Aspire 500w PSU... What Trash

[PiMpShiN]

I have a Aspire 500w psu that came with my computer case. This psu it really of poor quality, the flow is constantly fluctuating causing the computer to restart without warning. Instead of buying a new power supply is there another alternative such as making some modifications if possible?

[larrymoencurly]

Air flow? Current flow?

I found that fans are very sensitive to voltage fluctuations and people can hear even small changes in RPM, so this may not be anything to worry about.

Current flow changes all the time as stuff turns on and off rapidly.

Voltage doesn't flow.

Is there any chance that a connection is loose, maybe because of a bad wire crimp? Or is this 500W Aspire built lighter than a 250W Fortron/Sparkle? Some PSUs have empty spots on their circuit boards for extra diodes or transistors, either for higher quality versions or higher power models, and maybe adding those parts will help. But they'll probalby cost as much as a better PSU, unless you can get them from junked ones. Also the added parts have to match the originals almost exactly or they won't share the load equally.

[PiMpShiN]

im glad you said that fans are sensitive to the flow of power and that a person can hear it. when i run a benchmarking program or something like prime 95 or Sandra when i choose for a heavy stress or something all the fans in the computer start spinning really fast i know this for sure because of an increase in sound and the fact that i have a tornado and i can hear it getting louder as soon as i click the mouse to tress.

and i checked the connections and they're all good.

[Gautam]

It would be very well worth your while to trash that PSU... Cheaper PSU's have been known to die and take valuable hardware with them when stressed too far. My system runs great with my $27 300W Fortron, but most people go for the 350W for about $10 more. You should seriously consider them as an option- its an inexpensive upgrade that you'll be happy you invested in.

[CrashOveride]

What Gautam said...
I don't think there is any reletivly easy way to improve that PSU, just trash it (or not use it in a good computer) and get a 350w Forton or maybe 530w... Inexpensive but high quality.

[dalilman52]

yeah brian, definitely get a fortron 530w if u still want all that high-wattage u were getting (or thought u were getting) they are pretty cheap and since u are made of money, BUY IT NOW

JERRY VANDELAY INDUSTRIES

[CrashOveride]

Originally posted by dalilman52
and since u are made of money, BUY IT NOW


Well, if you'r made of money get a nice PC Power and Cooling PSU... thats quality.

[PiMpShiN]

so its down to pc power and cooling, and fortron... i see

im gonna check all the difference models.

i know where to get a fortron but where can i get a pc power and cooling psu locally?

[dalilman52]

im pretty sure only specialty stores sell it, ull have to post a thread asking where they sell it, im not so sure directronics sells em, but ive seen some of em in the psu clearance area at the clearance sale

[PiMpShiN]

i guess then tomarrow we can go and check. i know they have some but i dont think they're near 500w

LOOK AT IT!!!! JERRY, LOOK AT IT!!

[dalilman52]

yeah, i found em, but they are UBER-expensive, u wanna buy the cadillac of psu's, u pay the price of a cadillac....LINK (http://www.directron.com/turbocool475.html)

cheaper VERSION (http://www.directron.com/turbocool425.html)

i am almost 100% sure that they also sell the 425w turbo-cool in the clearance area....maybe for like 100 bucks or something, check it out tomorrow

[PiMpShiN]

dang i dont have that kind of money. ill ask sean if i can trade the current one and i can pay the difference.

[CrashOveride]

A Fortron will do you then, I just said PC Power and Cooling in response to his "made of money" comment.

[dalilman52]

well check the clearance area for the turbo-cool pcP&c psu..if they have it expensive..then u can get the fortron 550 w from em

and u can also try trading urs in but i dunno if theyll take it....theres also the 530 w from newegg

[PiMpShiN]

no hes just joking, but i think i mat get the fortron. as much as i like the pc power and cooling its way out of my price range.

if the p4 ready does that mean its not ideal for a amd?

