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Need a new PSU?
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dastott
Junior Member
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21. April 2008 @ 06:05 |
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Hello. I hope someone can help me.
I have a 400w AOpen power supply in my desktop but already have 4 internal HDs, a 6600 GeForce graphics card, P4 3ghz CPU, 1 DVD-RW and 4 sticks of ram (total of 3GB) in my desktop. Is it pushing it to install a 5th internal HDD in there or is 400w enough? If so, what spec PSU do you recommend? 550w?
Cheers.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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21. April 2008 @ 18:13 |
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AOpen PSUs are poor quality and are prone to going up in flames. As a safety precaution above all else, go for a Corsair VX 450W. Adding extra hard disks is the most common cause of induced Power supply failure.
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Senior Member
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21. April 2008 @ 21:26 |
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protip: many ppl on this forum are corsair fanboys. pc power and cooling, antec, thermatalke, xclio and many other brands are very high quality at a signifigantly lower price.
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dastott
Junior Member
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21. April 2008 @ 21:38 |
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Thank you for the helpful replies. So, even with 'only' 4 HDDs I should replace the PSU it seems. I got it in November 2005.
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AfterDawn Addict
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21. April 2008 @ 21:44 |
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yes, replace it with one of the brands faqman recommended. a quality unit will be able to provide stable power to all components. like sammorris said, poor quality units can go up into flames. if a poor quality unit gives out, it can take out the whole system with it.
ps2: v7 scph-39001 - independence exploit - hdloader 0.8c - maxtor 300gb hdd
(+[__]%) psp slim ta-085v1: 6.60 PRO B10
wii (powered by bootmii/priiloader): 4.1u - d2x v10beta53-alt (base 56) - configurable usb loader v70r51/devolution r188 - wd scorpio black 7200rpm 320gig w/ ams venus ds2 enclosure
got a whole lot more to list . . .
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Senior Member
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21. April 2008 @ 21:45 |
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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22. April 2008 @ 03:20 |
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There are other good brands, but as it happens the VX 450W is probably the best value of all the decent quality units. Oh and XClio power supplies? Not high quality at all. Some Thermaltakes are good, and all of Antec and PCP&C units are good but Xclio are a pretty shoddy company.
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dastott
Junior Member
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22. April 2008 @ 04:46 |
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Thanks guys. Have ordered an Antec EarthWatts 500w PSU, as some of the other btands mentioned are notas easily available here in Japan. Should keep me going if and when I put a 5th HD inside.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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22. April 2008 @ 04:53 |
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Earthwatts units are alright. I'm not sure I'd want to draw 500W from one, but you're only really drawing 200-300 with your PC I'd expect. (But for the record this does not mean you can get away with a 400W AOpen, there's more to Power supplies than their wattage)
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dastott
Junior Member
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22. April 2008 @ 05:22 |
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Originally posted by sammorris:
Earthwatts units are alright. I'm not sure I'd want to draw 500W from one, but you're only really drawing 200-300 with your PC I'd expect.
Can you explain why please? I am not an expert on PSUs.
Thank you.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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22. April 2008 @ 05:45 |
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Your PC probably only uses 200W or so when you're gaming, but when you power up a hard disk, for the first few seconds it uses much more power than it does when running (in the same sense as a fluorescent light) so you need a PSU that can withstand the surge. A PC with 4 drives in it will surge around 350W when first powered on - that's a bit close to the bone for a 400W AOpen, especially since they usually go bang after only 200 watts anyway.
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dastott
Junior Member
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22. April 2008 @ 06:02 |
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Don't game much but that was a great explanation even I could understand. Thank you.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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22. April 2008 @ 06:48 |
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No problem. If you're not gaming your PC will use even less, probably around 130-140W, but the surge you get when powering on the PC still applies, obviously.
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