[gloco]

Hey all,

My psu bit the dust this morning and I'm looking for some recommendations. I'd appreciate comments on cases/psu's you guys use, I'll also check maximum pc to see what they think is good. I have a Abit IC7-G (iirc) mobo, P4 2.4GHz cpu, echo mia soundcard, ati radeon 9700, two dvd burners, 2 serial ata HDD's. Just want a psu that's very trustworthy and a case that has front side usb ports and is very quiet to boot.

Budget: up to $250.

By the way, the psu died after my pc kept freezing up after booting up, the smell of burning electronics and smoke coming out of the psu via its fan pretty much hinted at the possible problem

Gotta love computers and my gf's 1.1Ghz laptop+56k modem I'm writing this up on...god this is torture!

Any opinions/recommendations are appreciated, thanks!

 

[mr.karmalicious]

Well, I can't really reccomend a case, as the only one I've tried is my little $50 one I'm using right now, but I can reccomend a PSU. I've got an Ultra X-Connect 500w Modular, PSU, and it's awesome. Google "Ultra X-Connect" for some reviews.

 

[no1likesme]

i would probably go with a cheapo case $30-50 and then spend about $100 of the money on a good psu like a sparkle or other high end psu (dont know models) and invest the rest in cooling

 

[The_Mac]

Antec Sonata case+psu. It's got an extremely high quality power supply, great fit and finish for the case, good ergonomics. There's enough power in there for your PC with plenty to spare (you might need an upgrade if you were running 2GB or ram, SLI'd vid cards, and 4 HDD's).

And then spend the rest on a knife, kite, headphones, or whatever.

 

[jbloudg20]

If you are looking for a dence PSU, so with either a Sparkle/Fortron or PC Power and Cooling, although you probably wont fit the latter into your budget.

I am not a fan of those X-Connect PSU's, I've seen the rails drop on systems where a fortron handled it with ease.See if you can get one with a good powersupply.

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Mac Antec Sonata case+psu. It's got an extremely high quality power supply, great fit and finish for the case, good ergonomics. There's enough power in there for your PC with plenty to spare (you might need an upgrade if you were running 2GB or ram, SLI'd vid cards, and 4 HDD's). And then spend the rest on a knife, kite, headphones, or whatever.

Hehe, I have too many headphones as it is! I have 1.5GB of ram and I intend to build a fancy pc sometime this year with more HDD's and a fancy videocard(not likely to be SLI as that's quite costly). So in other words, I want a case and psu that has enough wattage to work into a new rig.

 

[lini]

gloco: The CoolerMaster Centurion 5 (http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/Cool...s.aspx?pid=634) is quite a nice tower - looks nice, too, especially in the black/blue version. Choice of psu is up to you with this one. For a desktop case, I'd recommend to check this Chieftec Bravo series model: http://www.chieftec.de/?page=product...=1&language=de - already comes with a decent and quiet 350 W psu over here.

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

 

[cerbie]

I think the Sonata II is the best combo out there.

For separate parts, there's the P180 and a nice separate PSU (may need extensions, though), like a higher-end Fortron, Seasonic, Enermax (NoiseTaker), Antec (Truepower), etc.. You won't need wattage as much as quality.

 

[Edwood]

Seasonic S12 series is my favorite right now.

Very very quiet and efficient.

-Ed

 

[imported_Echo_]

fortran, seasonic, zippy, and sparkle are the best psu makers stick with them

also just dont go by watts

 

[skudmunky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Echo_ fortran, seasonic, zippy, and sparkle are the best psu makers stick with them also just dont go by watts

true dat. If you got a load of cash, try the 510 watt PC Power and Cooling PSU. Also, stay away from the Ultra X-Connect. A few of them work well, but most seem to explode, and/or do other bad things. Go check out hardforum.com - the PSU section there is very good.

 

[roastpuff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cerbie I think the Sonata II is the best combo out there. For separate parts, there's the P180 and a nice separate PSU (may need extensions, though), like a higher-end Fortron, Seasonic, Enermax (NoiseTaker), Antec (Truepower), etc.. You won't need wattage as much as quality.

Seconded. If not, go for an Antec/Enermax/Fortron PSU, they're the best on the market, and don't cost as much as PC Power & Cooling, which is the Rolls-Royce of the PSU market.

Sonata II comes with 430W Truepower PSU, no? That's plenty for most systems, unless you're running SLIed 6800-class and above.

 

[MrSlacker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roastpuff Sonata II comes with 430W Truepower PSU, no? That's plenty for most systems, unless you're running SLIed 6800-class and above.

It comes with new 450W PSU. I just build a system with that case a few days ago and it runs rock stable, has front USB and firewire and also pretty quite if u get nice fan.

 

[jbloudg20]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roastpuff Seconded. If not, go for an Antec/Enermax/Fortron PSU, they're the best on the market, and don't cost as much as PC Power & Cooling, which is the Rolls-Royce of the PSU market. Sonata II comes with 430W Truepower PSU, no? That's plenty for most systems, unless you're running SLIed 6800-class and above.

I'm pretty happy with my Enermax PSU.

 

[gloco]

Hey guys,

I selected this case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119068

and this psu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103932

I haven't ordered 'em yet, I'll keep looking in the meantime, but these both look good to me. Thanks for the rec's so far.

edit: The only thing that's making me nervous is whether or not the psu is compatible with my mobo based on the power cables it supplies...time to go read up on my mobo on abit's site...

editx2: I selected this psu as well: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153015

The 12v connectors on the antec psu has me baffled...anyone care to explain?