Are branded PSUs worth it?

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dannysdailys said:
In my experience, I've not noticed any real difference.

That's not to say there isn't one, but; I've got somewhere around 12
PC's running out there and not one has failed because of a PSU. In
fact, not one has failed at all.
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I will say this; I'm running a MSG 500 watt no name that came with
this case. It runs 4 hard drives, an overclocked 6600 GT, XP-3200,
sound card, TV capture card and all the extras including about 20
lights and 10 fans. According to my mobo software, the voltages are
right on spec and it's been running for about 7 months now. In fact,
the voltage specs are closer then the Antec 430 "True Power" it
replaced. No computer will be damaged by a PSU that's within 5 to 7%
of it's voltage specs.
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20 lights & 10 fans? What about tail fins? ;)

5-7% over/under voltage may not damage anything, but the protection
circuits in PSUs don't trigger until about -+15-20%, and the surges I
referred to are much worse than that.

Mobo monitors can't be trusted unless verified, and voltage
specsmanship is just trivia because what really matters is how well the
voltages stay within tolerances under any load or temperature.
EVERY failure I've seen, has been due to dirt and filth. If the
computer is kept clean, and the inside of the PSU is peridically
blown out, you shouldn't have any problems. Just make sure the
cooling fans are working. That's true with any power supply.
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So it must have been dust that got to those HDs installed with only
1/16" of clearance or those Taiwan electrolytic capacitors made with
faulty electrolyte (www.badcaps.net) that failed 90% sooner than
average (sometimes even in storage)? Just how do fans made with sealed
bearings suffer bearing failures because of dust? And wass it dust
that caused some 16V capacitors in my Deer or Powmax to receive 50V
spikes.
Remember; if there were vast differences in PSUs; as some suggest.
The cheapo's wouldn't even be out here.
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More likely they work fine because they're good enough for most users,
who rarely need more than 200-250W.

Why would some companies go to the trouble of using bigger
transformers, heatsinks, and capacitors if they didn't matter? After
all those components are internal and not noticed by 90% of the
consumers and not advertised (except maybe by PC Power & Cooling),
unlike lights, pretty paint jobs, external fan and voltage controls,
and sheathed cables. Also some OEM PSUs have unusual features, such as
fan speed that increases with load and not just with temperature or
protection that activates if the fan doesn't spin or doesn't draw the
right amount of current. Why would manufacturers include such features
if they or their OEMs didn't think they helped?
By the way, OEM's use the cheapest components they can find anywhere.
Don't let anyone fool you, that includes the PSU.
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A few years ago I did see a brand-new eMachine in a store with a Powmax
PSU, but otherwise every OEM PSU I've looked at was high quality, such
as Delta, Astec, Newton, Lite-On, NMB, or one of the better Channel
Wells (their quality varies from junk to Antec TruePower), and those
PSUs were crowded inside because their components were so larger than
average.
 
On 29 Aug 2005 20:20:15 -0700, "larry moe 'n curly"

5-7% over/under voltage may not damage anything, but the protection
circuits in PSUs don't trigger until about -+15-20%, and the surges I
referred to are much worse than that.
Click to expand...

True, I'd rather have a lower ripple 5-7% overvoltage than a
PSU with marginal capacity that intentionally overvolts to
give it more recovery time and lax OVP too... that's
essentially what they're doing to try to squeeze more
capability out of a marginal supply.

Mobo monitors can't be trusted unless verified, and voltage
specsmanship is just trivia because what really matters is how well the
voltages stay within tolerances under any load or temperature.


So it must have been dust that got to those HDs installed with only
1/16" of clearance or those Taiwan electrolytic capacitors made with
faulty electrolyte (www.badcaps.net) that failed 90% sooner than
average (sometimes even in storage)?
Click to expand...

Plus, those marginal capacitors are essentially being
superceded by the caps on boards, mainboard, video card,
hard drives- all doing more filtering to make up for the
ripple not only to the components they're soldered onto but
whole system. That accelerates wear of even "good" quality
caps.
 
Hi guys. As suggested I'm shopping around for a new PSU, probably 500W.
Is it worth getting unbranded PSUs over say an Antec one? The Antec
PSUs seem to be 5x more expensive than an equivalent rated unbranded
one.

Can you risk damaging your hardware with a bad PSU, or is the danger
exaggerated?
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Not reading the entire thread i suggest you read the
*complete* psu test on www.tomshardware.com and make your pick.
 
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