Shopping for Power Supply

[my_window_seat]

Okay, I am literally getting a headache over this, so I'm asking for some assistance.

I need to order a new power supply for my computer.  I've opened the case and got the specs off the current power supply, and I also have the specs for my unit from the Dell website.  I have just spent an hour TRYING to shop for one myself, and I am sorry - I DO NOT understand this stuff well enough to know if I'm ordering the correct thing, so please feel free to make a recommendation for me.  I'd kind of like to stay with something from NewEgg, just because I've always had good luck with them, but I'm okay with shopping elsewhere based on a recommendation if you've had good experiences with another supplier.


So what's in my box that I need to replace -

I have a Dell Dimension 2400 series, Pentium 4 CPU 3.06GHz with 1GB of RAM.  My power supply, according to the online spec sheet is as follows:

Power
DC power supply:
Wattage	200 W or 250 W
Heat dissipation	682 or 853 BTU (fully-loaded computer without monitor)
Voltage (see your Owner's Manual for important voltage setting information)	100 to 120 V at 60 Hz; 200 to 240 V at 50 Hz
Backup battery	3-V CR2032 coin cell

I also opened the case and wrote down the specs on the actual sticker on the current power supply - which only confused me further, hooray - and those are as follows:

Dell Model No. PS5251-2DFS
DC Output:  250W
Input:  100-120V~/6A   50-60 Hz
(some weird character that looked chinese?) 200-240V~3A  50-60Hz
Output:  +5V (character that looks like a long dash with three shorter dashes directly underneath) /22A MAX
-12V (dash character) 1A MAX
(another odd foreign character)  +5V(FP) (dash character) 2A MAX
+3.3V (dash character) 18A MAX
+12V (dash character) 16A MAX
Combined power on +3.3V and +5V rails not to exceed 150W
Max continuous total DC output power shall not exceed 250W
Ambient:  50c MAX
Serial No. B 01996108

So, yeah - if someone can point me at a power supply for a reasonable price (I'm thinking around the $50 range - is that reasonable?), I can put it in  - I just cannot for the LIFE of me understand exactly what it is I should be getting.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Comments

[killbox.livejournal.com]

assuming its the standard boxy shape, 6x3.5x5.5", HxWxD,

The most important thing is the Wattage, you want = or greater watts 250 is actually pretty light these days it should not be hard to find a 300 or greater wattage. power supply. And due to alititude/cooling issues I generally pick a bigger wattage power supply in the expectation that it will last longer seeing as how its even less likely to be running at max output.

voltages are all about the same dont worry about that, i suspect given that model you dont have SATA drives, so no need for a power supply with those connectors.


if you are going to be buying in town i would ask at PcClub (San Meteo , and Menaul) for something like this.

http://pcclub.com/product_details.cfm?itemno=A6226346

if i was ordering online i guess i would snag this one, its the next model up form the one i keep as a emergency spare.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=AP600W&cat=PWR

or

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=APGD680&cat=PWR

[my-window-seat.livejournal.com]

Ooooh - I like the idea of maybe shopping here in town, now that I think about it - being able to return something quickly and easily if it doesn't work/isn't right definitely appeals.

Re: the ones from geek.com - I'm looking at the wattage on those and they're both 600+, and this is what confuses me - my tech buddy Adam (not you, jarmon) was telling me that I needed to be sure to get something that wasn't too much higher than the one I already have - argh.

So. Confused....! *sparks, smoke*

[killbox.livejournal.com]

wattage is potential how much power can the pc pull from it before the power supply goes poof or shuts down.

the components in the computer will only draw as much as they need, and no more. So picking a bigger wattage power supply will not hurt things, and sometimes helps (extra hdd's and dvd burners, and high end video cards often draw more than the stock power supply can supply) .

