Fortron or ANTEC?!?!?!?

Hey guys! I wondering if anyone had an opinion on which power supply would be a better fit for me, the Fortron 400W or the ANTEC TC550? I am currently updating my AMD system with a new mobo and PS. My last PS was an Enermax 630W that had a bad connector and shorted out and caused a small fire....doh!!!!

The new MOBO will be either an Abit NF7-Sv2 or the DFI Lanparty. I have pretty loose criteria for the PS right now, because I'm not sure what voltages these mobo's use where. I just need something rock solid that stays quiet. Anandtech had a pretty thorough round-up recently that reccomends the Fortron, but I read a post on here that said that Abit uses 12v power for the CPU? I thought that most AMD boards used the 3.3v rail for this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated....especially if someone out there knows where I can find a breakdown on what voltages are used for what on these MOBOs.

Evilted
MSI KT4V, B-Thbd XP-2400@15*150 and 1.75v, 1.3GB generic PC2400, PNYGeforce5200 dual head, SB Audigy2 platinum......and a very wimpy 250W generic PS to keep me alive until I find a new one.

Go for the $75 Fortron 530W, or a Fortron/Sparkle 350W. The 400W has the same 12V line as the 350W, and that's what you'll be using the most.

The NF7-S rev 2.0 uses 12V to generate Vcore.

If you plan on overclocking the CPU and video card to high level, these posts may help to determine what size of PSU would be needed. Then you can decide on what to get.

What size PSU do I need?

Some thoughts on choosing PSU for overclocking recent motherboard, CPU, GPU, ...

"Fortron 400W or the ANTEC TC550?"
If Antec TC550 means Antec TrueControl 550, then the Antec is better.
It's very nice to be able to adjust your rails to almost exactly where they should be.

the best deal by far is the 530 watt fortron available at newegg for $70-75...very quiet, heavy and powerful, with voltage lines on my machine not fluctuating more than 1%...

or if you are on a tight budget then you might be able to get by with a 350 watt fortron for $32 at newegg

Bang for Buck goes to the 530 watt Fortron, I love these power supply's for 75.00 delivered you cant beat em with a bat...The TrueControl has to be my favorite power supply right now all be it at a price...Either one the TrueControl 550 or the 530 watt Fortron are about as good as it gets unless you want to pony up the duckies for a PC Power & Cooling...Shoot the 350 watt Sparkle with the single 120mm fan from XpDirect is a killer power supply for most applications...You can get one at Newegg with a lighted fan also...But for my money the 530 watt Fortron is the way to fly...

Fortron, no question.

I'd rate the Fortron 350 about the same as an Antec 550 (any model) and the 530 as far superior.

I have had two Antec's in the past and neither thrilled me: they cost a lot more than the CompUSA supllies I have but performed the same.

My Fortron 350 does as well as my heavily modified Enermax 450 and destroys the Antec 350 and 400 that I had.

"My Fortron 350 does as well as my heavily modified Enermax 450 and destroys the Antec 350 and 400 that I had."
The Antecs aren't Truepowers, though.
Antec Truepowers are very good.
Also, if you don't mind voiding your warranty, replace the fans with more powerful ones and run them off direct 12v(in most PSUs, the fans aren't very powerful and/or are connected to a lower voltage than 12v).
I would like to see someone take a 350w Fortron w/ 120mm fan, and then replace the fan with an 120mm, 4000RPM Delta.

dustybyrd said:

the best deal by far is the 530 watt fortron available at newegg for $70-75...very quiet, heavy and powerful, with voltage lines on my machine not fluctuating more than 1%...

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hmmm that's what I hoped for when I bought mine couple weeks ago. The 5v is fine.. stays at like ~4.97 whatever I do. The 12v though.. is at 12.32v idle and 12.40v load. I believe that is a little high.. I guess I just hoped it would be around 11.90-12.10v constant. o well. I hope I didn't hit the limit though.. I plan to add a 120mm fan and two more 80mm fans. we'll see what happens

I just bought a 530Watt fortron I almost got the 550 cause everytime i looked up the list i thought hey its just 5$ more

-N- said:

hmmm that's what I hoped for when I bought mine couple weeks ago. The 5v is fine.. stays at like ~4.97 whatever I do. The 12v though.. is at 12.32v idle and 12.40v load. I believe that is a little high.. I guess I just hoped it would be around 11.90-12.10v constant. o well. I hope I didn't hit the limit though.. I plan to add a 120mm fan and two more 80mm fans. we'll see what happens

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I had a similar problem like what you described. The 12V was around 12.5 V (both software monitor and voltmeter). Further the 12V fluctuated when the 5V line was drawn heavily by the CPU (motherboard derives Vcore from 5V). I returned it.

the Fortron 400W has a 15A 12v rail, a bit slim for good p4 say 2.8 running at 3.5 or 3.7. the Antec 350 has a 12v rail at 21A. I think the choise is clear.