Thermaltake 480W butterfly PSU

[Hitokiri Batohsai]

Is it good. I'm thinking of upgrading my existing PSU to this cause I cannot add more hardware on my pc. I see this PFC ( I think). Cooling:
active
passive
N/A

Can somone explain to me what it means,

[Vertigo Acid]

Read the FAQ!


The power factor of a device refers to the ratio of the actual power used by the device to the product of the current and voltage supplied to it. Traditional power supplies have a power factor of about 0.6 to 0.7. The power factor is important especially for determining the sizing of UPSes as well as circuits that supply larger units. Some newer power supplies, especially larger ones for servers, have additional circuitry added to correct the power factor of the supply. These are, unsurprisingly, called power-factor-corrected supplies, and have a power factor of (or near) 1.0. They make UPS sizing either easier or more confusing, depending on how you look at it. Another reason why power-factor correction is being added to some supplies is that low power factor devices, if used in sufficient quantities, cause problems for electrical utilities. In some parts of the world the utility companies are starting to impose surcharges on companies with excessive loads at low power factors, though this is not really a concern for a home PC user.


and

http://www.lmphotonics.com/pwrfact.htm

http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/pfc.html

I guess the FAQ really doesn't have too much on PFC, so i'll copy this stuff over later

[Hitokiri Batohsai]

Thanks, is the PSU good?

[litkaj]

The Butterfly is a piece of crap (and that changing colors thing is annoying). If you must buy a TT product then go with the Polo12.

If you're willing to spend a few extra dollers then go with the Enermax Noisetaker (black has active PFC, blue doesn't) or a PCP&C unit.

[SJetski71]

The Butterfly is a piece of crap (and that changing colors thing is annoying). If you must buy a TT product then go with the Polo12.
Care to elaborate on that accusation? BlindedByScience would certainly disagree with that statement. I have two Enlight 300w units and let me tell ya... they're high quality all the way. These are supposedly Sirtec mfr'd units and they "normally" produce some high end stuff.

While i can agree on the annoying little lights/features, a bad psu it does not necessarily make...

[lil layzie]

I have the a black TT Butterfly PSU with PFC.

This PSU is solid for me. I had this PSU (Made by L&C, 300w) before I got the Butterfly and it was giving me all kinds of trouble. Upgraded to the Butterfly and never had a problem since.

[SodaPopinski]

I bought a 480w ThermalTake PoS and the clunker barely put out 11 volts. I thought I killed my system somehow at first until I checked the voltages with a Fluke. Finally got it to boot barebones, and sure enough, the 12 volt supply was fubar. Dropped even lower under load until it shut off. May have been a bad apple, but I'll stick with Antec or Enermax from now on.

[Hitokiri Batohsai]

Then suggest any PSU with 480W

[litkaj]

Care to elaborate on that accusation? BlindedByScience would certainly disagree with that statement. I have two Enlight 300w units and let me tell ya... they're high quality all the way. These are supposedly Sirtec mfr'd units and they "normally" produce some high end stuff.

While i can agree on the annoying little lights/features, a bad psu it does not necessarily make...

I handle returns for a internet retailer. We sell the TT Butterfly units. I get just as many complaints about system instability with those units as I do with $20 PSUs. I have yet to get a Polo12 back from a customer.

[Hitokiri Batohsai]

I see. Any suggestions on a 480W PSU, brand & code name.
Over here, everyone is boasting baout the Tt butterfly, not givin g problems at all.

[TomKal]

I'm having probs with my brand spanking new Thermaltake butterfly 480W.

I'm using it with an XP 2500+ overclocked to 3200+ in an NF7-S motherboard with Volcano 11(?) cooling and a couple case fans. Every once in a while I was getting spontaneous reboots as WindowsXP was loading and eventually found out that having the CPU Fan running high speed (via the butterfly's fan pots) would almost ensure a bad boot and playing with the fan speed dials too vigorously could crash me out of Windows. This same system ran fine with a two year old Enermax 430W unit which I thought I was "upgrading".

I also found that when my monitor goes to sleep, it cuts power to its built in USB hub so when I would wake it up, the three USB devices would start drawing power and again (I'm assuming) cause too much of a voltage drop and cause Windows to crash.

I really don't have an overloaded system so it seems pretty clear to me that this power supply doesn't react to strain very well. Any one with ideas if anything but the power supply could be causing this?

Could it be a defective unit and should I try to get an RMA?

-Tom

[HitmanZ]

I'm having probs with my brand spanking new Thermaltake butterfly 480W.

I'm using it with an XP 2500+ overclocked to 3200+ in an NF7-S motherboard with Volcano 11(?) cooling and a couple case fans. Every once in a while I was getting spontaneous reboots as WindowsXP was loading and eventually found out that having the CPU Fan running high speed (via the butterfly's fan pots) would almost ensure a bad boot and playing with the fan speed dials too vigorously could crash me out of Windows. This same system ran fine with a two year old Enermax 430W unit which I thought I was "upgrading".

I also found that when my monitor goes to sleep, it cuts power to its built in USB hub so when I would wake it up, the three USB devices would start drawing power and again (I'm assuming) cause too much of a voltage drop and cause Windows to crash.

I really don't have an overloaded system so it seems pretty clear to me that this power supply doesn't react to strain very well. Any one with ideas if anything but the power supply could be causing this?

Could it be a defective unit and should I try to get an RMA?

-Tom


You should def get a rma.
I don't have a butterfly but i do have a TT 480 watt xaser series. Running a64 system, 2 120's in raid and 2 scsi cheetahs in raid. 2 cdroms and atipro 9800. Rock solid psu.

