New PSU Time

[flakbait]

A7N8X-E Dlx
AMD 3000+ (333MHZ)
1GB (2x512) Corsair PC3200
Seagate 7200.10 80GB
Radeon 9800 Pro
Mitsumi CD-burner
Lite-On DVD ROM
Rosewill dial-up modem
Antec TruPower 430w PSU... and it's trying to kill itself

Contacted Skuzzmeister and he suggested the weird behavior my rig is doing is because of a crapping-out power supply. I've looked at OCZ and Corsair PSUs through NewEgg and can't decide. I need one capable of powering this thing with a 20+4 plug, and as many Molex (5v) plugs as I can get. Four will be used for components outright (HDD, CD-R, DVD, Radeon 9800), and I've got four (1x90mm, 2x120mm, 1vid cooler) fans that also need Molex plugs to run.

Suggestions?



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Flakbait [Delta6]

[Fulmar]

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

This just calculates watts for the system at 100% load.  This will give you a rough ballpark on the type of wattage you need for the PSU.  However, it does not give you the amps on the 12V rails needed mainly for Graphics cards.  Since you have an older 9800...the amp draw shouldn't be too big of a concern.

My calculations came up with 224 Watts.

IIRC, Corsair PSU's are made by Seasonic, which is one of the top brands you can get in a PSU.  OCZ also makes a good product.  Check the warranties on the products, see if they differ much.  Also, do any of them have modular cabling (some people enjoy this, I personally do).  And whats the price difference between the two you are looking at?

If you have a few picked out that you can't decided on, post the links.

[flakbait]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341010


Those are the two so far. I'm not sure about the Corsair if only because the amps are kinda low on the 3.3 and +5 rails. The OCZ (link #2) has 4 12v rails, and I only need one, but it'll work. Suggestions, at this point, are highly welcome!


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Flakbait [Delta6]

[Fulmar]

Amps aren't really a concern on the 3v and 5v rails since most of these power low amp devices such and CD/HD's.  The OCZ gives you headroom for upgrades in the future (i.e. a new video card) and should be able to power a mid level gaming computer if you were to build a new computer (right now at least).  The Corsair will be a slightly higher quality PSU, but will not give you much headroom for future computer upgrades (i.e. new mobo, video card, cpu).

It's really your call on 'when your next upgrade is.'

[humble]

The OCZ is the way to go IMO, not only headroom but a 3yr full replacement warranty. Both are excelent units however and you wont go wrong either way.

[flakbait]

Reading the OCZ spec was a tad misleading; there's only 5 Molex plugs and I thought there were six. That isn't enough with the number of devices I need to crank. I also discovered the cables are a tick too short for my application. Nevermind on that one.

Corsair has a 5 year warranty, but quite a few reports of DOA units or very loud (read: fubar) fans. I may go with a Corsair VX450, but I'll listen to any other options.



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Flakbait [Delta6]

[Fulmar]

Well, if you needed more molex connecters...a good Y Cable solves that easily/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812201006&Tpk=molex%2bY%2bcable

As for the DOA units, I take NewEgg reviews with a grain of salt.  If I ordered a PSU and it was DOA, I feel I would be more likely to post a review of the product on Newegg because of my bad experience as opposed to getting a unit and just plugging along with a working one.  So I wouldn't take to hear the ratio of posters have DOA units as compared to good units.  Unless the ratio was like 2:1.