Digital Wanderer

   So [cut] calls me recently. And in a slightly bewildered voice tells me about how her computer keeps freezing. I couldn't leave a damsel in distress, so I rushed over to the rescue immediately. The symptoms were as follows:
the PC freezes up, then refuses to turn on and pitifully squeaks like this: "trrrrrrrrrrrr", that is, with very rapid, short beeps.

   Naturally, I immediately look into the motherboard manual. But the Chinese (Taiwanese) consider us to be dumb end-users and therefore do not provide a decoding for the computer's wailing. I had to stomp back home and scour Google, though I had already formed some hypotheses by then. And on the net I only found a mention that a PC can make such a sound when there are problems with the RAM. However, it was immediately clear that this wasn't the case, because the PC in question is already 2 years old, and the problems started a week ago.

   As the most likely hypothesis, I assumed problems with the motherboard or the power supply unit. In the end, I took apart my own rig, which is stuffed with fairly high-quality components, pulled out the power supply, RAM, and video adapter, and took them over to test. As I expected, despite the characteristic sound, the problem wasn't the memory. Fortunately, it didn't turn out to be the motherboard either — because after swapping the Chinese crap power supply with my INWIN IW300-A, everything booted up and worked like a charm.

   In connection with this, I was reminded of the following. I am a proponent of choosing high-quality stuff, even if, whenever possible, it's not too financially burdensome. But I have quite a few friends and acquaintances who flat out don't understand why they should buy high-quality components, and consider it a waste of money. "It works anyway, so why pay more?"

   So here's my answer. A few years ago, I had 2 hard drives burn out back-to-back. Fortunately, they were replaced under warranty back then, but I lost quite a bit of my data. And now, after reading dozens of forum pages, I realize that the most likely culprit was a killer PSU made by the hellish outfit CODEGEN, which mass-produces extra-cheap knock-offs of ultra-low quality. After two years of operation, this unit safely and neatly burned out. As did, by the way, an identical unit belonging to my college classmate Inessa.

   If you do a forum search or ask a repairman, you can observe an endless number of such cases with cheap, low-quality units. It's actually a good thing if, at the time of their demise, these devices don't drag a bunch of other computer parts to the grave with them, which also happens quite often.

   I was told about another case where power surges caused a PSU to burn out along with the motherboard. And this happened twice in a row. Rumor has it that with a high-quality PSU, the worst that would have happened is the PC shutting down, or only the PSU breaking.

   In the end, I made an executive decision not to repair the Chinese patient, deeming it fatally broken from the moment of its creation. Instead, I decided to give my PSU to the girl, and buy a new one for myself — a more powerful one, with some headroom for the future, where, as we know, multi-core processors and disk array cabinets that consume power like a clothing iron await us.

   With the help of three hours of reconnaissance on iXBT and searching Google in Latvia, it turned out that the only decent PSUs you can buy in our province are made by FSP GROUP (also known as FORTRON/SOURCE). Unfortunately, either the models weren't the ones I wanted, or there was no trust in the company selling the PSUs (although overall the situation with this is good here — the companies are quite reliable and responsible).
   Eventually, I found FSP-made units in the price list of an excellent outfit called Jet Computer, but without the exact models specified. One email — and I already have the needed information, though for some reason without the price. Just local quirks like that. On the plus side, for once they wrote without translit and with proper grammar. Usually, you get a hodgepodge of Latin letters and numbers, without capital letters at the beginning of sentences and without punctuation marks.
   However, it was Saturday, and so they only sent me the reply on Monday. But I slyly read it right during a lecture from my mobile phone via the Gmail mobile service, and was very surprised by the good price. That's why I didn't drag my feet, but went straight away and bought it.

And the moral of the story is this.
   Buy high-quality products, citizens. I'm not campaigning for the heavyweights ANTEC or ENERMAX that cost $100 for 300 Watts. But only for PSUs from decent brands. Namely: Delta, FSP, or with some caveats InWIN or Sirtech (HPC). Just like my FSP400-60THN-P.
   It has: compliance with the ATX 12V 2.01 standard, two independent 12-volt lines, a fairly quiet 12-centimeter diameter fan, and passive power factor correction (PFC). Also a 24-pin connector for new PCs, but with an adapter included. And finally — long wires, 1 SATA drive power connector, and an honest 400 watts of total power. And it costs $45.
   For the nightmarish Codegen PSUs at $25 and other similar "Chinese" units, 400 watts on the label equal a real 200 or 250, plus poor quality parts and the risk of losing a PC worth an order of magnitude more.
Do you really need that?

Related links
PSU section on iXBT