Pull the trigger on a Neo Power?

[Zerileous]

Well, 3 months ago I encountered some serious power issues. You can read aobut them here http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=374700. I ended up adding a second PSU, but it is hot glued to the top of my case, and will not be practical when I head to college (not to mention it is not practical now, since I still have trouble powering all of my fans, and I am looking to add more.

So, now that I have some cash laying around (I did not at the time), I have decided that I should buy a new PSU. This basically sums up my load, but assume more fan HP there: 2 optical drives, 2 HDDs, 5 80mms @ about 30 cfm, a 60 cfm 92, a 9800xt on an NF7s. (all this on a fsp 350w and a 120w emachines PSU)

So, two things. Should I go for the Neo Power, I like modular, but is not a deal breaker/maker.

What advantages would a 550w antec or FSP give me. I am specifically concerned with future upgradeability as I hope to do a total core overhaul in the future (maybe 6 months out) (GFX, MB, CPU, RAM) since all of these basically have maxed out what I can do with these interfaces (i mean, why buy a gig of ddr1? why buy another agp card? and Athlon XP is maxxed at 3200).

Basically, I am suspecting that the neo power wont do it for a core overhaul. Is this the case? If so, will upping to a 550 change things much? Or will the 480 handle most that I will throw at it in the next 6 months to a year. Keep in mind this will be on a college budget so you can pretty much assume out SLI and dual cores. Basically, the caliber of system that what I have now would have been 1-1.5 years ago.

Thanks.

[mcoleg]

neo power is a bit on a weak side. get an ocz if you can.

[Zerileous]

ok, i can do that, any reason other than the 30w difference? Also, where should i go to pick one of these up. Newegg has always been my source, but I have been out of the loop for a while and seem to have noticed that newegg is not really the best place around anymore.

[mcoleg]

not sure about where...

neo has a dual +12v rails; ocz is a beefy single rail - better for higher loads. plus antec does calibrate rails to somewhat low voltage - only spec or a touch bellow. i complained once and they told me - "it's not a good idea to overvolt the components"... well, we are overclockers, aren't we? that's what we do...

on a practical side, with ocz my pIV rig was ranning a bit snappier and clocked a touch higher. just make sure you have place for ocz - it's really big; long, that is.

[freeagent]

i like my neo 480, its not weak at all, but it does get a tad warmish in the summer heat. i have had 0 power related bluescreens or any type of power problems since i installled it. plus, modular is coool. i like no visible wires ;)

[Electron Chaser]

I bought my OCZ Powerstream here (http://www.directron.com/ocz520adj.html) it is $10 cheaper then Newegg.

[Zerileous]

what do you guys think about being able to power future systems and what would be necessary?

[Zerileous]

Ok, so I have decided that I want something with both Active PFC and Dual 12v. So the OCZ is out, unless someone can explain why it is better in more detail. The Neo Power still fits my Reqs. So I am looking at the NeoPower 480w, SeaSonic 430w, an FSP 460w. Now these numbers are somewhat distorted by effieciencies which are really vauge, but the SeaSonic is listed as up to 80%., wtf does that mean, and is FSP being weak or honest when they say better than 65%.

I think the active PFC and dual 12v rails are more important than a higher number like 550w. Please correct me if I am wrong. There is also a 500w FSP but it only has passive PFC.

[SolidxSnake]

PFC has no matter in the USA, really. it has to do with how much power your PSU draws from the AC line.

I'd say to get the Sparkle/Fortron 550w is MUCH better than anything you've listed, better price as well. the AX500-A is also good (thats the blue 500w FSP, which is in all reality 460w)... the sparkle/fortron units are most of the time underrated, so it may say 26a on the 12v rail, but it may put out something around 30a... ask larva or Oklahoma Wolf, they are the PSU gurus :)

[Zerileous]

ok, i really like FSP, you it might be hard to imagine a 350 watt powering the system in my sig (sans the second HDD) but it did so. I am really happy with it, because my power load was estimated at 365 before the second HDD.

I think I will go for the FSP.

Just to clarify, you are saying that PFC is only signifigant when dealing with a 220v outlet?

Thanks

[SolidxSnake]

PFC doesn't matter too much in the Americas. It does have to do with how much power it pulls from the outlet (efficiency)... In europe, it is required that a PSU has passive PFC at LEAST.

[AlabamaCajun]

PFC doesn't matter too much in the Americas. It does have to do with how much power it pulls from the outlet (efficiency)... In europe, it is required that a PSU has passive PFC at LEAST.
Before this goes on a tangent read this article. http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=3&var1=81&var2=0
Europe want's to adopt PCF as a standard according to the article. While it may be true that not all Americans really need active PFC, it's still better to have it. PFC corrects for several things phase error and flat topping of AC power. These occur frequently in my area in large part two large heatpumps alternating throughout the day with other applances play havoc with the power. Think of phase error as somone striking the wrong note in a song. This means that the AC power reaching you PSU is altering the normal flow of current which can cause it to work harder to keep up or shutdown in extreme cases. With flatting, your psu will start losing voltage (drooping) and if it starts compensating could overvolt when the power returns to normal. PFC is extra protection to monitor the power phase and normal operating voltage to be more responsive when something muddies the power feed. Our OCed PCs are more demanding than average home PCs and require respect when selecting a PSU. BTW, I agree, Larva really knows his stuff! So do the research before plunking bucks on a PSU. Fortron, PC-P&C and Coolermaster stand on top followed closely by Enermax and OCZ in my book.

[Zerileous]

Cajun, are you saying that passive is not good enough? What risks are there to my hardware and PSU if i use Passive? Will I only be dealing with the occational reboot?

Does heavy load effect this? My entire "command center" is runn from one outlet, this includes my main rig with dual CRTs, and can include my lappy and other rigs that might be hooked up for whatever reason. I have never had problems though. It is also important to keep in mind that next fall, I will be in a dorm, and I have no clue how well (or poorly) those are wired.

So, how much better is active?

[AlabamaCajun]

Active is the best. I have passive now but I do have the dual 12v rails. I now wish I had gotten the active and I will in the future. So far I have'nt seen a reboot with either the Coolermaster or the Enermax but I have them on UPSs. I realized that my post did lean more in favor of Active PFC, but to clarify I would recomend it if you can spare the additional money.

[SolidxSnake]

If you can't afford active PFC, it should be fine. get the passive.

I know for a fact that the FSP AX500-A BlueStorm 460w is a VERY good PSU, and its passive PFC.

[AlabamaCajun]

If you can't afford active PFC, it should be fine. get the passive.

I know for a fact that the FSP AX500-A BlueStorm 460w is a VERY good PSU, and its passive PFC.
I second this, harlam357 is a heavy ocer, he has this PSU and I trust his feedback too.

[crash013]

Fortron, Seasonic, OCZ, and PC P&C are the best PSU's imo.

[Gautam]

The AX500A should fit all your needs admirably.

And I've got no trouble believing that you got an FSP350 to pull that off. I had my 300W pushing 2.1v vcore, a 2.7GHz 1700+ and a heavily overclocked 9800. Doubt there's any other 300w on the planet that could handle that. (Heck, most 400W units would struggle there.) You can only imagine how solid FSP's 500W and above are.