TLicense Posted August 29, 2010 Share Posted August 29, 2010 The electrical supply in my house is shocking (excuse the pun!) I've now blown the fourth or fifth computer power supply. I would blame the rest of the computer hardware, but it's happened on three different computers. So anyway, I need to sort a new power supply. I know a couple of people on here are in the computer business so I was wondering if someone can recommend something for me? My budget is about £100 absolute max if it's guaranteed not to go pop on me. Ideally I'd spend no more than £80. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Cheers, Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjgreen3 Posted August 29, 2010 Share Posted August 29, 2010 If its the electrical supply to you house thats the issue then it doesn't matter what PSU you buy it will pop as they all contain sensitive electronics that don't like fluctuating supply voltages or current spikes. So....... Get a pretty decent low end PSU (Power Supply unit) from Scan.co.uk or Ebuyer for around 30-40 quid. But shell out on the best anti-surge extension lead protection device that you can. It will probably be as expensive as the Computer PSU though. Hopefully it will protect your new PSU from going to silicon heaven. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Blyth Posted August 29, 2010 Share Posted August 29, 2010 I'd agree with putting some surge protection in, however I'd recommend to put the protection in as far upstream as possible. You want to put something like this in. You must give it the absolute best path to earth you can to be effective. If you mount in or adjacent to a consumer unit, you will have a good, low-impedance connection to live, neutral and earth. I would agree that it's expensive and you will probably need a sparky to fit it, but if your supply is as bad as you say then it will be worth it. Especially as it's protecting your whole house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted August 29, 2010 Share Posted August 29, 2010 http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9823116/Trail/searchtext%3ESURGE+PROTECTED.htm & http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135514?utm_source=google&utm_medium=products Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The-Plethora Posted August 29, 2010 Share Posted August 29, 2010 My tip for the top is never to buy a power supply with Qtec written on it, the most useless garage you will ever see. I would go for an antec personally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 PCs use a Switch Mode PSU and in fact by the very principle of their design should accept a wide range of input voltages and handle this range in their stride, constantly adjusting the mark space ratio of the switching. Sadly, for the PC market they are made to a budget and struggle to cope with rapid variation or spikes. Surge protectors are ok but in the commercial world are not generally considered serious (waits to get shot down now), this is because many are too slow to act and the principle behind the operation is that when a large spike happens they cause a short and the supply fuse blows, or on more expensive models a trip pops. Generally, this is too late and damge has been caused. The only real way forward, and I base this on years of experience of designing and building broadcast head ends, and PABX rooms, is an on line ups. In our industry Trace are considered to be the best, but APC are probably the best known make on the market at present and do a wide range. But remember that as you want to use this as a surge protector rather than a back up supply, battery back up capability is not really important to you and therefore you could just go with a really small cheap one. CPC do a range too and much cheaper than the more well known APC brand but we have found they are ok, although I will add to that that we have not been using them for too long. I would seriously consider buying a cheap UPS, this will give you better protection from mains variation and spikes and offer you a little back up too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 2nd vote for a cheap UPS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Man Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 What system spec have you got? Get one with at lease 1.5 of your max current draw in which you will have to add up all your parts in your computer, some you will have to rely on factory estimation. Do you over clock? is there any thing in your system which is old or making funny noise? some old parts with worn electrical can damage PSU as well. I have gone through a few PSU and I used to have a IDE sony writer which took a few PSU to find out there is causing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLicense Posted August 30, 2010 Author Share Posted August 30, 2010 PCs use a Switch Mode PSU and in fact by the very principle of their design should accept a wide range of input voltages and handle this range in their stride, constantly adjusting the mark space ratio of the switching. Sadly, for the PC market they are made to a budget and struggle to cope with rapid variation or spikes. Surge protectors are ok but in the commercial world are not generally considered serious (waits to get shot down now), this is because many are too slow to act and the principle behind the operation is that when a large spike happens they cause a short and the supply fuse blows, or on more expensive models a trip pops. Generally, this is too late and damge has been caused. The only real way forward, and I base this on years of experience of designing and building broadcast head ends, and PABX rooms, is an on line ups. In our industry Trace are considered to be the best, but APC are probably the best known make on the market at present and do a wide range. But remember that as you want to use this as a surge protector rather than a back up supply, battery back up capability is not really important to you and therefore you could just go with a really small cheap one. CPC do a range too and much cheaper than the more well known APC brand but we have found they are ok, although I will add to that that we have not been using them for too long. I would seriously consider buying a cheap UPS, this will give you better protection from mains variation and spikes and offer you a little back up too. 2nd vote for a cheap UPS Something like this? http://www.dabs.com/products/apc-power-saving-back-ups-es-8-outlet-700va-230v-6P5M.