Right , basicly PSU's is very vague to me.
Dont know what I have at all , and dont know what happens if you upgrade it to a good one, dont even know what a good one is.
So can someone help me in what a PSU can do if upgraded?
And what it actually does beside providing power?

I have a pentium dual core e2160
MS-7255 mainboard
2gb ram
nvidia 7300 se 256mb
320gb hard drive
80 gb hard drive
cd/dvd combo

So what do people advise me getting , and why?
thanks

Hello Stecojunkie,

To first answer your question...there are no visible benefits to having a good power supply. Except maybe overvoltage protection in the case of a power surge. If you have a good stable power supply that fulfills your power demands, then all you will get (at eye level) is your computer will run exactly like it's supposed to.

However, on the reverse side, if you get a cheap, unstable power supply which underpowers your unit, then you are looking at a machine that is going to run really sloppy. Also, you are setting your equipment up for a nice and short life span.

There are a number of different things to look for in a power supply unit:

First you need to make sure you have the right style power supply. Each case has its own standard size power supply. You need to find which size you need. ATX is pretty much 99% of PSUs out there, but there are other sizes.

Second and most importantly, will it power your unit? Always get more than is enough. There are some power supply calculators out there, but I prefer just a good old fashioned ball park...cause I'm lazy. You can never have too much power. In a typical computer (1 - 2 hard drives, one video card, few peripherals) 500 watts is usually plenty. With 2 video cards 650 watts is good. If you want to get really specific, just do a search for power supply calculators...there are probably several on the webs.

In your setup, 500 watts should be more than enough. You could get away with less because your video card does not require much power. It is always good to have more in case you add more components to your unit in the future.

Third, does it have all the appropriate connections. You need to make sure you have the correct motherboard power connection, cpu power connection, number of molex, floppy, sata, and PCI-E connections.

Then there are other options that are preferable that you can look for. Options such as overvoltage protection, which can help protect the rest of your unit in case of a power surge.

More 12 volt rails are good to have for good, stable power. I don't know what they do exactly, but I know the more the better. Two is a common number, but you can get some with three and probably even more.

Another important feature that is becoming more popular is efficiency. If you get a power supply that is 80+ certified, then it is operating very efficiently, which is going to help out your electrical bill.

So again...you can get a good power supply and all you'll end up seeing is a computer that is running like it is supposed to. But there are definitely features to make sure you get when you are choosing one. It is also good to look at reviews. You may find different PSUs that a lot of people find bad which sound great on paper.

Hope that helps!

Alright thanks for your help!