• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Qtec dual fan 450w?

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.
Ive never heard of Qtec, i guess since the psu is going bad i would think of it to be a reason to get a pc power and cooling psu and call it a day :)
 
Inside, the 550W Qtec looks wimpier than some high qualtiy 250W PSUs:

7.jpg
 
i am a q-tec fan after running a 550w for 1 1/2 years with no problems. i will say however that the reviews given to the lesser versions leave much to be desired.... the way i see it is buy the 550w version by any means but stay away from the smaller versions of their twin fan family. the 550w is only a few pennies more anyway;) .
 
smerko said:
i am a q-tec fan after running a 550w for 1 1/2 years with no problems. i will say however that the reviews given to the lesser versions leave much to be desired.... the way i see it is buy the 550w version by any means but stay away from the smaller versions of their twin fan family. the 550w is only a few pennies more anyway;) .
Click to expand...

That's a bit like closing the gate when the horse has bolted, since I now am the proud (?) owner of a 450w 'twin fan' Q-tec. Me thinks I should invest in a fan which will have longevity, of performance through future system upgrades. And the Antec appears be my best (though not insxpensive) option.

Fish
 
FishD said:

That's a bit like closing the gate when the horse has bolted, since I now am the proud (?) owner of a 450w 'twin fan' Q-tec.
Click to expand...

true but as you seem to have found the only solution to a bad psu is to replace it. the 550w is only £20 from ebuyer so upgrading would not be that costly. failing that yes you could go with another brand at a price but get a good one and you could carry it on to your next system. all depends how much money you have to spend etc
 
Q-tec are very poor quality PSU's hense they are so cheap.
They are also rated wrong and do not perform to the rated spec by a long shot.

In short stay away from Q-Tec, you get what you pay for.
 
Sturm said:
Q-tec are very poor quality PSU's hense they are so cheap.
They are also rated wrong and do not perform to the rated spec by a long shot.

In short stay away from Q-Tec, you get what you pay for.
Click to expand...

= Truth
 
Sturm said:
you get what you pay for.
Click to expand...
That isnt necessarily true... There is one "cheapo" make to look out for that has rave reviews, Starnet.
Last year they did a test and put the "£20" 550watt Dual Fan Starnet up against a "£100" 550watt Antec True Power. The £20 Starnet beat the Antec in every department :D
Trying to find a Starnet now though is like looking for Rocking Horse S*it ;) I think they are mainly OEM...
I have a 350watt Starnet which i was lucky enough to get with my system when i bought it. They put mine up against a more expensive Enermax and it beat it...
I've just put it in my new Chieftec Case. I am on the look out for a good, cheap, quality PSU with more power though for when i get my DVD-RW, extra Hard Drive etc. A nice 550watt would be perfect but i wouldnt go for a Qtec ever...
 
fac_29 said:

That isnt necessarily true... There is one "cheapo" make to look out for that has rave reviews, Starnet.
Last year they did a test and put the "£20" 550watt Dual Fan Starnet up against a "£100" 550watt Antec True Power. The £20 Starnet beat the Antec in every department :D
Trying to find a Starnet now though is like looking for Rocking Horse S*it ;) I think they are mainly OEM...
Click to expand...

Link to said test?
 
L337 M33P said:


Link to said test?
Click to expand...
Well it seems that the actual review/comparison isnt available anymore.
http://www.pcextreme.net/archives/00000138.php :(

All i can find now is a page with a quote from the full review. Its highlighted by Google Cache so aint that hard to find:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ca...chive=7c02news.inc+Starnet+Antec+Review&hl=en

They tested all the rails and the Starnet came out tops in almost every single test they did.

I even tried searchin for the full review with www.archive.org but could only find the first page of it.
If i do manage to find it anywhere i'll post it. It was actually posted here in these very forums around the time the review was done. Starnet is a Euro only make though, they dont have a distributor in the US.
 
After doing some searching, I finally found a review of a Starnet 350w: http://www.teccentral.de/artikel/artikel_113.html

A couple of things about it concern me. First, there is no UL or CSA approval - not exactly confidence inspiring when considering even Deer has these certifications. Second, the unit appears to be a little weak for a 350w or even 250w - the capacitors, heatsinks, and main transformer are all on the small side. In fact, the heatsinks of my Deer 250w are actually a little bigger.

I would surmise without further info, the reviewed 550w was probably only checked for voltage levels with a computer under load to arrive at the conclusion it was somehow better than the CWT made Antec unit. Unfortunately, higher rails does not necessarily equate with better quality. Not to say that these Starnets are total garbage, I don't have enough info to make such an assumption. However, no matter how great the price difference I would still pick the Antec 10 times out of 10. The odds are just not in Starnet's favor to be as good on build quality as CWT/Antec has proven to be.

Edit: I believe I've found the real manufacturer of Starnet units: http://www.professionalhk.com/

They apparently are UL certified for at least one model: http://database.ul.com/cgi-bin/XYV/...n=versionless&parent_id=1073992443&sequence=1
 
Last edited:
Nice find, very interesting :)
What makes you think they are Proffesional Industries?
They are TUV approved anyway so surely thats something? My PSU is TUV approved. Its not great for a 350watt, 180watt combined 12+ and 5+ volt line, but its good enough. And its rails seem solid enough. Its very quiet too. It has a Sunon fan in it.

Err isnt UL a Canadian rating or am i wrong? Starnet dont sell in the US or Canada, i know that for a fact.

EDIT: Oh man those cases are awful :D
I cant see anything like my PSU there(and it was made November 2003) or my old case that it came in. It is possible the PSU didnt come with the case though...I always assumed the case was a JNC(but i could be wrong...). Who make PSU's for JNC?
 
Last edited:
I found the manufacturer by googling the model number from the review and then comparing the label to those at the Professional Industries site. Many companies that sell PSU's don't actually make them, or have them made to their specs. For example, Antec uses Channel Well recently for a supplier (Heroichi has also supplied them). Thermaltake, Highpower, and Enlight use Sirtec for a supplier. Even PC Power and Cooling has been shown to get at least some components if not complete PSUs from Win-Tact, Zippy, and Fortron. Part of the fun is finding out who makes what ;)

UL - Underwriters Labs, USA
CSA - Canadian Standards Association

Not sure what TUV does exactly, but if it's like UL and CSA it's probably an organization that validates products to insure they meet safety standards. Doesn't always mean a quality product at least in UL or CSA cases though - as I mentioned before Deer has indeed been approved by them ;)
 
TUV are German and do product testing and certification. They are very highly regarded. I imagine they are something like UL and CSA, but they are worldwide.
Heres the American TUV Site:
www.us.tuv.com

Or:
www.tuv.com

Basically, if its TUV rated you know your safe. Or thats what i've always been lead to believe.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

N
Cisco 3650G-48 PoE Silencing
Replies
4
Views
311
Neshco
N
R
Motherboard for 13600k optimization/OC/Undervolting
2
Replies
33
Views
2K
Flamethrower1972
Flamethrower1972
mackerel
FreeSync, G-Sync, Kitchen Sync?
Replies
11
Views
285
mackerel
mackerel
Zerileous
Shutdowns when gaming
2 3
Replies
49
Views
2K
Zerileous
Zerileous
Q
Need help finding proper AC power cable
Replies
7
Views
262
quartertwelve
Q
Back