Before Making a Thread About Buying a PSU....

[computerpro3]

It's your list, do what you want. But to really make it anything special you need to move beyond a compilation of the conclusions of (by you own admission) the rarely adequate testing that appears on the web and move some knowledge into the equation.

I do not knock the TP330 because the spec sheet numbers don't conform to a rule of thumb, I condemn them because I've used them. They blow up. Nothing to recommend there. TP380s don't blow up, but are hard pressed on the 12V line by modern systems.

TP430s are a great power supply, and are only $65 these days (by your link). And no, you can't run 4GHz with them, and I'm guessing you couldn't run 5GHz either. You have to correctly apply a supply before you can knock it for failing. The extra oomph of a TP480 or 550 is recommended, but the 430 is still a useful supply and a great value. A TP430 will smoke a 350 Fortron, no lie.

Again, you knock the Antec SL for value reasons. That alone isn't a good reason. Lots of power supplies are overpriced, but Antec SLs are recommendation worthy should the price be palatable to the prospective buyer.

As far as the Vantec being noisy, they are often noisy in the regulation too. They are simply not designed and built as well as the Antec or (especially Fortron) alternatives, and do not perform as well. If you can in any way knock a SL antec because of the alternatives there is no case for a Vantec, even if they appear passable in a (isolated) review.

Can you please link me to a review using real tools that shows me that Vantec psu's are bad? I'm not saying I'm not wrong, just that I have seen very convincing REAL numbers that suggest otherwise. And for your comment about the review being isolated: do you know why it's isolated? Because there are only about FIVE, yes FIVE websites that are qualified to do a real psu reivew, silentpcreview.com being one of them. Here's how a real psu review should be done

http://silentpcreview.com/article148-page1.html

So in effect every single good psu review is going to be isolated.

I do have to disagree with your comment about the tru430 smoking the fortron 350 however. On paper, maybe. Howver, you obviously know a lot about psu's, so you must know that Fortron has been proven again and again to underrate their lines and wattages by around 35-30%, and also that Antec's power ratings are taken at a vastly unrealistic 20C for the internal psu temp. How many people's room ambient temps are 20c? Not mine, I know that. At a much more realistic 40C, the antec 550w only produces around 360w. So I seriously doubt that the antec 430 would smoke the fortron 350. Especially when the fortrons are much better built inside. They just don't look as cool. And here's an experience from a very respected and senior forum member at hardforums, xtremesystems.org, and IIRC he's also here. His experience with the Antec 550 and the Fortron 350:

funny thing is, the fortron 350 will handle it all by itself, i tried it, i just didnt want to push the little thing or kill it. I ran the vapo, pelt, Mem @ 3.55v and a Vmodded 9800pro.

Thats what sold me on fortron lately. I started buying them to replace customers cheap PS, the were a good deal for the 300 and 350 watters, under or around $30, plus good reviews on them everywhere. I never expected them to be so heavy.

All i do know is my fortron 350 holds and has better volts in my sig rig than a ttgi550 and antec true550

his sig was a 4.2ghz p4 on a vapochill, vmodded radeon 9800 pro on a pelt running off the psu, 1GB memory bh5 @ 3.55v with his 3.3v line @ 3.7v, etc, etc. ANd he had it running for the longest time until he just upgraded to a64. His 12v line on the antec 550 was drooping to 11.5 under the multimeter during load. The fortron stays right up there. And it has adjustable pots. And Tedinde will come in here and verify everything if you want.

Nuff said.

 

[computerpro3]

It's your list, do what you want. But to really make it anything special you need to move beyond a compilation of the conclusions of (by you own admission) the rarely adequate testing that appears on the web and move some knowledge into the equation.

silentpcreview.com's psu reviews just may possibly be the most factual, realistic, adequate reviews on the entire internet. And thats a widely known fact.

 

[lilxvietxboi]

id say sticky

 

[dicecca112]

I don't say sticky mainly because of this sticly http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=232592 and the fact that all the stickies basically tell you everything that is already in here.

 

[Tony Carr]

One thing about power supplies , important to me .
Many of the older psu designs are strong on the +5V rail ( used to be cpu power) and weak on the +12V rail ( nowadays cpu power ) . If you migrate an older psu into a newer system upgrade that powers the cpu from the +12V rail , you think that the old psu is bad , weak on the +12V , undervolting the cpu .
Some psu's are all +12V rail , weak on the other rails . If I put a newer high +12V psu in my Epox 8RDA+ , it will under volt the cpu because it uses the +5V rail for the cpu power , so a psu that is powerful on the +5V rail is important to me in that case .
On the other hand my Abit uses the +12V rail for cpu power and likes lot's of +12V power .
So depending on how I match the psu to the system , I may rate the psu as good or bad . Ideally , a super powerful psu on all rails is great but can be expensive .

 

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Antec's power ratings are taken at a vastly unrealistic 20C for the internal psu temp.

Sorry, but my own significant experience with both CWT and Antec doesn't quite bear this out. I've had about 5 of them from 235w to 420w, and they all pretty much kept close to their labels well enough. The 420w is a single fan unit, and always ran warm by design - it powered the system in my sig for almost 2 years. Antec's direct equivalent was rated at 400w at the time.

