Help select PSU Please

  • Thread starter Thread starter Leeway
  • Start date Start date
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Leeway

From all I've read in the past days, I believe I have a power supply
problem and I want to purchase a new one & I admit I am confused and don't
want to order a wrong one. I'd appreciate some help & advice.

I have: Asus P4B-533E motherboard
2 - WD 80gig Hard drives
CD Drive
DVD drive
Nvidia Geforce TI-4200
1gig memory
I currently have a 300 watt power supply (generic).

From what I have been reading, my problem sounds characteristic of a failing
power supply ie. intermittent boot problems. PC goes on for a second and
instantly turns off. This can happen several times and then it will boot up
just fine.

I am most interested in the Enermax Noisetaker but I don't understand all
the prefix's surrounding the watts. I think I'd like to go to 375 or 420
watts. Also how can I find out how many amps each of those would pull? I
am leary of circuit breaker problems.

Thanks for any advice, Donna
 
From all I've read in the past days, I believe I have a power supply
problem and I want to purchase a new one & I admit I am confused and don't
want to order a wrong one. I'd appreciate some help & advice.
I have: Asus P4B-533E motherboard
2 - WD 80gig Hard drives
CD Drive
DVD drive
Nvidia Geforce TI-4200
1gig memory
I currently have a 300 watt power supply (generic).
From what I have been reading, my problem sounds characteristic of a
failing
power supply ie. intermittent boot problems. PC goes on for a second and
instantly turns off. This can happen several times and then it will boot
up
just fine.
I am most interested in the Enermax Noisetaker but I don't understand all
the prefix's surrounding the watts. I think I'd like to go to 375 or 420
watts. Also how can I find out how many amps each of those would pull?
I
am leary of circuit breaker problems.
Click to expand...

Problems like yours can be due to a faulty power supply but other components
(such as the motherboard) could cause similiar symptons. You won't know
until you start swapping parts. A quality power supply (such as Enermax,
Antec, etc)
is recommended. Anything ~350W or greater is fine. Your present system
doesn't require much power while today's higher performing ones using Athlon
64 or Pentiium 4s CPUs, faster 3D video cards, etc. can push the power
demands up quite a bit. A 450W+ power supply would be a better choice for
a high end system.
 
Leeway said:
From all I've read in the past days, I believe I have a power supply
problem and I want to purchase a new one & I admit I am confused and don't
want to order a wrong one. I'd appreciate some help & advice.

I have: Asus P4B-533E motherboard
2 - WD 80gig Hard drives
CD Drive
DVD drive
Nvidia Geforce TI-4200
1gig memory
I currently have a 300 watt power supply (generic).

From what I have been reading, my problem sounds characteristic of a failing
power supply ie. intermittent boot problems. PC goes on for a second and
instantly turns off. This can happen several times and then it will boot up
just fine.

I am most interested in the Enermax Noisetaker but I don't understand all
the prefix's surrounding the watts. I think I'd like to go to 375 or 420
watts. Also how can I find out how many amps each of those would pull? I
am leary of circuit breaker problems.
Click to expand...

Hi Donna,
This may help you calculate:
http://www.firingsquad.com/guides/power_supply/page2.asp
I often use Enermax in 'high-end' systems but use Hiper PSUs for
budget ones and these have proven to be excellent - build quality
is very good IMO and I've had zero problems with any of the dozen
or so that are currently in use.
HTH
 
Thanks for the quick replies. I just need to make sure that I am ordering a
correct power supply if you can help further please.

I have selected the Enermax Noisetaker model (EG325P-VE SFMA) 320-Watt
Power Supply

Before I order it I'd like to make sure that this perfectly compatible with
a tower ATX case and the Asus motherboard below? I cannot find any
information online to verify that this is going to be ok for me.

Donna
 
Better technicians don't shotgun. Swapping power supply
only on speculation is how the naive use whims rather than
facts. With a 3.5 digit multimeter, determine power supply
integrity in less than two minutes. Those with basic training
determined power supply problems without doing shotgun
surgery.

Two previous discussions described how it is accomplished.
"Computer doesnt start at all" in alt.comp.hardware on 10
Jan 2004 at
http://tinyurl.com/2t69q and
"I think my power supply is dead" in alt.comp.hardware on 5
Feb 2004 at
http://www.tinyurl.com/2musa

Where would I apply special attention for your symptoms?
Maybe on numbers from red, orange, and yellow wires. Numbers
must be in upper 3/4 limits from charts. But with so little
information and without important facts from event logs,
device manager, and comprehensive diagnostics, then one can
only wildly speculate what may be problematic.

If you think for a minute that symptoms can define a power
supply as defective - especially without numbers - then I have
a good deal for you on a few East River bridges. Get the
meter that is so inexpensive and ubiquitous as to be sold even
in Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, and Radio Shack.

Many defective power supplies are sold because so many don't
even know what a power supply does. In simple terms, if it
does not sell for about $65 full retail, then it is probably
missing essential functions. If a full page of numerical
specs are not available, again, it is being marketed to bean
counter types who claim to be computer experts. Some
responsible manufacturers have been listed by others. You
really don't need even 300 watts. But again, so many 'bean
counter' supplies that claim more than 300 watts cannot even
output that much. A problem that does not exist with power
supplies that provide that long list of numerical specs.

It makes no sense to spend money on power supplies only on
subjective speculation. First get the numbers and other facts
from the event log, etc. Only then are you ready to define
the problem - or as for assistance.

Problems so often characteristic of power supplies are also
characteristic of failures on motherboard, power switch, sound
card, video controller, etc. How many things do you swap
before you have bought a whole new computer? Get the meter.
First obtain facts with numbers. Don't shotgun. Car
mechanics and medical doctors would be called scam artists if
they shotgunned. Why would you then make the same mistake?
 
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