[Ice Czar]

I see. Any suggestions on a 480W PSU, brand & code name.
Over here, everyone is boasting baout the Tt butterfly, not givin g problems at all.

over there you might look at Antec True Power Series, Topower (Tagan), Fortron
(could be several brands would have an FSP model designation often even when rebranded),
I know the Antecs are available, I "think" the rest are in Singapore\Kuala-Lumpur
I know most of them are in Australia

got a specific retailer you buy from? I'll take a look, link me up.

you a member over at lowyat.net?
most of the knowledgeable members over there have the Antecs,
and the guys that get the Butterflys tend to regret it
http://home.no.net/afenost/uploads/Burn.jpg
this one likely had a cap go bad from too many spikes
you running a good AVR (auto voltage regulator)?

you can pick up an Antec at http://www.robyncom.com/Price%20List.pdf
in either Imbi Plaza or Low Yatt Plaza (Kuala Lumpur)
a true power 550watt will run you 440RM and a 480watt would be 340RM

[SJetski71]

I handle returns for a internet retailer. We sell the TT Butterfly units. I get just as many complaints about system instability with those units as I do with $20 PSUs. I have yet to get a Polo12 back from a customer. I stand corrected, since this was posted i've read of quite a few issues with the TT units. Maybe there were are a couple of bad batches, or maybe they all stink... I only seem to read about complaints on the higher wattage units, though i certainly can't speak for the lower wattage ones with any authority either.

[Hitokiri Batohsai]

over there you might look at Antec True Power Series, Topower (Tagan), Fortron
(could be several brands would have an FSP model designation often even when rebranded),
I know the Antecs are available, I "think" the rest are in Singapore\Kuala-Lumpur
I know most of them are in Australia

got a specific retailer you buy from? I'll take a look, link me up.

you a member over at lowyat.net?
most of the knowledgeable members over there have the Antecs,
and the guys that get the Butterflys tend to regret it
http://home.no.net/afenost/uploads/Burn.jpg
this one likely had a cap go bad from too many spikes
you running a good AVR (auto voltage regulator)?

you can pick up an Antec at http://www.robyncom.com/Price%20List.pdf
in either Imbi Plaza or Low Yatt Plaza (Kuala Lumpur)
a true power 550watt will run you 440RM and a 480watt would be 340RM


Yup, been there already. Already bought the PSU,and using power regulator. So I guess its too late now

[Wetworks]

What about the ThermalTake 560w Purepower? I just got it (installing tomorrow). I read good reviews on it but....

[Ice Czar]

you can kill any supply with poor source power
would that PSU be my 1st choice, no,

the Pure Power 560 seems to have a reasonable amount of amps on the +12V rail (22A)
and its "in spec" for ripple, however its load regulation isnt all that good

+3.3v @ +\- 10% which is out of spec (all of them back to the orignal ATX spec)
+5v, +12V @ +\- 5% which is in spec

but by comparision an Antec True Power would best that at 3% which is tighter than spec
and a PCP&C would be at 1%

In addition that PSU doesnt appear to have dual +12V rails, which the spec calls for
(even in v1.3) so the load regulation could be an issue, Id be concerned if your running alot of drives or your overclocking right up to stability, it would likely limit that

that gets worse if your loading it near its maximum capacity and feeding it dirty source power (spike\surge)
watts dont mean alot these days and isnt a measure you should employ when selecting a power supply
rather you need the right amount of amps on the various rails to meet your needs
and it has to be from a manufacturer that actually measures them under reasonable parameters
(like when voltage regulation falls below spec on a rail as opposed to when a fuse blows)
considering they are listing the supply with a +3.3V rail that doesnt even meet the spec
it doesnt inspire alot of confidence

if the voltage regulation scheme on your mobo cant deal with out of spec transient loads on the +3.3V rail
you could have real issues

[Wetworks]

That was truly enlightening. Thank you. I have a Chaintech VNF250, 2 WD 40gb HD, AMD 64 2800, CDRW and DVD Rom, 5 case fans, Enermax FATR, and the kicker, 6800GT. Will that 3.3 rail with that much play be a problem?

[Ice Czar]

unfortunately thats damn near impossible to tell, the +3.3V rail isnt nearly as critical as it used to be but its still important without have someone like gee (who is an EE) sort over the Voltage Regulation Scheme employed on that mobo (which is likely unpublished) I couldnt really say

to see exactly how screwed up things are now review
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=779582
Im trying to assemble that into some sort of readable order currently, right now its a complete cut and paste mess from West Hell, but will eventually be a FAQ

scroll down to the first link and run the calculator

[Hitokiri Batohsai]

Thanks. I hope this PSU will last 2,3 years more. Then off to a new build. The icute psu 400W that came with the case was maxed out already. So thought a 80W boost will be good. But it s all down to the power quality.

[n30]

I have had zero problems with my 480w butterfly. All the rails are stable, I've had no problems whatsoever for going on 4 or 5 months now.

[Ice Czar]

I have had zero problems with my 480w butterfly. All the rails are stable, I've had no problems whatsoever for going on 4 or 5 months now.

which likely means your feeding it stable power
and have it supplying power well within its acceptable load
the main difference between a reasonably good PSU and a really good PSU
are only exhibited when you ask them to deal with too many less than optimal conditions
basically you get a wider operating range with a better PSU

the tricky part is that you really cant determine all the factor that many members might have to deal with, few have UPSs or power conditioning, and then the other end of the chain, the quality of the Voltage Regulation on the Mobo, and the ignorance of the user in placing too many components on the PSU, or just being oblivious to which rails are powering what, so even with a monster PSU (500watt) its still loaded past where its able to put out enough on likely the +12V

"It cant possibly be my PSU, Its a 500Watt!!!" :p

Thermaltake makes reasonably good PSUs, (or more accurately rebrands)
but selling a that particular PSU and actually listing it out of spec
still doesnt inspire much confidence