[mythtv-users] Power supply for ATX

Brian Wood beww at beww.org
Thu Jan 25 23:24:53 UTC 2007


On Jan 25, 2007, at 3:21 PM, Greg Woods wrote:


>
> As one who likes to think he has more sense than cents, I agree with
> this, but how does a guy like me who has been a software guy all his
> life cut through the BS? How can I tell that a fan is really a
> high-quality fan just because it costs twice as much as another one?
> (Ditto for power supplies)

Well with fans you should look for units with ball bearings, not the  
sleeve type. Good makers like Rotron as opposed to "Mad Dog" from  
China are probably a good idea. Buying from electronic component  
distributers like Newark is probably a way to get better components  
than buying from computer outlets.

As far as power supplies Jarod's advice about silentpcreview.com's  
ratings is certainly valid. As you pointed out paying more is  
certainly no guarantee of a better quality unit, but the opposite is  
not necessarily true as you will *never* get a good quality unit  
cheap unless you can get one surplus or used.

Some of the best power supplies ever put into computers were the ones  
in the old IBM XT and AT units. They were "brute force" supplies, not  
cheap switchers, but they would not be very practical today because  
of changes in case design, cable requirements etc.

PC Power and Cooling makes some decent units, and the Thermaltake  
units are better than most IMHO.

Commercial servers tend to sometimes have better supplies than home  
desktop units, but only "sometimes" as prices start to get more  
competitive.

As with most things in life there are no easy answers. You have to do  
your homework and be willing to pay for quality.


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