To Antec Or Not To Antec?

[DeathONator]

Well I was going to buy an Antec PS but now after reading all about the low voltages I dunno. Maybe PCP&C would be worth it but that's a few more dollars. Right now I have an ALLIED 350W, at this moment PC Alert III reads 5V @ 4.89-4.95, 3.33V @3.23-3.26, 12V @12.10-12.20 (sometimes 12V spikes to about 12.30).

So now I dunno what to do buy antec 550W, forget antec and just get enermax 430W, spend more money on PCP&C, or try another brand. PLEASE Let me know what you think.

[Hoot]

Get the Antec. That's all I allow in my boxes. The company has a long and proven track record of delivering what they specify. I have never had one fail and any voltage issues were the result of the ATX connector causing a drop, not the PSU. This applies to almost all PSUs though, regardless of whether they are powerful enough for the system or not. To me, Antec is synonymous with Consistency.

Hoot

[Yodums]

Well, if you have the cash for a PCP&C unit, I'd definitely go for it. If I had money like that to spend on a PSU, I'd go for it - they have a 1% voltage regulation so you won't see a huge fluctuation.

If you decide not to go PCP&C, I'd go with Antec. I have a PP412X with adjustable pots and it's great and I agree with what Hoot mentioned. Before I had this, I had an Enermax 431watt and it was horrible. Lots of fluctuation during load and poor rails also not to mention their tech support sucks. Also Antec TruePower PSUs have 3% voltage regulation in comparison with Enermax's 5% so that's an addon to their quality.

Yodums

[DeathONator]

Obveously the PCP&C PS is better quality. But the Atec True550W has more power than the PCP&C 425W, and is $40 cheaper... $40 hmm. Also the PCP&C dosn't have dual fans, their one fan might push just as much air but it's alot louder @ 42dB.

I have only played around with FSB a bit and have not overclocked sereously...yet. When will the higher voltage reg. of the antec effect my system? How will it effect it? And do you think it's worth $40?


PCP&C 425W:
+5V @ 40A
+12V @ 15A
-5V @ 0.3A
-12V @ 1A
+3.3V @ 40A
+5VSB @ 2A
+5 & +3.3<300W

5+3.3=332W
12V =180W
=512W

Price: $150


Antec:

5V @ 40
12V @ 24
3.3V @ 32

5+3.3=305W
12V=288W
=582W

Price: $109

[mateo]

Ive also heard of very good experiences with Sparkle, which is usually cheaper than Antec. I can't comment from experience though, because Ive yet to set up my rig.

[obliv]

vantec stealth has 1% regulation as well, great psu's, my voltages never move.

[advanR]

Originally posted by loner
Ive also heard of very good experiences with Sparkle, which is usually cheaper than Antec. I can't comment from experience though, because Ive yet to set up my rig.

Sparkle PSUs are ALWAYS cheaper than Antecs.

[Namagomi]

Meh. I've had poor experiences with antecs. I had one just up and blow out on me, and a TruePower 430 just short and die.

Never a problem with Enermax's tho, hell, or Enlight's for that matter. To me, Antec is synonymous with "POP!...aw, hell.." :(

[advanR]

Ive assumed the same with enermax from what ive read. My feeling is they are overpriced "pretty" PSUs for people that want to flash out their case. And then they either fail or have pretty ****ty rails.

I kinda thought antec was pretty good, atleast the true powers, but more expensive.

And sparkle :). Cheap and reliable. Quite a bit higher output than stated.

[larva]

I've not had the best of luck with the Antec Smart Power series, but the True Power 380 and up are good supplies. I am more likely to chew through my own leg to escape a bear trap than I am to pay what PC Power and Cooling wants for their supplies. I use and recommend Sparkle, True Power performance for less than the Smart Power price.

[phantom punisher]

true power is more than marketing term. i dont know how well they work compared to sparkle but true power is a phsyical diference in the circuitry that pcp&c also uses

[Penguin4x4]

If you have alot of fans then go for the PCP&C


If you wanna overclock, the Antec TruePower is hard to beat,:)

[larva]

Originally posted by phantom punisher
true power is more than marketing term. i dont know how well they work compared to sparkle but true power is a phsyical diference in the circuitry that pcp&c also uses

I know exactly what is meant by the term True Power. These supplies have entirely sperate outputs for the different voltages, meaning that the full 3.3, 5, or 12V outputs cand be developed regardless of the load on the other two. This is not a bad idea, but the Sparkle's level of performance shows that this is not the only valid approach to PC power supply design.

A 42 dollar Sparkle 350 will outperform the more expensive True Power 330. The True Power 380 and up models are very nice, but also very expensive. Sparkle 350, 400, and 460W models can do the same job as well for much less money.

