Want to know what power supply (PSU) you should get? Read be

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The only reason I have created this thread, is because we have had an elevated number of questions about power supplies following increasing power requirements for most new builds, new PCIe power connectors, etc etc etc.

The excellent PSU guide by Aluvus


So here are a few things that are generally considered correct (there may always be exceptions) in the hardcore power supply community.

1. A power supply that claims to provide 600W of power and costs $50 is likely not a good choice.
2. A power supply that claims to provide you with 30A on 12V rail, and costs $30 is no better choice.
3. A power supply that weighs less than 4-5 pounds and claims to be good is likely not a good choice either.
4. A quality 300W power supply is generally better than garbage 500W power supply.
5. If you spend $1000 to get top of the line CPU, RAM, and video card, why spend $30 on something that will provide them with poor power ?
6. Many OEMs (Dell, HP, Gateway, eMachines) use specially modified power supplies on certain lines of their PCs. So replacing one may cause irreparable damage to other components, since they may not be electrically compatible with ATX standards, even though physically connectors look and feel the same, and even seemingly properly plug into the motherboards.
7. Dell's PSUs are greately underrated (rated extremely conservatively). To give you an example - I have a Dell 8250 Desktop, which has 2.53GHz CPU, 512 RDRAM, 2 hard drives and 2 optical drives, a GeForce 6800 non-GT non-Ultra running on a "measeley" Dell 250W power supply with no issues.


When in doubt, always check these two links, many times suggested by valued members, such as Aluvus, Xnarg, bean - just to name a few:

PSU Wattage calculator

Recommended PSU list