# FINALLY getting a new power supply!



## The VCR King

Turns out the 600 watt EVGA is at my local Best Buy and it's on sale for $34.99! I'm ordering it and having it shipped to store tonight! YAY!


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## Laquer Head

This may be premature, but it's about !@#$%& time!


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## spirit

OMG this day has come! Is this actually happening? Woohooo!


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## Laquer Head

spirit said:


> OMG this day has come! Is this actually happening? Woohooo!



Time to buy a lotto ticket


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## Darren




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## The VCR King

Darren said:


>


Oh, ya better believe it! Due to family plans I'm buying it tomorrow since Best Buy is down the street from our grocery store, but I'll post pics of the progress as I remove the old unit and put in the new one!


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## Laquer Head

The VCR King said:


> Oh, ya better believe it! Due to family plans I'm buying it tomorrow since Best Buy is down the street from our grocery store, but *I'll post pics of the progress as I remove the old unit and put in the new one*!



At this point a simple, resized before/after will suffice..


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## spirit

May Saturday March 26th 2016 go down in history as one of the most important days in Computer Forum history - The VCR King FINALLY buys a decent power supply!


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## The VCR King

spirit said:


> May Saturday March 26th 2016 go down in history as one of the most important days in Computer Forum history - The VCR King FINALLY buys a decent power supply!


Yay! *blows party whistle and sprays confetti in office


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## spirit

The VCR King said:


> Yay! *blows party whistle and sprays confetti in office


You throwing a party to celebrate? Am I invited? I think you should invite @Darren since he told you about that EVGA unit! 

Should get a playlist going on your PC and then 'BOOOMMMM* yay a giant party popper with fireworks!


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## The VCR King

spirit said:


> You throwing a party to celebrate? Am I invited? I think you should invite @Darren since he told you about that EVGA unit!
> 
> Should get a playlist going on your PC and then 'BOOOMMMM* yay a giant party popper with fireworks!


No no, let's use my old Cougar PSU as the party popper! Make some real noise!


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## mep916

They've had that same model at BB for as low as $24.99 after MIR for awhile now. Almost grabbed one myself... just because. It's a good deal, basically a rebranded FSP HEC unit.

Congrats


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## The VCR King

mep916 said:


> They've had that same model at BB for as low as $24.99 after MIR for awhile now. Almost grabbed one myself... just because. It's a good deal, basically a rebranded FSP unit.
> 
> Congrats


What's FSP?


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## Laquer Head

The VCR King said:


> What's FSP?



Power Supply manufacturer..


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## The VCR King

Laquer Head said:


> Power Supply manufacturer..


Oh ok.


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## spirit

The VCR King said:


> No no, let's use my old Cougar PSU as the party popper! Make some real noise!


That's what I was intending on doing.


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## The VCR King

Guys I got good news. I couldn't get the EVGA so I got something even better! I got a Thermaltake 650-watt smart supply on sale for $50! Better supply and more wattage than the EVGA! Yay!


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## beers

The VCR King said:


> Guys I got good news. I couldn't get the EVGA so I got something even better! I got a Thermaltake 650-watt smart supply on sale for $50! Better supply and more wattage than the EVGA! Yay!


Which specific model?


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## The VCR King

beers said:


> Which specific model?


Idk but it's the 650 watt smart performance series. I'm going to remove the crappy Cougar and begin installing the Thermaltake soon.


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## johnb35

This one most likely.  

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/thermal...lack/8733872.p?id=1219365660388&skuId=8733872

Which is amazingly a decent unit.


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## The VCR King

johnb35 said:


> This one most likely.
> 
> http://www.bestbuy.com/site/thermal...lack/8733872.p?id=1219365660388&skuId=8733872
> 
> Which is amazingly a decent unit.


That's the one! I'm going to begin installation here in a few minutes!


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## spirit

Nice. Really hope this sorts out your issues. 

But now when you have a problem or want to buy something I can't just say 'power supply'.


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## The VCR King

spirit said:


> Nice. Really hope this sorts out your issues.
> 
> But now when you have a problem or want to buy something I can't just say 'power supply'.


LOL! Actually the install is kinda a PITA because the previous owner ziptied all the cables to the frame of the case so I'm cutting dozens of frickin zipties so I can actually begin removal of the CMX.


