n00b PSU and Power questions

[SnakeIRye]

I recently purchased a PC&P psu and wanted to know if the current going through my place would have any ill effects on it? If the current was shitty would it put a strain on the psu or would it not make any difference? Should I plug it straight into the wall or into a surge protector?

My place is really old and I doubt the people who own this apartment have rewired anything in 20+ years. The main reason for this psu purchase was to determine once and for all if it was the shitty-psu-blues that were bringing down my system, putting strain on my components(mainly gpu) and causing artifacts at default clock settings. It's happened to multiple cards and I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong or if I just have bad luck.

Edit:
510 PC&P
BFGg800gtoc
asus k8n-e deluxe @default
amd 3400+ @ default

And pretty good airflow with 4 fans running

 

[uOpt]

No matter how old the place is, wires are usually wires. Unstable power comes from the towns system or from bozo lines outside your home.

A good PSU is never a bad investment.

If you think the incoming power is bad you should buy a small UPS. The smallest will do for equalization, but don't get a cheap brand.

 

[jonnyGURU]

No matter how old the place is, wires are usually wires. Unstable power comes from the towns system or from bozo lines outside your home.

Older wire or thinner gage wire can run hotter under higher loads. Also, older homes may have more outlets on the same breaker, so you may overload the breaker you're on.

My house was built in 1964. The wiring was fine, but the entire living room/dining room was on one 20A breaker. Since all of the outlets had their own home run back to the panel, it was easy for me to tone out the runs that went to the wall in the living room that all of my computer stuff was on and install my own breaker.

That said; a 1kW PSU doesn't pull any more amperage off of the wall then a 300W power supply. A power supply only uses and dispenses what it needs. If anything, you'll pull less power from the wall because a better power supply is more eficient. In other words, you'll pull less AC power from the wall to produce the same amount of DC power.

A good PSU is never a bad investment.

If you think the incoming power is bad you should buy a small UPS. The smallest will do for equalization, but don't get a cheap brand.

A small UPS may be useless. A large PSU may be useless. UPS's don't automatically condition AC input. The UPS needs to have AVR: Automatic Voltage Regulation. If you have AVR, then the AC input will be boosted and trimmed so it's always 105~115V.

 

[SnakeIRye]

Thanks for the input guys.

I think I'll try to find an inexpensive ups with avr.

 

[category_five]

That said; a 1kW PSU doesn't pull any more amperage off of the wall then a 300W power supply. A power supply only uses and dispenses what it needs. If anything, you'll pull less power from the wall because a better power supply is more eficient. In other words, you'll pull less AC power from the wall to produce the same amount of DC power.

Not to thread jack, but i think i recall reading that effeciency goes up at higher load, thus all else being equal, a 300 watt PSU running a 250 watt load would be more effiecient than a 500 watt PSU running a 250 watt load.

 

[etruscan]

Not to thread jack, but i think i recall reading that effeciency goes up at higher load, thus all else being equal, a 300 watt PSU running a 250 watt load would be more effiecient than a 500 watt PSU running a 250 watt load.

Efficiency goes up at optimal load, not maximal load. Check SilentPCReview for tests of efficiency at a handful of load levels.