Need a High Quality PSU Around 350 Watts

[PWatterson]

The title says it all. I have only two terms. First my budget is no greater than 45-50 dollars, and that it be of a greater build quality than a 300 watt Sparkle/Fortron (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103485), for that is what it is replacing. Thanks guys and gals.

Edit: I was thinking of the Antec Earthwatts 380w, for it is currently 49.99 w/ shipping on the egg at the moment. How is the build quality, though?

[burebista]

How is the build quality, though?
It's a Seasonic build.

[completeclicks]

Antec is pretty good, and you should be able to find them at your local Circuit City (http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Computer-Memory-Drives-Upgrades/sem/rpsm/catOid/-12973/Ntk/All/Ntt/power%20supply/rpem/ccd/categorylist.do). Though honestly I'd probably go for at least 500W, since its really not that much more expensive. If you're running a newer CPU, HD, DVD burner, etc etc etc you would definitely benefit from a 500W PSU...

[RollingThunder]

The title says it all. I have only two terms. First my budget is no greater than 45-50 dollars, and that it be of a greater build quality than a 300 watt Sparkle/Fortron (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103485), for that is what it is replacing. Thanks guys and gals.

Edit: I was thinking of the Antec Earthwatts 380w, for it is currently 49.99 w/ shipping on the egg at the moment. How is the build quality, though?

What type of system is it for?

[Alexhk]

Yeah with a firm $50 budget the EA 380W might be your best bet.

The 400W Enhance 80+ is only 55 from ewiz but then you'll get soaked for ~12 in shipping so thats out.

Another option might be the Rosewill RP500-2 500W. Its close at $50 + 7ish shipping. Regulates well and puts out clean power, reviewed at jG. (http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=48) So long as the case its going in has decent airflow it would be a good budget choice.

Yeah its not easy to beat that 300W Fortron in this price range.

[PWatterson]

What type of system is it for?


Forgot to mention that. oops.

A socket A rig.

2500 Barton (will be oc'ed somewhat)
9700Pro
1gb of RAM
Hard Drive
Two Optical
Floppy :)
A few fans

The only reason I want a pretty nice one is that I want it to be able to power the rig in my sig in a pinch.

These two threads tell me that 350 watts could do it if needed.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=517875
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=511180


Edit: That Rosewill looks nice and I remember reading that review, but the f word (Fuhjyyu) is involved. I had an Antec that was going to be used for this role, but the Fuhjyyu caps screwed it up, so I will not touch them or any PSU that has them.

[RollingThunder]

Yeah with a firm $50 budget the EA 380W might be your best bet.

The 400W Enhance 80+ is only 55 from ewiz but then you'll get soaked for ~12 in shipping so thats out.

Another option might be the Rosewill RP500-2 500W. Its close at $50 + 7ish shipping. Regulates well and puts out clean power, reviewed at jG. (http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=48) So long as the case its going in has decent airflow it would be a good budget choice.

Yeah its not easy to beat that 300W Fortron in this price range.

Alex,

Let me hijack you for a suggeston to Patterson.....

ZipZoomFly doesn't list the Earth Watts in 380 but the 430 EW is here:

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=273511

$59. What I like about ZZF is "No tax, free shipping." Makes a difference in the final total. That 430EW may be better suited in a pinch for your sig's 7800s SLI.

[Evilsizer]

yea the earthwatts 380 will be more then fine, good choice as well. since it is seasonic under the hood.

[systemhost]

I have a earthwatts on my server, runs 24/7... real good.

[PWatterson]

What do you guys think about this oen over the Antecs. Obviously they are both Seasonic built and 80 Plus, but is there any other difference?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151035

[JamesXP]

All the same under the hood AFAIK

[Evilsizer]

james not all are same under the hood. only the earthwattts line uses seasonic guts. if anyone wants a deeper look into PSU's go to www.jonnyguru.com and check out his forums.

[JamesXP]

Yes I know but he was reffering to the EA more than likely as that is the PSU being reccomended to him.

[Scott9027]

Did your 300w Fortron die or are you just replacing it? I've had nothing but success with Fortron/Sparkle supplies, if you need more power I would recommend a 350w or 400w Fortron. The Earthwatts is good too though, Seasonic PSU's are very reliable.

