Antec Earthwatts 380

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wpd7

Gawd
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Sep 30, 2003
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Would this be enough for E6400/Gigabyte P965 DS3, 250GB SATA drive, an optical drive, and an 8800GT 512MB?

If not, would it be adequate with a 9600GT instead?

Sorry for the noobish question- I never understood how to tally up the wattage needed! :D
 
wattage isn't everything. I think the earthwatt line of PSUs are exceptional to their previous gen PSUs. I suspect, you'll have enough amps on the 12v with room to spare. Mind you, you're not going to SLI or OC very well but for average use, I think thats a stable, effective choice.
 
No OC or SLI- just the components above running at factory defaults.

So it will be fine running an 8800GT?
 
The Earthwatts series from Antec are modified Seasonic designs, good and solid in theory anyway. However depending on what electrolytic capacitors Antec chose to use in this unit, your PSU could have a short potential lifespan. New out of the box it's a good PSU for your build.

To elaborate on the possible bad cap thing; Antec has a bad habit in the past of using the cheapest electrolytic capacitors they can get their hands on. Cheap capacitors lead to premature leakage, bulging, and ultimate failure and the more heat these cheap caps are exposed to the faster they will degrade. I'm not sure of what caps they are using in their lower end Earthwatts lineup, but I bet they aren't top shelf for sure. The Earthwatts PSUs get some pretty good reviews, I just have been burned by Antec too many times to trust them with my money quite yet. (PC Cases being the exception)


So in short, yes the PSU will do just fine for the rig you've specified - so long as you are aware of the possible risk of premature failure at some point in the future. The 380w doesn't leave you much room for future upgrades power-wise so if you plan to add more HDDs or a more powerful video card later, I'd choose something else with a higher peak rating.

I recommend the Corsair 450VX for mid-to-low end builds like these.
 
Blue Falcon said:
The Earthwatts series from Antec are modified Seasonic designs, good and solid in theory anyway. However depending on what electrolytic capacitors Antec chose to use, you could have a dying PSU in a year or two. New out of the box it's a good PSU for your build.

To elaborate on the possible bad cap thing; Antec has a bad habit of using the cheapest electrolytic capacitors they can get their hands on. Cheap capacitors lead to premature leakage, bulging, and ultimate failure and the more heat these cheap caps are exposed to the faster they will degrade. I'm not sure of what caps they are using in their lower end Earthwatts lineup, but I bet they aren't top shelf for sure.



So in short, yes the PSU will do just fine for the rig you've specified - so long as you are aware of the risk of failure at some point in the future. It doesn't leave a any room for future upgrades power-wise so if you plan to add more HDDs or a more powerful video card later, I'd choose something else.
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Geez, when you put it that way, who in the hell would want to buy an Antec Earthwatts PSU? :rolleyes:

You're basically speaking for most of the budget PSU's out there, my Earthwatt and every other Antec PSU i've had since the good ol' 2001+ days have lasted without issues.


OP, the Earthwatt 380 is a fine PSU, I haven't heard of any Earthwatts failing due to bad caps, so that's rubbish in the same sentence as the Earthwatts.
 
I use the Seasonic 80+ units in my folding@home boxen and Corsair in my main Rigs ..

I have not had a problem as of yet ...

I have one Antec 380 in a fileserver ... had no problems as of yet ... (8 months)

I would also recommend getting a Corsair Unit ... I have had nothing but good experiences with those PSU's
 
RangerSVT said:
Everyone in this forum recommends the Corsair, it's a fine PSU, no doubt about it, but it isn't the only PSU on the market.
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You talk like I'm some sort of Corsair fanboy, I most certainly am not. You'll see me recommend lots of different PSUs, but Antec is usually at the very bottom of the list. Unfortunately the world doesn't revolve around you and just because you've never owned a bad Antec PSU doesn't mean they don't exist and aren't a problem to be made aware of. It also doesn't give you the right to declare my experience and opinion invalid.

I've got two dead Antec EarthWatts 380w units right now waiting to go on the bench as a matter of fact. No idea if they suffer from bad caps or not since I've yet to tear them apart. Although if I were a betting man.....


[EDIT: Actually one of them is an Antec Basiq 350w unit - also a Seasonic design if memory serves.]
 
Blue Falcon said:
You talk like I'm some sort of Corsair fanboy, I most certainly am not. You'll see me recommend lots of different PSUs, but Antec is usually at the very bottom of the list. Unfortunately the world doesn't revolve around you[b/] and just because you've never owned a bad Antec PSU doesn't mean they don't exist and aren't a problem to be made aware of. It also doesn't give you the right to declare my experience and opinion invalid.

