My Dual Xeon computer that I do my 3D graphics and stuff on just went pop as the PSU died a sudden death. It was a 650w, which is apparently a little more powerful than the average.
My question is: as long as the connectors I need are all included, is it a simple case of finding an equivalent model and replacing it? I’ve read up on them a bit, and it seems I should pay careful attention to what is connected up where before making the swap. But otherwise is it straightforward?
Another question I have is if the new PSU has a fan that faces down into the box, rather than the normal method of facing outside it, will that affect anything?
Hi. I’ve been dealing with PCs since the late 80s and have replaced many power supplies. It is very straightforward, I’d just be sure to match the wattage. The idea of the fan in the PS is to draw air over the heat-producing elements in it (large capacitors, etc). Dumping that heat into the system unit seems a bit odd to me, but I suppose that as long as there is another fan venting the box sufficiently, it should be okay. Personally, I’d find one that vents to the outside.
Good advice, thanks. I figure the fan facing inside the case is an attempt towards noise reduction, but I’m like you, it seems counter to normal sense. I do have two case fans that are facing out otherwise, though, so maybe it’d be fine.
That is a large power supply. The fan’s placement has no bearing on the direction if air flow. My fan is on the inside of the case. It takes the air from the case and blows it across the housed capacitors and out back of the power supply and computer, rather than sucking it form the case as many of the older ones did. I highly doubt that it is blowing the air into the case. A big monster like that will blow some hot air would shorten the life of the system it was powering.
I think they build them like this now for sound reduction and better cooling of the PS itself. There seems to be less dust inside cases with PS like this but I am not exactly sure why.
It is a little more powerful than average, but by no means unusual these days. Enermax, Corsair, Seasonic, Antec and the like all do PSUs in the 650/720/1000w ranges for people who run high-powered gaming cards, multi-cpus etc. One useful thing to look for is that some of them are now modular, meaning the power leads unplug from the PSU, so you don’t need to have a whole lot of unused cables and connectors trailing round inside your PC like spaghetti. Just make sure you get a decent-quality unit from a trustworthy brand, since they are somewhat less likely to go pop-fizzle, and if they do they are less likely to destroy one or more of the components in your machine when they do.
Have you had a chance to test whether all the other bits in your PC survived the PS failing? If not, it might be an idea to mentally prepare yourself for a big bill - chances are the motherboard etc will be OK but it’s not totally unheard of for a dying PSU to fry every single component in a machine.
No, I haven’t tested anything, it’s totally dead without the power, and all I can do is discover the facts when I get a new PSU. Considering only a week previously (literally seven days) my second computer’s C: drive died on me, my luck is not exactly running hot right now, so I’m unfortunately prepared for the worst.
Depending upon what he gets for Xmas, I may be replacing the PS on an Emachine. It has an unusual four conductor cable for the motherboard. How to universal power supplies deal with that?
They probably don’t. eMachines has been using funky PSUs pretty much all along. My best advice is to google emachine <model number> power and you should be able to find someone selling an exact replacement. One word of warning - eMachine power supplies tend to fail badly and kill the motherboard, so the computer may be a lost cause.
For the OP - if you can afford them, there’s not much better available than OCZ / PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer line. Their 750 watt PSU sells for about $160 at Amazon. Next down is a 610 watt unit that’s probably not quite enough to run that rig. For what dual Xeons sell for, $160 is fairly cheap insurance.