[PWatterson]

Did your 300w Fortron die or are you just replacing it? I've had nothing but success with Fortron/Sparkle supplies, if you need more power I would recommend a 350w or 400w Fortron. The Earthwatts is good too though, Seasonic PSU's are very reliable.

The Fortron is fine. It currently powers a socket A rig. I am building a system (socket a, the one listed a few posts above) and it needs a PSU. The Antec that came with it has busted caps and it is out of warranty. I could just get another Fortron and be one my way, but I have no back-up PSU if my Powerstream fails, and I want something that could power my rig in sig if needed. I suppose I could get say a 400 watt Fortron, but I wanted something a bit beefier. Also, IIRC, Fortrons only carry a one year warranty and I want a bit more insurance. At least three years is preferred.

Edit: Another reason is stuff like active PFC and higher efficiency.

[PWatterson]

THREAD REVIVAL

I got sidetracked and ordered nothing. I was about the order the Earthwatts 430w when I noticed it has only 20 amps on the +5v rail. The 300w Sparkle/Fortron had 30 amps on the rail. Will 20 be enough to power the socket a rig from a few posts above?

[JamesXP]

100w of 5V power FYI.

[PWatterson]

100w of 5V power FYI.

I figure that the rig will consume no more than 175 watts or so max. I know that older systems were mainly 5v oriented, so does that mean that 100 5v watts would be enough?

[Oklahoma Wolf]

I got sidetracked and ordered nothing. I was about the order the Earthwatts 430w when I noticed it has only 20 amps on the +5v rail. The 300w Sparkle/Fortron had 30 amps on the rail. Will 20 be enough to power the socket a rig from a few posts above?

If the board has a 12V connector, yes.

If not, no Earthwatts will run it. For that matter, I don't think anything Seasonic built will do well with it. The important PSU number for a 5V based system is the combined 3.3V/5V... I wouldn't use anything below 180W, and most Seasonics and other ATX2.0 designs these days are well below that.

[PWatterson]

If the board has a 12V connector, yes.

If not, no Earthwatts will run it. For that matter, I don't think anything Seasonic built will do well with it. The important PSU number for a 5V based system is the combined 3.3V/5V... I wouldn't use anything below 180W, and most Seasonics and other ATX2.0 designs these days are well below that.



Shoot. My mobo has no 12v connector. Just the regular 20 pin. I guess I will settle for another 300w Fortron.

Edit: What about this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103013

That has the 3.3/5v specs and it looks like it could power the rig in my sig w/ one video card in a pinch.

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Won't work, same story as the Earthwatts.

The only two FSP units I can find at Newegg that will work are:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104931
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103485

ATX 1.3 units are disappearing from the market, sadly. The next best thing to the above would be a strong single 12V server unit, like the Silverstone ST56ZF, PC P&C 510W, or Zippy 600W gaming unit.

[burebista]

Will 20 be enough to power the socket a rig from a few posts above?
EA430 works fine on Mercury KOB KT266A FDSX, GeForce 2 MX100/200 and Thunderbird 1,33GHz.
I was somehow shocked, but no problems to power a so old rig. :eek:
I have S-12 430 powering flawless Barton 2600+, 6800GS and ASUS A7N8X.
But I agree with Oklahoma Wolf maybe it work maybe not.

[Oklahoma Wolf]

EA430 works fine on Mercury KOB KT266A FDSX, GeForce 2 MX100/200 and Thunderbird 1,33GHz.
I was somehow shocked, but no problems to power a so old rig. :eek:
I have S-12 430 powering flawless Barton 2600+, 6800GS and ASUS A7N8X.
But I agree with Oklahoma Wolf maybe it work maybe not.

I've had an FSP dual 12V model powering that Asus board too, but long term crossloading like that isn't something I recommend doing ;)

My Aopen AK79G-Max has just enough 5V load it took down an Ultra X-Pro 600W. That's a very good indy regulated unit. Rails completely lost stability and I couldn't get it to even boot after a while. Put it back in a 12V based rig and it was just fine.

[burebista]

[...] but long term crossloading like that isn't something I recommend doing ;)
Agree with that. :thup:

[Mr.Guvernment]

was the corsair 420 going for?

[PWatterson]

What about this one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103455

It is ATX 1.3 and it looks like it could power my rig in sig.

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Now we're talking :)