Power Supplies

[benjaminha]

Hi I'm upgrading my graphics card from a x800 xl to a 8800gts. Im currently running an antec 450 watt smartpower and am going to have to upgrade to a 600 watt psu. Im just looking for suggestions for a good psu that isnt too expensive. I'm living in the uk so i wont be able to use new egg or anything like that basically. An y suggestion welcome

Cheer guys.

[Steve R Jones]

Borrowed from another site:
Good:1
Top quality PSU's in blue - for high-end builds
Aerocool
AMS
Antec
Astec
AOpen
Asus
Channel Well
Cooler Master
Corsair
E-Power
Enermax
Enlight
Fortron Source
HEC
Hi-Power
HiperPower
Jeantech
Mad Dog
Mushkin
NSpire
OCZ
PCMCIS
PC Power & Cooling
PowerMan
Seasonic
SilenX
Silverstone
Sparklepower
Tagan
Thermaltake
TTGI/SuperFlower
Verax
Zalman
Xclio

Bad:
Achieve
Allied
Apevia (formerly Aspire, same quality)
Codegen
CoolMax
Cyberzone
DEER
Dragon
Eagle Tech
EYE-T
Greenline
HIPRO
JSP-tech
KingStar
Kingwin
L&C
Linkworld
Okia
Orion
PowerMagic
PowerTek
PowerUp
Powmax
Q-Tec
Raidmax
Rosewill
Skyhawk
Startech
Turbolink
Ultra
Vantec
Win

Not Enough Info:
AGPB
Aerocool
Ahanix
Dynapower USA
Levicom
Soyo

[SoloCamo]

Who says you have to upgrade to a 600w psu?

What are the rest of your system specs? There's a good chance that the antec will be plenty for that card (depending on specs of course)

[him61]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve R Jones

Borrowed from another site:
Good:1
Top quality PSU's in blue - for high-end builds
Aerocool
AMS
Antec
Astec
AOpen
Asus
Channel Well
Cooler Master
Corsair
E-Power
Enermax
Enlight
Fortron Source
HEC
Hi-Power
HiperPower
Jeantech
Mad Dog
Mushkin
NSpire
OCZ
PCMCIS
PC Power & Cooling
PowerMan
Seasonic
SilenX
Silverstone
Sparklepower
Tagan
Thermaltake
TTGI/SuperFlower
Verax
Zalman
Xclio

Bad:
Achieve
Allied
Apevia (formerly Aspire, same quality)
Codegen
CoolMax
Cyberzone
DEER
Dragon
Eagle Tech
EYE-T
Greenline
HIPRO
JSP-tech
KingStar
Kingwin
L&C
Linkworld
Okia
Orion
PowerMagic
PowerTek
PowerUp
Powmax
Q-Tec
Raidmax
Rosewill
Skyhawk
Startech
Turbolink
Ultra
Vantec
Win

Not Enough Info:
AGPB
Aerocool
Ahanix
Dynapower USA
Levicom
Soyo

I just have to ask this. Where did you get this list? There are a couple problems with this list. First, I have no clue how they ever came to believe that E-Power PSUs are even remotely good. They belong at the bottom with Powmax. Complete crap PSUs. The Tagans are great though.
Hipros are actually pretty decent units. They are under-rated, fairly heavy, and come with decent amperages for low-mid gaming rigs at a fairly low price. I've used them with a lot of my builds and they run fantastic.
Other than that, I'd suggest a 500-something watt or a 450 at least of any good brand PSU. Make sure that it has enough amperes on the +12v rail too.

[RamonGTP]

I agree... E-Power is crap. I know, I've got one! (not in my main rig of course)

The Ultra's on the bad list seem to be doing a lot better these days too.

[benjaminha]

Im running and amd 3800, a gig of ram and an asus ati mobo. I have a x-fi sound card n thats about that really. Any other things I've missed out you need to know?

[RamonGTP]

What vidoe card? As long as it isn't anything crazy you can get by on a nice 350watt FSP with ease.

[RamonGTP]

Oh, nevermind... I forgot about your original post... In which case, a 450watt FSP would work with those specs and a 8800GTS.

The Antec you have will work, but I'm not sure for how long... Antec's have had a history of failing lately, especially the smart power series.

[SoloCamo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by benjaminha

Hi I'm upgrading my graphics card from a x800 xl to a 8800gts. Im currently running an antec 450 watt smartpower and am going to have to upgrade to a 600 watt psu.

His antec should be fine

[RamonGTP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoloCamo

His antec should be fine

Yeah, for how long though... I had several True Power 430's fail on systems that required less power than his, and those TP 430's are a lot better than the SmarPower series.