PSU for a noob

[doxology83]

Hi i am building my first gaming pc and the psu decision keeps going around in my head. I plan on running an nforce ultra board with an X800 XL video card and an AMD 64 3200+ processor. I don't want overkill and I don't really want to spend over 100 bucks. Yet I don't want to get something that could fry my system either. I have been looking at this one http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153023
It is a Thermaltake (actually a new brand founded by Thermaltake). Does this seem like it could get the job done. I don't plan on overclocking or anything. thanks for any insight you can give me.

[Disposibleteen]

should be fine if you dont intend on OCing at all.

[diabloII]

it'll work fine

the fortron blue storm 500w or antec modstream 430 is good as well

[chunkylover77]

I would get this one.
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104934

[pcboarder]

I had a Thermaltake psu once then i went to antec b/c the thermaltake kicked the can. Then the antec blew up and now i have a PCPC which i highly recomend..hm.. for under a hundred go with something other then TT like Fortron. Good solid psu avoid the TT it will die

[doxology83]

Why do you say a thermaltake will die? They seem to be a very reputable company. I was going to get the fortron blue storm psu until i read a few reviews off the net at various tech websites. They said it was fine but should have been better, they actually listed a small list of negatives. If I remeber right they all said the 12v rail wasn't always stable and sometime weak, which isn't something I want with my new system. But I don't understand psu stuff that much so maybe i misunderstood. I think that thermaltake has a very good price to performance ratio from what I can tell. Plus it has a 24 pin connector as well as the 6 pin pci-express connector, and all that from a $42 dollar psu by a reputable company. Why wouldn't that be a good choice?

[pcboarder]

If you plan on over clocking at all forget about TT unless you want your system to look like :explode2: :explode2: :explode2: This. The rails are not stable and the 12 if I remeber correctly is quite low

[doxology83]

this psu from vantec looks very appealing for the price difference. $67 compared to $42, the 12v rail is 30A compared to 18A. anyways check it out http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=370875
what do ya think?

[doxology83]

so does anyone have any thoughts about this i need halp with this very soon. All I get on other boards is get an Antec, get an Enermax, or get a Fortron. Most of all there psu's are out of my range I need to know what everyone thinks about that Vantec I linked earlier in the forum. I can't find any reviews of it, I think it is brand new, however i found reviews of the ION2 psu with fewer watts and it is suppose to have super stable rails. anyone have any thoughts at all?

[perkam]

Thats not a bad deal at all. I'd go for it :up:

Oh and btw,

:banana: :welcome: Welcome To XS, Doxology !!!!! :welcome: :banana:

...hope u find what you're looking for at XS and u stick around after you successfully build your rig :up:

Perkam

[doxology83]

Thanks for your welcome and the vote of confidence on the psu. Much appreciated.

[doxology83]

in case anyone else is interesting there is a video review you can download of the Vantec Ion2 460W psu here.Vantec Ion2 460W (http://www.3dgameman.com/vr/vantec/ion2_460watt_psu/video_review_03.html)

[elec999]

in case anyone else is interesting there is a video review you can download of the Vantec Ion2 460W psu here.Vantec Ion2 460W (http://www.3dgameman.com/vr/vantec/ion2_460watt_psu/video_review_03.html)
I taught that vantec didnt make their own psu. They just relabel generic ones.
Thanks

[doxology83]

i doubt vantec does that. especially know anyways. they are a very respected company and there high end psu's are suppose to be very good psu's and very silent, I think they are called stealth's instead of ion's.

[Gray Mole]

If you don't plan to oc, it's not that critical what you get, imho, cos even with mediocre rails, you won't see the kind of instability you would thwn oc'in...

The reason ppl who oc get good psu's is so the rails are stable, it can handle the power, and often cos it's got adjustments to compensate for heavy draw...

hell a 600w Qtec would likely run that rig, and as long as it didn't get super hot, you'd probably never see the difference b/w that and a more expensive one, 'cept maybe after a few hours of heavy gaming...

I'm not saying you should buy the cheapest piece of garbage*cough qtec* you can find, but the real point is if your rig only need 350w to run at peak, and without oc'in you may not even need that much depending on how much you've got in there, then there's no reason not to get a GOOD psu, I mean good like high quality 350-400w unit and save the cost...

If you ever plan on oc'in it though, you may as well get a good higher wattage one now...You'll only kick yourself if you don't cos it's throwing money out the window...

Nothing wrong with the Vantec unit you've listed, and if you like it go for it, just remember, there's not THAT much headroom, and if you oc even the gpu itself(yes that DOES count as oc'in) you might see some problems that could be power related...

Gray

[doxology83]

One thing I have found funny in doing research about psu's, especially on forums, is that alot of people only believe that antec,fortron, and thermaltake are good psu's. I have read reviews of some of the newer antec psu's are that they are good but could have been better, same thing about fortron's as well and alot, i mean a very large amount of people, have had thermaltake's stop working on them. I'm sure there are unknown companies that make good computer parts, just because they aren't what everyone else buys, doesn't mean they aren't as good. I think to many people buy the same thing when it comes to computer parts. I for one want to do my research and find the things I like and be different from most people, I for one think my computer will rock even if I am not using an antec psu, with an asus motherboard, and a geforce video card. ATI has the best card on the market in the $300 range and you can find it cheaper, the X800 XL. Monarch has one on sell for $249 with free shipping in case anyone is interesting. So I guess all I want to convey is that you be different, go outside the norm. Also I think a 460W is more than enough in fact i saw a study and a 420W will run the most state of the art system stable at all times as long as it is fairly decent psu, though it didn't take into consideration ocing. So a 460W should be a breeze for what I am building considering ATI card's are way less power hungry compared to nvidia cards. I'm done ranting I hope you don't mind lol, just getting annoyed of hearing the same companies for all the componets when people talking about computers.