power supply OEM or retail?

[legend_018]

Since my system comes with a 300 watt powersupply already installed - if I want to buy and install a 400 watt powersupply can I buy OEM or do I have to buy retail?

My case/motherboard comes with

Intel & AMD Listed ATX12V Power Supply 300W

OEM usually means it doesn't come with plugs, cables, assessories ect.

[freakitchen]

Can you let us know your system specs, and the brand and model of the power supply you already have, and the one you're planning on upgrading to?

FK

[minsonngo]

All you really need is the PSU itself. OEM or Retail, as long as it is a quality one.

[Cricket]

Is this a home built computer or a name brand one?

Cricket

[legend_018]

Originally Posted by Freakitchen Can you let us know your system specs, and the brand and model of the power supply you already have, and the one you're planning on upgrading to? FK

See here:

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...M2-V&class=npc

THis is what I bought, i'm going to install the rest of the components once I get them all.

[legend_018]

Originally Posted by minsonngo All you really need is the PSU itself. OEM or Retail, as long as it is a quality one.

What is really wrong with the one that came with it? Is it that bad?
It's going to be used as a basic system and I'm using the online audio and video. Is it that important to go with the 400 watt powersupply. The power supply they provide is already installed into the case and everything. Please let me know your thoughts everyone.

Thanks

[minsonngo]

The link you gave a few posts up does not give the PSU brand that is installed in the system. It could be a generic brand PSU which is something you do not want. A bad PSU can cause you a world of trouble like a unstable system (contstant reboots, errors, etc.) or it can die on your system and take out other parts with it.

300 watts may be enough for your system or it may not be. Generally it is better to have more than you need. Plus if you want to add more to your system, the PSU probably will be underpowered.

[legend_018]

Originally Posted by minsonngo The link you gave a few posts up does not give the PSU brand that is installed in the system. It could be a generic brand PSU which is something you do not want. A bad PSU can cause you a world of trouble like a unstable system (contstant reboots, errors, etc.) or it can die on your system and take out other parts with it. 300 watts may be enough for your system or it may not be. Generally it is better to have more than you need. Plus if you want to add more to your system, the PSU probably will be underpowered.

The only information they give is:
Intel & AMD Listed ATX12V Power Supply 300W

It's a barebone system with case, powersupply and mother board. everything is all put together for you "case, powersupply and motherboard that is"

[legend_018]

Originally Posted by legend_018 The only information they give is: Intel & AMD Listed ATX12V Power Supply 300W It's a barebone system with case, powersupply and mother board. everything is all put together for you "case, powersupply and motherboard that is"

I"m calling them now so I can find out the brand

[minsonngo]

Let us know what they tell you. Even if you have to replace the PSU, it is really easy and only takes a couple of minutes. It just depends on how fast you can unscrew four (4) screws from the back of the case.

[legend_018]

Originally Posted by legend_018 I"m calling them now so I can find out the brand

Its generic but 300 Watt should be sufficient enough for the basics
1 harddrive, 1 combo cd/dvd rom player, onboard sound and video and that's about it. it has a lan card built into it for plugging into the internet/cable modem. I don't be installing any additional pci devices and I wont be installing any vga cards.

[freakitchen]

A low powered system it may be, but you're risking your components by using a low quality, generic unit. Not only is it likely to fail, it will probably take the rest of your components with it. It will also provide consistantly dirty power to your components.

I'd recommend you replace it with a quality 350w unit, such as this one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104901

FK

[legend_018]

Originally Posted by minsonngo Let us know what they tell you. Even if you have to replace the PSU, it is really easy and only takes a couple of minutes. It just depends on how fast you can unscrew four (4) screws from the back of the case.

I'm not pondering about what to do, do I buy a new one or not? It really is going to be basic for the most part, I might run vmware on it though. As mentioned, I'm using the onboard video and sound and it already has a lan cable. I'm installing 1 80 gig harddrive and 1 gig ram and a combo cd/dvd rom drive. thats about it.

OK found the edit button - sorry

[legend_018]

Originally Posted by Freakitchen A low powered system it may be, but you're risking your components by using a low quality, generic unit. Not only is it likely to fail, it will probably take the rest of your components with it. It will also provide consistantly dirty power to your components. I'd recommend you replace it with a quality 350w unit, such as this one. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104901 FK

oh yeah? 350 and not 400? I figured if I"m going to move up, than I might as well move up to 400.

[legend_018]

Originally Posted by legend_018 See here: http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...M2-V&class=npc THis is what I bought, i'm going to install the rest of the components once I get them all.

How about this one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817101015

I also called msi and they said just becareful about the size and make sure it can fit. I hope this one will fit if I buy it.

