Rating PSU quality

My bro has updated his mobo and processor recently, hes also gonna get 800mhz of ram and looking at an 8800gts in the future, so that 350w psu with 1 12v rail aint gonna cut it.

My question is is the old psu good enough? 550w its got 2 12v+ rails at 18A+17A, enough to power a gts, but is that the only thing to take into account when judging the quality? I know its important getting the right one im slightly worried as it came with my 'old' pc, but i cant find much wrong with it.

I dont know if this is the branding label but it says HEC on it, so does a brand make a crappy psu? Or will it cut the mustard?

A brand name means a lot (especially for PSUs), try and find out more info on it. 350w wont be sufficient for a GTS, they draw 75w from the motherboard and 75w from the PCI-E power connector.

That doesn't leave you with much headroom on the 12v rails.

Never use cheap PSUs. Ever....well, apart from maybe as a weapon when returning it, when it has fried all your components.

From a quick search, HEC = not a good brand.
Should be passable untill a 8800gts goes in, depending on current specs

its currently running an abit ip35-e/e4300/7300gs heats at idle seem to be fine, although he does crash a lot in BF2, struggling to believe its overheating issues due the fact there are no sid epanels on the case :P

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Clunk

Never use cheap PSUs. Ever....well, apart from maybe as a weapon when returning it, when it has fried all your components.

---

Agreed..........this is most probably the most over looked component.