I've just experienced the wonders of a REAL PSU!

[markusaurileus]

Today, I just upgraded from a no-name 550W PSU to the Ultra X3 600W modular PSU, and BOOM (good boom).

The fanspeeds are amazing! Before, I had my 120mm fans at medium settings, and it felt like hardly any air was going thru them. First power-on with the X3, and my comp sounded like a vaccum. Temps were ~2-5 deg C lower. Turned the fans to low; sound is less noticable, temps are still lower.

Now I'm going to retry overclocking my CPU because I'll be certain my system will be supplying the right amount of power to everything.

I feel like a fool for not really taking note of the importance of PSUs for so long. T_T I know this isn't a question, but I feel like I should post this for anyone out there planning on building a system with a PSU that is sketchy (and to anyone still on that cheap PSU). I advise you to go the extra $50 and get a robust, well-made PSU that gives real power to your system.

 

[jsc]

I advise you to go the extra $50 and get a robust, well-made PSU that gives real power to your system.

I hate to rain on your parade, but ...
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2008/01/09/ultra_x3_600w_power_supply/

You have a pretty good 500 watt power supply.

And overclocking a CPU takes little extra power. Overclocking an i5-K, for example, will not add more than 25 watts to the overall system use. And if 25 watts is the difference between running and not running, you need a larger PSU anyway.

 

[flashfir]

... TBH Ultra is a bad brand...
^^ THAT.


Look here for PSU stuff. Look at the stickies.
http://www.overclock.net/f/31/power-supplies

If your 120mm fans are not running at full speed... then your PSU is WRONG. Molex power should be always the same... regardless of how "good" in this case BAD your PSU can be.

 

[acerace]

Oh the irony.

 

[markusaurileus]

Ouch this hurts lol. Ok so I did read that review before and was a little disappointed, but I bought this PSU for $60, and I really wanted modular at the same time.

As for the fan speeds, I'm not joking. I had this no-name 550W for a while now, and after swtiching, the same speed settings are stronger. Maybe a faulty molex cables, idk. But it's a lot better.

 

[jsc]

No doubt what you now have is better than what you used to have.

And the only real problem the HardOCP reviewers found was that the PSU could not produce full rated power at full rated temperatures. Like I said, you have a pretty good 500 watt PSU.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

Ultra psu's will last 12 months if your lucky. They are not a good brand. Any experienced system builder will tell you the same. Sorry to blow your buzz.