[legend_018]

Originally Posted by legend_018 How about this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817101015 I also called msi and they said just becareful about the size and make sure it can fit. I hope this one will fit if I buy it.

also I found this:

http://www.censuspc.com/product.php?...cat=256&page=1

does it look ok?

[Staren]

I don't know. e-power is an alright brand, but that seems pretty cheap. There is a reference list here http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195 with known good and bad power supply brands based on real world use. I personally spend a bit more and stick to to the real battle tested names to be safe.

[Alaron]

The amount of watts aren't as important as quality. You never want to buy a cheap power supply, it connects to every peice of equipement in the computer. If it dies, it can take out any and everything in your system. Go with a good brand such as Antec, FSP or Sparkle. 350 or 400w will be fine.

On a side note, please use the Edit button if you have more to add to a post. Its in the bottom right of each post.

[legend_018]

I don't see any edit buttom? However, would the computers people including myself in the past buy "dell, compaq, e machines ect". Would they have good quality power supplies?

I found the edit button - Sorry

[Alaron]

Computers from Dell and HP have power supplies that are enough to power the components they come with. But they do not allow for upgrading. They sometimes use proprietary wiring that make replacement difficult.

It's much better to build your own system with a great PSU that you can upgrade with, or at least replace easily if its not powerful enough.

[legend_018]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103484

THe 300 generic power supply that it came with says ATX 12V. I foudn this one on newegg, but it doesn't say 12V - it only says ATX

[freakitchen]

That's a decent unit, and it has the right specs for an AGP system, if you wish to add a dedicated video card at some point.

The '12v' suffix indicates that the power supply has the Auxiliary 12v connector that most motherboards require. That Sparkle unit has that connector.

FK

[legend_018]

I had put this in another thread because I figured it was different than questions about power supply. I'm looking for overall opinions on the system components that I bought.

I already bought the parts, but what do you think? Opinions please.
Yes I didn't pay a lot for some of this stuff. When I go home later I can put more specifics
if anyone is interested

1. case and motherboard "see link below": Will use onboard video and sound

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...M2-V&class=npc

Note: replacing it with sparkle 350 power supply - whichis on the good quality list

2. Kingston RAM. "512 ram chips". Total 1 gig.
3. LG combo cd/dvd rom. cd is writable
4. Western Digital 80 Gig harddrive
5. Pentium 3.0 G processor with 800 fsb

and also another computer with all the SAME stuff EXCEPT
instead of pentium 3.0 G processor with 800 fsb it's a celeron 3.0 G processor 533 fsb
and RAM is total of 512 instead of 1 gig. I think the pentium processor is prescott

That's about it.
Like I said: I can give more specifics about models and stuff when I get home.

It's not that bad is it?
Mary

[Alaron]

I fixed your link.

Without specifics, I can't render a great verdict, but for a barebones system, its not bad. The tech is a bit out of date because AGP is no longer being used for video.

But you added quality parts, so it will be fine for a general use machine.

[legend_018]

Hello. Am I suppose to start a new thread or keep posting to this one?

Anyways, here are some specifics:

cd/dvd information:

LG GDR-8164BI Internal DVD Drive 16X IDE 256KB 120ms
The GDR-8162B Is CD-ROM CD-R and CD-RW Compatible.

Processor information:
Celeron D 346 Boxed 3.06GHZ
And
Intel Pentium 4 630 Prescott 800MHz FSB LGA 775 EM64T Processor Model BX80547PG3000F

Memory information:
512 sticks: Kingston ValueRAM 512MB 400MHz DDR Memory Upgrade

Hard Drive Information:
Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM ATA100 Hard Drive - WD800BB / WD800LB

[Leageth]

I'm not sure what kind of budget your on, but your really getting back to basics from what I see.

For your HDD you may want to consider SATA 3gb/s. ATA100 is old technology. 80gigs is also extremely small if its your only HDD. 120 and up is probably better. You can get a 320 gig HDD pretty cheap these days.

AGP is also old technology. You may want to looks for a mobo with PCI-E.

[legend_018]

Would the barebone case I bought allow for a Sata drive?
Would I have to buy additional cables or anything like that?

[minsonngo]

Yes, the motherboard allows for two (2) SATA 150 drives.

There is one (1) SATA cable included with that barebones package.

There is also a SATA power adapter cable included, which has you covered.

[legend_018]

Does it use the same IDE cable that the other harddrive would of gone? What about the cd/dvd player - I thought that was suppose to use the other cable no?

[Staren]

No, SATA doesn't use the IDE cables. There should be 1 small red cable that came with the kit That's an SATA cable. Then yes, the DVD drive will use the IDE cable.