citahellion: This is not directed at you, but more of a general warning for everyone (since we're all computer users). It sounds like you can get a discount through your job on a solid power supply, but I dont want other people thinking good PSU's cost around $50! So here's the warning:

A good power supply shouldn't be cheap... $50 indicates somebody is cutting corners somewhere (unless you get a discount at a computer store because you work there!)! Many $50 power supplies are rated at peak power, instead of continous power, and use components with a shorter mean time between failures. This means more problems for you down the road, with less protection and less power to your system!
Quality power supply units should have properly designed conditioning circuits, which will protect your PC from the random power surges a household can deliver. I've seen many a good motherboard or cpu ruined because $500 worth of parts were 'protected' and powered by a $40-$60 unit.

The best advice I can give ANYONE that uses their computer daily is to buy a quality power supply to protect your investment. Companies with solid reputations for quality power supplies are Antec, Zalman and Enermax. Shopping around TigerDirect and Newegg, I was able to find PSU's by each of the companies in the $80-$110 range.

Thanks for letting me turn your cool story about how crappy the PSU smelled (and they do smell pretty crappy) to rant about the biggest PC killer Ive seen over the years: cheap ass power supplies!

Actually, d3, that's good advice. I said $50 because I couldn't remember how much it cost me last time, but it wasn't TOO expensive. But yeah, buying a kick-ass computer system and then putting it on a cheapo power supply is like running your Camaro or Mustang on four Hyundai tires; it'll still go fast and be fun if you want to drive it that way, but the risk of a major blowout is significant.

I just nicked a grubby old PS out of a spare computer that we had lying around, by the way. My old PS was 400W, this 230W one is definitely underpowered for the system. I'll probably get a 450 or 500 this time, since I'll also be adding another HD or two soon.

Stupid question: What's a power supply? Is it already in my computer? Is this something I need to concern myself with?

Thanks, kongit.

he he he . . . I'm a moron. I realize that.

It is what converts AC power (the stuff from the socket in your wall) into the correct DC voltage and amps. It provides stable electricity to the parts in your computer. If your computer is running you have a power supply. If you don't know what one is, you don't have to concern yoursef with it. However, learning about the parts inside your computer is always a good idea.

A good gauge of how good a psu should be is the weight... the heavier it is, the better it is likely to be.

It's too bad we don't have a scratch-n-sniff computer interface, I'd love to share this odor with you all....

Lol. I helped friend buy a new power box after hers got burned out. The top was so hot you could almost cook eggs on it. I checked it over and apparently it was from a lot of smoke dust. Dude, don't light up in front of your or anyone's computer. You think it's bad for your lungs? It's worse for your computer. Smoke dust is conductive so it damages computers pretty fast.

I would have known the smell... if I could smell. I certainly have seen enough.

Hope you're able to fix this relatively easy. My power supply in my laptop started to go about a year ago. It didn't die competely right away. It gave me plenty of warning. The fan started making some really loud noises and the computer would get REAL slow. I had to drop $75 for a new one, but it runs like a charm again.

It's too bad we don't have a scratch-n-sniff computer interface, I'd love to share this odor with you all....

I do know that smell from other comptuers. If dread had a smell, that's exactly what I think it would smell like.

I recommend an OCZ 520 if you have a lot of drives and a video card that requires power, or at least an Antec true power. Shared experience says that they are more likely to be running three years from now.

Ooh, that smell! (Not Lynerd Skynerd)