[flapperhead]

my antec true 550 is a good supply

[Namagomi]

yeah, hard to go wrong with sparkles. if only they had a bottom fan and a fan controller, I'd be more apt to get one. :(

[mateo]

Originally posted by Namagomi
yeah, hard to go wrong with sparkles. if only they had a bottom fan and a fan controller, I'd be more apt to get one. :(

Why not mod it?

[phantom punisher]

Originally posted by larva


I know exactly what is meant by the term True Power. These supplies have entirely sperate outputs for the different voltages, meaning that the full 3.3, 5, or 12V outputs cand be developed regardless of the load on the other two. This is not a bad idea, but the Sparkle's level of performance shows that this is not the only valid approach to PC power supply design.

A 42 dollar Sparkle 350 will outperform the more expensive True Power 330. The True Power 380 and up models are very nice, but also very expensive. Sparkle 350, 400, and 460W models can do the same job as well for much less money.

im looking at them from a electrical stand point and cant see where you would get "the same performance". you may get good value and performace from the cheaper sparkel design but it wont be the same performance of the seperate circuit design. seperate circuit will always be a better solution from a power delivery stand point. its just maybe overkill for most peoples aplications. i may end up getting a sparkel but i wont expect the same performance, maybe just the same result

[AntecRep]

Vantec has standard Output Voltage Load regulation which is 5% or 10% depending on the output (10% being the -5v and -12V usually). Yes they 1% Output Voltage Line regulation, but then so does our PP412X. TruePower has up to 0.5% Voltage Line regulation to go along with it's 3% Output Voltage Load Regulation.

AntecRep

[larva]

Originally posted by phantom punisher


i wont expect the same performance, maybe just the same result

Performance is best judged by the results. It's hard to power your computer with a spec sheet or an idea.

[phantom punisher]

Originally posted by larva


Performance is best judged by the results. It's hard to power your computer with a spec sheet or an idea.
you make a good lawyer but a poor electrical engineer. hehe
im gonna order a antec tp 480 tonight. the deer has taken a turn for the worse. tesing it in a freinds messed up comp has messed up my 12 line. its crappyer than it was before i started looking for a suppy.

[larva]

Originally posted by phantom punisher
true power is more than marketing term. i dont know how well they work compared to sparkle but true power is a phsyical diference in the circuitry that pcp&c also uses

Ah the tune changes.

How well they work could indeed be more important than the circuit topology. But since your understanding of electrical engineering is so complete, feel free to implement whatever scheme you favor in your next design...

And BTW, My degree is in EE, I just didn't sleep through English class :)

[phantom punisher]

Originally posted by larva



And BTW, My degree is in EE, I just didn't sleep through English class :)
indeed, never had much interest in spelling,grammer. but electronics is another story

truthfully its the more amps on the antec 12 volt line that im after more than anything

[fdoggiedog]

I've always used Antec's in all the systems that I build. As far as the voltages being off just check it with a meter, you'll see that its always spot on.
I don't think you could go wrong with Antec, heck they even have a good warranty and good support.
Points at Antec Rep :)

Just my 2 cents
fdoggiedog woof woof

[jlin453]

All this talk about Antec and Sparkle.

How about Thermaltake's?

[Softgod]

I have three Sparkles and they are all great. I have one Antec that gave out and I am wanting a new PS for my K7D Master. I think that I am going to get a big Sparkle or a PCP&C

[advanR]

Originally posted by jlin453
All this talk about Antec and Sparkle.

How about Thermaltake's?

I wouldnt take any product seriously from a company that charges $15 for a poorly made "special looking" shiny orb.

Thats just my opinion.

[maxima88]

I'm totally satisfied w/ my True Power 480W PSU. very steady 3v and +5.5v rails even at 2.27vcore.

http://www.msnusers.com/maxima88webpage/Documents/mbm5%202016mhz%202%2E27v%2035c%2Ejpg

[Taylor]

Antec's fine, but if you're uncomfortable, go with Sparkle Power. No reason at all you should do something that makes you uneasy. Plenty of options.

[DeathONator]

Well I got my Antec True550W yesterday. I will install it sometime soon, it might be a little while because I wanted to sand down my heatsink and reinstall it at the same time. I will post what I think in this topic after I see how it work.

Thanks for all the help,
DeathONator

[Ugmore Baggage]

If all I had to go on was Hoot and a thousand other opinions I'd go with Hoot's.