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## spirit

The VCR King said:


> LOL! Actually the install is kinda a PITA because the previous owner ziptied all the cables to the frame of the case so I'm cutting dozens of frickin zipties so I can actually begin removal of the CMX.


You'll find that you need to do that on a lot of systems, even pre-built ones from people like HP and Dell, I'm afraid. I know a lot of my cables are zip-tied. You have to do that to keep them in place so that you can get the panels back on correctly and make sure cables are routed away from fans.


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## Laquer Head

Yes, those damn zip ties are a pain to cut...


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## The VCR King

Update: I will be offline for a few hours, installation has begun.


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## mep916

The VCR King said:


> What's FSP?



http://www.orionpsudb.com/

fun site to browse through every now and then



The VCR King said:


> Update: I will be offline for a few hours, installation has begun.



i wish you well sir


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## voyagerfan99

Too bad it's not a modular PSU.



The VCR King said:


> Update: I will be offline for a few hours, installation has begun.


I sit here with bated breath waiting for you to post again.


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## Laquer Head

The VCR King said:


> Update: *I will be offline for a few hours*, installation has begun.



Too bad this claim won't hold true.. like the speediness of the PSU acquisition..



mep916 said:


> http://www.orionpsudb.com/
> 
> fun site to browse through every now and then..



Nice link.. I was just reading info on corsairs warranty extension.


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## The VCR King

ITS ALIVE! I'm posting this from my PC, now running the new PSU. It booted up fine and everything is good. I even did cable management too but I had to move my BD drive down a bay because the SATA cable was kinda short. And I installed the whole thing by myself in about 20 minutes, no help, it was actually really easy, basically unplug all the old cables, route the new cables through the case, then plug them back in. I feel proud of myself. I'll post the before and after pics later.

When I rebooted the PC it said CMOS SETTINGS INCORRECT and I had to manually enter time, date, year, and boot order for whatever reason. Next time I have the PC shut off I'll replace the CMOS battery and see if that helps this issue. I'm also running HWMonitor to make sure my voltages are stable on the new PSU and so far everything has been excellent!

Also, here's my Imgur album of the before-and-after pics:
http://imgur.com/a/z8CHY

Replaced CMOS battery and now it says BOOTMGR is missing. Currently posting from my phone as I'm running startup repair

Edit: nothing wrong, forgot to plug in a SATA cable.

That doesn't make any frickin sense though, because my entire OS install is on the 1TB drive. If my SSD is unplugged my PC throws BOOTMGR MISSING and other boot errors, although there is nothing on the SSD at all...

In the end though, I'm glad I finally got my power supply replaced and my PC back up and running properly. Hopefully my new Thermaltake SMART Performance 650W gives me years of dependable service


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## beers

The VCR King said:


> That doesn't make any frickin sense though, because my entire OS install is on the 1TB drive. If my SSD is unplugged my PC throws BOOTMGR MISSING and other boot errors, although there is nothing on the SSD at all...


If you had both drives installed when installing windows the boot manager was likely installed on the SSD

Also, what are you doing not using the SSD as the OS drive?


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## mep916

beers said:


> Also, what are you doing not using the SSD as the OS drive?



lol was thinking the same, guessing not enough storage


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## The VCR King

beers said:


> If you had both drives installed when installing windows the boot manager was likely installed on the SSD
> 
> Also, what are you doing not using the SSD as the OS drive?


I honestly don't know why I'm not using it and I do not want to migrate it over at this point. And I think it's stupid that the boot manager would be installed on a different drive than the frickin OS! 



mep916 said:


> lol was thinking the same, guessing not enough storage


That's exactly why. When I first got the PC the OS was on the stupid little 120GB SSD and with my games and iTunes I filled it up in 3 days so I moved it all onto the 1TB disk.


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## voyagerfan99

The VCR King said:


> That's exactly why. When I first got the PC the OS was on the stupid little 120GB SSD and with my games and iTunes I filled it up in 3 days so I moved it all onto the 1TB disk.


That's because you didn't want to listen to us on how to free up the space and how you should have configured things.


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## johnb35

Please start editing your posts instead of posting new ones when noone has posted yet.


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## beers

The VCR King said:


> I honestly don't know why I'm not using it and I do not want to migrate it over at this point. And I think it's stupid that the boot manager would be installed on a different drive than the frickin OS!


Next time you reformat just leave the data you want on the HDD and unhook it.  Then you can install your OS just to the SSD and already have whatever else on the HDD when you reconnect it after installation.