I've got two dead Antec EarthWatts 380w units right now waiting to go on the bench as a matter of fact. No idea if they suffer from bad caps or not since I've yet to tear them apart. Although if I were a betting man.....

[EDIT: Actually one of them is an Antec Basiq 350w unit - also a Seasonic design if memory serves.]
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Well, I guess I just got "pwned", because there is no way I can disprove your "user-experience" in a forum, I'm also not going to get into the discussion about what revolves around me and what doesn't, that's off-topic, I'm not labeling you a corsair fanboy and I'm sure Corsair's had it's share of bad power supplies, be it user error or not, it happens.

I would like to reiterate, the issues you described about the Antec Earthwatt can occur to other PSU's, even your beloved Corsair.
 
he simply recommended a corsair cause they offer great performance for the money and they've been proven over and over to be great units. why wouldn't you recommend one.
 
I am running the Q6600 computer in my signature on an Earthwatts 430w right now while I wait for my Corsair hx520 to return from RMA.

The 380w would probably do the job although I'd try to step up to the 430w, unless you got the 380w earthwatts when it was on sale for $30.
 
Blue Falcon said:
You talk like I'm some sort of Corsair fanboy, I most certainly am not. You'll see me recommend lots of different PSUs, but Antec is usually at the very bottom of the list. Unfortunately the world doesn't revolve around you and just because you've never owned a bad Antec PSU doesn't mean they don't exist and aren't a problem to be made aware of. It also doesn't give you the right to declare my experience and opinion invalid.

I've got two dead Antec EarthWatts 380w units right now waiting to go on the bench as a matter of fact. No idea if they suffer from bad caps or not since I've yet to tear them apart. Although if I were a betting man.....


[EDIT: Actually one of them is an Antec Basiq 350w unit - also a Seasonic design if memory serves.]
Click to expand...

Primary is a Nippon cap and the secondaries are supposed to be OST if i remember correctly, OST is not exactly the best but they should still last longer than the, what is it 1,5 years ? the earthwatts been out.

This isn´t exactly the smartpower series you know.........

The EA 380w is enough for the OP:s computer

I´ve posted this before but i can always do it a second time, my rig for comparison:

E4300 @ 3ghz
Abit IP35 - E
HD3870
Antec Earthwatts 380
1 HD
1 DVDRW
4 x 1 gb DDR2
2 casefans

Idle : ~79w ( from wallsocket )
Game: Crysis demo ~180w ( from wallsocket )
Maximum measured : ~208w (from wallsocket) ( orthos + ATItool)

Since the EA380s maximum efficiency is ~ 85 % ( 220v europe ) my components would at the most draw 208 * 0.85 = 176,8w from the PSU
 
Jasgripen said:
Primary is a Nippon cap and the secondaries are supposed to be OST if i remember correctly, OST is not exactly the best but they should still last longer than the, what is it 1,5 years ? the earthwatts been out.

This isn´t exactly the smartpower series you know.........
Click to expand...


Thanks for that, it's definitely good to know they're not using Teapo (or worse) any longer... not that OST inspires lots of confidence but they could do a hell of a lot worse.

Makes me a lot less hesitant to recommend these for mid to low end builds. :)
 
Blue Falcon said:
I've got two dead Antec EarthWatts 380w units right now waiting to go on the bench as a matter of fact. No idea if they suffer from bad caps or not since I've yet to tear them apart. Although if I were a betting man.....
Click to expand...
I doubt it's from bad caps or better yet the "fuhjyyu syndrome" that you're referring to.

[EDIT: Actually one of them is an Antec Basiq 350w unit - also a Seasonic design if memory serves.]
Click to expand...
Basiq = FSP
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTM5NywyLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==
 
Im thinking of getting a Antec Earthwatts 380w PSU for my mothers computer. Its a old rig (athlon 64 3200+ , 7800gt, 2gb ram) and will be solely for browsing the web and reading e-mails so it shouldnt use much power.
It will be used another 4 years until I upgrade and my previous rig goes to her. Do you figure the PSU will last that long with minimal use?
 
I've been happy with the 380 and 430 Earthwatts units that I bought. the 380 is in my mom's basic rig, and the 430 powers one of my folding boxen.

And here's where I will get lynched. Even the SmartPower series is decent.... provided you're handy with a soldering iron. Recap both the primary and secondaries, and they work quite well.
 
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