And this, kids, is why we don't buy cheap PSUs

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Messugga

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I just came upon this rather interesting article that was posted on Tom's around six months ago. It looks into what you get for your money when you buy one of those really cheap power supplies you often find bundled with R300 chassis. You know the ones I'm talking about; that 500W job with the really obscure manufacturer that you've never heard of.

Anyway, it's a good read.

Article
 
Everyone else: make sure you're purchasing a quality PSU so that you can rest easy knowing your other components (and ultimately, your data) are safe. This test demonstrates one thing: if you buy too cheap, you will probably end up buying twice.
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'nuff zed.
 
I agree... but you're still going to get the people claiming that their Fong Shu psu's are awesome and they only paid R500 for a 650W modular psu!!!
But just wait 4 years when my pc is still running, and their 4th Fong Shu is starting to smoke.
 
Interesting but for sure i would never buy a power supply from an online auction
 
froot said:
I agree... but you're still going to get the people claiming that their Fong Shu psu's are awesome and they only paid R500 for a 650W modular psu!!!
But just wait 4 years when my pc is still running, and their 4th Fong Shu is starting to smoke.
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nosmoke.exe in the autoexec.bat file? :whistle: :D
 
froot said:
I agree... but you're still going to get the people claiming that their Fong Shu psu's are awesome and they only paid R500 for a 650W modular psu!!!
But just wait 4 years when my pc is still running, and their 4th Fong Shu is starting to smoke.
Click to expand...

This is something I always found interesting. What makes these people qualified to say that their PSUs are "awesome"? I often see people saying that their cheapo supplies have never given them a day's trouble. Do they even know what the symptoms of a dodgy power supply would be? Standard practice dictates that you implement filtering of the power supply on pretty much all electronic components, just in case the power source is dirty, so odds are you won't notice that the PSU is feeding rubbish power until something major goes wrong. What you're not noticing, however, is that all the bits and bobs hooked up to the dodgy supply is taking a real beating and especially mechanical things like hard drives, do not like that.
 
Messugga said:
This is something I always found interesting. What makes these people qualified to say that their PSUs are "awesome"? I often see people saying that their cheapo supplies have never given them a day's trouble. Do they even know what the symptoms of a dodgy power supply would be? Standard practice dictates that you implement filtering of the power supply on pretty much all electronic components, just in case the power source is dirty, so odds are you won't notice that the PSU is feeding rubbish power until something major goes wrong. What you're not noticing, however, is that all the bits and bobs hooked up to the dodgy supply is taking a real beating and especially mechanical things like hard drives, do not like that.
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Had a friend who was bitching about how crap his memory / mother board was with all the troubles he had with it. Went through 2 motherboards and 4 sticks of memory before he listened to me and actually changed his cheapo 450W PSU. No problems since!
 
There is a slight difference of course between the standard PSU you get with cheapie cases and these Mass-auction jobbies IMO - but yes if it aint branded I wouldn't push it
 
yo yo,

Ironically I had OEM PSUs all my life and never had any issues, and the day I bought a ThermalTake PSU....it broke after a couple months...lol

Maybe I am just lucky so far...OEM PSUs always worked for me, but yeah I do agree with this, you can't go wrong with a good psu.
 
Gozzy said:
yo yo,

Ironically I had OEM PSUs all my life and never had any issues, and the day I bought a ThermalTake PSU....it broke after a couple months...lol

Maybe I am just lucky so far...OEM PSUs always worked for me, but yeah I do agree with this, you can't go wrong with a good psu.
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agreed
just cause one is more expensive doesnt make it better. If the power from Eskom trips or a phase goes down for a while to often it doesnt matter how expensive or cool name is stuck on your power supply it will still pack up. a lot cheaper to replace a R199 PSU every few months than a R800 PSU.
 
The real problem with PSUs isn't the no-name Chinese jobbies it's the branded crappo Coolermaster/Isonic/whatever low end PSU's that masquerade as 'gaming' units and list ridiculous unrealistic wattages which make a similarly watted high quality unit that costs 2x as much seem like lesser value. I'm looking at you Xtreme Power 650w.

The average buyer doesn't know the difference between real and peak power or phases or anything of that nature. All they see is a big number and think it equals more power.
 
cerebus said:
The real problem with PSUs isn't the no-name Chinese jobbies it's the branded crappo Coolermaster/Isonic/whatever low end PSU's that masquerade as 'gaming' units and list ridiculous unrealistic wattages which make a similarly watted high quality unit that costs 2x as much seem like lesser value. I'm looking at you Xtreme Power 650w.

The average buyer doesn't know the difference between real and peak power or phases or anything of that nature. All they see is a big number and think it equals more power.
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Well mine hasn't failed me yet, it's the fan that is failing, so I can't really blame the PSU for that, also that review states the following: "Overall, it's a good buy for users that are just like its performance - in the middle of the road between user and enthusiast, who need something reliable to power their machine, that won't add a burden to their wallets, or arms for that matter."

That's the kind of person I am. I've gotten this PSU for 2 other friends and no complains as of yet, yes sure it's not the best of the best but it's not bad either if you are on a budget.
 
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Gozzy said:
yo yo,

Ironically I had OEM PSUs all my life and never had any issues, and the day I bought a ThermalTake PSU....it broke after a couple months...lol

Maybe I am just lucky so far...OEM PSUs always worked for me, but yeah I do agree with this, you can't go wrong with a good psu.
Click to expand...

Thermalcrap isn't exactly a good brand. Get Corsair or Antec.
 
albert123 said:
agreed
just cause one is more expensive doesnt make it better. If the power from Eskom trips or a phase goes down for a while to often it doesnt matter how expensive or cool name is stuck on your power supply it will still pack up. a lot cheaper to replace a R199 PSU every few months than a R800 PSU.
Click to expand...

I also agree in a sense - I've never had a cheapo blow up on me and if it did, no biggie

Bought a Corsair 1000W Modular, and it exploded in less than 12 months - not so nice to replace if you ask me...
(luckily I got it swapped around......luckily)

I still blame eskom though.


the point i'm trying to make is this:
The more expensive one won't blow itself up like a cheapo one could, but eskom will level that playing field for you - in the end they are all on the line.
 
Gozzy said:
ThermalTake PSU....it broke after a couple months...lol
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IMHO Thermaltake make the worst products on the market. I've personally owned a PSU from them that also exploded. Thermaltake are auction jobbies with a premium price tag.

NomNom said:
WThat's the kind of person I am. I've gotten this PSU for 2 other friends and no complains as of yet, yes sure it's not the best of the best but it's not bad either if you are on a budget.
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What did you pay for it?
 
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The personal experiences resulting in broad sweeping "the whole product range is good/bad" is getting a bit much now

PSU with zero safety features = bad
Everything else = better to varying degrees
 
how do u determine what wattage PSU you need?? thinking of getting a "good" PSU for a change, just not sure which one and are there good PSUs in the sub R1k range??
 
It's less about the brand. And more about the manufacturer. Brands use different manufacturers who use different components for different levels of psu's.
My corsair hx1000 that cost me 2k+ leaves me sleeping peaceful with that 5year warranty in mind.
Also the reviews said that the voltage variance was low and efficiency was high etc :)

Sent from a Galaxy SII far far away via Tapatalk
 
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