Page 1 of Power Supply?

I built my PC about 2 years ago and all has been working well

Just lately though the power supply fan seems to be making a lot of noise on start up? it gets quieter after about 20 mins but im just a bit worried, if it does fail would it damage any other components in my pc? or should I just change it now?

Any help appreciated

A lot of ppl say you should only use branded PSU like targan, corsair etc, others say it doesn`t matter, but a lot of ppl do say that if a PSU goes it can take the MOBO with it, and if you`re really unlucky things liek hard drives :(

try squirting an airduster in there to clean the muck out, or (while off) use a cotton bud to swab out the gunk.

This comes back to the cheap vs expensive PSU, a branded one will last you for years, some cheap ones a lot less, but now some-one is bound to say they had the complete opposite experince happen ;) ymmv

I think it depends what you`re using the pc for, and how long, and what it`s got inside. If you use it for a 1 or 2 hours a few times a week, just for web surfing, do regular backups and see what happens.

if you`re running a quad core processor, 3 graphics cards etc you want something more meaty ASAP ;)

Sounds like the bearing(s) in the fan are on their way out. It could soldier on for a long time though. The risk you face is if it seizes and the PSU doen`t shut down gracefully.

The more expensive ones tend to deliver the voltages at much steadier levels too - not just the Watts...

Ste

I am running an AMD X2 2200, 2GB ram, 500gb sata HD with a 400w power supply which is this one here - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/119582

I normally buy cases with power supply included but my current case did not come with one.
I do like to leave it on over night to download stuff but don`d trust it at present. I think I will get a new one sooner rather than later.

I also have a 40gb HD, a sata DVD writer, a dvd-rom and two case fans, do I need a 400w power supply or could I go smaller?

thanks for the advice

This item was edited on Tuesday, 14th July 2009, 22:42

You possibly could - but don`t forget, just because it can output 400W doesn`t mean it always does. It only outputs what is drawn off it at the time...

Ste