PC Peripherals Buying a second-hand power supply

A

arjie

Disciple
Hi, everyone,

The generic PSU in one of my computers seems to not be doing very well (there's an odd smell coming from it and using HWMonitor all the voltages are 0.5-1 V less than rated except for the one labelled -12 V which reads -6 V) and I'm planning on getting a replacement. I read the thread about choosing a PSU but it doesn't tell me:

  • how long PSUs last
  • whether it is generally a bad idea to buy out-of-warranty PSUs
  • whether buying a new PSU is better value for money than buying a second-hand one

I'd like your opinions. I'd like to spend Rs. ~1500

My system:

Asus M2N-VM-DVI

AMD Athlon X2 4400+ (Brisbane)

3 × 1 GB DDR2 667 Mhz

XFX GeForce 9400 GT 512 MB (and hopefully soon) Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 1 GB

Seagate 7200.12 500 GB SATA

Some DVD-RW drive (my CD-RW drive has died and I haven't replaced it yet)

Pinnacle PCTV PCI

Usage:

I intend to have this computer on and running for most of the day.

Thanks for reading.
 
What is your budget?

You can get a Zebronics Pro 350w - 1.5k or a FSP SAGAII 350-1.6k. Both are decent PSU and enough for your needs.
 
Wow, that's cheaper than I thought it would cost for a good PSU. Will the FSP Saga II 350 be able to handle it if I were to add a couple more hard-drives of the same model also?

Also, my budget is around as much as you quoted. Rs. 1.5k or so.
 
FSP is way better, it is the OEM of gigabyte and some very popular highend gamer PSUs, some member's 700Watter running fine since the last 6 years. Though again since SAGA is entry level we are not sure about its efficiency etc... nevertheless it is a better buy over the zebo.

Karthi007 said:
What is your budget?

You can get a Zebronics Pro 350w - 1.5k or a FSP SAGAII 350-1.6k. Both are decent PSU and enough for your needs.
Click to expand...
 
Rockfella said:
FSP is way better, it is the OEM of gigabyte and some very popular highend gamer PSUs, some member's 700Watter running fine since the last 6 years. Though again since SAGA is entry level we are not sure about its efficiency etc... nevertheless it is a better buy over the zebo.
Click to expand...

This retailer says that it is 80% efficient. That seems decent enough. So should I go with the FSP Saga II 350 W then?
 
i would suggest the gigabyte 460watts psu @ 2200rs . the psu is the most important thing in the computer and the life of all your components depend on how good ur psu is.

if you could stretch your budget by a bit you get the gigabyte psu.
 
I see. The Gigabyte 460 W seems considerably more powerful and I can guarantee that I will not be upgrading this computer more than just adding one or two more hard-disk drives (so the power consumption isn't going to grow much more than it is now). Will I still ever require more than the 350 W from the FSP Saga II 350 W?

I just realised that I haven't informed anyone about the usage. This computer will likely be on and running for most of the day (not just downloading). Any changes in the recommendations?
 
we often upgrade when we say i am done with upgrading! its been 6 years and i still get new harddrives and dvd writers and little tid bits for my 939 amd system!

just get the 460w psu from gigabyte.
 
sunny27 said:
we often upgrade when we say i am done with upgrading! its been 6 years and i still get new harddrives and dvd writers and little tid bits for my 939 amd system!
just get the 460w psu from gigabyte.
Click to expand...

Oh I know the feeling all too well :) But when I have the money for that I'm likely to have enough cash to buy a new PSU. Unfortunately at the moment, I'm short of the cash.

Karthi007 said:
The FSP SAGAII 350 is more than enough for your requirements. Check the specs.
FSP
FSP Saga II 350 Watts ? Lynx-The Electronics & Computer Superstore
Click to expand...

Terrific, that's what I'll get then.

Thank you, Karthi007, sunny27 and Rockfella for your help.
 
Hi, guys,

I was out of town for the past two weeks and when I came back I went down to Ritchie Street to look for it. Do you know where I can get the FSP PSU? Every store I walked into only had Zebronics, i-Ball, and Corsair.
 
Pronto said:
Yes!! GO for FSP!! My friends and I are both FSP SMPS users. We are all very heppy with the peformance....Especially Blue Storm series are quite good at the middle end level.....Try It!!
Click to expand...

agree!i may highly recommend FSP blue storm as middle end and saga for entry level. they are one of the best!
 
arjie said:
Hi, guys,

I was out of town for the past two weeks and when I came back I went down to Ritchie Street to look for it. Do you know where I can get the FSP PSU? Every store I walked into only had Zebronics, i-Ball, and Corsair.
Click to expand...

I got replies to this thread recently because I was subscribed so I'll answer this question of mine. You can get FSP power supplies from Big Byte India.
 
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