What happens if you have a generic psu? What am I missing?

[ttown2]

Hey, I've built computers in the past before and I always use a generic psu. I buy cases off ebay for 60.00 with a psu in them already. They're usually the raidmax ones. ATX 12V PSU supported INTEL and AMD. is what it says.

But, I've read that a psu is really important. But my system seems to be running fine.
3.2 Ghz Prescott Cpu on a p4c800-e deluxe motherboard
Nvidia 6800OC Video Card
2Gig HyperX pc3700 RAM
A Dvd-RW, a CD-RW, 2 lights, and a hard drive.

What exactly am I missing out on b/c I don't have a nice psu inside. Like what differences should I notice?

THX!!!!

[AruisDante]

If you're leaving your system stock, you won't notice any difference at all other then maybe the good PSU will last longer. If that PSU wasn't enough to handel everything at stock settings, you would've started getting random system poweroffs already.

However, when you start overclocking, PSU's become very, very important. generic PSU's tend to have low amps on the 12v rail. when a overclocked computer runs on full load, they draw a lot of juice. Generic PSU's can provide that kind of power with so few amps on the 12v, so they turn themselves off to prevent them from reciving or causing damage. Also, generic PSU's sually have much larger flucuations on their rail's output. Powerfulcuations kill OC's in terms of stability. And finally, Generic PSU's tend to be of poor build quality and use cheep low end parts. This leads to a shortened life when put under stress, and it also means that when they get pushed too far, they tend to break catastrophically, often taking other things with them (motherboard and CPU are the most common). I've had a generic PSU explode on me before, fortunitly nothing whent with it.

Bottom line is that you won't see any actuall performance difference between a cheepo PSU and a quality PSU in terms of computing power, but it's like having sex without a condom. You can do it, but it's kinda risky.

[LegoWarrior]

generic cpus + high end comp + oc (maybe even without ocing) = techno death + low stable oc (what he said)

although a high end comp even at stock needs a decent psu...

if u spend 500$ on a computer go generic I guess

if ur blowing like a grand or more on a computer get a name brand psu

[AruisDante]

It's all in the amps. If it has more then 20A on the 12v rail, it might be alright (barring quality controll issues, which are often another problem), but i wouldn't trust it past stock. And if you have a dual core proc, and high end video, you'll need at least 30A and stable rails. basically, a good PSU is worth the investment just for peice of mind knowing that nothing is going to nuke itself unless you decide to risk nuking it by OC'ing.