Forton 350 watt PSU

TheSecond · Aug 13, 2003

Fortron 350 watt PSU

I am in the process of building my first computer. I have all the parts ordered just havent received them all yet. I am now having second thoughts on my PSU choice. It is a Turbolink 420 watt powersupply. I was hearing they were made by Channel Well and were suppose to be pretty good. Now I am hearing they are garbage. I dont want to have instability problems or worry my powersupply is going to fry my computer. So I am wondering and hoping (they are cheap) if a Fortron 350 watt PSU would be enough for the computer I am building. I only seen one other post about this power supply with a nf7 (I think they get vcore from the 12 volt rail). Anyway my computer will be as follows:

Xp 2500+ Barton (first time overclocking but lets say I do great and get 2.3GHZ)
Abit NF7-S v2.0
Thermaltake Smart Case Fan 2
Thermalright SLK-800U
WD 120 GB 8MB hard drive
Prolink Ti-4200 video card
1 512 MB Buffalo pc3200 CH-5
48x24x48x cd burner
16x dvd rom (maybe a dvd burner later)
3 case fans
1 cold cathode 12" light
logitech z-640 speakers

Deathknight · Aug 13, 2003

I think a fortron 350w is probably enough for just about anybody. Shouldn't be a problem.

Giblet Plus! · Aug 13, 2003

It'll work great for that system. I like mine.

You should step up to the SLK-900U - it's only a few more dollars.

dustybyrd · Aug 13, 2003

You should step up to the SLK-900U - it's only a few more dollars. [/B]

or you could step "down" to the sk7 from thermalright....these are ALMOST as good (1-2C difference) and cost A LOT less...

15 bucks at svc.com

Giblet Plus! · Aug 13, 2003

dustybyrd said:
or you could step "down" to the sk7 from thermalright....these are ALMOST as good (1-2C difference) and cost A LOT less...

15 bucks at svc.com

Good idea too.

What case are these toys going into?

Oklahoma Wolf · Aug 13, 2003

Perhaps once Turbolinks were Channel Well, but recently they've been using Real Power and not bothering to change the labels away from the Channel Well specs. A Fortron 350 should do pretty well against the actual Channel Well 420, and would blow away Turbolink's.

TheSecond · Aug 13, 2003

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Deathknight said:
I think a fortron 350w is probably enough for just about anybody. Shouldn't be a problem.

That is what I was hoping to hear.

dustybyrd said:
or you could step "down" to the sk7 from thermalright....these are ALMOST as good (1-2C difference) and cost A LOT less...

15 bucks at svc.com

I was going to get that heatsink but they were out of stock at the time. I need to have more patience, but I don't.

Giblet Plus! said:
What case are these toys going into?

It is an old Gateway 2000 case. I painted it gloss black and cut out a chevy bowtie window. It looks pretty good. The sad thing is I have another Gateway 2000 (166 mhz pentium) that is my main computer. I think I will notice a significant increase in performance with the new system.

Oklahoma Wolf said:
Perhaps once Turbolinks were Channel Well, but recently they've been using Real Power and not bothering to change the labels away from the Channel Well specs. A Fortron 350 should do pretty well against the actual Channel Well 420, and would blow away Turbolink's.

I seen your thread about the real channel well power supplies and the turbolink ones. That helped me come to the conclusion to buy another power supply.

So does basically everyone thinks the Fortron 350 watt psu will be enough? I dont want the same thing to happen like last time. Where some people say that such and such is good enough and then some other people come along and say that it will not be enough. Once again thanks everyone.

Oklahoma Wolf · Aug 13, 2003

I think it'll power the system fine, but if you're worried about it you can always go for the Fortron 530 instead if you have the cash. Personally if I could get that 350 with the 120mm fan in Canada, my Channel Well would be outta the system faster than you could blink. The CWT is a great PSU, just louder than I'd like

Giblet Plus! · Aug 13, 2003

TheSecond said:
It is an old Gateway 2000 case. I painted it gloss black and cut out a chevy bowtie window. It looks pretty good. The sad thing is I have another Gateway 2000 (166 mhz pentium) that is my main computer. I think I will notice a significant increase in performance with the new system.

Those old gateway cases are excellent starting points for modding.

TheSecond · Aug 13, 2003

Oklahoma Wolf said:
I think it'll power the system fine, but if you're worried about it you can always go for the Fortron 530 instead if you have the cash. Personally if I could get that 350 with the 120mm fan in Canada, my Channel Well would be outta the system faster than you could blink. The CWT is a great PSU, just louder than I'd like

I am almost broke right now but I think I will go for completly broke and get the Fortron 530. It will be nice to know that I won't have to worry about if I have enough power.

Giblet Plus! said:
Those old gateway cases are excellent starting points for modding.

No pics, I dont have a camera.

