'Q-Tec 550WP Dual Fan Gold' PSU

[bullfrog_173]

Hi everyone, just a quick question about a specific item i found on ebay . It's a Q-Tec 550WP Dual Fan Gold, and my system is currently:

Nvidia Geforce 6800GT (not o/c'd atm)
AMD Athlon XP 3200+
ASRock K7S8XE Mobo
1gb DDR400

Basically, what I want to do is buy a good, reliable PSU to replace the crappy little Winpower 400W one i have now, which seems to have given me problems with random power cut-outs in the past. I heard Q-Tec was good, but I don't know about this specific model or if I am missing an important detail here, so maybe you could basically give me your opinions and if it looks good i'll go for it (hopefully it'll stay at £18 lol).

[iMc]

The important detail you are missing is that Q-Tec's are absolutely shocking.

Do a forum search and you will find the proof! Really don't power your system with such an awful PSU. Plenty of people have had theirs blow up, others have had them blow up and take other componants with it. It really is not worth the risk.

Even though it says it is 550W in real world usage it would struggle to produce 400W under intensive load for long periods.

They are cheap for a reason.

[herulach]

Q-Tec suck basically, we sold them almost exclusively at maplins, and a good percentage were naff, and you might note that thats 550 peak, its only actually somewhere around 400, and by the time thats derated because of temp its prob dipping down to like 350 300.

Whats your budget? Something like the tagan 480, or the FSP fortron blue storm would be a good choice.

Id reccomend a 24 pin supply also, then should you upgrade you dont need to buy another one.

[bullfrog_173]

I AM SO GLAD I ASKED RIGHT NOW

Damn, no good bargains there then...

My budget - well - obviously the lower the better (hence ebay), but i would spend up to... maybe... £60?

[iMc]

Tis always good to ask about new hardware your buying to get other peeps opinions.

I always ask and I have been buying bits for a few years now. Is always good to get an end users perspective on things.

Glad you asked!

With £60 you wouldn't wrong with this or this.

Might be able to get it a bit cheaper if you search around. Also keep your eye on the bargain forum.

[bullfrog_173]

Hehe yeah, thank god for places like Hexus **Disaster averted**

Hmmm if you're suggesting that PSU then I might well get it, although of course, I will scan the bargain forum and Ebay first. So, for future reference, I basically want a 24 pin PSU, not Winpower, or Q-Tec, and 450W+ I imagine... any more drastically important things I need to know?

Edit:
Someone found Ultra 400W X-Connect Power Supplies here in the bargain forum A slightly less desirable option... but I'll keep it open

[iMc]

Those Ultra X-Connects are supposed to be pretty good. At £30 you can't go wrong with one of them.

[bullfrog_173]

Ok I'll look around a bit more but I might get an X-connect... I like to save a bit of money... herulach iMc, thanks a lot for your quick replies

[sybrows]

IF you are thinkin of overclockin components, the PSU is th one thing to keep stable.
BrOw

[cm_uk]

IF you are thinkin of overclockin components, the PSU is th one thing to keep stable.
BrOw

which Q-Tec don't offer... stability

[bullfrog_173]

Lol

I overclocked this gfx card when I first got it, but since then I've kept it at stock settings seeing as I haven't reallly *needed* to o/c it yet. I will overclock it in future through, for sure, to add a few months before I have to buy another lol

(as for the processor, I've never overclocked the processor but when the time comes I'll do it)

So as for the X-connect PSU's, can any of you offer any first hand experience regarding their stability? If not I might get the ones previously mentioned by iMc

[mike_w]

I've got a 480W Tagan - no problems so far (touch wood!)

[JimmyBoy]

lol as soon as i saw the thread title i chuckled

but as above really, keep away from em as most seem to die pretty quickly, sayin that tho i got 1 that came with a case n it works well but u cant go wrong really with enermax, antec or tagan

personally i have an enermax noisetaker 470w thingy and its very good, not to mention quiet

[skuzgib]

Thank god someone else has been saved from the extreme crappiness that is q-tec.

[YorkieBen]

Ive heard mixed things about the Ultra modular psus...

tagan, antec, enermax are all good psu makes afaik

the akasa psus are supposed to be pretty decent

[Ramedge]

ive got a hiper silent 525watt psu, its really nice i did order the 425 but ocuk made a mistake and sent me the 525, i was very happy is a nice psu and in the new ones you can unlug any cables that u dont need from the psu !