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## Laquer Head

OH god.. now we are gonna hear about his HDD/SSD issues and saga to save for new ones for next year..


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## The VCR King

Laquer Head said:


> OH god.. now we are gonna hear about his HDD/SSD issues and saga to save for new ones for next year..


Actually no you're not. I'm leaving my storage as it is. My next project is upgrading my GPU.


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## spirit

beers said:


> Next time you reformat just leave the data you want on the HDD and unhook it.  Then you can install your OS just to the SSD and already have whatever else on the HDD when you reconnect it after installation.


That's the way to do it. Whether you're installing Windows onto an SSD or an HDD, to prevent things like this from happening you need to only have the drive you're installing Windows onto plugged in.


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## The VCR King

Update: As of now it has been five six hours since I installed the new PSU and booted my PC, and no issues at all or crashes. So far so good.


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## spirit

The VCR King said:


> Update: As of now it has been five six hours since I installed the new PSU and booted my PC, and no issues at all or crashes. So far so good.


Good! So all of the whacky shut downs and other crazy stuff that was going on before has stopped now?


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## Punk

Slowly you'll start to take things into your own hands, do some modifications to your system that you were too scared to do before. Next step would be setting up properly your OS onto your SSD and programs and files on your HDD. It's the first thing I did when I booted my PC for the first time last summer. It's really easy too.

SSD has OS and a few games that I want to load fast (GTA V for example). Rest is on 2TB HDD. I love the seven seconds boot up


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## The VCR King

Punk said:


> Slowly you'll start to take things into your own hands, do some modifications to your system that you were too scared to do before


I felt so good at that I replaced my power supply by myself, and this is coming from the kid who last year was too scared to install a case fan and paid someone else to do it. LOL



spirit said:


> Good! So all of the whacky shut downs and other crazy stuff that was going on before has stopped now?


Yes and games are actually running stabler too. At least less FPS drops than before but in Fallout 4 even I'm getting a good 55-65FPS, no 35, 70, 45, jumping crap


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## Punk

The VCR King said:


> I felt so good at that I replaced my power supply by myself, and this is coming from the kid who last year was too scared to install a case fan and paid someone else to do it. LOL



Building a computer from scratch is not harder than what you just did. For me the hardest part was choosing the components, which I was helped here. After that I just followed @Darren 's guide. Since I had installed a GPU, PSU and changed RAM and HDD before, it all went smooth. Basically you have enough knowledge to build one yourself. You just need confidence in yourself and remember, if in doubt ask here or watch tutorials.


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## The VCR King

Punk said:


> Building a computer from scratch is not harder than what you just did. For me the hardest part was choosing the components, which I was helped here. After that I just followed @Darren 's guide. Since I had installed a GPU, PSU and changed RAM and HDD before, it all went smooth. Basically you have enough knowledge to build one yourself. You just need confidence in yourself and remember, if in doubt ask here or watch tutorials.


I know how to build a PC, many years ago when I was like 10 I built one from old parts I got from garage sales and thrift stores and that's what I used up until I got my current rig. I won't hesitate to work on an older machine but for some reason it's nerve wracking to work on my machine because I know it cost $2500 and if I screw up itd be gone.


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## Laquer Head

The VCR King said:


> I know how to build a PC, *many years ago when I was like 10* I built one from old parts I got from garage sales and thrift stores and that's what I used up until I got my current rig. I won't hesitate to work on an older machine but for some reason it's nerve wracking to work on my machine because *I know it cost $2500* and if I screw up itd be gone.



WHAT>??!! LOL


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## Punk

The VCR King said:


> I know how to build a PC, many years ago when I was like 10 I built one from old parts I got from garage sales and thrift stores and that's what I used up until I got my current rig. I won't hesitate to work on an older machine but for some reason it's nerve wracking to work on my machine because I know it cost $2500 and if I screw up itd be gone.


2500$ WTF? Is it because you kept buying cheap parts that died? My 8 year old desktop cost me a total of 700€ with a GPU and PSU upgrade and was pretty close to your system apart from the RAM (add 80€ and I'm there...).


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## Laquer Head

No offense but there if that is $2500 in 'value' I'd be out knocking heads


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## The VCR King

Laquer Head said:


> No offense but there if that is $2500 in 'value' I'd be out knocking heads


I don't know if it's truly $2500 or not but when I took it into MicroCenter when I first got it for a Windows install they said my PC is worth at least $2500 as is.


