orion84

I'm looking to upgrade/purchase a new rig, and i'm planning to do it part by part. I noticed everyone buys online, which is awesome but not for where i live. I'd be lucky for something to arrive here in one piece with the way shipping is handled here. Anyway, i've been looking around for PSU's. Corsair seems to be a good brand but quite expensive.

The 3 major PSU brands that are quite easy to find are:
Enermax, Dynamo, and IMaster

I found ONE corsair model but was unavailable. Any ideas on what brand i should be on the look out for? Even better, anyone in Asia know how to help?

Right now im running an Enermax EG465P-VE (is that a decent brand?) 450w on my:
Athlon 64 2.8Ghz
Geforce 7600 GS
1 gig Ram
K8N Neo2 Platinum Mobo

simpswr

Enermax is a good brand . . Take a look at our Power Supply Reccomendations for some ideas on what else would be good for you. Unfortunatley, we do not have any reccomended sites in the Phillipines right now

Tumbleweed36

Might be a good idea for you to send us a link to the online stores in that area where you like to shop and then either Simpswr or another tech can browse their site(s) and see if there are any quality supplies that might be good for your rig if you plan on upgrading the power supply.

orion84

Thanks that's greatly appreciated. Since its holy week here, Easter break there, lots of stores are closed but on monday/tuesday i'll be able to go out. I'll try and post some sites of stores here when i get a good look at them.

@Simpswr
Thanks its good to know Enermax is a good brand. However after 5 years of use im thinking its failing on me already. Not sure but when i get a new case with a cheap psu i can test if my comp is having the same problems. If you have any ideas you can check the thread:

Heat issue or failing comp?

Net Jockey

A new case with a cheap psu is not recommended....

What one needs to know about...the relation of the negative effects of heat on the computer...That can be caused by the power supply.

Manufacturers test their PSU's at a set temperature...from this their rating is determined... for most this No. is 25 degrees Celsius...which falls short of the temperature that most computers are capable of achieving.

Given that a PSU will actually lose 2-5 watts per one degree of heat above the 25 Degree Celsius testing temperature...coupled with the fact that computers tend to run at 10 degrees higher than room temperature... In the summer time when the room temperature can easily reach 80 degrees F... your computer will be running at 33 Degrees C. or 90 Degrees F.

So the...math can make...your 500 watt power supply into a 460 watt unit.

In addition to this...what needs to be taken into account is that each degree that your computer components are operating at...under powered...adds more heat to the equation.

Consider also...the possibility...that ratings given by the manufacturer of single components...such as graphics cards...need to be treated with skepticism...Manufacturers may minimize support issues and under rate the power required...in order to make a larger profit.

The above has not taken into account...the issue of high quality vs poor quality units...Power supplies convert voltages from wall outlets to lower levels used by the PC. During this conversion, some power is lost as heat. The efficiency level of the PSU determines how much extra power must be put into the power supply to run the PC. A high quality PSU can help reduce the noise and heat generated within a computer system. The higher the efficiency rating the less heat the PSU has to deal with.

Therefore heat is the computers enemy...The hotter the temperature your PSU is forced to run at...the poorer the supply of power the rest of the components will receive...which has been known to lead to such things as crashes, freezing, rebooting, BSOD’s, and video distortion, as well as partial and complete failure of other components.

The fact is very few PSU’s are capable of producing the wattage that the companies advertise.

For a very good comprehension of recommended brand names, wattage, and models in listed categories...Plus much more...check out this link. Power Supply Information and Selection

orion84

@Net Jockey
Thanks for the info. Yes i had a bad experience before of good case/cheap psu, that's why i spent the extra $$$ for an Enermax. But recently, if you checked the link i posted, i've been having problems with my pc shutting off. I don't believe its hardware failure but i do believe its a heat issue. My friend who's been building computers since he was 5 said to swap parts and test them individually, something i'm hoping to achieve with the new cheap psu. Just to see if the shut offs are caused by the psu.

Considering my location near the equator and living in a city at sea level, i'd be lucky to have my cpu temp go below 40 degrees _idling_. However at night when its cooler, my pc doesn't experience any problems. The only way i could achieve a 30~ degree mean (idle) is if i have the A/C on at a 24 degree temp.

wrench97

What CPU temp are you seeing when the PC shuts off?
Try using Coretemp to read the temps> http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

orion84

Actually most of the time when it shuts off its idling. Thats usually at around 40-41 degrees. Last time i did, i left it in the bios, with it idling at 40 degrees. Then it shut off. Which makes me suspect other parts like the psu. My mobo temp is around 32-35 degrees..

wrench97

Test it with the other psu, I think your on the right track.

orion84

Actually i recall a couple of incidents that most likely is related to the problem. I didn't really notice it before but now its glaring in my face. Here we use automatic voltage regulators because we don't trust our own power providers (we never plug any intricate electronics straight into the wall). So usually to power up i'd flip on the regulator, then the pc power switch. My enermax has a switch of its own, and sometimes i forget to switch it to 0 when not in use. Anyway, sometimes when its on, and i flip on the regulator, my computer would start automatically. I'm not sure if you'll understand the process... But just say and i'll clarify it a bit more.

I also spoke with my tech friend here and he said all my problems could be coming from my enermax, and quoting him "you're still using that 4 year old thing????". Haha.

wrench97

Enermax made a very good PSU at one time, couple of years back they turned troublesome.

It most likely starts automatically because it is set in the bios to restart after power failure,
turning the regulator off simulates a power failure. Change that to stay off in the power options and it will eliminate that.

orion84

I never set my bios to restart/restore in case of power failure. And i never ever turn anything off without shutting down first. And before i replaced the cmos battery, the bios kept resetting/clearing. Is any of these things related to power/current?

My tech friend who recommended the Enermax i'm using said the psu shouldn't boot the pc without the power switch on the case being turned on.

EDIT: oh and the auto start up happened before i started experiencing random shut-offs. Regardless, i'll pop in a cheap psu just to test the whole theory out. Then if it is the psu, swap the cheap one for a quality brand. But if you stumble upon something or have a better idea from my recollections then please let me know.

BTW i'm extremely proud of this rig. Mobo was shorted once from a cheap psu, processor melted twice, had everything replaced and its still kicking just as good as any duo core. Not bad for a 4+ year old rig.

wrench97

Turn on after power failure is often the default setting, so if you did not change it to stay off it would do exactly what you describe.

orion84

Got it.

One more question. With the random shut offs, why can't i turn back on the pc right away (assuming i let it sit for 10-15 seconds before i try turning it on). What happens when i try is that the fans turn like they've just got a drop of juice and stop, and the power LED on my case just starts blinking intermittently (2-3 second interval), and keeps going UNTIL i cut the power (either kill the regulator or turn off the psu). Usually i get a 10-15 minute down time before it starts up properly again.

Another thing, a while back when the random shutoffs just started occurring (but very rarely), the pc would do a checkdisk before booting. But now with the constant shut offs it doesn't anymore. I don't recall if this is an option enabled/disabled through the bios or xp, or if its even an option.

wrench97

Check disk will run because the shut down happened, It would ba an option in XP to disable it.
The blinking light and the waiting time makes me think the PSU overheated and won't start back until cooled off, it could also be a sign of bad capacitors in the PSU which is the problem we saw with the Enermax Liberty series.