Need a power supply...

I don't know much about power supplies. I need to get a decent one for a modest budget, and I found some pretty good offers but it would be too easy if it was all about wattage...

What should I look out for when buying a power supply?

My PC:

Intel Core i5-661 3.3 Ghz
Two 4GB DDR3 RAM cards
GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB
320GB hard drive

And the power supply used to be a Delux DLP-34A 600w, had it for 4 years. Most tempting replacement I've found is a Techsolo TP-600 600w.

Hi there,

Well, if you can good offers...
It won't harm to have (for example) 1000W, when your PC only needs 500W, since your PSU will only provide what your system requires. The 1000W will be the maximum in this case.
So why replace a 600W with a new 600W PSU?

Admin wrote:So why replace a 600W with a new 600W PSU?

Because otherwise all I'm left with are a useless CPU, motherboard, GPU, RAM and Hard Drive?

Anyway, I got this:

https://www.pcgarage.ro/surse/sirtec-high-power/element-bronze-600w-1/

The irony is I was listening to this when my old one fried:

Hi there,

Nice relaxing song, I've saved it!
Anyway, you didn't say that your old one fried, hence my confusion.

The website you linked to, doesn't load for me. You can look for PSUs with this certificate: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus , which guarantees efficiency.
I'm more of a CoolerMaster guy myself.

A very basic one: http://www.coolermaster.com/powersupply/gm-series/g650m/ ("The GM Series is semi-modular to reduce the number of unnecessary cables for better cable management. The single +12V rail on all GM Series power supplies allows for superior load balancing and GPU compatibility.")

Another one (80 PLUS): http://www.coolermaster.com/powersupply/b-series/b700ver2/

This seems to be a "mainstream" one: http://www.coolermaster.com/powersupply/thunder-series/thunder-700w/

There is so much choice, I really think it depends on your budget.
If you're sure that you're not going to use more than 600W, you're good. But since you said your old one fried... And a PSU is not something you change every few years, so you might as well play it safe and get "more" power, in case you decide to upgrade components in the future.

Your GPU requires 400W power. So you should be safe with 600-700W. (Although I recommend 700W for the reason explained above)

Anyway, it arrived today. It seems to run fine. Played some games for about 2 hours and it's still cool, doesn't make any noise. The thing is now I need a new case too, 'cause the screws don't seem to fit Dx Hopefully one screw can hold it till I can get a case.

I got 3 years warranty so I'll just blame them if it blows up in my face lawl.

Anarchy wrote:Anyway, it arrived today. It seems to run fine. Played some games for about 2 hours and it's still cool, doesn't make any noise. The thing is now I need a new case too, 'cause the screws don't seem to fit Dx Hopefully one screw can hold it till I can get a case.

I got 3 years warranty so I'll just blame them if it blows up in my face lawl.

Hi there,

Congratulations on the new PSU!
You shouldn't buy a whole new case, just because the screws don't fit. Doesn't it have a special bracket included or something?
Is the PSU located at the bottom or the top of the case. If it's on the bottom of the case, don't worry about it too much, one screw should do. (Assuming you're not going to move your PC all the time)
In the worst case, you can use 3M (double-sided) tape to keep it on its place.

Admin wrote:Hi there,

Congratulations on the new PSU!
You shouldn't buy a whole new case, just because the screws don't fit. Doesn't it have a special bracket included or something?
Is the PSU located at the bottom or the top of the case. If it's on the bottom of the case, don't worry about it too much, one screw should do. (Assuming you're not going to move your PC all the time)
In the worst case, you can use 3M (double-sided) tape to keep it on its place.

It's at the top. And the screws don't fit 'cause the case is cheap, the case inserts and the PSU inserts don't overlap

Anarchy wrote:It's at the top. And the screws don't fit 'cause the case is cheap, the case inserts and the PSU inserts don't overlap

Hi there,

I see. Feels like such a waste still. Can't you creatively make something to hold it in place?
Besides, even a cheap case should technically work, because the holes are a standard, I think. Alternatively you can drill holes yourself, but that might be too much work.

Anarchy wrote:

That was actually a pretty darn good song. Still listening it on repeat every now and then. Thanks.

Admin wrote:I see. Feels like such a waste still. Can't you creatively make something to hold it in place?
Besides, even a cheap case should technically work, because the holes are a standard, I think. Alternatively you can drill holes yourself, but that might be too much work.

One screw seems to hold it fine, long as I don't know the case around.

I think this PSU was intended for large cases, it came with very long wires too, had to tie them up so they wouldn't get caught in one of the coolers.