Mark Twain wrote:
This is the setup I'm going for:

(2) PSU's, one each for the 8500
and the 780.

(2) HD's which will give me (3)
total with the one I already
have cloned for the 8500.
Then I'll clone one for the
780 and leave the other clean.

I'm also going to pick up another
APC surge arrest.

What do you think?

Robert

The APC surge arrestor won't stop the "electrician
wiring problem" you had, where 220V was applied to
110V circuits.

The surge arrestor only works for transients.
Any even moderate steady-state threat (overvoltage
at substation), that'll just smoke the arrestor
and it then no longer protects anything.

Good arrestors have a status LED, which indicates
the surge protection is damaged.

I have one somewhere in my "power tree" for the
computer room, but I can't say it's still operational.

*******

For the PSU:

Open the web browser to newegg.com. Look for Power Supply
in the Components section. You want "Power Supply", not
"Server Power Supply".

In the selectors on the left, select "600W - 700W",
set Sellers to Newegg rather than All Sellers. Then,
sort the listed supplies by "Best Rating". You might
find supplies with Modular (cable looms unplug) or
Fixed wiring. I find them equally a nuisance. It's
hard to find wiring loops with proper color codes.
You'd have to check the photos of the supply for that.

The power supply has two "standard dimensions", leaving
the length of the supply as a variable. At 600W, the
supplies aren't likely to be so long with respect to
the faceplate, that they bump into the optical drive.

While keeping those things in mind, look at the output
current rating. I aim for 5V @ 20A , 3.3V @ 20A , as
a good minimum, just in case the supply is used in an
older PC. Modern PCs might not need that much. The 12V
rail rating, depends on what you're powering. My
current CPU draws 156W. The video card draws 180W.
I divide the total by 12V to come up with an amp
rating, then throw in a little margin. (If I got
a number like 30A, I might look for 45A say.) Maybe
that kicks me out of the 600W class. The machine
I'm typing on (which is similar to your 780), is unlikely
to even be remotely close to that high. Maybe it
only needs 15A on the 12V rail say.

When picking a 600W class power supply, that's to
cover the average kit you might find in a computer
room, with room to spare. What it doesn't cover,
is if you're a Rich Guy with four 250W video
cards, and then you need a 1300W supply which is
so long, you need a bigger computer case. And
you'd need a bigger computer case any way, because
the video cards are a couple feet long :-)

For specialty electrical loads, you should be
doing the math before buying.

The most expensive power supply you can buy,
is around $500, and has Gallium Nitride power
transistors. And is, perhaps, 90% efficient.
I don't think you need two of those, but who
am I to judge :-) I bet they come with a nice
hood ornament. And a fancy carrying case.

In that 600W section, you should be able to
find something between $60 and $100. There is
likely one with a better customer rating than
the one I selected. I selected that particular one,
because of the lower rail rating. And the lower rail
rating (the beef) is there, so the power supply,
while sitting on your spares shelf, could be placed
in any new computer you happen to buy a
few years from now (refurb or new). I tried to make
the selection a bit "generic", just like I do
when I buy a spare power supply for my
junk room. For example, right now, my spare
is sitting in a P4 machine (with more power
on the lower rails needed).

If you buy a Fortron-branded supply, be aware
the wires on those aren't very long, and depending
on where the motherboard connectors are located,
the connectors might not reach. The other brands
aren't likely to do that, but check the
*customer comments* section for details. I
did spot one comment while browsing a few
of them, where cable length got mentioned.
This can be a problem in larger computer
cases, where the PSU sits on the bottom
of the machine, and the main power
connector is on the upper corner of the
motherboard.

Paul