Nope, it was advertised as 600W, but because it was poorly made, it broke when I used my processor fully. By adding up how much power those components used it came to 130W. Most cheap power supplies in fact pretty much all of them fail long before they reach their rated wattage. Even some good ones do, for example the OCZ ProXStream PSU rated at 1020W can only produce about 800 before it turns off. Why is this? Inside the Power supply, there are components which regulate the voltage that runs through the unit to make sure the power delivered is ncie and stable. In expensive power supplies, these are high quality devices with enormous heatsinks to make sure they stay cool. In cheap Power supplies, these are tacky components that cost a couple of pence with a tiny little piece of metal that calls itself a 'heatsink'. Either the components stop working because they can't take the power, or the components will break because they get too hot. it's all very well putting a noisy fan in the unit, but if the heatsink isn't good enough, no amount of air is going to stop the regulators from getting fried. Example of what can happen: Example of a well made PSU inside: Example of a cheap PSU inside:
OHHHH, got ya. Well thanks alot, thats gna help me alot now, ill search for good ones, i never realized what actually happens with things like that. The diagrams really helped . Thanks alot.
The power supplies I highly recommend at the moment are the Corsair HX and Seasonic S12 series, but if they seem a little expensive, then you can try an OCZ model.
Can be a real eye opener having witnessed it. Even if your within your warranty with the psu its pointless as it done its damage as you said, and for a measly little refund its not good enough.
so wait, when you say its done its damage, do you mean it not only fries itself, but the rest of the pc with it?
Usually. Not always, but in most cases, components get damaged. I had about £150 of damage and 200GB of data lost because of a £25 PSU.
ooohhh, damn. Sorry to hear that. But thanks so much to all of you for that, i might have lost everyting. You guys have been really helpful so far, thanks alot.
OK all, today im off to buy all my hardware. Id really like to thank you all so much for all of your help. If you'd like, ill post back to tell you what i got for my budget and if you want, you can post back saying what you think. Its up to you. But id just like to say you were all very helpful. Thanks. Ben.
ive actually got it all! ill send you the links in a few minutes. i just tested vegas and it ran on full settings perfectly!! ill post in a bit, Thanks.
ok, so this is the psu (650w): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817162014 this is the gfx card (640mb): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121034 and the ram is just a 184pin 1gb stick. what do you think?
Not all memory sticks are the same, which one did you go with? The power supply's rubbish, guess you didn't learn there, but you've picked a good 8800GTS.