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLicense Posted August 30, 2010 Author Share Posted August 30, 2010 What system spec have you got? Get one with at lease 1.5 of your max current draw in which you will have to add up all your parts in your computer, some you will have to rely on factory estimation. Do you over clock? is there any thing in your system which is old or making funny noise? some old parts with worn electrical can damage PSU as well. I have gone through a few PSU and I used to have a IDE sony writer which took a few PSU to find out there is causing it. It's definitely not PC hardware related as I've had three different PC's in there now. All 3 have at some point experienced blown power supplies. As I mentioned, I'm pretty sure it's the electric supply to our house that is the problem. We're constantly blowing lightbulbs and I've gone through three immersion heaters in 5 years. I should have a chat with my cousins husband who's a sparky and see if I can get him to take a look at it all. To be fair, I've not tried to power on my PC for a week or so, so it could well have been a thunder storm (as we've had a couple over the last week) that knocked it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Cheaper at ebuyer http://www.ebuyer.com/product/196269 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 I personally use APC 1000 units but had three fail in the same way, swollen battery cells, they don't like warm areas, two were swollen to the point the batteries could not be removed/replaced. I will try a Liebert next, this looks ok and is sensibly priced. http://www.ebuyer.com/product/171831 All my APC failures were the rackmount models. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 This one is a bargin http://www.ebuyer.com/product/201003 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 The circuit breaker I recommended covers you up to 3k of damages if it doesn't do its job properly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Get an APC-1000 from ebay and a set of batteries for Maplins I've got a floorstander and it is actually due a battery change soon anyway as it is reporting battery issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a98pmalcolm Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 i use the i-cute 1000w. Thats 99.99 and im very impressed. Maplins do them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 http://cpc.farnell.com/ups-uninterruptible-power-supplies+521?isRedirect=true There are a few here that would do the trick and within your budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guigsy Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 I just threw out an old ups that was in my new house when we bought it. It was in a 4u rackmount and weighed 200lb could have had that it you could lift it. I had to hack it to pieces to get it outside to the skip lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 Small UPS + Corsair 650W TX = Win Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 Just bought a corsair for the CTO last week, was most impressed LOTS of connectors, fancy bag and what looked like decent construction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 We have only ever has two fail on us. One was in the workshop at the time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLicense Posted August 31, 2010 Author Share Posted August 31, 2010 Small UPS + Corsair 650W TX = Win Hmmm, but I'd be looking at circa £70 for the Corsair and £50 for the UPS (if I went for the one Wes recommended). If I got them through ebuyer, I'd be looking at £136. I don't really want to spend more than £100 tops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 Hmmm, but I'd be looking at circa £70 for the Corsair and £50 for the UPS (if I went for the one Wes recommended). If I got them through ebuyer, I'd be looking at £136. I don't really want to spend more than £100 tops. UPS 650VA £49.99 incl VAT http://www.ebuyer.com/product/201003 PSU Corsair 400W £29.96 incl VAT http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150985 Leaves £20 for delivery which should be more than enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 JP8nFQYQW34 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLicense Posted August 31, 2010 Author Share Posted August 31, 2010 UPS 650VA £49.99 incl VAT http://www.ebuyer.com/product/201003 PSU Corsair 400W £29.96 incl VAT http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150985 Leaves £20 for delivery which should be more than enough Will 400W be man enough for.... i7 core processor Geforce GTX260 x2 graphics cards 6GB DDR memory 3 x SATA HDD 2 x DVD drives and a whole bunch of USB devices (ipods / cameras / wireless mouse / wireless network card / TrackIR ) If so then cha-ching. If I can order it before 11, then it should turn up tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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