5punk

Right then, after this weekend I will have about £50 saved towards my 8800/PSU combo, so figured I may as well get the PSU now as there won't be any benefit to waiting. I'm looking to spend around the £50 mark, and am currently thinking of the Hiper 530W Black Type-R Modular PSU.

Now PSUs are a whole new world to me, so I don't terribly know much about them. I currently have a generic 500W jobbie in, but it is 500W peak output and likely to be a cheap and cheerful one. That Hiper one seems to tick a lot of boxes, and is SLi certified I believe so should cover me in case I go down that route in the future. It comes in at just over £50 and has free delivery, so that sounds good for my purse, but am I missing a trick in not looking at anything else and are there any potential compatibility problems I should be aware of? My PC spec is here.

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psuc ... orlite.jsp should help you out a bit

[edit] they say 269 Watts needed (made a few assumptions so that may be slightly off the mark, but it shouldn't be far) so maybe go for a costlier 350 or 400 rather than a lower quality 500W - However before any judgement is passed I shall wait for Berk clearance on this

Only thing you really need to do is read reviews of your PSU(s) of choice - 500-550W is about ideal right now as it'll support most machines and allow some upgrade room, without sinking silly money.

Though the SLI certified thing probably doesn't cover a pair of 8800s in this case, but should allow for a nice machine (the gonk barely needs 530w apparently)

fabyak wrote:[edit] they say 269 Watts needed (made a few assumptions so that may be slightly off the mark, but it shouldn't be far) so maybe go for a costlier 350 or 400 rather than a lower quality 500W - However before any judgement is passed I shall wait for Berk clearance on this

I just ran through quickly assuming 8800gtx (as that covers the slight chance he goes totally overkill ) said something like 370W

However, it's one of those things that comes mostly down to preference - I like my PSUs to handle a couple of upgrades and be slightly overpowered as that allows you to upgrade without worrying so much about stuff, especially given PSUs only draw the power your machine needs, it seems unwise to spec too close to your known future needs.

400W+ would be fine, 500-550W would be my personal choice.

Obviously go higher quality, check reviews etc.

Well the reviews on the ebuyer site seem to be pretty positive, and not seen anything warning me off this elsewhere so I think I'll go for it once I have the cash. Cheers chaps!

Also Berk, I think the 8800GTX is pretty unlikely just now, unless I win the lottery jackpot. Once I have the money, far far into the future, it'll probably be the mobo and CPU that get the next upgrade, but I'll worry about that at the time.

I've been looking at these for a while, then KillaVodka bought one and i had to admire both how well finished it was, the box that it came in, and the fact that once it was up and running the rails seemed very stable, the leads are easy to use, the mesh cover looks sweet. Its quiet too, so if your into the whole music recording in your bedroom thing it's not bad for a mid-high power psu, you cant really go wrong with these.

Yeah, that toolbox packaging seems to be the main feature people talk about which made me want to hear a bit more about the actual bit of kit inside it. The words "stable rails" means nothing to me though - does it just mean it won't suddenly send out a bolt of electricity which will make everything asplode upside my face? If so, then that is a good thing.

I'm not too bothered about noise to be honest. As long as it doesn't sound like a jet engine about to take off I don't really care.

Lateralus wrote:The words "stable rails" means nothing to me though - does it just mean it won't suddenly send out a bolt of electricity which will make everything asplode upside my face? If so, then that is a good thing.

Stable rails are good, because it means your components are going to be stable too. And it just means all of the components will last longer, be healthier etc etc. So its a very good thing.

More clearly:

"Rails" refers to the various sets of transformers etc that make all the happy voltages in your computer (3.3, 5, 12)

Each Voltage will always have one rail, sometimes nicer PSUs will have more than one rail for 12v (as 12v is the one that gets all the load)

Stability is pretty obvious, that refers to how much the voltage deviates from what it should be when under load. the more stability, the better (as as pixie said, the more stable the electricity, the more stable the machine)

Well, on Scan the 580W Hiper PSU appears to only be £1.50 more than the aforementioned 530W Type-R, and the 580W Type-R is another fiver on top of that. Does the Type-R bit just mean it has modular cables, and is this difference worth a fiver? Also, is it worth spending more on the 580W version or is the 530W one going to be sufficient for future upgrades along the lines of a 8800GTS, C2D E6300 etc?

looks like it, and modular cables are certainly worth a fiver.

both will be sufficient and more is better, shouldn't make that much difference really.

Modular cables just give you much more flexibility in the future, when you're more likely to need SATA rather than molex power connectors, etc.

And considerably better airflow, as there's less cables in the way crapping stuff up.

Lateralus wrote:Hiper 530W Black Type-R Modular PSU.

Ordered! Cheers for the info guys.

Before I frazzle myself and my computer to death, is there anything I should know in advance about installing new PSUs? I'm assuming its a case of disconnecting existing one and plugging in new one, following the instructions included and not doing anything daft like doing it while having a bath. I'm also assuming it doesn't require anything like a reformat? I should do one soon really, but I just can't be arsed at the moment. Assume a mild level of idiocy on my part when it comes to hardware.

all dead easy really, unplug everything, unscrew and remove PSU.

mount new PSU then plug stuff into stuff what needs plugging in.

Ideally don't word on a carpet.

Hurrah, it is all up and running now, and very nice it is too. Despite the fact that it hasn't made my PC ultra fast or anything, I am contented to know that I have a Decent Bit Of Kit in there now. Installation was fine, and modular cables are most whin. Also, not once did I word on the carpet!

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:Ideally don't word on a carpet.

It's the chafing isn't it...

HereComesPete wrote:I've been looking at these for a while, then KillaVodka bought one and i had to admire both how well finished it was, the box that it came in, and the fact that once it was up and running the rails seemed very stable, the leads are easy to use, the mesh cover looks sweet. Its quiet too, so if your into the whole music recording in your bedroom thing it's not bad for a mid-high power psu, you cant really go wrong with these.

reviewing my stuff... damnnnnn youuuu

Whats your point? If you cant be bothered to reply to this question and be helpful then i will! Go buy yourself a dell you big faaabulous deathfox!