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D

Defenestrator

New Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2005
I have a Raidmax 350W that's on its way out, and I'm looking for a replacement. My system can actually probably take a cut to a good 300W if necessary. I'm looking at $50 max, and ideally I'd like something quiet.

I've seen the Seasonic SuperSilencer 300W - how is the performance on this? Do they live up to their name?

I've seen reviews on Fortron PSU's saying that they perform well - how quiet are they?

Are there any other options I'm leaving out? I see Antec a lot, although they tend to cost a little more than I want to spend.
 
well since 2 of the links are sold out u could try this one its the same people who make tagan power supplies, check out those rails :D clicky
 
I suggest you look at the Fortron 350 model. If you can spend the extra few bucks you might want to look at stepping up to the 400 watt model. That should be more than enough juice.
 
I love the rails on the Tagan/ePower PSU :D. Can I disable the blue LED's on it though?

With the options that are out of stock, plus leaving some room to upgrade, it looks like I may need to consider spending an extra $10-15 on a quality supply. Antec True380 for $60 and Fortron 400 for $62.49 seem to be the best backup options. The deals are so much better at Newegg than Fry's :) The Antec SL350 was $60 at Fry's, and they skipped the True380 altogether.
 
Welcome to the forums!

At one point I had no problem recommending Tagan/Epower units, but that point has passed. I have seen more than a few complaints against their customer service lately. For Topower made PSU's, OCZ is by far a better way to go; and if not them, try BeQuiet or Aerocool.

Seasonic is building a good reputation - they're efficient, quiet, and stable. PC Power and Cooling is using Seasonic as an OEM for some of their Silencers. www.silentpcreview.com loves them, and has reviewed several. They have been ever so close to getting onto my short list of recommended units for a while now, and now that they've released a new line of ATX 2.0 PSU's with 120mm fans at wattages up to 600w, I might just start recommending them soon with more frequency.
 
i actually just bought the fortron 300W unit with the 120mm fan for my dad's pc. it's supposed to perform like a 390W unit. you might consider that. only $36 after shipping at newegg. :)
 
dAvies.lOcker said:
Awful n00b question..."what are the rails?, what do they do?"
Click to expand...

Noobs ask the best questions. No need to worry.

Rails are essentially output transformers that convert AC (household current 115/230v) to lower voltage DC current. There are three rails of interest to us. +3.3V, +5V and +12V. Those power 99.9% of components in your system.

For modern systems:

3.3V RAM and AGP.
5V PCI bus, keyboard, mouse, gameport and some drives to keep them powered when not in use.
12V Processors, video cards, fans, drives, probably the most important rail.
 
Last edited:
I originally figured out the power consumption estimate from the AMD website, and after reading a few of the threads here, found out more about MBM 5. After running MBM 5 overnight, I found out that while my 3.3 and 5V rails are stable, my 12V definitely isn't (it varies by 16.6%, 10.2 to 14.4) - this isn't under load. It seems that I do need more power after all, at least on the 12V.

I'll check Fry's ad in yesterday's paper, see if it's out here. That's a great deal.

The OCZ's are a little too pricey for me right now, so I think I'll stick with Seasonic, Antec, or Fortron. The only thing with the Fortrons, at least below 400W, is the power of the 12V rail - it does seem to be the most highly recommended brand here so far.
 
Defenestrator said:
I originally figured out the power consumption estimate from the AMD website, and after reading a few of the threads here, found out more about MBM 5. After running MBM 5 overnight, I found out that while my 3.3 and 5V rails are stable, my 12V definitely isn't (it varies by 16.6%, 10.2 to 14.4) - this isn't under load. It seems that I do need more power after all, at least on the 12V.
Click to expand...

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT take MBM, Smartguardian, Sandra or ANY software monitoring tool as gospel. They all use the same cheap winbond sensor on the motherboard for their readings. Use a good DMM.

However you won't need a DMM to convince me you need to replace the Raidmax.
 
I couldn't find the Antec case listed in the Fry's ad here. Darnit.

I'll keep that in mind about MBM. Ignore what I said related to it then.
 
Nebulous said:
lol, I cuncur ! :beer:

Welcome to the forums!
Click to expand...

i probably can't add anything that hasn't been said, i second the FSP 350w.
I just wanted to say...

Nebulous, you should post in every single thread in every section just so i can see your avatar more often
:drool:

Heheh.

J.
 
Is there another store besides Newegg that sells power supplies? They're sold out of ALL the 350W supplies, except maybe generic, which I didn't check. I was thinking of going with the 350W Fortron if I can find one.

Otherwise, well, may as well go with the 400W Fortron.

EDIT: it's done, I got the 400W Fortron from Newegg. Thanks for the help guys!
 
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