the surge fried your power supply. Hopefully the transient was short enough that the power supply took the brunt of the surge. Your best bet is really a surge protector - the power supplies won't really protect themselves. I use a small UPS (uninterruptable power supply) to feed my computer. This way, the UPS filters out the crap in addition to providing a bit of power after a black out, which allows me to safely shut down my system or save my data files.
With regards to computer power supplies, they can be very varied. I would suggest an Antec TruePower supply. The reason is, the wattage determination can be sketchy. You want to make sure you can enough power to your small peripherals (those 5v and 3.3v plugs). Often, the cheaper power supplies will rail on those 5v/3.3v lines before the full system capacity is met. This means that you still don't have enough power for all your drives and CDROM's, even though you might have a 350 or 400watt power supply.