Power Supplies

[Penty]

Ok I just got my new case and am looking at power supplies. Which brands have you had bad luck with?

[All Kill3r]

Aspire. DOA first time, second time it couldn't power the rig. This was with a 520W Aspire PSU.

 

A cheap 350W Antec PSU powered the same rig fine, also an Antec 480W powered it fine.

[Guest zerodamage]

I disagree on the Aspire. I am using one now, a 500 Watt one with my voltage rails within spec and my system OC'd all the way around and with 7+ fans and an ATI X800 XT. Sometimes you just get bad ones. I've had a few bad Antecs in a row but I know they are typically great as are Enermax. I would say if you want the best brands, Antec and Enermax are the top mainstream PSU's.

 

The ones you want to avoid are the ones that claim to be 450-550 watt and only weigh 5 ounces (No weight means no cooling or bad cooling internally which results in over heating) and ones that have high wattage but only like 18 Amps on the 12-volt rail. Those are the first 2 things I look at. If a PSU claims 450 Watt or more, they should have mid 20-amp on the 12-volt rail or better. Antec are usually lower and do not forget that Dual 12-volt rails are common now so you may see one with 18 amps and another with 14 or something like that (Enermax do that now).

[NOFX]

even though allied costs a little cheaper, I have always had good luck with them and the rails seem to be great unless your hardcore about it and need it to be exactly 3.14

[Clueless]

I agree with Zerodamage on weight, very tell tale sign. I havent tried one yet,but i'm interested in the new Xconnect by Ultra Computer Products, its really cool lookin, but the coolest feature is that it comes with separate plugs, so no more empty harnesses uglying up your case and messing with airflow, just use the cables you need.

 

If anyone has tried these, let me know what you think, I wanna buy one.

 

www.ultraproducts.com

[Crowbar]

seems like weight is the big giveaway on quality, BUT, you can't test that out when you're buying online. if you are online, go to a computer shop and find one you're interested in and hold it, then order online.

 

I use a Thermaltake Purepower 420watt and I love it. Great fan placement, super heavy, and good looking.

[Guest zerodamage]

I agree with Zerodamage on weight, very tell tale sign. I havent tried one yet,but i'm interested in the new Xconnect by Ultra Computer Products, its really cool lookin, but the coolest feature is that it comes with separate plugs, so no more empty harnesses uglying up your case and messing with airflow, just use the cables you need.

 

If anyone has tried these, let me know what you think, I wanna buy one.

 

www.ultraproducts.com

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Great powersupply. A review of it is on driverheaven.net

 

Antec also has a powersupply that is modular like that. can find it on www.xoxide.com

[Clueless]

Agreed, the Antec looks good too,although, I think the Xconnect has them beat on cables, the Antec is modular, but the cables look pretty standard (blah). The cables on the other one are round and come in colors.

 

Antec does have the advantage as far as proven reliability. If I had to choose and wanted something that looked good, i'd experiment with the Xconnect, but if I wasnt after looks for case modding or something, I'd choose old faithful.

[Guest zerodamage]

Well the guys at DH are hardcore OC's like myself. I know the guy who tested it and although they may be a bunch of plagiarists, it was pushed to it's limits and was still within voltage specs (+/- 4%). So I would say it can handle it, maybe even more so than the antec which has low amps on the 12v rail.

Edited November 28, 2004 by zerodamage .gc