Motherboard killing power supplies?

[QQBoss]

[profJim]

Re: Motherboard killing power supplies?

Two blown power supplies in a row = really bad luck or a possible problem with the quality of the electrical service.
Possible fixes:

• Buy a high quality psu.
• Buy a quality uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that will condition and regulate the power to your psu and system.

Check out Uninterruptible power supply - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for more information.
I use both with my systems.

Seasonic power supplies are my first choice.
Seasonic makes power supplies for some models of Antec, Corsair, XFX and some other vendors.

Power supplies made by SuperFlower (e.g. Kingwin) have had excellent reviews for the past year or two.
Enermax and NZXT power supplies are often highly rated.
Check out the best psu review sites to see which models pass their rigorous stress test procedures, such as JonnyGuru, HardOCP, Pcper, HardwareSecrets and TechPowerUp.

I don't recall reading any reviews that concluded that Zalman tested models were near the upper end of the quality scale.

[QQBoss]

Re: Motherboard killing power supplies?

Two blown power supplies in a row = really bad luck or a possible problem with the quality of the electrical service.
Possible fixes:

• Buy a high quality psu.
• Buy a quality uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that will condition and regulate the power to your psu and system.

Check out Uninterruptible power supply - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for more information.
I use both with my systems.

Thanks, yes, I am well acquainted with UPS units, and in the USA I won't use my computers without one (I have been happy with both APC and Cyberpower). I would be that way in China, too, except the only known name in UPSs here is APC and they don't sell anything other than a stepped sinewave unit that I can find. Stepped sinewave doesn't seem to be ideal for active PFC power supplies (it is a bigger issue for 220V than it is for 110V), so I have avoided buying one to this point and mostly been working with my fingers figuratively crossed. Still, yes, I started doing my homework to see if I can find a 240v UPS here in China with something nicer than a stepped sinewave. Hopefully my next power supply will be a happier experience as a result.

[profJim]

Re: Motherboard killing power supplies?

It looks like Japan has the nearest CyberPower UPS distributor (CyberPower Systems, select your country).
Stepped sine wave ups models often have problems with some but not all power supplies when there is a power outage. The last time I checked, Cyberpower did not offer inexpensive non-stepped sine wave models in Europe and Australia that would be fully compatible with all power supplies. In the U.S. they offer "PFC" models that are about 10% more expensive than their "AVR" models, where the AVR models might have issues with some power supply brands and their PFC models will not have these compatibility issues.

My older APC ups models with "modified stepped sinewave" (650VA and 750VA) have no problems with my Seasonic made power supplies; Antec EA500, Antec TP-750 New, and Seasonic X650.

**edit**
The Australian distributor now lists the CyperPower CP1300EPFCLCD PFC model with 1300VA / 780W ratings. The CP1500EPFCLCD model is also available.