Power Supplies what makes a good one.

[Marshmallowman]

there may be accurate sensors out there, but I would use a decent multimeter,(oscilloscope would be cool, you could check for ripple..etc)

what you can do is use a multimeter to calibrate the sensor, do it a couple of times over a couple of days and if the reading are not getting more consistant then you have a crap sensor.

On the whole voltage sensors on mobo's are just to help sell them and will never be that accurate.

Mulitimeters have temperature correction and in built reference voltages so a simple voltage sensor will never be that accrate.

as to accuracy of the software...its not difficult to be accurate if calibrated correctly AND if they have decent sensor. (but why does my -5volt read as 12?)

[KvHagedorn]

I'm a sucker for quality. I got a PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 450w for my dual P3 system and have been very happy with it in every respect. This is running 3 scsi drives as well as the dual processors and I can recall no stability issues at all after installing it. Of course the PCP&C is more expensive. Would you expect a power supply maker to care about the quality of their product if all you care about is the dollar-per-watt ratio? That's why so many power supplies are cheaply made.. most people don't care.

Check this out..

http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/power_supplies/insidestory/index.htm

[Marshmallowman]

yeah Kv pick a good case and PSU, and it will last years, and still be worth something, unlike all the hardware you put into it, wich halves in price every 6 months

[MadScot]

Are there any new chipset/mobo on the horizon that would require a new power supply? How much longer could you use a new PSU with top-of-the-line cpu, vid card, etc.?

MadScot

[rugger]

Originally posted by KvHagedorn
I'm a sucker for quality. I got a PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 450w for my dual P3 system and have been very happy with it in every respect. This is running 3 scsi drives as well as the dual processors and I can recall no stability issues at all after installing it. Of course the PCP&C is more expensive. Would you expect a power supply maker to care about the quality of their product if all you care about is the dollar-per-watt ratio? That's why so many power supplies are cheaply made.. most people don't care.

Check this out..
http://www.pcpowercooling.com/produc...tory/index.htm

Being devils advacate again:

But why should most people care what power supply is driving there system. Even the most hapless cheap 300 W power supply will happy run a Celeron 1.3, 5400 rpm hard drive and GF2MX (plus some other stuff) without breaking a sweat. Why should manufactures spend more then they absolutely have to for a component that never gets stressed that much.

Personally though, I am very partial to Aopen power supplies. I have seen them do crazy things and still be happy.

[DGhost]

Originally posted by MadScot
Are there any new chipset/mobo on the horizon that would require a new power supply? How much longer could you use a new PSU with top-of-the-line cpu, vid card, etc.?

MadScot

i doubt it. in the last two years platforms that needed more juice than a decent to good quality 250W-300W PSU can provide also required custom power supplies (Xeons, early Athlon MP's, P4's (questionable, but still), etc).

if you have a PSU that has the ATX12v compatable plugs, you should be able to use all the upcoming desktop platforms without a problem.

as far as any of the workstation stuff (dual proc boxes, etc)... those will likely require a custom power supply or a high quality one to start off with... who knows though...