[SOLVED] How important is PSU Brand?

[markgerardpelaez]

I have this PSU called Q-Star 600AQ 600w that is serving me well with my A8 7600 build with gt 730. I ordered the parts for my upgrade to Ryzen 3 2200g(will use igpu), B350 tomahawk, 1 2400mhz 8gb ram, and they are about to arrive tomorrow. I just realized something about my PSU, yes it has a decent W, 600w but, I am not sure with the brand, is this PSU trusted(my friend say it is because it's a Korean brand)? Is it really giving me 600w? Or do I need to change to a better brand for my pc not to burn?

 

[feelinfroggy777]

PSU brand is very important. There are a lot of very cheap PSUs out there and a malfunction can damage your hardware or worse, start a fire. I suggest getting a quality PSU from Corsiar, EVGA, or Seasonic.

Additionally, not all "600 Watt" PSUs are created equal. What you want to do is look for the wattage on the 12 volt rail. That is where it really matters. A lot of PSUs will add the voltage of all the rails together and use that number as a "600 Watt" PSU when in reality the wattage on the 12 volt rail is much less.

 

[Nigel Spike]

The only Q-star 600AQ PSU I manage to find is this one. It says 300W on the label. However it only has 15A on the 12V rail equal to 180W, so according to current marking, this is a 200W PSU. If this is the one you have, you should get something way better.

Nigel

 

[scout_03]

it only have name 600aq but realy a 300watts one check picture on link http://item.gmarket.co.kr/Item?goodscode=630299652 you could get something better for your system .

 

[King_V]

VERY important. You want a reliable, top quality brand, or, sometimes within a brand, there are good and not-so-good models, and you want to be sure that the PSU is reliable and up to the task...

It can mean life or death for some of your components. Or, if it's a particularly low-quality unit, the difference between a safe PC and a possible fire.

 

[markgerardpelaez]

PSU brand is very important. There are a lot of very cheap PSUs out there and a malfunction can damage your hardware or worse, start a fire. I suggest getting a quality PSU from Corsiar, EVGA, or Seasonic.

Additionally, not all "600 Watt" PSUs are created equal. What you want to do is look for the wattage on the 12 volt rail. That is where it really matters. A lot of PSUs will add the voltage of all the rails together and use that number as a "600 Watt" PSU when in reality the wattage on the 12 volt rail is much less.

The only Q-star 600AQ PSU I manage to find is this one. It says 300W on the label. However it only has 15A on the 12V rail equal to 180W, so according to current marking, this is a 200W PSU. If this is the one you have, you should get something way better.

Nigel

So if A is multiplied to V, my goodness, am I really only getting 240w on one rail?? There are 2 rails with 15A and 12V each, does that mean I'm getting 480w out of 600w or it's just 240w out of 600w?? Good lord. I need to dispose this asap...

 

[USAFRet]

So if A is multiplied to V, my goodness, am I really only getting 240w on one rail?? There are 2 rails with 15A and 12V each, does that mean I'm getting 480w out of 600w or it's just 240w out of 600w?? Good lord. I need to dispose this asap...

Yep.
I wouldn't trust that thing to run a desk lamp.

The PSU is arguably the most important single piece of a PC.
A bad one can cause all sorts of issues, from random weirdness, to killing other parts, to starting an actual fire.

 

[scout_03]

your on max at 240 watts so dump it before you go in trouble with system .

 

[King_V]

PSU brand is very important. There are a lot of very cheap PSUs out there and a malfunction can damage your hardware or worse, start a fire. I suggest getting a quality PSU from Corsiar, EVGA, or Seasonic.

Additionally, not all "600 Watt" PSUs are created equal. What you want to do is look for the wattage on the 12 volt rail. That is where it really matters. A lot of PSUs will add the voltage of all the rails together and use that number as a "600 Watt" PSU when in reality the wattage on the 12 volt rail is much less.

The only Q-star 600AQ PSU I manage to find is this one. It says 300W on the label. However it only has 15A on the 12V rail equal to 180W, so according to current marking, this is a 200W PSU. If this is the one you have, you should get something way better.

Nigel

So if A is multiplied to V, my goodness, am I really only getting 240w on one rail?? There are 2 rails with 15A and 12V each, does that mean I'm getting 480w out of 600w or it's just 240w out of 600w?? Good lord. I need to dispose this asap...

Agreed with USAFRet....

But, to clarify, you ARE rated at 480w out of the 600w. It's a pretty good rule of thumb though that, for modern systems, if a PSU is not giving you close to your total rated power on the 12v rails, it's probably of questionable quality even for the amount it *is* giving you.

 

[markgerardpelaez]

PSU brand is very important. There are a lot of very cheap PSUs out there and a malfunction can damage your hardware or worse, start a fire. I suggest getting a quality PSU from Corsiar, EVGA, or Seasonic.

Additionally, not all "600 Watt" PSUs are created equal. What you want to do is look for the wattage on the 12 volt rail. That is where it really matters. A lot of PSUs will add the voltage of all the rails together and use that number as a "600 Watt" PSU when in reality the wattage on the 12 volt rail is much less.

The only Q-star 600AQ PSU I manage to find is this one. It says 300W on the label. However it only has 15A on the 12V rail equal to 180W, so according to current marking, this is a 200W PSU. If this is the one you have, you should get something way better.

Nigel

So if A is multiplied to V, my goodness, am I really only getting 240w on one rail?? There are 2 rails with 15A and 12V each, does that mean I'm getting 480w out of 600w or it's just 240w out of 600w?? Good lord. I need to dispose this asap...

Agreed with USAFRet....

But, to clarify, you ARE rated at 480w out of the 600w. It's a pretty good rule of thumb though that, for modern systems, if a PSU is not giving you close to your total rated power on the 12v rails, it's probably of questionable quality even for the amount it *is* giving you.

I just wanted to make sure I understand the basic computation on this. There's one rail that has +12V1 with 20A, there's another rail that has +12V2 with 20A. The other rails has this single digit positives V with 32A. Do I only compute the ones with 12Vs? If yes, then sad to say, I am only getting 480w. And sad to say, I will need to buy psu. I'm going to smack the hell out of that guy who sold me this. Took advantage of my lack of knowledge back then. Good thing you guys are active to answer these kind of questions.

 

[King_V]

I just wanted to make sure I understand the basic computation on this. There's one rail that has +12V1 with 20A, there's another rail that has +12V2 with 20A. The other rails has this single digit positives V with 32A. Do I only compute the ones with 12Vs? If yes, then sad to say, I am only getting 480w. And sad to say, I will need to buy psu. I'm going to smack the hell out of that guy who sold me this. Took advantage of my lack of knowledge back then. Good thing you guys are active to answer these kind of questions.

Generally, yes. While the 3.3V and 5V rails have some small use, when you're calculating the power demands of your major components (video card, cpu, motherboard, etc) you should only look at the computation of what the 12V rails are putting out.