CPU power supply unit

[Knight-Dragon]

My ex-housemate's CPU went kaput; we suspect it's the power supply unit gone dead. Problem is - the CPU is pretty old and the power unit is an ATX 250W. I can't find any replacements at a 250W on sale... Is it alright if I plug in a unit with more wattage (like 350W, or 400W etc)?

 

[Phantom Lord]

There's no problem with having a more powerful PSU, in fact it is better, because you may want to upgrade your computer one day or just add more drives.

Try to get a silent one, my 420W PSU gets pretty much on my nerves in terms of noise.

 

[Knight-Dragon]

Thanks for the quick response.

In any case, it's not my CPU, so I'm not all that concerned. Just figure, if I plug in a more powerful power unit, it might burn up the present motherboard...

 

[Phantom Lord]

Nope, the MoBo will only consume the amount of power it "orders" from the PSU. A stronger PSU can deliver more power and usually runs more stable.

Depending on your case design you should chose the appropriate ventilation layout of the PSU (the two standard types are "straight through" or "down around the corner"). The inward fan should be located near the processor fan to help blowing warm air out of the case, unless you have an additional case fan.

Edit:

Straight airflow means the air goes straight through the unit, ie the fans are mounted on the front- and rearside.

90°-around-the-corner-airflow looks like this:

 

[ainwood]

Believe it or not, there are 'good' PSU's and 'bad' ones. If you get a cheap one, it may burn-out / not supply enough power. Signs of low power can be anything from sluggish performance to random crashes.

A 'good' one is an Enermax.

I would suggest that your ex-housemate gets at least a 300W, preferably a 350W PSU. 250W used to be the old standard, but with modern videocards, cd-writers, HDDs etc, the power drain tends to be a bit higher. Pay the extra $20 - 30 and get 1.) quality and 2.) enough power to future-proof for any upgrades.

 

[Phantom Lord]

Yeah, in fact the PSU is of major importance (like all the "real" hardware stuff - case, CPU-cooler and cables). Another point is that the PSU will probably last longer than most other parts of your systems, so it's a good idea to invest a little bit more than absolutely necessary.

 

[Jeratain]

What Ainwood said. Don't bother getting anything more than 350W for now becaus since your computer is old, you wont need all the power, and also, even if you were to upgrade 350W is still sufficient enough. I have a 430W PSU that came with my Antec Case, and though I love it, it drains the power from my room everytime my computer is turned on

Don't buy a piece of crap cheap PSU, spend a bit so that you get a quality one.

 

[Speedo]

Get a good one, but you truly probably don't need more than 300W. (unless he plans to keep that case & PSU and upgrade)

I personally just got a Thermaltake Silent Purepower 480W, but its a bit pricey for that old a comp

 

[Knight-Dragon]

I hunted around a bit at the 'place to be' in Singapore - rather hard to find even a 350.

In any case, my ex-housemate seems to be abandoning the unit (he didn't take it when moving out), so it's mine now.

Thanks guys.

 

[col]

Problems are caused by the power supply not having enough capacity rather than too much. Athlons and powerful graphics cards a re notoriously power hungry. Its always better to have spare capacity in your supply - but 350W should be plenty in an old computer.