Budget PSU.

[WhiteGiant]

I'll be taking a look at a computer today with a suspected blown power supply.

Athlon64 3200
Asus A8V Mobo
2gb DDR1
Nvidia 7800GS
1 x 120gb IDE HDD
1 x IDE CDWR
1 x Floppy Drive

All running at stock.

Apparently it turns on, fans spin, but no beeps and no display. Worked fine a few days ago, then when it was turned on yesterday a quick message apparently was displayed about a power cut (I've never seen anything like that?) before the Windows logon page appeared. The logon displayed, the system froze. The user turned it off at the wall (they didn't know to hold the power button in), and since then the only response from the machine is all the fans running full tilt.

Comp is used for maybe 10hrs a week, basic office and browsing duties.

Any suggestions for a new budget PSU? I was looking at the following :

Antec Basiq Power 350w.

[scaryjim]

Hard to suggest anything better than the Antec to be honest. Good brand, should be rock solid

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Go for this Silverpower 400w unit:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/400w-...ed-cooling-fan

Silverpower is part of the same company as Tagan. From the reviews I have read the voltages on the rails tend to be very stable unlike a lot of the units in a similar price range.

I assume you have signed up for the free postage from Scan?? The PSU costs over £20 excluding VAT and you have 20+ posts on this Hexus so you are eligible.

[Hicks12]

If you can find it then look for the " xclio stable power 460w ". All reviews say its amazingly silent and very stable, not to expensive either so if you find it then grab it!.

[Domestic_Ginger]

The antec looks good; should be powerful enough as I was running a 3200+ setup on a 350w enermax without any problems. The enermax was an excellent PSU which lasted 5-6 years and I sold the other day.

I read somewhere the Basiq 550 was not made by seasonic(?) and was not quite up to antecs usual standards. Not sure about the 350, might be worth trying to find a review.

I would look into an 80+ efficiency to save some money in the long run.

[sammorris]

I'm not sure what the Xclio units are underneath. I'd probably go for the silverpower since it's meant to be a seasonic underneath - of course the externals will be pretty dire quality, but at least it isn't likely to go pop and fry components. The Antec Basiq units are meant to have a pretty terrible OEM, and sadly, not even the EarthWatts units are Seasonic any more I don't think.
I have to say though, from the first post I'm not entirely confident it is a dead PSU at fault.

[WhiteGiant]

Indeed, looks to be a dead mobo now, I take the ram out, beep beep, put it back in and take the graphics card out, no beeping

Tried another graphics card, same problem.

[Pob255]

I read somewhere the Basiq 550 was not made by seasonic(?) and was not quite up to antecs usual standards. Not sure about the 350, might be worth trying to find a review.

That is correct the Antec basiq is the budget range, it's not as good or as well made as there other PSUs and are not made by Seasonic I seem to remember it's ether CWT or Delta who actually make them.
They are weak on the +12v rail and are for non-overclocked lower power cpu's and not designed to run a pc with a seperate graphics card.
Now granted neather the Athlon XP or 7800gs are that power hungery so you should be fine, however I'd look at that Silverpower 400w
or
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166784 Be Quiet 350w purepower
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152505 OCZ StealthXStream 400w

if you want an Antec PSU then look at the Earth Watts range (these are the ones made by Seasonic and sold with Antec cases)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/120375 Antec EarthWatts 380w

[sammorris]

CWT would be alright, but I don't think it's them either. As far as PC parts go, the Athlon XP and 7800GS are up there with most mid-range systems these days, an HD4830 and Q8200 probably wouldn't use much more power, if any. On that basis I would suggest a good quality 350W unit at the least.

As I said before, the EarthWatts units USED to be Seasonics, but apparently they no longer are, I heard...

[WhiteGiant]

After another play around I think its the mobo. I'm assuming the AGP slot is borked, I don't have a display, nor any beeps if I remove the card.

However, I don't have a spare PSU to try

[Terbinator]

One of those Be Quiet 300W PSU's should do the job, im sure there was an article on here a few days back saying they were £23.99 on eBuyer!!!

[sammorris]

Could be the board, could be the PSU - especially since the graphics card is a major source of power. Most boards won't beep if there's no graphics card installed, they will if there's a problem connecting to one (board fault), the card is faulty (GPU fault) or if the card is otherwise causing an error (e.g. power fault)

[davidcrofter]

Yes the Be Quiet 350W is a far better bet than the Antec option, from all reviews I have read Be Quiet make some of the finest PSU's on the market though not particularly well known.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

One of those Be Quiet 300W PSU's should do the job, im sure there was an article on here a few days back saying they were £23.99 on eBuyer!!!

By the time many people had read my post it had come upto £29.99 again.

TBH,the Silverpower will do the job and I think it is a very underrated and well made unit. It is also slightly cheaper than the Be Quiet! and the OP can benefit from the Next Day postage from Scan.

[sammorris]

My experience is pretty contrary to that, the BeQuiet I had was awful (darkpower pro 850W), but not all of their range may be the same.
Knowing it's a Seasonic, I'd take the SilverPower (I'm assuming it still is) over the Bequiet even if it was more expensive.

[Hicks12]

The Xclio units are made by CWT and are generally made of a high spec from them, using good quality heatsinks etc ensure a quiet/cool operation. I have the 700w Great power and effciency wise its rated 80+ and its generally 85% from reviews ive seen.