Sentey Power supply not enough?

[karoga1220]

I purchased a 550w bronze sentey psu and im questioning if its enough. We have a EVGA Geforce 660 superclocked gpu and thought for the longest time it was overheating. it would crash during gameplay. So now im questioning if its not the power supply? anyone have a suggestion at a better quality PSU for under 100? i'll return this one quick so i can get my money back and find my husband the right one.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

EVGA recommends a 450 watt PSU for that unit.

It's not very demanding--circa 120 watts maximum.

I have no idea if you have a PSU problem. If your PSU can reliably deliver say 350 or 400 watts, it isn't likely to be the problem.

Sentey PSUs are made by several different manufacturers, such as Super Flower, Power Giga, and Sirtec--it's hard to say whether yours is decent or horrible as I don't know which model you have or whether or not there are reviews available.

If you decide you do need another PSU, there are a lot of good units in the 500 to 600 watt range for 100 or less.

If you decide you want to buy one, look at a retailer like Newegg. Brands like Seasonic, or certain models from Corsair, EVGA, or Antec.

The Seasonic G-550 is usually easy to find and well under 100 dollars.

 

[Surviver7]

The authority on PSUs is JonnyGuru.com. I believe they have a ranked list (by quality) of models. Some PSU's are built by good companies or lousy companies and then a brand name is slapped on it, sometimes to sell at a price point in certain stores. I'd check that site or other hardware sites for reviews and brands. But generally I'd say Seasonic, Silverstone, some Super Flower, some Antec are top of the line. But I'd suggest not to go by just the name, except for Seasonic. Usually you can get a much better PSU by not buying what big box stores carry 'on the shelf'.

 

[LMiller7]

It isn't just the power rating that is important but the quality of the PSU that is important. There are many ways that power ratings can be calculated and the manufacturers of cheap PSUs will use a method that is most advantageous to them, not you. The question isn't the power rating of the PUS but whether it will provide the required current at the stable specified voltage under all situations that will be encountered. The power rating will not tell you that.

The PSU is a poor place to economize. Unfortunately many manufacturers have discovered that using a cheap PSU is a cost effective way to built an inexpensive, but not necessarily reliable computer. But they usually last the warranty so it isn't their problem.

One serious problem with cheap PSUs is that they do not like to die alone but will often take the motherboard and other components with them when they fail.