PSU power rating not clear - Help please!

[Tyger]

The PSU on my Dell XPS 8300 seems to be on its way out, as the power frequently cuts out and there's the tell-tale sign of the power button blinking amber when it attempts to restart. I did just open it up and give it a good clean/blast of air and seems to be OK now so small chance a dustbunny inside the PSU was shorting something, but am now looking to replace the PSU should it reoccur.

The sticker on the Dell PSU however gives two ratings, one said something like "Max Power 460W" and the other "Output 385W", so which of these is the actual power rating? I am assuming the latter but obviously I want to replace it with something the same, or ideally greater.

 

[Infinital-NG]

There should be a model number on the PSU.

What is it?

 

[phillgt2002]

I think the maximum power it can put out is 460w and the system is putting out 385w. I'm not that amazing with computers. I would upgrade the PSU with something more reliable like a Corsair 500w.

 

[Tyger]

I closed the case for now and don't want to tempt fate by opening it up again, but if my problem continues will post the model number. And thanks for the suggestion, I was looking at the Corsair as saw it recommended in another thread

 

[BobK]

The sticker on the Dell PSU however gives two ratings, one said something like "Max Power 460W" and the other "Output 385W", so which of these is the actual power rating? I am assuming the latter but obviously I want to replace it with something the same, or ideally greater.

They both are. Sort of. The power supply can put out peak power of 460W for a short (unspecified) time, and 385W continuously. It's just the numbers game they like to play to make it sound better than it really is. I have a unit sitting on the shelf which I bought because of its "400W" rating but can only put out 300W continuously.

 

[Grayfox]

It will say something like max wattage of +12v is xxxW
total output is xxxW

 

[BobK]

In the case of the supply I have the 400W was displayed rather prominently on the packaging, the 300W was in the fine print inside the manual.