[dcontarino]

I use the Newegg customer reviews as my #1 research in buying tech and PC parts... I'd rather read about how tech products perform in real-life situations as opposed to benchmarks anyday. Some of the newegg customers get a little carried away in their reviews, and some are not too bright, but you can filter those ones out easily...

As for PSUs, I only ever use Corsair & Antec. Recently I bought one of Antec's budget offerings, the BP-550W Plus (Basiq 550W) and was blown away that it offered modular cabling and 550W with 67A on triple +12V rails. For $89 it was a steal. On the other hand, the first PSU I ever bought was a Rosewill 500W. Although it didn't fry any of my components, it did occasionally cause the lights in my house to dim... and it was only powering a basic home office PC...!

[rgreen4]

I agree on the customer reveiws. Thanks for the tip on that PSU. I too am an Antec fan and have an Antec Trupower Trio 550W which has only +12v power 54 Amps across all three legs and is not modular. It also lists for more! But, then it does have a 5 year warranty. I looked at 13 Antec PSU's of 500W output or greater listed on Newegg and found 7 are now modular. Antec appears to be moving in that direction, but the BP550 Plus looks like the best deal. The EA650 has similar power on it's three legs (slightly more) is also modular and is $10 more. Those two are the only ones that have that much power on each 12V leg, are modular and are under $100.

[Boletus]

Come on guys! The writer wasn't dissing NewEgg, He was just using it as an example and meant that we shouldn't rely on user reviews on vendor websites to make a decision about which power supply to buy.

[rtfire1]

This is a good read I have found lots of time that an online company will put in a few nice post about a product to help it out and people with issues might just not post a bad note where they see all the great reviews. I had an issue with newegg they did right by me but I check other sites for product reviews to now.

[coastie65]

When shopping PSU's I too used customer reviews and like an earlier post, I did have to do some filtering. I ultimately got an Antec Basiq 500w, as I thought it would be sufficient for my needs and at a good price. coastie65

[rtfire1]

hey coastie last time I built a pc, when the case I bought had a super huge window and you could see the psu. I went with a Antec 500w crome psu. I have not had any issues with that psu in over 4 or 5 years. I had a brand new one from the egg that was doa in the box for a system I was rehabing for a friend the got me a new one asap but the bad comment I posted was removed by someone.

[coastie65]

Hey rt, Yeah i guess by the luck of the draw, you will end up with a bad part. In these days of budget cuts, they probably start with QC. The sellers can't be held responsible as they just sell em, they don't test em. Newegg is pretty good on replacing that stuff without hassle from what I've seen. I don't know why the negative post would have been pulled, as Newegg wasn't culpable, the manufacturer was.

[rtfire1]

it was: recived doa new egg got me a new one asap new one works

[KarlH]

Of Course it helps if you don't run the power supply at or near maximun output. Add up the needs of all the items you have stuffed the case with and get a power supply that allows you some leeway. And don't forget the things that suck power thru the USB ports, they can add up too.

[coastie65]

Hi Karl, Yup, that was my thoughts when I got the 500w PSU. I figured it would take care of my needs and give me some headroom also. coastie

[oldfellow]

I looked at all the review sites I could find when I was deciding on what components to get for my upgade.

I found that Corsair was regarded as a reliable PSU , and I wanted a Modular unit, so had to go up to 520 Watt to get that.

A bit of overkill but having power for future higher power motherboard etc. does not do any harm.

I can sleep soundly kinowing that the PSU and other components are reliable and durable. :)

[coastie65]

Hi, Yep. That and the fact if you ended using a lot of USB devices, you know you'll have the power for tham as well. coastie

[rtfire1]

thats why I us powered usb hubs on my laptop. and the 500w psu helps on any desktop thats not to over packed

[Kinman]

"Don't go to Newegg--find sites that run PSUs through a rigorous testing environment."


the article is good, other this part that the author for some reason targeting newegg, in a bad way.
I have been a newegg customer for years, never have a problem with it, not even on returned products (all returns ran smoothly). The products reviews there are good, and are pretty accurate. These reviews is the first stop I check which brand and model is the best, since they are very accurate.

If the product, like PSU, indeed has problem, many user will report the same problem. Fake review situation is virtual non-existence. Like some said, some people are not crazy about the benchmark, they care more about the real usage of the parts, which mostly only time can tell.
I am not trying to sell ad for newegg here, but I can't understand why the author would tell people not to go to the reviews in newegg.
Anyway, I never thought coolmax is generic. They are cheaper, yes, but their performance are not bad.
And I do agree not to buy a cheap PSU unless you are on a budget. I had a PSU situation before, and it was indeed troubling, not to mention it has a high chance to damage other hardware when it runs to problem (experienced it also, had to return the motherboard and memory).

[coastie65]

rtfire1 said:

thats why I us powered usb hubs on my laptop. and the 500w psu helps on any desktop thats not to over packed

I only have one USB port open ( the one in front) as they are all used for one thing or other. coastie