I need help here. I have a new PC I just built. I need help with a good PSU. Around 50-70 bucks. Any ideas? Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard NZXT Nemesis Elite Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower APEVIA ATX-CW500WP4 ATX 500W Power Supply

a 700w should do u justice, i got one cheap (after rebates) from Newegg. Cant remember how much tho.

Well I have the apevia installed now and according to a few people here and at another board I post at its a low end brand. 500 Watt. Im having issues with my GFX card. Locking up. Not sure if its the card or the PSU supplying the power to it. I hear even though its 500 Watt the apevia its not giving the proper voltage and causing the card to crash. Im just looking for a good name brand PSU thats around 50-70. 500 watt minimum. I dont have much cash right now to go over the 70 buck limit!

The PSU is THE most important piece of hardware in a system...everything depends on it! It is NOT the place to be cutting corners. And do not base a PSU on wattage. 700W menas nothing if the amperage distribution isn't right. One trick manufacturer's use to falsely bump up the wattage rating is to load up on the +5v rail. If you see much more than 25-30A on the +5v rail, you'd do best to steer clear. If you remember your high school science, watts = volts x amps If you see a PSU with 50A on the +5v rail, that can account for as much as 250W of the overall rating. What uses the +5v rail these days?? not much. Take the time to read the following article...it's 6 yrs old but still explains a lot about how to choose the right PSU for your needs: http://www.firingsquad.com/guides/p...

BTW, if you do some digging, you'll find that Apevia used to be called Aspire. They claim they changed their name because of confusion with Acer Aspire products, but IMO, the real reason was all the negative feedback they were getting because of the faulty 500W PSUs they were pushing out at the time. It was several years ago but if I remember correctly, there was a class action lawsuit brought against them.

Thanks Jam. You been alot of help as of recently. Ill definately look into it. Do you know of any good brands out there and which ones to steer clear of besides the obvious Apevia which I found out is Aspire.....Which really urks me because I knew all about the BS with the 500w PSU being sent out and causing issues. I just want a nice workhorse that can run all my hardware fine :)!

Well I found a pretty good one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... Corsair 530WATT. The Apevia one I got was 39.99 but it had like the biggest rebate. So it cost me only 19.99. I guess the price should have been a key. Im thinking of picking this one up. It looks good and I searched around. This computer has been a hassle well not really a hassle more so I had to get new ram and well I need a new PSU. Other then that it all seems good. I dont think the GFX card is to blame for the PC locking up. I mean could it be? I was getting artifacts outside of Windows XP and garbled text every now and then. So do you think it is the PSU. I want to be 100% positive before I jump into things.