However, I agree build quality is not Fortron level - the 420w overheated once a year into its service when the fan died, and needs a few capacitors replaced yet. Still works, but the rails are drifting upwards very slowly. Weight wise, it's almost as heavy as my current Fortron 530w and packed with circuitry to the point I have trouble getting at those caps to replace them.

FWIW the Vantec unit in the SPCR review is a Topower, but an older design - they seem to be using more than one OEM supplier. Been hoping SPCR will add ripple testing with a scope to their reviews - would make it easier to see how they do under full load conditions.

 

[yanz]

i just hate it when someone says thermaltke psu's is bad. but maybe i don't have that much experiences. i have this psu (twv480) for 2-3 month it is just stable with my rig (barton2500, axp1700, and duron1.2 systems).

on the other hand i have FSP300-60BT that could powered all my system above. yes fortron is good, but tt is not that bad i think...

i just add my opinion..


(ok, i just read at thg's forum somone says fortron is suck. link. it's 180 degree from what i know about fortron.. )

 

[computerpro3]

here's a quote by you

talk with my vendor, they have about 5 Tt410W PSUs rma'ed becouse it died/blowed... they have sold many 480W, 420W, and 410W version and only 410W version that has problems...

btw, i only have good experiences with my twv480...

willing to take a chance with your machine? I'm not....Besides, I already kille da TT 480w on my old system...Measure your line stability with a voltmeter, I'm curious to see if TT has made any improvements with some of the positive buzz I've been hearing lately...

 

[yanz]

ya, but i want to point out that from a dozens/hundreds tt psu they sell, in varous type, only 410W has problem. none of other type has been rma'ed. they call the 410W model as flaw in design. am i willing to take a chance with my machine with this psu? well, i would like to get antec, or hec, but they are very rare in my town. one of my friend recommended it to me becouse his tt360W model is good and stable for his amd. other brand, i only got fortron with one model, fsp300-bt, allready buy it for my other system..

Measure your line stability with a voltmeter

i will. now i have test my tt480 with 5 to 6 system (p41.7 -p42.4, duron, axp/barton, p3) with the same result on voltage reading (12.2-12.0V, 3.39-3.4V, 4.95-5.05V). very good result but soon i will check it with a multimeter, as i am building several system (amd-intel) and my only choice is fortron 300w model or thermaltake (420W - 480W). no other good brand name available here..

Do not buy a psu from the following companies !!!!!!! .......

i just feel that your statement is too far. nothing is absolute good or bad. imo, but your point about using good brand name psu (fortron, antec, ocz, etc) in first place is very usefull..

 

[sevendevilhell]

i'm thinking of that OCZ 520... is that one good for the price?

 

[mtb856]

Yes, it is one of the best PSU's that you can buy at that price. It will handle an overclocked Prescott, two 6800GT's in SLI, and multiple HDD's with no problem, so if you're building a high end system (or plan to in the future) you'll want this or a PC Power and Cooling PSU to power it.

 

[Dragonprince]

I'd go with the one that has a better warrenty. Not sure about the OCZ but the PC P&C ones have 5 years on the high-end models...

 

[Oklahoma Wolf]

New Fortron based SilentX 600w model for us to drool over:

http://www.silenx.com/productcart/pc/configurePrdz.asp?idcategory=18&idproduct=97

Only review I can find on it so far: http://www.planetamd64.com/kb.php?mode=article&k=11

Not the best review I've seen, but if I know Fortron this unit will be a monster

 

[man_utd]

The OCZ has a 3 year warranty and an additional 2 year labor free warranty (you have to pay for parts(

 

[computerpro3]

i just feel that your statement is too far. nothing is absolute good or bad. imo, but your point about using good brand name psu (fortron, antec, ocz, etc) in first place is very usefull..

go ahead, buy a deer psu and put it in your machine, and leave it running prime 95 overnight. I dare you See my point?


Oklahoma: thx for the link. added.

 

[computerpro3]

i'm thinking of that OCZ 520... is that one good for the price?

yes. it'll do you well

 

[computerpro3]

alright we got some new happenings:

OCZ 600w added and some big news:

Ultra-X, everyone's favorite rice psu, has been added to the DO NOT BUY list as it is discovered it is really a rebranded POWMAX (I told people they weren't that great over and over but they just kept saying it looks awesome.... )

 

[Oklahoma Wolf]

The Ultra X Connect, like all other Ultras I've seen, was a Wintech made unit last time I checked - not the best PSU manufacturer around, but not quite Powmax levels. May I ask how Powmax came up?

I agree with you they aren't that great though once you get past the looks - SPCR did a review of one and I was less than impressed. Looks great, but only average performance IMO. Some folks have had issues with the special connectors being too big or awkward to manage with certain cases/mainboards/peripherals. Still not sure how these hold up over time.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article193-page1.html

 

[Bad ConNecTioN]

According to the Silect PC review it actually was not that bad. However, when one looked inside and saw the tiny heat sinks I was a little worried. I wish to God some would make a modular unit that was actually a good PSU, I would buy one in a minute.

The Neo is nice, but not as modular as the Ultra.

 

[I.M.O.G.]

Nice information here, thanks for sharing. Never done much reading at silentPC, and perhaps I may in the future.