On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 08:47:29 -0500, Analabha Roy
<daneelNOSPAM@physics.utexas.edu> wrote:


>> The difference it makes is that you didn't get a "real" 400W
>> PSU, you got a 250W PSU with a (arguably fradulent) 400W
>> label slapped on it.
>
>
>Whoa! Newegg would sell stuff like that???
>

Newegg sells whatever people buy, it's a business.


>That's a bit hard to believe from a cool vendor like Newegg.
>
> If your serious, then how do I test the actual power rating (newegg RMA's,
>of course)?

Set up capacitive / resistive loads on each rail, hook up a
scope and a few multimeters, vary the load rapidly like
modern CPUs/GPUs/etc do, and run some tests for a few
months, recording voltages, recovery time, ripple, etc.
Then test shutdown thresholds like overcurrent, overvoltage,
overheat, fan lifespan and response... There is no way you
can do a simple "it's good long-term" type of qualification
for it in a day or two.

Put simply, you won't get the same PSU for $20 as for $60
unless you happened to find some rare OEM closeout surplus
something-or-other, which is not a normal stock retail
purchase. It's certainly not necessary to have cable
sheaths, LEDs, glowing neon or any of the eyecandy to cut
costs a few dollars but PSU are commodity items and one
can't just spend 1/2 as much and expect there weren't
significant corners cut on a generic.