trying to learn how to build my own computer need power supply unit advice.?

Question

lately ive been having sme computer problems and i am trying to feel out my options. ive considered buy pre-built(dell, compaq, etc...) and i dont think that would make me happy, as i havent had great luck the last 2 times. so im looking into building from scratch and seeing how that goes. one item of concern im told is the PSU. it should be powerful enogh to power my machine without overpowering it, then im also told you cant overpower it cuz the hardware only takes what it needs. "hardware isnt like goldfish they wont overfeed themselvs to death i think was how i read it. anyhow can anyone link me to a good page on how to know what kind of PSU i need? i want to be able to truly understand what im doing and be able to look at "any" setup and say for absolute certen that "i need this many ** with that many ** and ill buy ** brand name, so ill get this one!!" and be able to do it confidently knowing that i know what im doing. Also any help with building the rest of the machine is welcom

Answer 1

There is no such thing as "too big a power supply," the components will only use the power they need. Now there is such a thing as spending too much money on a power supply that is so big wou will never use it all, but it won't damage your computer. As for how big, depends on what type of system you are building. Here is a power supply calculator, this should give you a rough idea:http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

As for the rest of the parts, feel free to email me through my profile page, I can help you with the rest of the parts, and I actually know what I am talking about.

Answer 2

Usually the power supply comes with the case. I don't think you really have to worry about the size of it. If you were making a system with a lot of drives it might be different. Making your own machine is more expensive than buying one already made. It's very easy to build a computer. Basically, you plug everything together and it works. It's actually kind of hard to go wrong. Stick with the generic parts and you'll have a good machine.

Answer 3

If you plan to assemble a pentium 4 computer and you have a lot of periperals or accesssories to be install i think you better to buy a power supply with highest wattages for example 650watts & dual fan to avoid the over heating of power supply. you have also consider the type of casing you buy because some casing is lack of ventilation that cause of overheating of processor. It's better also to buy a harddisk cooler to avoid over heating of the hard drive. add also additional exhaust fan . About the processor make it sure that the processor fan is match to your processor because somtimes its cause of the processor hanging because of processor poor fan. About the Video card you rather buy the video that have a built-in fan.
If you want more help just e-mail [e-mail] I try to help you as i can..

Answer 4

May I suggest Hardwaresecrets.com For your question look
under the Power heading at the top, then scroll down to Replacing Your Power Supply, and check the other subtitles, also. I suggest also clicking on the other headings to gain more knowledge. Check Directron.com, for additional info, plus Sysopt.com/forums/'stickys', and PCmag.com/plus their forums, and Majorgeeks.com. Tomshardware.com, and Extremetech.com,Insanetech.com, also comes to mind. You can also email me, I'll try to help. Chickster

Answer 5

The best source for product reviews and how-to's is MaximumPC Magazine. http://www.maximumpc.com

They have an article on building a PC. http://dl.maximumpc.com/Archives/MPC0207.pdf

I learned to build great and powerful PC's from the magazine years ago and have built 7 or 8 since then.

Answer 6

Go to www.Directron.com it tells you a lot

Answer 7

go to www.newegg.com and then will have everything you need