Given the power requirements of any fairly modern and powerful machine,
a good branded PSU becomes a necessity if you want to make sure the
computer won't fall prey to technical failures.
For any P4/AMD64 machine, without SLi, at least 400W or 450W PSU is
recommended. While for an SLi setup, one should opt for at least 550W
power supply from good brands such as Antec, Enermax, Tagan, or
Thermaltake. One thing to specifically look out for is the +12V rail total
output. It should be capable of providing at least 20A or better. My
Antec TrueBlue 480W has a total of 28A on +12V rails.
More, if you have the latest PCI-X motherboard and graphics cards, you
should better be looking for a dual +12V power supply with a 24-pin main
connector, as well as 6-pin PCI-Express connector(s). This new config for
the PSU is known as the ATX 2.0 standard.
So, go convince your father to purchase a decent, probably Antec, PSU for
your machine. He wouldn't like to spend money on new components if a
white-box PSU burns your computer inside out.
- Yamaraj