Mark Twain wrote:
Well, the only reason I'm thinking
of buying them at all is the same
reason for the HD's, availability
and to keep my 8500 and 780 running
on Win7 Pro.

Unless you think there's no problem
in finding them later on.

What about this?

https://www.google.com/search?q=powe...04246680334346

https://www.google.com/search?q=powe...38978400392253

Robert

The rear of the XPS8500 shows more or less standard screw
placement. The unit doesn't have an on-off switch. It looks
like there would be room for a switch if the replacement
had an on-off switch. There's no slide switch for input
voltage, to it's an auto-switching model. The supply is 460W
and I'm looking for a nameplate view.

https://images.pcworld.com/images/ar...6-11378070.jpg

This picture isn't the best, but it might have the specs
for the 460W Dell.

https://microdream.co.uk/media/catal...img_9159_6.jpg

3.3V @ 17A \___ Combined load, no more than 142W
5.0V @ 25A /

12VA @ 18A \
12VB @ 16A \___ Total 365W (hard to make out the number)
12VC @ 8A /

-12V @ 0.3A
+5VSB @ 3.0A

Overall power - no more than 460W

And I doubt I'm going to see a cable harness manifest, with
how many Molex chains there are and the like. It probably
has at least a 2x3 PCI Express for video cards (and as your
video card isn't a "monster", your card probably draws its
power from the slot).

You have to make sure the cabling on the new supply, is
long enough, and has enough cables.

Seasonic 550W modular 80+ Gold $80

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16817151189

+3.3V @ 20A, +5V @ 20A, +12V @ 45A, -12V @ 0.3A, +5Vsb @ 3A
\____ 100W max ____/ 540W 3.6W 15W
Overall supply power no more than 550W combined

Because the supplies now use "double-forward conversion",
the supply is separated into two parts. The +12V is the
first stage. The +12V output is converted into 3.3V and 5V
by a converter board. The concept for efficient (80+) systems
is that the low-voltage rails "aren't used very much" and
as a consequence, the current rating of the low voltage
is limited in max capacity.

And on that particular product line, as you select higher
and higher power supplies, they don't beef up the
converter card for the low voltage rails.

CORSAIR TX550M (CP-9020133-NA) 550W ATX12V v2.4/EPS2.92
80+ GOLD Semi-Modular $65

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16817139210

+3.3V @ 25A, +5V @ 20A, +12V @ 43A, -12V @ 0.8A, +5Vsb @ 3A
\____ 120W max ____/ 516W 9.6W 15W
Overall supply power no more than 550W combined

And so far, they all have black cabling.

This one is similar to the first, but $100. And it looks
like it has two SATA cable runs and one Molex cable run.

Seasonic PRIME Ultra 550W 80+ Gold Power Supply,
Full Modular, 135mm FDB Fan ATX12V/EPS12V, Compact 140 mm Size,
Power On Self Tester, SSR-550GD2 $100

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16817151207

+3.3V @ 20A, +5V @ 20A, +12V @ 45A, -12V @ 0.3A, +5Vsb @ 3A
\____ 100W max ____/ 540W 3.6W 15W
Overall supply power no more than 550W combined

5.91" x 5.51" x 3.39"
STD 140mm STD

Now, this one uses black wire, but the wires are separate,
so they're not using those ribbon-like cables. This one is 6.5"
long versus the 5.5" long previous supply. That dimension
should be measured from the back of the computer, towards
the modular cable panel inside the PC. This seems to be
pretty generous on cable interfaces, even including the
floppy cable that might be used (to power something
other than a floppy).