You say they are great for modding. Are you saying this because they are cheap and it doesnt matter if you mess them up or did you mod one and it turned out good.

dustybyrd · Aug 13, 2003

I am almost broke right now but I think I will go for completly broke and get the Fortron 530. It will be nice to know that I won't have to worry about if I have enough power.
[/B]

i think the 350 fortron should be enough for your system as well (i have had the version with the 120mm fan and it is nearly silent---i also have the version with the 80mm fans and they are a little loud and need to be swapped with panaflos)

i also think the 530 watt fortron will be great and quiet (i have this one powering my dual amd and the voltages never vary more than 1.5% even under full load)---it is very quiet as well with temperature controlled fans...

however, if the room temperature goes above 85-87F or about 30C....then the 530 fans kick it up a notch and the noise is too loud....

but how many times does your room temp (not case temp) get above 85F anyway?---

TheSecond · Aug 13, 2003

dustybyrd said:
i think the 350 fortron should be enough for your system as well (i have had the version with the 120mm fan and it is nearly silent---i also have the version with the 80mm fans and they are a little loud and need to be swapped with panaflos)

i also think the 530 watt fortron will be great and quiet (i have this one powering my dual amd and the voltages never vary more than 1.5% even under full load)---it is very quiet as well with temperature controlled fans...

however, if the room temperature goes above 85-87F or about 30C....then the 530 fans kick it up a notch and the noise is too loud....

but how many times does your room temp (not case temp) get above 85F anyway?---

I was reading the forums and came across hitechjb1's thread about his fortron 530w. I think I saw another thread about someone else not happy with it also (not sure, I read too many different ones). Hopefully the bad experiences are the minority. I didnt see a whole lot of other people with this power supply. I was worried somewhat when I seen the fortron only had 18A on the 12v rail. You seem to think that is underated and should be fine. I am sure you know a lot more about it (you have one) than I do. I will order it tomorrow. Thanks everyone.

dustybyrd · Aug 14, 2003

I was reading the forums and came across hitechjb1's thread about his fortron 530w. I think I saw another thread about someone else not happy with it also (not sure, I read too many different ones). Hopefully the bad experiences are the minority. I didnt see a whole lot of other people with this power supply. I was worried somewhat when I seen the fortron only had 18A on the 12v rail. You seem to think that is underated and should be fine. I am sure you know a lot more about it (you have one) than I do. I will order it tomorrow. Thanks everyone. [/B]

these are a few several really good, very powerful PSU's out there...

Antec True Power 430, 480, and 550 watt
Fortron 460, 530 and 550 watt
PC Power and Cooling 400+ watt supplies

It's my belief based on my experience with the Fortron 530's that these are excellent supplies...

and most people have claimed the same for the Antec True Powers and the Fortron's

and i have never heard anyone complain about a PC Power and cooling supply...

all of these power supplies will probably have similar amounts of maximum power and similar amounts of line fluctuation...all within spec and probably within 3% (mine is within 1.5% even under load for 3 weeks+)

but the price differences are a lot different...

70-85 for the fortrons
85-130 for the antecs
130-200+ for the pc power and coolings

cV · Aug 14, 2003

A note on any PSU - if you intend to seriously overclock and hold it there for a long time, make sure the motherboard derives the vcore from the 12v rail...

otherwise you're asking for it...

Abit nf7 is good, you could get the nf7-s if you plan on going SATA later and don't want to deal with getting an add-on card....

seer33 · Aug 14, 2003

i thin the 350 fortron with 120mm led fan would be my choice great reviews, stylish SWEEET

Giblet Plus! · Aug 14, 2003

TheSecond said:
No pics, I dont have a camera. You say they are great for modding. Are you saying this because they are cheap and it doesnt matter if you mess them up or did you mod one and it turned out good.

Most of the old gateway cases I've seen have well ventilated front bezels, are reasonable sized, well made, and not too ugly to be unfixable.

Is this a mid or full tower?

TheSecond · Aug 14, 2003

Giblet Plus! said:
Most of the old gateway cases I've seen have well ventilated front bezels, are reasonable sized, well made, and not too ugly to be unfixable.

Is this a mid or full tower?

It is the same case as the blue viper one here (case #13). http://www.overclockersrip.net/gallery.php?page=2

It is a mid tower I believe. Mine lays flat though. Is that considered a desktop?

ryuen · Aug 15, 2003

didnt read other posts but

if you want to be cheaper you can get a slk3700 case which has a smartpower 350w. but fortron 350ws are good. just that the slk3700 IMO is a good deal. it has 120mm fans too.

also buying fans at svc.com is cheaper usually than off newegg.com because of shipping.

also for the slk800. its on sale at case-mod.com 26 for 800a and 31 for 800u.

Forton 350 watt PSU

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