This week I want to go over all the parts that we will require and have a vote on what we shall go with.

The first one is a straight forward one.
What shall we go with a power supply?
300 watts / 350 watts?
Can we get one which is less watts then this?
Is there a big difference in power supplies?

By the way, we where looking into processors in the range of about 2000xp-2400xp range.
We will get back to processors a little later and settle on what we should go with.
But I though it might be important to have something to base our power supply on.

Once we get a few different power supplies and what's the best place for us to buy it.
I suggest we make a vote on this and go ahead and add that to what we will buy for the blades.

Keep in mind, that price is a big part of this.
The more expensive the parts will be the fewer blades we will end up with.
So if we can get by with a small power supply and spend more money on extra blades we might want to go that way.

With that said, I'll open the floor and we can this rolling.

R/ Slava

i think that a 300 watt PS would be plenty for what we are going to use it for.

plus you can't beat a deal like this either http://www.buyxtremegear.com/turlin420wat.html

I think the 300w should be sufficient, however, we should make sure it's decent quality. pbroussard recommended the "Sparkle" 300w PSU in the Seti forum.. just a thought.

How much do they cost Brian, and where can we get them?
Would 250 watts be too low?

Yes, I am sure a 300 W ps would be plenty for the blades we are talking about building. Overkill, probably - there aren't going to be a lot of peripherals. Would a 250 W ps save us any money? :?:

Tim

wow, very low price.
$20 we can't go wrong.
This might be something we look into.

Good price, but what about the quality.. I see a lot of warning about getting cheap power supplies... Antec, Enermax, and Sparkle are what I hear are good.

Here's a list of 300w psu's

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?...20&Order=rating

Wouldn't a PSU be covered by a warranty??

Kristi

Brian I agree with you there.
I want us to have quality parts.
I also want us to have a powers supply that won't kill us in price.
In looking over your link at newegg I noticed power supplies at twice the cost that time has suggested for us.

If we only had one blade to work with then I would say sure let's spend the extra $10, $15, or $20.
But keep in mind that we will need to get probably 4-6 of these power supplies to start so the cost with be $40-$120 more if we consider going with the more expensive power supplies.
Also Kristi makes a very good point as far as warranties go; the PS should be covered under it.
And at $20 even if it does stop working after the warranty.
(Let's say a year in a half down the road, and then we can always replace it at that time).

Ultimately the members will choose which one we go with.
I would also like to narrow our selection down too 3 power supplies and have a vote on this.
If I can have my selection then I will go with Tim’s one.
For me it's too good of a deal to pass up.

Brian in your link there where like 10 PS.
If we can choose 2 more then we can get the vote going on this and at least get this part of our list.
And move on to the other parts that we will need to get.

R/ Slava

Oops forgot to log in there.

Also Brian as you can see I am very concerned about the price.
And the only reason for that it I want both quantity and quality if that is possible.
So if we can get a cheap PS that is good we can and should go with that.
Please keep the suggestions coming in.

Once we have our 3 top choices we can start the vote.

R/ Slava

What about the deal I posted here: http://www.tdprojecthope.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=65

420W Antec power supply for $20.

over at newegg they have the enermax 300 watt for $33.00 and free shipping if you buy 5 or more. that would be a reliable PS if we didn't go with the cheaper ones i showed the link for earlier. i was hoping someone had used one of those before and could give us some feedback on it.

then again i justed looked at newegg and the sparkle 300 watt PS is only $22 plus $6 shipping.

Another good one Bruce and also a great price for it.....
Shall we make that #2?
Or is the first one not even worth considering?

[quote="slava"][quote]Or is the first one not even worth considering?[/quote]Well, those according to the folks who posted in that thread at BBR, those are Antec power supplies, rebranded. I don't think we can go wrong with Antecs, and the extra power might come in handy. And the price is GREAT - though I haven't checked the shipping charges.

A larger power supply will be overkill as far as power is concerned, but I believe a larger one can absorb power (electrical supply) fluctuations better than a smaller one.

That's actually that turbolink (as I now see you know)... and I do wonder, will a 420w psu increase energy consumption (i.e. my electric bill!) And, it's VERY cheap for 420w.. you get what you pay for. Just my 2c since I don't know a whole lot about these.

Anyway, if people who know about power supplies say it's fine, then that's fine. If it will increase the electric bill, I say lets stay around 300.

The Sparkle that Jlhugh mentioned looks like another good option.

Here are some from Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?...N82E16817103915 - Sparkle 300w, 5 stars, great rating at tomshardware - $27.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?...N82E16817103428 - Another Sparkle 300w.. close to same as above, but specs are a little different. No rating at newegg - $23.

[quote="Dersgniw"][quote]

If it will increase the electric bill, I say lets stay around 300.

[/quote]

I think Brian makes an excelent point here.
And although I think it's a great price, you 4 hosts will have this working 24/7 and also for the long run.
So even a little difference in price can run into a large amount in time.

I am no specialist by far.
And so i ask this question.
Just because you have a bigger power supply, does it mean it uses all that extra power if the pc doesn't us it all?

I don't know how PS's work well enough to answer that question. IF SO, then I agree with 300W being sufficient. I'll ask my network admin and see what he knows.

I'm definitely not married to any brand or deal - the Sparkles are fine with me if people like them.

Just spoke with my net admin (whom I trust) about power supplies. He says that a computer will only draw the power that it needs. A 400W PS CAN supply 400W maximum, but that does NOT mean it pulls 400W all the time. It just means that if the computer needs 400W, it will be there.

BUT, he said that a PS's ability to absorb fluctuations in the electrical supply depends more on the quality of its components. A good quality 300W supply will be better in that case than a 400W supply.

He also pointed me to a good article: http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20021021/index.html

Good news Bruce.
And with that said we can go ahead and make a list of the top 3 power supplies too vote on.
Will someone care to give it a shot and list what they wish to be the ones we vote on?
(If after a day or 2 we don't have a list I'll take the ones we have here and we can vote on those.
This is so we can get this over with and choose the other components.)
So please use this chance to choose the ones you would like to vote on.

R/ Slava

i think that the ones we have listed here are pretty good. they would make a good list.

I have to ask, why is this in the suggestions forum? :mrgreen:

Bruce in going over the PS and putting together my list of PS.
I noticed your link was the same as the frist.
It took me to the same exact place as the first one suggested.

R/ Slava