Cheapest PSU I can get away with (temporary)?

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seven7seven

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Hi all,

My PSU (CoolerMaster GX 550W) is being sent in for a warranty claim and I don't have a spare to put in for now.

What is the cheapest PSU that I could run my system on temporarily, I don't care if it doesn't last very long as I just need it for a few weeks.

My system:

i5 760
MSI GTX 460 1GB
Asus P7H55-M/USB3
2x2GB DDR3-1600
500GB SATA 7200
DVD-RW

Otherwise maybe a second hand one?

Thanks for the help!! :D
 
any of the 450/500w + cpu's from esquire would work.
 
Just go to http://www.esquire.co.za/ and click on pricelist :)

I think they have a 450w for around R200 (last I checked anyway).

Check out case prices as well, may end up cheaper to buy a case with built in PSU and just strip it out.
 
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Was going to recommend the Litepower as well. I have one powering a Gtx 660ti. The dollar price of these PSU's are much higher than takealots price BTW. Don't know why. And please those "cheap" 450w Power Supplies from Esquire are Chinese Fire Cracker Boxes.
 
sal12344 said:
Was going to recommend the Litepower as well. I have one powering a Gtx 660ti. The dollar price of these PSU's are much higher than takealots price BTW. Don't know why. And please those "cheap" 450w Power Supplies from Esquire are Chinese Fire Cracker Boxes.
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I have about 7 of them (oldest around 4 years).
No issues.

Wish I knew how people screw them up so easily, once in a blue moon I have to replace a cheapie and never had a DOA (since 1999 easily bought over 2000 cheap PSU's).

I don't use them in higher end machines though.
 
Superchannel 450watts go for about R210 normal retail
 
Man you people are all insane. Its a GTX460 with two PCI-Express 6-pin ports. Where the hell do the rest of you come with using cheapie PSUs to power this thing? You can get away with a Thermaltake Litepower 600W, OP, so long as its the version with one 6-pin and one 8-pin PCI-E power connector. Otherwise:

Cooler Master Xtreme Power Plus 550W @ R604

That should be your starting point for the rig. Even if it costs enough that you could have just bought a new PSU anyway, keep it as a backup and for testing friend's rigs. A spare PSU always comes in handy.
 
A 460W PSU should suffice, but you'll have to use most likely use the 2x molex to 1x 6-pin PEG adapter to power the GTX460, since it requires power from 2x 6-pin PEG connectors, and under 500W PSU's usually just ship with 1x 6-pin PEG connector.

If you're not going to be attempting to play games, then a cheap Thermaltake or iSonic PSU might cut it - but I'd rather suggest that you wait till they replace/swap out the other PSU.

If you're so desperate to run your PC, then you should've bought a better PSU to begin with. People always want the highest possible framerate in their games and then want to get the cheapest possible PSU. They forget that when the PSU goes, it often takes everything else with it: HDD, CPU, motherboard & graphics card!
Of course if you're using a cheap PSU with no over-current protection, you risk burning your whole computer/house down.
So ja, I'm very skeptical at suggesting cheap/unknown brand PSU's.
 
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If you have onboard graphics consider using that in the mean time (or a smaller gpu).
 
xumwun said:
If you have onboard graphics consider using that in the mean time (or a smaller gpu).
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The H55 LGA1156 boards supported onboard graphics but he's using the Core i5-760, which doesn't have integrated graphics.
 
Hi All,

Thanks very much for all the replies, really appreciate it!

@Pada: I bought a CM GX 550 which I thought was a decent quality PSU, as recommended by you and I quote:

Pada said:
You'll never regret buying a CoolerMaster GX550W PSU.
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post

:p

Unfortunately since day one it made a slight buzzing sound but more annoyingly on each boot it halts on a POST/BIOS screen and says (my motherboard is Asus P7H55-M/USB3):

"Power supply surge detected during the previous power on. Asus Anti-Surge was triggered to protect system from unstable power supply unit"

which forces you to hit F2 to continue the boot.

I sent it back to Prophecy shortly after receiving it (this was back in October 2010). They swapped it out for a new one immediately (great service) and the buzzing sound is gone but the BIOS halt/power surge error is still showing! I emailed Prophecy about it in December 2010 and never had a reply.... :confused:

Have just lived with it until now but decided to chase them up again - mailed them about it August 3rd 2012 and finally after two more emails got a response September 19th :erm:

They collected the PSU on Friday.

I unfortunately don't have another (smaller) GPU but I don't mind not playing any games while the PSU is away.

In that case what spare should I go for?

Thanks :)
 
I think pada was talking about recommending you a cheapie now. Not about your gx550.

Check out the XFX550w, Antec HCG series, Silverstone, corsair cx 500 v2 etc. All around R700 though, so I would wait, but if you must buy now, check them out.
 
nakedpeanut said:
I think pada was talking about recommending you a cheapie now. Not about your gx550.

Check out the XFX550w, Antec HCG series, Silverstone, corsair cx 500 v2 etc. All around R700 though, so I would wait, but if you must buy now, check them out.
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Ah ok, thanks.

Pada: my apologies if I misunderstood you! :)

I'm waiting on an ETA from Prophecy and will then see if I do buy a spare or if we can wait it out.

Thanks for all the help!
 
Richard7 said:
Ah ok, thanks.

Pada: my apologies if I misunderstood you! :)

I'm waiting on an ETA from Prophecy and will then see if I do buy a spare or if we can wait it out.

Thanks for all the help!
Click to expand...

You might also try asking for a loan unit if the repair takes an extended length of time. Don't know if it will work for a PSU though, but I have done it in the past with monitors and a tv.
 
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