PSU info

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As I may need to get a new PSU, can anyone explain what:

"input range: 115V/220V switchable";
"50hz AC input" and
"frequency 50-60Hz"

refer to exactly?

Could anyone advise me on whether a 300W PSU would be adequate for a machine
that has 2 cd drives, floppy, 1 HD, tv card, usb lan card, modem, soundcard,
64mb nvidia graphics card, a 1.3GHZ AMD processor and a usb powered webcam
and media card reader / writer? Perhaps my current 230W PSU found it
difficult to maintain power to all of this and has therefore died?

 

[kony]

As I may need to get a new PSU, can anyone explain what:

"input range: 115V/220V switchable";
"50hz AC input" and
"frequency 50-60Hz"

refer to exactly?

They didn't have anything more useful to say about it, so they listed
the generic specs, stating that it'll work on either AC input voltage
by choosing that voltage on the switch, and will work with that
corresponding frequency, 60Hz for ~115V and 50 for ~220V.

Basically, this is a spec any standard power supply adheres to.

Could anyone advise me on whether a 300W PSU would be adequate for a machine
that has 2 cd drives, floppy, 1 HD, tv card, usb lan card, modem, soundcard,
64mb nvidia graphics card, a 1.3GHZ AMD processor and a usb powered webcam
and media card reader / writer? Perhaps my current 230W PSU found it
difficult to maintain power to all of this and has therefore died?

The old PSU could die from any number of causes, including operating
near max capacity (over time) as you suggest.

300W in a name-brand unit should be enough for the system, but
generics are a poor gamble at any wattage. If the video card is a
higher-end performance model, using more power itself, you might
consider the next step up in wattage to provide more margin, possibly
longer lifespan, and it might be built a little better.


Dave

 

[ElJerid]

Could anyone advise me on whether a 300W PSU would be adequate for a machine
that has 2 cd drives, floppy, 1 HD, tv card, usb lan card, modem, soundcard,
64mb nvidia graphics card, a 1.3GHZ AMD processor and a usb powered webcam
and media card reader / writer? Perhaps my current 230W PSU found it
difficult to maintain power to all of this and has therefore died?

Depends of the the model. If you take a well known brand, 300 W should be
sufficient. For other products, the Watts indication could as well be
"peaked" as "sustained", which makes a big difference.
I would advice anyways to go for an Enermax or Antec PSU of 400 W. It's only
a small price difference and you will be safe for now and future extensions.