Power Supply Unit

gillbee

Probably a silly question but are there different types of PSU's for a desktop PC? A friend of mine is having PC problems and I'm pretty sure the PSU is gone. I'm happy to fit it, but I don't want to send my friend out to buy the wrong thing. Thanks.

Lorian

Usually they are pretty universal, unless its a Dell or Compaq/HP PC.

It does really depened on what PC it is though. You need to take a look at the current PSU to see what it says on it, and identify which power connectors it has.

Don't send them out to buy one though, thats really expensive way to shop for one. Expect to pay less than a tenner from somewhere like ebuyer.

Blacksheep1979

Lorian wrote: »

Don't send them out to buy one though, thats really expensive way to shop for one. Expect to pay less than a tenner from somewhere like ebuyer.

and then expect it to go pop in no time at all, possibly taking out some other components with it. Don't scrimp but unless you're running a top end system it's not worth spending £100 or anything silly but would look to spend at least £20 or so on a decent brand (not qtec or ebuyer value) but the likes of coolermaster, antec, tagan etc.

esuhl

The differences between PSUs are:

1) Quality
2) Power output (Watts)
3) Number and type of connections (e.g. 20- or 24-pin power connector for the motherboard, and either molex connectors for IDE drives or the newer SATA type or a combination of both).

Hope this helps...

ormus

apart from some dell and compaq puters. which dont take generic PSU.
also, all shuttle systems have a very odd PSU. and expensive. about 60 quid!

mostly

i wouldn't buy any psu sub 50 notes

Cerro

mostly wrote: »

i wouldn't buy any psu sub 50 notes

Thats my thinking too!

Unless you have a really old system which a) doesn't need much power and b) you don't care about too much - then i'd get a decent PSU which won't blow out the rest of your PC.

niceguyrichy

can you post sys specs ?
mobo, cpu, gfx would probably do (unless your friend uses a lot of drives)
some psu's still have a 24 pin fixed power connector, some 20 pin + 4 etc.
also, listen to the guys above and don't ever buy a real 'budget' psu, it's just plain not worth the hassle, honestly.

esuhl

Yeah... I wasn't going to mention it for fear of moneysaving mockery, but my PSU cost over £100 (a Seasonic S12 if I remember correctly). I'm (optimistically) hoping it will last for years and work out relatively cheap in the long run!

Blacksheep1979

yup my relatively low powered (480W) tagan cost me about £65 4 years ago and is still going strong now being run 24/7 in a server.

However for a system with one hd, one dvd drive a relatively low end gfx card and a lowish end cpu a 400W coolermaster psu for £25 or so should suffice.

johnmc

Paid £22.21 for mine 15/05/03.

400W Mercury and it's doing fine, thanks.