[dalilman52]

no...it jsut means its p4 ready...meaning it has the 4 prong plug that all p4 mobos have

Life-time from invoice date with Directron.com for equal replacement / repair. 7-Day money back from receiving date with 15% restocking fee for non-defective returns. No refund or credit after 7 days.

the refund IMO is not gonna be successful...

[PiMpShiN]

but we know them.

[PiMpShiN]

just to make sure though, fortron and pc power and cooling psu's are the best quality ones right?

i dont want to have this same problem again

[CrashOveride]

Fortron and Antec (Channel Well too - they are Antec's supplier) are considered by pretty much eveyone to be awsome, some people really like Enermax as well - and some people HATE them. PC Power and Cooling ARE the best but many people don't like them because they are often times a lil more noisy and cost loads.

Fortron units are used in a number of differt brands of PSU as well (thats why they are cheap - they make them themselfs) like Zalman and I think there is a Fortron BASED PC Power and cooling PSU, they just mod it a lot so it fit's their super tight specs.

[Susquehannock]

That's not surprising.

This 300w FORTRON is much more stable than both the
cheap 500w+ PSU that I tried.

The cheap 500w+ PSU with their 35 & 40 amp
12v rails had a hard time staying within 5% (0.60v).
In contrast, the 300w Fortron with the 15 amp 12v rail
only showed a 2% variance at most in the exact same setup.

Huh? ... A 15a 12v rail outperforming a 35a 12v rail?

Quality over Quantity! :D

If you want a real stable powerhouse try the 400w Fortron.
It only shows a 0.02v variance in my heavily loaded & OCed
nForce2 rig.
You don't get much more stable than that! :D
(DMM measure of course)

P.S. .......

Fortron = SPI = Verax = Sparkle = AOpen, and some PowerMan
They are all made by FSP Group.

[CrashOveride]

Originally posted by Susquehannock
That's not surprising.

This 300w FORTRON is much more stable than both the
cheap 500w+ PSU that I tried.

The cheap 500w+ PSU with their 35 & 40 amp
12v rails had a hard time staying within 5% (0.60v).
In contrast, the 300w Fortron with the 15 amp 12v rail
only showed a 2% variance at most in the exact same setup.

Huh? ... A 15a 12v rail outperforming a 35a 12v rail?

Quality over Quantity! :D

If you want a real stable powerhouse try the 400w Fortron.
It only shows a 0.02v variance in my heavily loaded & OCed
nForce2 rig.
You don't get much more stable than that! :D
(DMM measure of course)

From what I understand the 400w Forton units are almost hte same as the 350w ones, thats why when people recommend Fortron it's almost always either 350w or 530w. The slight increase in wattage to the 400w is a big price jump and little preformance jump.

[Gautam]

The 400W, at $66, is not nearly the bargain that the 350W($39) or the 530W($69) are. That's why its not usually recommended.

[larrymoencurly]

Is it really worth buying a PCP&C when 2-3 Fortron/Sparkle PSUs can be had for the same amount of money? I mean, what are you really getting with a PCP&C, other than a longer warranty and trivially better voltage regulation? PCP&C doesn't even have overtemperature shutdown, not even as an option (OK, neither does F/S or at last 9 out of 10 other brands).

[PiMpShiN]

so the 400w fortron over the 530w?

[Susquehannock]

Originally posted by larrymoencurly
Is it really worth buying a PCP&C when 2-3 Fortron/Sparkle PSUs can be had for the same amount of money? I mean, what are you really getting with a PCP&C, other than a longer warranty and trivially better voltage regulation? PCP&C doesn't even have overtemperature shutdown, not even as an option (OK, neither does F/S or at last 9 out of 10 other brands).

Very valid questions. :cool:

My 400w Fortron rarely deviates more than 0.02v
from idle to heavy load.
Will a PCP&C unit be so much better as to cover the
double in cost? I highly doubt it. :p

[Susquehannock]

Originally posted by CrashOveride


From what I understand the 400w Forton units are almost hte same as the 350w ones, thats why when people recommend Fortron it's almost always either 350w or 530w. The slight increase in wattage to the 400w is a big price jump and little preformance jump.

Nah, if you look inside there is a VAST difference.

