[geeks] PC Hardware (Power Supplies)

[Nate]

On Mar 1, 2008, at 12:14 PM, Lionel Peterson wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I just swapped out the broken power supply in my main desktop  
> machine (an older Intel D805 Pentium box used for basic web *stuff*  
> and light desktop use), and it occured to me that this was the  
> first power supply I ever had to replace, in either a PC or other  
> platform, after all these years. Have I been lucky, or do power  
> supplies just work? (I suspect the latter is the case, but I'm  
> curious about others exp.)

Depends on a variety of factors.  A power supply with good quality  
capacitors and a cool electrical design with well designed cooling  
used in a case that also has good cooling while being supplied with  
good AC power will last a long time.  Otherwise, it will last less time.

> I know Mr. Bill likes PC Power & Cooling units, but I have never  
> had any problems with Antec (except for one DOA unit, which was  
> quickly RMA'd by Antec, no problem). The unit that failed today was  
> from an Asus chassis that I am sure I bought because it was cheap.

As I've mentioned on this list before, PC Power & Cooling, Antec,  
etc. do not make their power supplies, they have other people make  
them for them to their specifications, and it really does not make  
any sense to try to make blanket statements such as "PC Power &  
Cooling is good" or "Antec is good" since the actual manufacturer  
will vary depending on the model of PC Power & Cooling or Antec you  
are talking about.

Let's take Silverstone for example.

The Silverstone Zeus is made by Etasis, except for the Zeus 650 which  
is made by Enhance.

The Silverstone Element and Strider are made by Enhance.

The Silverstone Olympia and Decathalon are made by Impervio  
Electronics, except for the Olympia 1000 which is made by Seventeam.

> I threw an Antec Basiq 350 watt PS in the chassis in about 15  
> minutes (I tried very hard not to remove the MB or other bits to  
> make the swap), and the system seems fine. I think the PS just  
> died, it was up for probably 2+ years *nearly* constantly, and I  
> doubt most desktop PS are designed for that kind of duty cycle  
> (though they certainly should be).

The Antec Earthwatts, Trio, and NeoHE are typically made by Seasonic.

The Antec Basiq line is made by FSP.

Other Antec models are made either by CWT or Heroichi.

I think you would have been better off with a Seasonic (such as an  
Antec Earthwatts) than a FSP (such as the Antec Basiq), but FSP isn't  
bad.  Certainly better than CWT or Heroichi on average, though there  
are a few exceptions.

- Nate