Power Supply Question?

Ok, I'm sort of in the process of building myself a new rig, you know the research stage, and I have a question about power supplies.

I'm looking at a Chieftec server case from Newegg that comes with a Foxconn 450 watt power supply. All for the pretty good price of $105. I've never heard of Foxconn before so I'm wondering about it's quality and reliablity. That's almost as much as I had been planning on spending for just an Enermax PS.

Anybody know what kind of rep these guys have? Thanks.

You know, I''ve never heard of Foxconn before and usually cases don''t come bundled with the best of power supplies. If I was going to choose, I would go with something like the Enermax which is approved by both AMD and Intel. I did some checking and I can''t find any mention of Foxconn getting that same endorsement.

If there''s one thing I''ve learnt over the years, having a sub-par power supply can really screw you in the long run.

*Edit*
Nice to see we had an avatar that suited your name so perfectly

If there''s one thing I''ve learnt over the years, having a sub-par power supply can really screw you in the long run.

I figured it was probably too good to be true! Oh well back to the original plan.

Nice to see we had an avatar that suited your name so perfectly

Heh, I kinda thought so myself!

Enermax does make nice stuff, but if it ever dies on you, you''re out of luck. Their support is terrible. Check out Vantec, or something from PC Power and Cooling.

ARISE! Damn you, AAAARRRRRIIIIISSSSEEEEE.

I have a new barebones rig headed my way sometime later this week or next (those that follow the build your pc thread in the Tech section) and am asking for PS suggestions. It's coming to me with it's generic insert name here 450w unit, and I will be replacing it very quickly with a quality 600w+ single rail supply and want some ideas for name brands that people trust.

Thanks in advance.

edit: Shouldn't this be in the Tech section?

Oh, I generally trust the fine folks at NewEgg. If a product has 50+ reviews and averages 4-5 stars I feel safe buying it. I would strongly encourage buying an Energy Star SIlver or Gold certified PSU. More money up front, but I have really seen the difference on the electric bill. My PC gets a lot of use for games and entertainment. It may be on for 12 hours in a day. When I made the switch, no lie, I say a 40 dollar decrease in my bill the following month, with a more powerful but certified PSU.

January 2003.

EDIT: This isn't a knock on you, cartoonin, just a general comment that search should be fixed.

EDIT2:

Certis wrote:

You know, I''ve never heard of Foxconn before

That just makes me laugh, whatwith Foxconn's recent news-worthy stories.

cartoonin, when this original thread was created, I don't think they HAD a Tech And Help section. This thing is eight years old!

The best brand for power supplies is probably Seasonic. They make good stuff, and they're the primary manufacturer for the other quality brands. Both Corsair and PC Power and Cooling take those basic Seasonic designs and try to improve further on them. PCPAC definitely succeeds, but they end up being noisy. Corsair may or may not actually improve on the Seasonic design in any given line, but they're generally pretty good regardless.

jonnyguru.com is a great resource for shopping for a supply.

edit to add: yes, if you leave your PC on all the time, especially if it's loaded with something like Folding@Home, you can see a substantial reduction in your electric bill if you buy a Gold power supply. But if you're a part-timer, the extra cost may not be worth it.

Personally:

Corsair
Seasonic
PC Power & Cooling

have all done right by me historically.

I've had some positive experience with OCZ Technology's power supplies, They tend to be pretty solidly 4-egg'd on NewEgg.

Kraint wrote:

I've had some positive experience with OCZ Technology's power supplies, They tend to be pretty solidly 4-egg'd on NewEgg.

I had 2 and both started to burn out within a year of installing them. They failed gracefully, but that's because the rancid smell and smoke tipped me off to their imminent deaths before they could actually flatline. Though I got replacements for each, as they were both under warranty, I won't buy another OCZ any time soon.

I don't think you can go wrong with Corsair. Looking into all the videos and reviews before I built my PC recently, they all used 650 or 750 Watt Corsairs. Just my 2 cents.

Also: Man, what a necro. Deep, deep cut.

Malor wrote:

cartoonin, when this original thread was created, I don't think they HAD a Tech And Help section. This thing is eight years old!

The best brand for power supplies is probably Seasonic. They make good stuff, and they're the primary manufacturer for the other quality brands. Both Corsair and PC Power and Cooling take those basic Seasonic designs and try to improve further on them. PCPAC definitely succeeds, but they end up being noisy. Corsair may or may not actually improve on the Seasonic design in any given line, but they're generally pretty good regardless.

jonnyguru.com is a great resource for shopping for a supply.

edit to add: yes, if you leave your PC on all the time, especially if it's loaded with something like Folding@Home, you can see a substantial reduction in your electric bill if you buy a Gold power supply. But if you're a part-timer, the extra cost may not be worth it.

I'm telling you, Silencer II's from PCP&C aren't as loud. I wish johnnyguru would review them again.

Quintin_Stone wrote:
Kraint wrote:

I've had some positive experience with OCZ Technology's power supplies, They tend to be pretty solidly 4-egg'd on NewEgg.

I had 2 and both started to burn out within a year of installing them. They failed gracefully, but that's because the rancid smell and smoke tipped me off to their imminent deaths before they could actually flatline. Though I got replacements for each, as they were both under warranty, I won't buy another OCZ any time soon.

Similar problem here. Also got faulty RAM by them about 6 years ago too.

I don't really know about the quality of the power supply, but I did read this this morning. Just happened to come across your thread.

Montalban wrote:

I don't think you can go wrong with Corsair. Looking into all the videos and reviews before I built my PC recently, they all used 650 or 750 Watt Corsairs. Just my 2 cents.

Also: Man, what a necro. Deep, deep cut.

Yea, I was proud of the necro on this one.

There's also this PSU-related thread in Tech & Help:
http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/4...