EVGA SuperNOVA 550 G2 220-G2-0550-Y1 80+ GOLD 550W
Fully Modular EVGA ECO Mode Includes FREE Power On Self Tester $70

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16817438053

+3.3V @ 22A, +5V @ 22A, +12V @ 46A, -12V @ 0.5A, +5Vsb @ 3A
\____ 110W max ____/ 550W 6W 15W
Overall supply power no more than 550W combined

1 x 24-Pin ATX
1 x 8-Pin (4+4) EPS (CPU)
2 x 8-Pin (6+2), 1 x 6-Pin PCIE
9 x SATA === 3 "chains"
3 x FourPin Peripheral === 1 "chain"
1 x Floppy

The review for that one, the pictures aren't working, and
maybe you have to be a member to get the pictures to render ?
In any case, it got a good rating electrically.

https://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.ph...print&reid=440

I wouldn't say paying for "compact" is all that impressive,
as both of my non-modular supplies here that are currently
running, are 5.5" long. And the modular I just put in
the old P4 PC, is 6.5" long. You'd want to check to see if
there is room for a 6.5" PSU in your tower or not. The
extra length could be caused by the depth of the
modular interface panel in the back of the supply.

Anyway, there are hundreds of supplies to choose from.
And in 2018, probably very few with colored wires.

Just for a joke, I selected one of the more "traditionalist"
manufacturers. FSP. Fortron/Sparkle. They're known for
precisely cutting material cost to just hit spec (like
the cross-load runs all the way out to the allowed 5%,
that sort of thing). They're also notorious for using
short cables. If your machine is compact, and none of
the wires are "long runs", you probably don't have anything
to worry about. If you had a computer case with PSU in
the bottom of the case, and needed to reach an optical
drive on the top front of the case, the cables won't be
long enough. That's part of their tradition.

FSP Group 550W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Active PFC
HGX550 (looks non-modular, ) $64

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9SIABP94H47035

+3.3V @ 20A, +5V @ 20A, +12V @ 46A, -12V @ 0.3A, +5Vsb @ 2.5A
\____ 120W max ____/ 550W 3.6W 12.5W
Overall supply power no more than 550W combined

So on that one, the main cable has colored wires :-)
And the other wires are black.

To their credit, the web advert has cable lengths
listed in the spec section.

The web advert also shows how their efficiency "hugs"
the 80% line.

Selecting these is a lot of work, not from an excess
of technical input, but just trying to figure out
why one is $30 more than another. And, whether that
money went into "name" or "actual quality".

So out of the four, the EVGA looks pretty good (Paul
likes cables, even if they're ugly...). But by all
means, keep shopping. There isn't a lot of difference
between these, at least, if you use the provided pictures.
It's pretty hard to tell how miserable the wire looms
are, until you get one home to play with it. I don't
find all this "modular" and "ribbon" cabling to be
all that wonderful. It didn't solve any
problems for me and it was just as much of a pain
in the ass to fold up the excess cable length,
as it always is.

If I was running a computer shop, I'd probably use
my clamp-on DC ammeter and make a few measurements,
to see why the 8500 has a supply with a 25A rating
on 5V. There's really no justification for that
which I can spot visually. I have only one
computer in the house, that used 5V @ 25A, and
that was an AthlonXP box that runs the CPU off
5V. Whereas your machines (modern machines) run
the CPU off the generous 12V rail.

If you were to plug the 8500 into a Kill-A-Watt
meter, it probably idles at 100W. Making it
pretty hard for the 3.3V and 5V combined total
to be 100W too. Those numbers would have to
be lower than the 100W figure.

*******

OK, I found a Sparkle with colored wires :-)

You can see the low rails are a bit low on ampere capacity,
and the price is $100.

SPARKLE R-FSP600-80ETN 600W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.92
80+ PLATINUM Certified Active PFC ~$100

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9SIA6ZP40S8223

5.5" x 5.9" x 3.4"
Len STD STD

+3.3V @ 20A, +5V @ 18A, +12V @ 46A, -12V @ 0.3A, +5Vsb @ 3A
\____ 100W max ____/ 552W 3.6W 15W
Overall supply power no more than 600W combined

1 x 24 Pin Main Power Connector === probably not split 20+4
1 x EPS12V / ATX12V 4+4 Pin Connector
2 x PCI-E 6+2 Pin
6 x SATA 2 "chains"
4 x Molex Not really sure, no cable length specs either
1 x Floppy

Why you're paying $100 for that, is the Platinum spec. There's
only one level higher than platinum, and that's titanium.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus

Really, no product seems to hit all the tick boxes
at the same time.

Paul