New PC PSU – Silencer 610 EPS12V
The PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 EPS12V power supply that I ordered from NCIX Canada has finally arrived. This solid piece of engineering will be replacing my unstable Antec 400W SmartPower power supply that came with the Antec SOHO case that I bought when building my first PC. I was hoping to also upgrade the PC’s memory to 2GB of Corsair XMS RAM, but in the state the economy is in right now, one has to be consider the more important priorities.
The reason this power supply is such a high priority on my upgrade list is because I have noticed that my existing power supply has been showing signs of being overburdened. For example, I had to disconnect my two 80GB PATA hard disks and settle for using the single 160GB SATA hard disk because the SmartPower power supply could not power them all in addition to the rest of the system. At times one of these PATA disks would suddenly become undetected within Windows, but would go back to normal on initial boot. Of course, this caused some problems with Windows XP since the pagefile and scratchdisk that I normally keep on these disks for Windows and Photoshop respectively could no longer be accessed. I could not stand the instability so I had to make a few sacrifices on disk space while I waited for a chance to upgrade the power supply.
My choice of the Silencer 610 EPS12V came about after much research through reviews and forum recommendations. Additionally, I know that the PC Power & Cooling brand is greatly respected in the world of computer power supplies, so when it came to choosing something at around $100 it was very easy to narrow down the candidates. The fact that this power supply is rated to deliver a continuous 610W and is “SLI-ready” did not reallmy matter to me, although they were definitely not bad features to have on the side. Although you can probably find many other high-quality power supplies with higher efficiencies than the ‘80 Plus’ guarantee that comes with this one, it is rare that you will find one at around the $100 price point. Furthermore the DC output is quite impressive (+5V @ 30A, +12V @49A and +3.3V at 24A) and should be able to satisfy my current power demands while providing some headroom for future upgrades.
I will be installing the Silencer 610 EPS12V while at home on Christmas break. Unfortunately, there will only be 2 weeks for me to see how it performs, but that should be enough. Anyway, with the improved stability and protection that this new power supply will bring, I will be less worried about any electrical failures occurring and wiping out other valuable components. If one is going to invest so many resources into a project like this, it helps to simultaneously protect that investment.
