Cheap yet efficient power supplies.

[CougTek]

I make an effort to push 80Plus certified power supplies down the throat of my customers. Right now, I'm selling the In Win IP-350EQ3-2 (a 350W model) as my basic replacement power supply and also in new low-end computer systems. I pay less than 45$ for it, which is very reasonnable in my opinion. It is "80Plus bronze" compliant. My higher-end systems get the Enermax Pro82+ of the lowest appropriate wattage.

Am I the only one trying to sell more environmentally-friendly components among SF's resellers?

 

[ddrueding]

I'm now putting pico-PSUs in all the systems where they will fit (most of them). The rest get Antec 80+ with modular cables.

Anything with a 65W CPU, onboard video, and a single harddrive gets the Pico. They are just too easy/cheap/efficient to ignore.

 

[P5-133XL]

What do you do to cover the PS hole in the case?

 

[Bozo]

Every computer I have assembled in the last year has a 80+ Antec power supply in it.

Bozo :joker:

 

[Mercutio]

I build a lot of really low end machines. I make an effort to put in a quality power supply, but in a $250 computer, high power efficiency isn't really a possibility. Probably 70% of the systems I sell have Antec Earthwatts units in them, but the other 30% just don't.

 

[ddrueding]

What do you do to cover the PS hole in the case?

I typically put up a blanking plate, sometimes with a 92mm fan in it.

 

[P5-133XL]

I typically put up a blanking plate, sometimes with a 92mm fan in it.

Where do you get them?

 

[ddrueding]

Where do you get them?

I used to get them from a shop in San Jose, but they went out of business a while ago. Now I just have the machine shop make them from steel plate.

 

[CougTek]

You should make a few hundred of them, then contact Newegg, Multiware and ZipZoomFly and try to strike a deal to supply them. People like P5-133XL would buy them.

 

[ddrueding]

Nah, we don't have the manufacturing capacity to be competitive with such a simple product. Having skilled craftsmen using drill presses and saws to make something that can be punched with a custom die just doesn't make sense.

 

[CougTek]

BTW, I used to sell a lot of Antec NSK4480, but not anymore. They used to cost me ~70-75$, but now I can't find them for less than 95$ and that's just too expensive compared to what I can get with an ok enclosure and the In Win power supply I mentionned in the original post. Plus the In Win is quite a bit more efficient than the Antec EA380 they put in the NSK4480. The NSK3480 that Mercutio is so fund of cost more north of 100$ and it is out for the same reason as the NSK4480.

The currency value of the canayan dollar versus the rising U$ is only part of the reason explaining the increased price of the Antec enclosures. They have started to climb in price before the devaluation of our currency.

I simply don't build 250$ computers. For people too cheap to pay 400$ for a new computer, I sell used lease-return computers. With the margins being as low as they are, I refuse to sell and support something new that is less than 400$. It simply isn't worth it.

 

[ddrueding]

My cut-off is still $1k. Less than that I will spec a Dell for free and send them on their way.

 

[P5-133XL]

You should make a few hundred of them, then contact Newegg, Multiware and ZipZoomFly and try to strike a deal to supply them. People like P5-133XL would buy them.

I think using pico PSU's are a great idea for low-end machines. However, I've never had a way to deal with the hole left by not using a convential PS. I really think the Pico company should be selling Blanking plates with fan mounting holes in them (maybe even a small mounting bracket for the card)them as an accessory: they'd sell a lot more of their PSU's.

I agree with DDrueding that is is rediculous to use a craftsman to produce small quantities of these plates. they should be inexpensively mass-produced. Unfortunately, it isn't going to happen unless the market gets much bigger and that probably requires the PSU company to get involved because they are likely the only group with the volume necessary.

 

[ddrueding]

I actually have done a fair bit of business with them (they used to be about 15 miles away). I'll send them an e-mail and see what they have to say.

 

[Mercutio]

I enjoy the process of assembling computers, and unlike you, Coug, I'm not doing it with the idea of making a profit. I use a standard set of parts and I always have the equivalent of a couple spare systems sitting around. I really have very few problems with those low-end systems; power supplies are really the only weak point.