In message <pan.2005.09.06.06.37.33.914945@TAKEOUTverizon.net > Wes
Newell <w.newell@TAKEOUTverizon.net> wrote:

>On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 17:58:17 -0500, David Maynard wrote:
>
>> Wes Newell wrote:
>>
>>> On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 05:49:42 -0700, neworder7 wrote:
>>>
>>>> So does this mean i should be getting a 500w PSU or is a 400watt PSU
>>>>fine.
>>>
>>> You should be getting the largest you can afford. And you can get 600W for
>>> under $20, 550W for under $15, and 500W for about $12.
>>>
>> And at those prices not a one of them will actually put out the stated watts.
>
>And neither will some name brand models that cost 5 times more, so what's
>your point? Hmmm.... I need 400W, so I buy a 400Antec that will put out
>400W for say $50, or I buy a 600W for $18 that will only put out 550W. Now
>which is the best deal? But wait, you say the Antec has larger caps. Wow,
>so instead of the system crashing in 5ms during a brownout, the Antac will
>go for 10ms.:-) Spend the money you save on a UPS. That's muxh more
>important than a name brand PSU.

Sure, except that the "brownout" might only last 5ms-10ms, and a cheapo
one might burn out completely after a couple of those.

Also, the 600W $18 ones typically don't do anywhere near 400W sustained,
although it really depends on the power supply you get, and whether or
not you luck out and get one from a good batch.

I've blown half a dozen of the cheapo ones before learning my lesson,
virtually always they died when there was unstable power coming in from
the mains. I've yet to lose a "name brand" (my desktop is Antec, my
servers are something else, I forget what off-hand, but some of them
have been going 5-6 years)

--
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in a swimming pool.