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Skept

I finally picked up Tomb Raider last night... annnd the power supply on my PC died today. So now I'm on the hunt for a cheapish psu. I found a 750w on ebay from Kentech for $40, but I've heard mixed reviews on them... any here have any experience with Kentech? Or can someone recommend a relatively cheap psu around 750w (I plan to get a 660ti soon after, my current card is crap, I think 750 should be more than enough to power that?) that is still quality? I'll upgrade it again eventually, I'd just like something to get it up and running for now.

1 decade ago*

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14 Comments
mkrnic

It's a 120W card. Why do you need a 750W power supply?

1 decade ago
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Skept

Wanted some extra in case I decided to add another one or upgrade other stuff.. after looking into it I'm reading that it's not good to get a psu that is bigger than what you need though, so I'll be taking keenzor's advice and just getting 550w.

1 decade ago
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Shad0WeN

There's nothing wrong with getting a bigger PSU than what you need to leave headroom, but the build quality of the unit, how much amperage it can handle on each line, etc is more important.... and the raw wattage output can be misleading and is not really the primary specification that you want to be looking at. You can read about this in a good power supply buying guide.

1 decade ago
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mkrnic

Getting a computer to draw more than 300W is very hard. You have to go out of your way to make it happen, either by extreme overclocking, and/or buying a high-end graphics card or running SLI/Crossfire. I'm not saying that you need a 300W PSU, but a quality 450-550W would be more than fine. Do note that quality does not come cheap. I have an overkill PSU in terms of wattage, and it set me back a cool 150€ / $200. Then again, I got it for other reasons, not its power.

1 decade ago
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Keenzor

You should be okay with decent quality 550W. Rather get a good PSU with lower wattage than a crappy one with high one.

btw. My PSU died as well few days ago ^.^. something bad in the air? At least mine is still under warranty, so I will be getting a new one for free.

1 decade ago
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Pr0n

This is correct. A cheap 750W PS could cause more problems than a quality 550W, including system instability.

1 decade ago
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Faranth

Yea, what the guy said. You don't want it making real chips from computer ones!

1 decade ago
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Skept

Thanks, just found a 550w thermaltake for about $50. I think I'll be grabbing that. Hopefully they aren't too difficult to replace. The most I've ever done inside my pc is replace ram.

1 decade ago
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Shad0WeN

I haven't kept up with hardware reviews in some time now, but my advice to you is not to skimp on a power supply. You get what you pay for, and it could end up affecting other components in your system if you buy a "cheap" PSU.

1 decade ago
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Desidiosus

PSU is the one part you shouldn't be cheap about. Get a good quality PSU (at least 80+ bronze) with lower wattage. Depending on your other components, a 500W PSU is most likely enough as long as it's a good one.

1 decade ago
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SeanBahamut

This one is reliable

1 decade ago
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ChagTheRin

i had a 600W kentek die on me back in october after about a months or so use.. While the pc was off (Smelled something burning while i was downstairs watching Football). So thats my experience, now im stuck with a Logisys 480W.

1 decade ago
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Khalaq
(Senior Moderator)

I've been buying computer parts since the 1970's. It has pretty much always been the case that "you get what you pay for." Rather than trying to buy a "cheaper" product that will crap out on you and need to be replaced (again and again), look for something that is good-to-high quality for a reduced price. I would start at Newegg.com to see which PS's have the best ratings, then look for the highest discounts on those products. Eventually, you will work your way down the list to something you can afford.

On a side note, you probably are fine with a decent 550W PS.

1 decade ago
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Skept

Thanks everyone. Glad I asked before buying. I'll just put my money in a quality power supply and wait on the new card.. disappointing, but it sounds like the smarter option. This wait is gonna suck though.. lol. I'm now forced to game on my mac until then ...wouldn't be so bad if steam would just give me my damn Witcher 2 key already..

1 decade ago
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Closed 1 decade ago by Skept.