Maybe you were thinking of 300w vs. 350w models.
There is far less difference there than between the 350 & 400
from what I've seen.

The 350w PSU costs over 30% more than the 300w models, but
only offers a small increase in performance.
On the other hand, this 400w model is extremely stable
under heavy load. I rarely get more than a 0.02v deviation. :D

[CrashOveride]

Originally posted by PiMpShiN
so the 400w fortron over the 530w?

No way!
The price differnce is 3 bucks!
Originally posted by Susquehannock

Nah, if you look inside there is a VAST difference.

Only about 15A on the 5v and the 350w actaully has 1 more amp on the 12v. Also a whole 15w with 3.3 and 5v combined.
Originally posted by Susquehannock

Maybe you were thinking of 300w vs. 350w models.
There is far less difference there than between the 350 & 400
from what I've seen.

Thats not what I was thinking - though you are right the 300w and 350w are strikingly similar, they are even grouped in the same spot on the Spec Sheet (http://www.fspgroupusa.com/images/DM(PC)2003-1.pdf) Still the extra 15 bucks justifies the extra power in my mind, esp since the PSU is such low wattage the little extra money may be well worth it. And the price differnce use to be 36, just shy of 10 dollars more.
Originally posted by Susquehannock

The 350w PSU costs over 30% more than the 300w models, but
only offers a small increase in performance.
On the other hand, this 400w model is extremely stable
under heavy load. I rarely get more than a 0.02v deviation. :D

It's about 40% (27 bucks for the highest 300w @ newegg to 42 for the 350w model suggested), thats a 15 dollar differnce. Compared to the 4% (3 dollar) price differnce from the 400w to the 530.

3 bucks for 3 more amps on the 12v and a higher rating + and extra fan... seems good to me.

So why on earth you would recommend the 400w over the 530 is beyond me, and by your same reasoning it would be pretty easy to recommend the 300w version of the 350w, is that true?

I often recoomend the 350w version and 530 because they are the best balance btwn price and preformance that fortron offers in my eyes. obviously not the 400w over the 530, thats for sure. And they you need a cheap one for a smaller or budget system no? Well 300w is pretty tiny though perhaps it IS the better bargin... but the 350w is far better tested.

So maybe I was wrong in my reasons at first but reguardless the 400w is not the way to go.

[Susquehannock]

At the time I bought my 400w Fortron for $62 shipped
the 530w unit was $87 shipped.

Personally, I'd buy another 300w Fortron with the
80mm back fan first.
The 120mm bottom fan model is more noisy
and cools my case less efficiently.

$30 shipped for the FSP300-60ATV versus $42 for
the 350w FSP350-60PN. :D

[CrashOveride]

Opps.. hehe I neede to do a lil research before I finished ^that^ post... I edited it :p

[PiMpShiN]

tomarrow im going to see if i can get the fortron 500w

[L337 M33P]

The Fortron 400W has >>40A<< on the +5V rail. This hugely beefy rail is the main reason I bought this PSU as my motherboard uses 5v for CPU voltage generation. The 530W also has the 40A rating on the 5v rail, so it would be a wise choice if it's available to you for only $3 more.

Your motherboard = my motherboard, and I know it hogs the 5v rail.

[cobray]

Originally posted by dalilman52
JERRY VANDELAY INDUSTRIES

I think the name is Art Vandelay

[PiMpShiN]

haha thats from seinfeld, when george was acting as a latex salesmen.

anway i got a antec trublue power supply and it is awesome. no fluctuation of power and it has nice 22A for the 12v.

i suggest this psu to who ever want a really great quality.

[dalilman52]

Originally posted by PiMpShiN
haha thats from seinfeld, when george was acting as a latex salesmen.

anway i got a antec trublue power supply and it is awesome. no fluctuation of power and it has nice 22A for the 12v.

i suggest this psu to who ever want a really great quality.

or the fortron 530w *wink wink*

[PiMpShiN]

maybe, but i dont think they're will be much of a diffence between them except for about 4A more on the 12+