SPCR

Unfortunately my (5 year old) computer suffers from bad capacitors - on the motherboard and in my cheap power supply. Seeing as this computer is still fast enough for my requirements, I'm thinking about replacing the caps and buying a new power supply.

Do you think the Enermax Modu82+ 525 would be a good choice? I intend to reuse this PSU when I buy a new computer so I might as well buy something half decent. This means I will be aiming for a good 6-8 years of service life.

If I go with this PSU, am I going to have problems with bad caps again, or overheating, or anything like that? And do you think it is reasonably future proofed for at least another 6 years?

Finally, will this be compatible with my ASUS A7N8X-E motherboard? (not sure if the ATX spec has changed in the past 5 years )

Thanks for your help.

Whats in yor system? I dont think any 5 year old PC will use much power, You could go for the cheaper 425w version or the 385 non-modular version and save money. they seem to be a very well made unit, i dont think it will have any of the issues you mentioned long term, although of course no unit is guaranteed to last.

Thanks FartingBob,

I was also just looking at the Corsair VX450W which is a fair bit cheaper... any comments on that one?

My current system includes an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro and an AMD Athlon 3200+, with two hard disks - so yes it's overkill. With that said, I expect most systems available nowadays would draw more current so buying a little more than I need would be an exercise in future proofing (unless I can get away with ~400W a year or two after Nehalem comes out).

Hmm, I like the Enermax but the above mentioned Corsair is about $40 cheaper. Have people had any problems with that one, or is there any argument for one or the other?

A typical SPCR system using modern hardware only requires 100-150 watts at full power. That's not likely to change substantially in the next few years, so even the low-rated options should serve you happily for a long time. The current Core i7 chips are akin to the Extreme Edition processors of old, so they aren't really a baseline for an SPCR system. Expect to see most people around these parts pick up the lower-end dual-core Core i7 when it becomes available next year; I doubt there will be a significant change from the current power requirements.

I had that exact system running off an old Enermax TruePower 430. It's now my WHS box, powering 5 HDDs, and I've switched out the 9700 Pro for a 9600XT I had laying around that used much less power. I wouldn't bother with anything over the 425W version.

You won't have any problems using a new PSU with the old mobo, as most PSU that have a 24-pin ATX connector all for the extra 4 pins to be detached, and if they don't, there are adapters available.

However, if you're buying new equipment, now is the time (or at least right after the holidays) as prices are dirt cheap on most things and they won't be much cheaper anytime soon, unless you plan on going the i7 route, which I wouldn't recommend until the next die shrink.

Hi guys,

Well my power supply finally died last night so I can't ignore this issue anymore. I'm keen on the Corsair VX450W, but I am concerned about one thing:

viewtopic.php?t=50405 <- suggests my old motherboard and this new power supply are a bad match due to 5V rail loads.

Edit: Damn, my motherboard is ATX spec 1.3 while the corsair is for ATX 2 and higher.

Does anybody know of a PSU designed for ATX 1.3 (where most load is on the 5V rail)?

tehcrazybob wrote:A typical SPCR system using modern hardware only requires 100-150 watts at full power. That's not likely to change substantially in the next few years, so even the low-rated options should serve you happily for a long time. The current Core i7 chips are akin to the Extreme Edition processors of old, so they aren't really a baseline for an SPCR system. Expect to see most people around these parts pick up the lower-end dual-core Core i7 when it becomes available next year; I doubt there will be a significant change from the current power requirements.

Well, at least while idling even the big-gun Core i7 are using even less power than E8xxx Wolfdale CPUs (source: German magazine c't in their recent issue). Only when stressing to the max, an i7 takes the full 130W. But that's also a better guideline than before, because you can have dynamic overclocking depending on actual power draw. You can even say "I want to overclock to at most 140W".

I'm dreaming of an Antec FRM with a Scythe Orochi... that would be killer. Lowest possible power usage when idle, highest processing power when needed. But I'm getting OT here...

mexell wrote:Well, at least while idling even the big-gun Core i7 are using even less power than E8xxx Wolfdale CPUs (source: German magazine c't in their recent issue).

spcr disagrees.

If the Core i7 draws as much power at idle as a a Yorkfield quad-core how the hell could it use less power at idle than a Wolfdale dual-core?!

I chose the Corsair VX450 because it has a 5 year warranty here, compared to 3 years on the Enermax models you mention. And I have been totally happy with it this far.