Besides Antec, a good 500 watt PSU?

[DMac]

I'm not too knowledgeable on power supplies. Besides Antec, which from what I've seen are very expensive, what other brands are equivalent? In the near future I may be getting a 500 or 550 watt power supply and would like to know what other brands are top of line. Thanks.

[obsolete]

PC Power & Cooling is hands down the best. And if you think Antec is expensive, lol!!!! Do a search for PC Power & Cooling PSU's!

Thermaltake makes solid/cheap (money wise) PSU's. There is a whole lot of powersupplies that have been mentioned in this section & a bunch of threads like this one. Personally I'd recommend, Antec, Thermaltake, & PC Power & Cooling, but the list goes on. For the enthusiast, go with PC Power & Cooling.

Check my sig for what I'm running on a Thermaltake 480W PSU & add a 9800 Pro, Audigy 2 ZS, fans, etc.....

[DMac]

Yeah I know my question is common, thanks for the info though. Yeah I see you're running dual-CPUs, that eats a lot of power I'm sure.

[Maxvla]

suggest a fortron/sparkle 530w psu. they are about 70 dollars on newegg and built as well or better than antec psus.

[DMac]

Really? That sounds pretty good.

[ed.howell]

The new OCZ powerstream PSU''s are getting great reviews that's what I am going to buy as soon as new egg has the 520's in stock.
Check out this review http://www.xtremesystems.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Seviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=39

Now that's what I call a test!!!!!! :D

[Electron Chaser]

The new OCZ powerstream PSU''s are getting great reviews that's what I am going to buy as soon as new egg has the 520's in stock.
Check out this review http://www.xtremesystems.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Seviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=39

Now that's what I call a test!!!!!! :D

Damn that is a nice PSU. I'm very impressed with that review. I may have to pay a little more attention to the new kid on the block. OCZ.

[obsolete]

Dangg, I knew OCZ was doing something with powersupplies. But I have not kept up with it much. Thanks for the link, those look real promising. I like the adjustable rails on the back. OCZ seems to be more overclocker or modder driven. :D

[johan851]

suggest a fortron/sparkle 530w psu. they are about 70 dollars on newegg and built as well or better than antec psus.
I second that. There are adjustable pots inside the PSU as well, so that's a nice thing to have. Mine began to overvolt after a while, so I was able to turn them down.

[Loud]

As mentioned ... PC P&C, Fortron, Sparkle, OCZ, ThermalTake ... also Emacs/Zippy, TTGI, Heroichi ...

There's a thread (it might be a sticky) about which PSUs are top shelf. When I find it, I'll edit with a link.

EDIT: this might be what I remember ... Sticky entitled "PSU Buyers Guide":
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=232592

I'm still looking ...

2nd edit: The first post in this thread gives some great info on judging a PSU:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=62822

Last edit (I promise): This is the sticky I was thinking of:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=252752

About the only name I would add after all this is Zalman.

Good luck! :D

[Shootingblanks]

I was thinking of getting a PC Power & Cooling and selling my Enermax 475 Noisetaker. Seeing the OCZ PowerStream 520W Power Supply with adjustable power rails With LED indicators tested well has shed new light on the decision between powersupply. OCZ has great customer support to boot and also offers a 5 yr warranty:)

[tylerhskate]

Fortron, Pcp&c, Sparkle

[BigAl2]

I have a Thermaltake Purepower 480w Butterfly (they also make a 560w), but it is sooo much better than my Antec truepower 550w I had. It has active PFC, overvolt protection, and it even has a window in the side with led's that change color. Gotta say it's the most stable PSU I've ever owned. You can watch the rails on this thing when I'm running prime95, and they NEVER budge or drop below the rails rated voltage. I was able to get another 100 MHz out of my cpu and another 7Mhz on my fsb, just changing to a better power supply. Not only that, but the PSU comes pre-sleeved, it has 2 SATA connectors, and it's only $89. Only negative thing I have to say about it is the 12+ rail is only rated at 18A, but it never gives me any trouble even with 4 120mm Panaflo's, 3 80mm Panaflo's, 2 cold cathode fans, a dual super bright case cold cathode, and the system in my sig. I don't think I've ever found a PSU with Active PFC for that price. After this PSU, I'll never buy another PSU that doesn't have Active PFC, it makes a HUGE difference. However, those Powerstreams are looking mighty nice too with the adjustable rails and their max output rating is 630w....wow, if only they were modular and had active PFC and they weren't $150, I'd buy one in a heartbeat just for the amp ratings on their rails. :drool:

Of course, if money is no object, well the PCP&C is the best PSU on the market, but if your like me, I have a real hard time plopping down $220 for a PSU, ouch!

***They already have the OCZ Powerstream 520w in stock at www.FrozenCPU.com. They're going for a $150.

[Zerileous]

suggest a fortron/sparkle 530w psu. they are about 70 dollars on newegg and built as well or better than antec psus.

QFT, a friend is getting one, and the 350w fsp that i am running easily runs 6 fans, an Athelon XP @ 2.0v, a 9800 pro, 2 HDDs, and 2 optical drives.

These are well built PSUs that are great.

[MiNdWaRp]

I'd go with the Fortron or OCZ... if you want to spend the extra $$$ get the PC&P

[SunTzu69]

suggest a fortron/sparkle 530w psu. they are about 70 dollars on newegg and built as well or better than antec psus.

I third that.

[Loud]

I hate sound like a broken record ... but ...

Check eBay, especially if you can afford some time to watch for a deal. There seems to be a lot of high-quality, large (450W and up), inexpensive (like $20-$30) PSUs out there, recently.