PC Peripherals Choosing SMPS: calling all Gurus

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[OT]

But the words were letters are switched (the -> teh) are not abbreviations.

If you change the order of letters in an abbreviation it changes the meaning.

[/OT]
 
chiron said:
But how are you be sure that it was caused by the psu?
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I got a dmm and tested the voltages. Turned out they were fluctuating and dropping below rating.

Of course, this was a case of an actual faulty psu. A cheap iball psu when working normally would probably not create such problems. But I would not want to take suck risks with my hardware. :no: So now I'm sitting happy on a hx620.
 
Crazy_Eddy said:
[OT]
But the words were letters are switched (the -> teh) are not abbreviations.
If you change the order of letters in an abbreviation it changes the meaning.
[/OT]
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ooops... you are right :ashamed:
 
chiron said:
Does anyone have any solid data regarding damage caused to components due to low quality power supply?

The lower power consumption isn't that much of a plus for me personally as I'm in a hostel for another couple of years.

Also considering the fact that you could buy 4-5 generic psu's for the price of a decent Corsair, I'm having a bit of a hard time justifying my purchase. Some of the arguments like 20+4 instead of 24 pin mobo connectors are trifling matters tbh.
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1. Generic PSUs have a grossly over-rated power rating. Poor design and temperature de-rating largely accounts for this. A generic 400W PSU is in effect a true ~200W unit.

Dropping a high-end GPU into your rig will prove this fact; many have had their generic PSUs show their true colours this way.

2. Efficiency - although not a concern for you - does make a difference to those who have their PCs running 24 x 7. There is another interesting side-effect to low efficiency : all the wasted power is dumped as heat, which means a hotter running PSU - more on this in point 3.

3. Every PSU will eventually die; have no doubt about that! What accounts for its life-span is the quality of components used. A generic PSU when subjected to the abuse of a demanding system will be lucky to survive more than 2 years. Plus, heat affects the lifespan of any electronic component significantly. A hotter running generic PSU will no doubt take a toll on its life-span.

A well designed PSU on the other hand can be expected to run well for 5 yrs.

Don't forget - a generic PSU will often skip a few nice additions like: input EMI/RFI filter, power factor correction, surge suppression, thicker gauge cables, etc.

4. What finally separates the men from the boys is the quality of power output. Two important specs :

- Voltage ripple : Every PSU has voltage ripple on its outputs, which is finally cleaned up by the VRMs on the device it is powering. A higher amount of voltage ripple = more work for the VRM = hotter it runs = sooner it can fail. Don't expect generic PSUs to have low voltage ripple. This spec can only be measured with an oscilloscope.

- Voltage regulation: Voltage regulation, is how well the PSU maintains its output voltage under varying loads. If a PSU cannot regulate its outputs well, you will suffer stability issues if the output drops too low under heavy load, or smoked hardware if an unloaded output shoots too high. You can measure this using a DMM.

Generic PSU's either do not include or have poor implementations of over-voltage and over-current circuit protection. In other words, if in case one of the lines goes haywire or there's a short-circuit in your system, your generic PSU will most likely take itself out along with your hardware while a good unit will gracefully shut itself down.

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Now onto the economics of buying a better but expensive PSU.

Just about everyone has the same reasoning that they can buy 4~5 generic PSUs for the same price as a good quality one.

- From point #1, you see you effectively get only 1/2 the power promised from a generic PSU. So a good PSU gives you double the power at 5 times the cost, making it effectively 2.5 times more expensive.

- Next, point #3 says you'd probably end up replacing your generic PSU 2.5 times more over a 5 yr period than a good unit. Which effectively makes your expense the same. Not to mention the additional bits/better components that are thrown into a better PSU making it a better value!

- Finally with the poor quality output from a generic PSU, your components can either die a slow death due to high voltage ripple or be taken out in one swoop whenever the PSU malfunctions. Factor in the cost of replacing additional hardware, and the generic PSU is no longer looking like a good deal is it ? ;)
 
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^^ Guru has spoken... very well put Eddy!

PSU is not like CPU where higher specs result in instant performance gains. And this is a performance that you can see (45 FPS as compared to 35 FPS with old CPU)

But with PSUs there is no such thing. If you value your components or if you have burnt your fingers with a generic PSU, you will invest in a good PSU. Otherwise, a 400W SMPS selling for 3,000 may seem completely pointless to you.
 
SunnyBoi said:
hit or miss. fortron OEMs are good while rest is crap
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how to identify VIP PSU with FSP OEM?Will CM460W be better than VIP?since both are priced similar acc to prime...
 
Can somebody answer this simple question. I have a CM 460 and for the rest of my system specs please see the signature below. Now when I check the voltages using Everest Ultimate, it shows a movement of between 12.25-12.61 for the 12V rail. It stays at 12.61 at normal usage and moves down to 12.25 sometimes while running benchmarks, fluctuating a lot between this range. Is this normal? Can I RMA this?
 
mav2000 said:
Can somebody answer this simple question. I have a CM 460 and for the rest of my system specs please see the signature below. Now when I check the voltages using Everest Ultimate, it shows a movement of between 12.25-12.61 for the 12V rail. It stays at 12.61 at normal usage and moves down to 12.25 sometimes while running benchmarks, fluctuating a lot between this range. Is this normal? Can I RMA this?
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get a DMM, check the voltage and post back. software readings are unreliable.
 
mav2000 said:
Can somebody answer this simple question. I have a CM 460 and for the rest of my system specs please see the signature below. Now when I check the voltages using Everest Ultimate, it shows a movement of between 12.25-12.61 for the 12V rail. It stays at 12.61 at normal usage and moves down to 12.25 sometimes while running benchmarks, fluctuating a lot between this range. Is this normal? Can I RMA this?
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Voltages are never rock solid constant. they keep fluctuating by a small margin. The ATX standard has a specific margin for this (5% afair).

Do not trust a software to tell you the voltages. The best way and only CORRECT way to check psu voltages is to rely on a proper multimeter.

check the review section where funky sir has posted a review on the CM460. afaik he had voltage measurements too :cool2:

edit-beechboi :@
 
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