Looks like I'm in need of a new PSU

Reizla

My PSU is acting 'funny' lately and I fear it's time to replace the damn thing....

Right now I have an OCZ Fatal1ty 720W (750W?) PSU that still works, but whenever I move my PC, it has a chance to kinda kill the power immediately. When I mess a bit with the powercord (when the PC is turned off), it gives a bit of a sci-fi alike soundeffect as if power is flowing but not connected right...

I've checked power requirements for my PC (see siggy along with 3 HDDs 5600/7200rpm, DVD/RW and 2 extra USB devices) and all sites tell me around 450W, so I guess grabbing a 500W-550W should be fine, but I have no clue what to buy as replacement, also in light of future updates for the PC, because I do plan to replace the CPU with an FX83x0 (should use less power than the 1090T) and I might add an extra 2 RAM banks as well.

Any advice would we welcome, also on the minimum power required.

Phry

First thing i would recommend is changing the power cord, if that doesn't make any difference, then you need to replace your PSU, sooner rather than later or you could end up replacing quite a bit more besides.

Reizla

Phry said:

First thing i would recommend is changing the power cord, if that doesn't make any difference, then you need to replace your PSU, sooner rather than later or you could end up replacing quite a bit more besides.

I'm pretty sure it's not the powercord, because I wasn't touching the cord but the hard plastic cover at the PSU side. Worth to try though, thanks!

Quizzical

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207030
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151119

They're nearly the same, but the latter is modular for a few dollars more.  Exactly what CPU and GPU do you have?  Those are the main things that drive power requirements.

Gdemami

More sensible choice of PSU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1N83U90965

Reizla

Quizzical said:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207030
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151119

They're nearly the same, but the latter is modular for a few dollars more.  Exactly what CPU and GPU do you have?  Those are the main things that drive power requirements.

CPU is an AMD Phenom II 1090T and the GPU is a MSI GTX970 GAMING 4GB (also in my siggy ). And yeah, I'd prefer a modular PSU because my case doesn't have holes to transport the cables through the back of the board...

...now see where I can get either of them (or Gdemami's EVGA proposal) in The Netherlands...

Gdemami

Reizla said:

Quizzical said:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207030
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151119

They're nearly the same, but the latter is modular for a few dollars more.  Exactly what CPU and GPU do you have?  Those are the main things that drive power requirements.

CPU is an AMD Phenom II 1090T and the GPU is a MSI GTX970 GAMING 4GB (also in my siggy ). And yeah, I'd prefer a modular PSU because my case doesn't have holes to transport the cables through the back of the board...

...now see where I can get either of them (or Gdemami's EVGA proposal) in The Netherlands...

EVGA isn't modular.

If you want a modular PSU, recommended Seaosnic would be a good pick, you won't save much there since decent modular PSUs won't start below $65 anyway.

Vrika

Phry said:

First thing i would recommend is changing the power cord, if that doesn't make any difference, then you need to replace your PSU, sooner rather than later or you could end up replacing quite a bit more besides.

I'm pretty sure it's not the powercord, because I wasn't touching the cord but the hard plastic cover at the PSU side. Worth to try though, thanks!

Usually monitor power cords fit into PSU, so you can check if the problem is in power cord by plugging the monitor power cord to PSU and seeing if that strange effect still happens.

EDIT: You should also test turning the power supply off and back on again and see if that fixes the problem. There's a toggle in the power supply for turning it off and back on again.

Nightlite

You are probably hearing capacitors charging, which could be taken as sign the PSU is on its way out. Moving the PC and having the power immediately kill may be something else though, like a loose card in a PCI slot. I would give the PC a thorough inspection before making any final decisions. 


SeaSonic is supposed to be one of the best PSUs and certainly are packaged like they are king of the hill.. but I had one fail on me after about a year. That's all that it takes to turn me off on a brand. Switched to Corsair and couldn't be happier, Corsair PSUs are way ahead of the game in silent fans, power monitoring, and modular designs.

Quizzical

Reizla said:

Quizzical said:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207030
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151119

They're nearly the same, but the latter is modular for a few dollars more.  Exactly what CPU and GPU do you have?  Those are the main things that drive power requirements.

CPU is an AMD Phenom II 1090T and the GPU is a MSI GTX970 GAMING 4GB (also in my siggy ). And yeah, I'd prefer a modular PSU because my case doesn't have holes to transport the cables through the back of the board...

...now see where I can get either of them (or Gdemami's EVGA proposal) in The Netherlands...

