I've blown a total of 3 PSU in the last years... and I can tell you it s NOT funny.
The first one was expected really, a 250W running a shitty case but as many fans as I could run... not Overclocked but HOT (2000+ palmino core that ran 60* IDLE!).. that kind of faded out.
The second was a bit of a shock... a 350W Cheapo (unbranded) that ;lasted a total of two months and that POPPED when it blew... That one took my motherboard with it.
So a new motherboard later I went and got myself a 450W unbranded, Though it isn't like I had a choice really I had to go local and this had two fans so I figured it would last longer... It did though not by much. I sort of took it for granted and loaded it with stuff... well THAT one went but thanksfully the only calsualty was my cathode light.
So now up to 550W with a pretty decent PSU (a Q-Tec 550 actaullly
) that I managed to wrangle for a pretty decnt price (the barcodes where mixed up so instead of paying £55 I paid £18... nice
). Its actually not bad but the 3.3 rail is a bit iffy sometimes over 2v.. you have to keep it 2v or less or you'll have problems.
The moral of the Story: Don't use a cheap PSU on your main machine, or it will come back to bite you in the ass HARD.
~ Boli