For a long time you had to spend an arm and a leg for a high wattage power supply, and the cheap lower wattage power supplies failed here due to running at near maximum and not having thick enough air to properly cool them.

so i learned to do two things, judge a power supply quality by it weight (more heavy=better/bigger heat sink's and gage of wire) and to buy one atleast 50+ watts higher than the one that died ;-D

even cheap higher wattage power supplies tend to have better heat sink's and thicker gage wire) and because they are only being used at 50% of maximum they run cooler/better than a lower rated one running at 90%.

[xengar.livejournal.com]

Dell (and some of the other major manufacturers) occasionally uses a non-standard connector or shape, so I generally use this site (http://www.power-on.com). Its layout can sometimes make it hard to find what you're looking for, but you can usually use your browser's "find on page" function to find the power supply that goes with your model of computer. And the prices aren't bad, http://www.power-on.com/atx250dl.html (http://www.power-on.com/atx250dl.html) This one that's appropriate for quite a few Dells including yours is only $39 + whatever shipping comes to.

Looking it over, the only concern I might have over a standard power supply is that they usually have a on/off switch right below where the power cord goes, and dell cases often have a piece of metal there that would get in the way.

[killbox.livejournal.com]

that is true, some dell cases do have a metal plate, and im working entirety from memory about that model, but i think its open where a switch would be.

as for the plugs, dell uses standard 20pin atx, and often the exta 4pin P4 connector.

[killbox.livejournal.com]

actually you may be right, I may be mis-remembering, barring doing a little tinsnip work that model may indeed have metal over where a standard power supply has its full-off switch.

M_W_S can you verif if the back of your case looks like this under the power cord?

http://img.dell.com/images/global/products/dimen/8300_chassis_back_314.jpg

most standerd power supplies move the power cord and add a power switch on them like this.

http://www.nippychips.com/pictures/reviews/powmaxmatrix/case_back.jpg

[my-window-seat.livejournal.com]

Here 'tis:

(http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v518/ephemeralarts/?action=view&current=1221071642.jpg)

[killbox.livejournal.com]

i must have forgotten to click send on my reply. YaY! that one looks like 99% of any standard power supply will work, especially any of them with the plug on top like that (when looking at the back with the fan on the right side)

ones with the power plug lower down may mount up a little crooked due to the slight diagonal near the left hand lower bit of case of the power supply, and if thats the case and it bothers you 15 seconds with a nibbling tool and the 1cm of metal could be nipped awat (i happen to even know where my pair is.

[my-window-seat.livejournal.com]

Latest update - Yesterday when I opened the case, I shot some canned air (because a very smart person I know recommended this *poke nudge*) through the power supply - from the inside, so that the dust jetted out the back - and last night I didn't hear it make the jet engine sound. Not once. See how much you rock?

I think I'll still go ahead and pick up a new one, just to have a spare, like you - but I might have a little more time left in this one...?

Now I just need to do a complete backup, and possibly flatten the system - and then see if I can get rid of the "Driver State Power Failure" error and figure out where the 50-60% resource drain is going... Yay for having a month off from school!

[killbox.livejournal.com]

was just bopping out the door to run errands when i got your reply.

yay for the simple fixes.

There are two possible "explanations" one your fan has a thermal sensor to adjust its fan speed and there was too much dust blanketing things and it was wither overheating or sensing badly.

And the other one is the fan got bogged down with dust and is wearing out its bushings/bearings knockig off the dust from the fan may be feeling less weight/unbalanced but in th elongrun may still fail or start to groan or moan (especially when its been off and cooled of for a while) or just not start with the pc one day. if you do end up powering it down try and put your hand back there to feel for airflow or glance in to make sure its turning. That little act of vigilance can save you bigtime on repairs.

"Driver State Power Failure" I've run into this before, as i recall it was eithere corrupt spyware, or bad unsigned driver, or a failing antivirus/firewall program not exiting cleanly.

one thing you can do to try and narrow it down try running xcleaner on it, I se this to triage spyware on computers people bring into me at work all the time. http://www.spywareinfo.com/xscan.php