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IN THE PC WORLD, there are perhaps two areas that are most often neglected, the first being the thermal management, the second is the PSU. I remember my first "High End" system, which I ordered through PC-magazine from a company known as Quantex, out of New Jersy. The system cost around $1500 back in 1999, and was considered to be about as good as anything one could get. It featured the newly released PIII 550MHz, 16MB TNT STB Velocity VGA card, Creative Sound Blaster PCI card, a 19" Mitsubishi Flat, an early Toshiba DVD/CD, and a Monsoon flat panel speaker system (which I actually still use). At that time, the system was considered state of the art, and had the fastest available CPU. Unfortunately, tucked away in my beige steel case was a 230W ACME (pun intended) PSU. The system seemed to run ok but I would experience the occasional re-boot, especially during DVD play-back. This was clearly a case where the system builder saved cost wherever possible. I wasn't really aware of all of this at the time, however; every corner cut had negative ramifications with respect to performance. Things have not changed much and , unfortunately the same is still true today. Although we have come a long way, and consumers are more enlightened as to what's "under the hood", some of the most crucial components are still simply disregarded.

As enthusiast's, overclocker's, and gamers, we are fortunate in that our access to information makes us much more astute, educated consumers. Yet it is still surprising to see the amount of money someone will dump into a graphic's card, while being completely agnostic of the type of PSU they have. Sadly, there are enough who will spend $500 on a high-end graphics card, only to learn their PSU was inadequate for their system even before that purchase.

TTGI TT-550TS - Click for the Traditional Technology Group, Inc. (TTGI) website

They skip, and giggle on their way from the computer warehouse front doors to the parking lot, the newly acquired box clenched firmly under their arm, fumbling with their keys. On the ride home they slide the box snuggly against them as if their best girl was there. Dashing into the house they remove the side panel, yank out their GF4 MX, replace it with their FX 5950, and download the newest detonators.

Cut #2: They are wondering why the card is artifacting at default speeds, and can't get past Nature in 3DMark2001. After ranting and raving an finally using another computer to get online someone tells them to download MBM-5. Finally they realize in screwing their side-panel back on, they've just closed the door on an Easy Bake Oven. If that weren't bad enough their voltages are jumping around like a three-legged dog at flea scratching contest.

In most cases, their first move should have been replacing the original PSU. Even more critical would have been finding a properly ventilated tower, aluminum or steel won't matter that much as long as the temperatures are under control. Unfortunately, in seeking the instant gratification only a new graphic's card, CPU, or memory can bring, often enough, we overlook other mundane issues. We will try multiple ad hoc solutions until we finally accept reality, or find someone to teach us.

The PSU may be the most important component in your system. Without it, you simply can't run anything, and without a high quality PSU, you simply can't run anything, and expect high performance. Given the relative cost of the Power Supply compared to other devices, and considering the purpose the PSU serves, it's inordinately undervalued. Don't misunderstand me, I don't want the industry to go raising prices, however; I wonder if we might have more respect for our PSU's if they were double, or triple their current (no pun intended) price. TTGI USA takes this performance per dollar relationship to the extreme. For around $80 , they provide a very good value and more accoutrements then I've seen in any PSU. No matter how much load there was, the TT-550TS held it's own, the rails remained steadfast. I stressed this PSU with every program I could think of, and no matter what I threw at it, the unit ran cool, quiet, and never flinched.

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