Budget Psu

savemejebus

I'm hoping ye can give me advice and i've posted here rather than in the normal computers section as ye seem to talk about power supplys more than them, plus Col_Loki's cool pc building post is here.

Ok anyway i'm upgrading from an old p2 system which is running with a jeantech light fusion (jn099) case and psu (yes i know, v. dodgy) and basically i'm going to upgrade and run the following in it.

xp2800
abit nf7-s
geforce 5700 ultra
dvd rom
cdrw
512mb twinmos ram
160gb hitachi sata hdd

It's not going to be overclocked (well not to begin with) and so i was wondering will i get away with the psu that's in my case: 300W, 12V=10A, 5V = 25A, 3.3V=10A or should i look round for a new one.

This is all being done on a shoestring and most of the parts are 2nd hand (except the hdd and ram) so i can't spend mega bucks on this project (would love an antec sonata). I'd like to know what the best bang for buck psu for this would be, if it's necessary.

I've seen http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=301411&cks=PRLthis but am unable to find info on it and even though it's fortron think it seems very cheap, have any of ye experience with it?

any help will be appreciated

Ciaran500

I've heard good things about the Fortron but I've no experience with them. The reason you can't find any info on them is because they are not usually not sold direct to the customer but rebadged as by other companys.


I have a very similar setup to yours and I'm not getting enough juice from my 360w PSU.


OT: I don't know how Hitachi changed the Deskstar HDD but every IBM Deskstar me or my brother has had has failed on my (6 of them)

Jammer

I have the following out of my 380W Antec Sonata PSU..

Mobo (AMD64)
2 x S-ATA HDDs
Soundblaster
9800pro
DVDRW
2 x 120mm Fans

Its grand, all the voltages are spot on.

Col_Loki

Fortron are very good. Alot of the models produce way more power than there rated for, im not sure about the one you have linked to and komplett dont stock them yet and dates are sketchy at best.

try .... http://www.pc-look.com/boutik/Prod_Fortron-Power-Supply-FSP300-60PN(PF)-TR-12-cm-FAN-20-dBA-300W__1043_en.html

That will power your PC no probs, it powered mine running a 9700pro, Xp2500+ @ 2.4ghz......... its a pretty damm good PSU for the price.

PS The power supply you have is dodgy and might power (the word being might) it up but i seriously doubt it would keep the system stable at stock, definetly not overclocked.

Aswell make sure the Case is ATX (im not sure when it moved from AT to ATX, but given its a P2 your upgrading from it should be looked into....... as you might need a case also).

savemejebus

thanks for the replies, the case is atx as I put the build together as a sort of practice run for a proper build but then went and bought a laptop instead of building the proper spec system

Col_Loki

Have a look on the for sale forum on boards, its very hard to recomend a PSU at a budget price that wont cause you hassle...... fortron are about the best bet that i know of TBH brand new anyway.

Remember that your looking for 360w+ in a decent brand name (and thats important), or a 300w + Fortron 120mm fan model (there are other ones that are good but its hard to tell them appart).

Dont buy a no-name/crap make/q-tec etc etc 360w+ and think it will work, its a totally different power rating (almost made up) and also there noisey and have generally bad rails........

unklerosco

A story about cheap Psu's... I have a twin PSU setup, one is a 350w Zalman the other a 350w Codgen(????). The Zalman runs a p42.8 @ 3.5, a 9800pro @XT speed, 2 cd/dvd roms and 2 hds no probs... The Codgen runs a 12v watercooling pump, 2 uv lights and 2 120mm fans. The problem is even though the codgen has an easy job it doesn't like it. It will only run 1 of the 120mm fans, plug the second one in and it shuts down. And as i just found out it isnt stable, and when its not stable it turns on and off and when it turns off my watercooling stops and when that happens my p4 starts to burn and i start to scream.....

Lesson learnt, Cheap Psu's suck. Either gonna sell the Zalman n buy a 450w/500w Psu r buy another 350w. Either way I need more juice as i plan to install another 2 hds...

Ps. Keep n eye in the for sales forum, my Zalman may just pop up. N for the record it can run my 2.8@3.5, 9800pro@xt, 3hds, 2 cdroms, watercooling, 2 uvs, 2 120mm fans, 7 80mm fans and 1 fan controller. Tis a bit of a beast.

savemejebus

Thanks for all the replies, I'll keep an eye on the for sale board for the next week or so and see if anything comes up.

Col_Loki, i think the same psu that you mentioned is on Komplett, so if worst comes to worst i'll be able to get it when i order my hdd and ram. Speaking of ram, I read on a thread a bit down that there could be compatibility issues with twinmos ram and abit motherboards. Is this something i should be concerned with or only important if overclocking.

Thanks