If you're in the Netherlands, then you're looking at different prices.  Link a site there where you can buy power supplies and I'll try to find you a good deal at your local prices.

13lake

Something like this, this seems like an incredible deal :

https://www.micro-mail.nl/web/mm2012.nsf/xArtikelkaart100.xsp?docid=C507ECA08A2ADFBBC1257BF80030394E

https://www.4launch.nl/product/145699/145699-Cooler-Master-G550M-550W,-Modulair

or at alternate if u cant find one in the previous 2 shops.

https://www.alternate.nl/Cooler-Master/G550M-550-Watt-voeding/html/product/1088923?tk=7&lk=9530

or if you really want to have seasonic then this :

https://www.4launch.nl/product/344304/344304-Seasonic-M12II-EVO-520W,-Modulair

Quizzical

13lake said:

Something like this, this seems like an incredible deal :

https://www.micro-mail.nl/web/mm2012.nsf/xArtikelkaart100.xsp?docid=C507ECA08A2ADFBBC1257BF80030394E

https://www.4launch.nl/product/145699/145699-Cooler-Master-G550M-550W,-Modulair

or at alternate if u cant find one in the previous 2 shops.

https://www.alternate.nl/Cooler-Master/G550M-550-Watt-voeding/html/product/1088923?tk=7&lk=9530

or if you really want to have seasonic then this :

https://www.4launch.nl/product/344304/344304-Seasonic-M12II-EVO-520W,-Modulair

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/06/09/cooler_master_g550m_550w_power_supply_review/9#.V12iJ-eEB11 

Like the power supply that Gdemami linked, that one isn't terrible, but it's not very good, either.  I'd much sooner get something better like this:

https://www.4launch.nl/product/128566/128566-Seasonic-G-Series-550W,-Modulair

Hrimnir

I'm not sure how strapped you are for cash, but PSU's are one of the things I firmly believe in buying the best.  For a few reasons:

1. If it does "blow up" (I've had this happen) it usually takes out more components with it, typically a motherboard, sometimes CPU/GPU, etc.

2. If you buy a good one, you can transfer it and use it over your next 2-4 builds (depending on how often you upgrade)

3. It's really not *that* much of a price difference.

I personally use an AX750, I however when I bought that, there were a LOT less options.  You can now find top quality PSU's in the $100 USD range.

My personal favorite price/perf/value is the EVGA Supernova P2.  In your case the 650w should be perfectly fine (and should be fine for any single card you ever do, you only need more if you have SLI or some very special situations).

The P2 is platinum, the G2 is gold, otherwise they're basically the same, and the P2 isn't substantially more expensive, so you might as well go for the gold...err.. platinum (bad pun is bad).

https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperNOVA-PLATINUM-Crossfire-Warranty/dp/B010HWDPKW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1465793154&sr=8-3&keywords=evga+supernova+p2

Not sure if you can get it in Netherlands, but if you can I'd spend the extra 20 bucks or so.

Reizla

Hrimnir said:

I'm not sure how strapped you are for cash, but PSU's are one of the things I firmly believe in buying the best.  For a few reasons:

1. If it does "blow up" (I've had this happen) it usually takes out more components with it, typically a motherboard, sometimes CPU/GPU, etc.

I'm not so good on cash right now, but I agree with you that a PSU should be one of the better components in the PC for your #1 mentioned reason. And I actually have had that #1 happen already in the past where one of my my 8800GT cards blew up (you could smell the burning from the card) and the PSU had taken the biggest beating  and died along (still had warranty on it so it was replaced) and the rest of the PC's components had no damage at all...

Not sure I can get that EVGA one here, but I can at least check their site. They have a EU webshop with a lot of components for sale, and I am pretty found of EVGA's warranty & return policy...

Gdemami

Reizla said:
I'm not so good on cash right now, but I agree with you that a PSU should be one of the better components in the PC for your #1 mentioned reason. And I actually have had that #1 happen already in the past where one of my my 8800GT cards blew up (you could smell the burning from the card) and the PSU had taken the biggest beating  and died along (still had warranty on it so it was replaced) and the rest of the PC's components had no damage at all...

Not sure I can get that EVGA one here, but I can at least check their site. They have a EU webshop with a lot of components for sale, and I am pretty found of EVGA's warranty & return policy...

You can get decent PSU at around €50, €65-75 if you need modular cables. Given standard (gaming, home, etc) computer, there is little point in spending more, those are already quality enough not to worry about some catastrophe.