Significance of a decent PSU

[Chaz]

I know everybody always says to get a decent branded power supply, but I've pretty much ignored that advice. I'm using the PSU which came with my case, it's a "Win Power ATX-450" (450 watts), with an output of 20A max on the 12v, and 40A max on the 5v.

I'm starting to wonder if it's causing my sub par overclocks. My 2500+ Mobile Barton should reach at least 2500Mhz without too much trouble, but I can never get it over 2400MHz, and that's at a ridiculous voltage of 1.95v.
My video card (Leadtek 6800) overclocks from 325/700 to 400/800, which again isn't particularly impressive. Most people seem to manage a minimum of 850 on the memory, and mine wont budge over 800.

So. Would a half decent PSU help me out?

[madcatmk3]

no I have a 420 watt (changing soon) and while it is alienware ssutified (.85) it wrked fine when I overclokced my 6800 GT to 380 MHz. it's possible you have a bad PSU or it's omething else.

[Pitch]

Originally Posted by Chaz

I know everybody always says to get a decent branded power supply, but I've pretty much ignored that advice. I'm using the PSU which came with my case, it's a "Win Power ATX-450" (450 watts), with an output of 20A max on the 12v, and 40A max on the 5v.

I'm starting to wonder if it's causing my sub par overclocks. My 2500+ Mobile Barton should reach at least 2500Mhz without too much trouble, but I can never get it over 2400MHz, and that's at a ridiculous voltage of 1.95v.
My video card (Leadtek 6800) overclocks from 325/700 to 400/800, which again isn't particularly impressive. Most people seem to manage a minimum of 850 on the memory, and mine wont budge over 800.

So. Would a half decent PSU help me out?

Firstly a decent PSU is really a must. Settling for anything less can cause dangerous deviation of voltages on your rails.

Secondly, what a component is excpected toa chieve via overclocking, and what it does are two vwery different things. There's nothing that guarantees your hardware will achieve those speeds and there is alot of different variables which determine what you can achieve.

I would suspect cooling over the supply of power, but if you are sure your cooling is suffecient, this includes heatsinks on the memory of your 6800, then you can try a new PSU, but again, there are no guarantees, you could just be at the limits of your particular hardware.

[cloasters]

Some people get lucky with a generic power supply. However, a cheap PSU can damage a lot of components. Used to be that the power supply was last on the list of parts needed for a new machine. There wasn't much money left after the new mainboard, CPU, HDD, RAM and optical drives were paid for.

Nowadays the PSU is first on my list of needed components. And they cost a lot. Sigh.

[Got EpOx]

Well i'm looking for a decent PSU, £40 max probably. 350w or more.

[cloasters]

Power supplies available in there will always be an England are different from those available in the US. Why not search for reviews of PSU's? You could start at www.tomshardware.com .

[Got EpOx]

OK cool, thanks