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## Laquer Head

The VCR King said:


> I don't know if it's truly $2500 or not but when I took it into MicroCenter when I first got it for a Windows install they said my PC is worth at least $2500 as is.



It was the guys first day...


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## The VCR King

Laquer Head said:


> It was the guys first day...


Eh you're probably right. The PC _might_ have been worth $2500 _six years ago_ but now that its honestly an old gaming rig it's probably closer to _$500-1000_. IDK.


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## Laquer Head

The VCR King said:


> Eh you're probably right. The PC _might_ have been worth $2500 _six years ago_ but now that its honestly an old gaming rig it's probably *closer to $500-1000.* IDK.



Well, that new PSU did make the value shoot way up...


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## johnb35

Yeah obviously, this person didn't know what he was talking about.  You would have to have all kinds of bells and whistles included. SLI/Crossfired gpu's, watercooling, etc...


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## beers

johnb35 said:


> Yeah obviously, this person didn't know what he was talking about.  You would have to have all kinds of bells and whistles included. SLI/Crossfired gpu's, watercooling, etc...


This.  I bought a 1090T and 6950 the day they came out, definitely not $2500 range.  Hell my current rig isn't even $2500

That being said it's nice to hear that a lot of your issues have been resolved.


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## The VCR King

beers said:


> This.  I bought a 1090T and 6950 the day they came out, definitely not $2500 range.  Hell my current rig isn't even $2500
> 
> That being said it's nice to hear that a lot of your issues have been resolved.


Curious, do you remember the original cost of the 6950 and 1090T?


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## beers

The VCR King said:


> Curious, do you remember the original cost of the 6950 and 1090T?


~$300 each, in 2010


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## The VCR King

beers said:


> ~$300 each, in 2010


Ah, thanks!


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## Darren

I'd say your system is worth maybe $500-600 or so. The RAM and SSD add as much value as anything else.


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## spirit

The VCR King said:


> Eh you're probably right. The PC _might_ have been worth $2500 _six years ago_ but now that its honestly an old gaming rig it's probably closer to _$500-1000_. IDK.


No PC with an AMD CPU in it has been worth anything close to that for many, many years, if ever. 

AMD X6 and a Radeon HD 6950 and the guy reckoned it was worth $2,500 TODAY! Sorry but that's quite funny!

There's no way it could have been worth $2,500 new. The X6 was a mid-priced CPU and the 6950 wasn't that expensive either when it was new. It was a fairly mid-range graphics card, probably equivalent to where the R9 380 stands today in the line up. Two of them would have probably cost less than one 6990.

It was maybe worth about $1,200 when it was all new in 2011 and that's because it had two graphics cards.


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## The VCR King

Good news. As of now I have 24 hours of uptime on my new supply.

Also is there any software I can download that will allow me to monitor my PSU, more specifically, how many watts I'm actually consuming?


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## johnb35

The VCR King said:


> Good news. As of now I have 24 hours of uptime on my new supply.
> 
> Also is there any software I can download that will allow me to monitor my PSU, more specifically, how many watts I'm actually consuming?



Again, please start editing your posts instead of creating new ones.  Thanks.


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## spirit

The VCR King said:


> Good news. As of now I have 24 hours of uptime on my new supply.
> 
> Also is there any software I can download that will allow me to monitor my PSU, more specifically, how many watts I'm actually consuming?


HWMonitor maybe.

If you want to measure real-time consumption you can get devices that plug into your sockets in the wall to measure that. That's probably the most accurate way. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...60&cm_re=wattage_meter-_-12-119-560-_-Product if that measures wattage then that's what you want.


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## The VCR King

spirit said:


> HWMonitor maybe.
> 
> If you want to measure real-time consumption you can get devices that plug into your sockets in the wall to measure that. That's probably the most accurate way. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...60&cm_re=wattage_meter-_-12-119-560-_-Product if that measures wattage then that's what you want.


Would something like a Kill-a-watt outlet monitor work because I have one somewhere...


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## spirit

The VCR King said:


> Would something like a Kill-a-watt outlet monitor work because I have one somewhere...


If you have one then try it and see if it does what you want. 

If it displays the real-time or even average wattage that the PC is pulling, then yes.


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