Not really looking to do much in the way of home automation, especially with the components I currently have in my home pc, however, it is something to think about. What wattage would you recommend then? Something in the 600+ range?
More to the "+" than anything.
Originally a 100 watt power supply was considered over the top but today it's not enough. Today you were looking at four times that power.
And as far as 600 watts. That is probably going to be good for your current and possibly future needs. The factors of time don't really affect power supplies like they do capacitors and diodes and transistors. They can be replaced if you are handy with a soldering iron (capacitors and diodes are...not transistors on a layered PC board)
I'm saying this to you because if you are capable of building your own system... continuing to do so in the future is always in your best interest. You can build a component based system instead of an integrated one. Component based systems (top shelf systems) are often much more likely to be salvaged for future use than integrated ones. The two pieces of a component based system which tend to be more universal in use in the future are the tower and the power supply. Saving money for when you overhaul your current system for a more modern one. Power supplies and Towers tend to not lose their value as time goes by...not like CPUs and motherboards. Last year's Tower sells for the same as this year's...last year's CPU sells for much less than this year's. Getting the picture?
Stay away from the off brands that no one hears of. Corsair, Seasonic, and Antec are three manufacturers with reputations for producing high-quality power supplies, though even they may offer a few duds among all the studs.
Then the knee...a 1800 watt power supply is probably overkill and the capacitors will age out before you can use to its fullest extent. You probably won't ever actually use 1,000 watts in a future system in the next 5 years. (1800 peak watts output vx a system that actually uses 1000 is a good ratio to go by) And getting the thing to actually fit in your tower is probably going to be an issue.
So...all that aside.
Look at compatibility with your system. Is your system with connectors that are readily available on new systems? If not then go cheap and what can get you by on your dieing system to patch it up.
Look at the efficiency rating. 80% or better is a standard...look for those kinda fudging those standards. 80 is true power and 20% is lost in heat. More heat loss is bad...(but I think you kinda knew that)
Speaking of heat...a larger heat sink and larger fan is better than a noisy, smaller fan.
The Newegg site is usually pretty reliable for supplies. So is Amazon. Just know what you want before purchasing. No one likes returns.
Happy hunting.