[DeathONator]

Well I installed my Antec True550 about 6 days ago. Plenty of connectors, quiet self adjusting fans, it's all pretty good there. As for the voltages, After monitoring them for about 10 min this is what I have:
The 3.3 stays pretty good @ 3.22-3.26
The 5V is good @ 4.89-4.95
But as for the 12V it stays pretty low @ 11.52-11.76!

With my old Allied 350W PCAlert4 read the 12V usually around 12.10-12.40. People give the excuss of voltage drop due to the cable length and stuff, but shouldn't they make the PS voltage to be @ 12V once it reaches the source that will use it?

Maybe things will break-in in a few days/weeks and I'll post another message. I'm not totally disapointed, but what will the low 12V line effect in my system? Anyone?

-Bryan

[phantom punisher]

did you measure it with a multimeter? the motherboard may be reading it corectly or maybe incorectly and your other psu was high. i ended up with the 550 antec as well. i belive there are pots to turn inside to tune the voltage, but maybe a rma is called for if it is really running that low on the 12 line. i get 11.92-12.04. the 5 and the 3.3 dont really move at all. very pleased with this psu. i bought two online for $214 shiped

[stereo555]

My True550 did well right out the box . +12v 11.98-11.92 , +3.3v 3.30-3.28 , +5v 5.00-5.00 !!! Been running the TP550 for about two weeks now with one of the weeks for burn-in ( for best possible results) . Iam now seeing abit "HIGHER" voltages starting to appear (.05-.08 higher marks) . So far this things been darn steady even under heavy (OC'ing) conditions . :) My.02 :D

[The VTech]

I have been using Antecs for a while now and have never had an issue. I really like the TruePower series.
Good luck in whatever you end up getting.

[asw7576]

Only if dare, can you turn the "pots" (potentiometer) slightly one at a time?

[Ugmore Baggage]

You can't trust mbm or even bios because they test through the ATX connector. Mine runs a touch low in both of them but is near perfect on my DigitalDoc5. I doubt you can RMA a PSU that tests perfectly.

Is there some sort of goop that will ensure conductivity in the ATX connector? Is it possible that Antec PSUs have faulty ATX connectors or are Antec owners the only people who ever check voltage in the first place*? Things worth looking into.

*more likely imho

[larrymoencurly]

A company called Caig (Kaig?) advertises something for batteries to prevent voltage drops across the contacts, but I've never tried it. They make a lot of chemical sprays for the electronic repair business. Some other companies include Electrolube, Chemtronics, and Tech Spray.

I've heard that you can apply silicone lube to the contacts before plugging in the connector, and this will seal them and prevent electrolysis and oxidation, but it doesn't interfere with the conduction because the metal wipes it away just where it touches.

[jlin453]

I was looking at the Smart Power 400W Antec. How is it? I know the True Power is very good, but how is the Smart power versions? How is it compared to the Sparkle 400W? Which should I pick between the two

[The VTech]

Originally posted by jlin453
I was looking at the Smart Power 400W Antec. How is it? I know the True Power is very good, but how is the Smart power versions? How is it compared to the Sparkle 400W? Which should I pick between the two

Here are the specs on an Antec Smartpower 400Watt
Antec Smartpower 400Watt (http://www.antec-inc.com/product/powers/sl400_spe.html)

Specs on Antec TruePower 430Watt
Antec TruePower 430Watt (http://www.antec-inc.com/product/powers/true430_spe.html)

I use the TruePower 480watt Blue and have zero issues with power. 2 HDD, 2CD-RW/CD-R 5 80mm case fans, 80mm fan on heatsink and 1gig RAM using Athlon XP2400+ on Soyo Dragon KT333. Power transfer is very good over all componants since the voltage is not shared.

Hope that helps you decide.

[larrymoencurly]

I can comment only on the 300W Smartpower, but it doesn't seem to be as tough as my 300W Delta, although the Delta is probably one of the best. The main transformer is smaller, despite working at 60 KHz instead of 95 KHz (higher frequency usually means it can be smaller for the same power), the high voltage capacitors are 680 uF instead of 820 uF, the high voltage transistors total of 13A instead of 19A (but Powmax is only 10A), and on the +5V output the diodes total 60A instead of 80A.

[DeathONator]

Shouldn't PS makers adjust the voltages so they are good when they reach the device that will use the power instead of making it good when it leaves the power supply?

Also, no one answered me on this but what will the very low 12V rating effect in my system? Will it make it less stable for over clocking, shorten the life of my components... or what?

For now I am running a MSI VIA KT266 mobo. Should I buy a multimeter and if the voltages are still low RMA it? How low do they have to be to RMA my PS? Also, where should I get a multimeter (Radeo Shack?), and how much are they?

-Bryan