Antec phantom 500watt PSU 130$ after 20MIR

It's probably just more costly than most of us are willing to shell out for a quality 500w... at that price, there are other solutions out there. But, it does look like a good design.

-SEAL
 
SEALTeamSix said:
It's probably just more costly than most of us are willing to shell out for a quality 500w... at that price, there are other solutions out there. But, it does look like a good design.

-SEAL
Click to expand...

you mean theres a better fanless psu than the phantom? :confused: id like to know which one is better if you dont mind linking :)


soulsaver_8229
 
soulsaver_8229 said:
you mean theres a better fanless psu than the phantom? :confused: id like to know which one is better if you dont mind linking :)

soulsaver_8229
Click to expand...

Not to be rude, but the Phantom 500 actually does have a fan in it. What I'm referring to are $50-$80 name-brand PSU's, and then adding heatsinks and/or undervolting the fan. The Phantom is a nice PSU, no doubt, but it's also $165 shipped to start with. For my money, I'd buy a Sparkle/Fortron 530w for $75 and use a program like speedfan or add heatsinks and a resistor to the fan line for silence. Again, that's just my $0.02.

-SEAL
 
SEALTeamSix said:
Not to be rude, but the Phantom 500 actually does have a fan in it. What I'm referring to are $50-$80 name-brand PSU's, and then adding heatsinks and/or undervolting the fan. The Phantom is a nice PSU, no doubt, but it's also $165 shipped to start with. For my money, I'd buy a Sparkle/Fortron 530w for $75 and use a program like speedfan or add heatsinks and a resistor to the fan line for silence. Again, that's just my $0.02.

-SEAL
Click to expand...

You can do all of that you want, but if you run your PC for a significant portion of the day then the Phantom will still cost less in the long run.

The Phantom is one of the most efficient PSU's around. It has been tested to be about 88% (actually can hit 90% under the right load) efficient at 200watts or higher output. The Sparkle you mentioned is somewhere around 75% from what little I can find on the internet about it, but since I can't find the exact number I will be a little generous and assume it is 78% efficient, which is actually quite common for PSU's.

What that means is that if you have a Sparkle PSU putting out 350Watts DC, it will actually be pulling 449Watts of AC power from the socket. That is 99Watts more than your system is actually using that you will be paying for in your electricity bill each month.

Meanwhile the Phantom will only pull 397Watts of AC with the same load because it is more efficient, and so you will only be paying for an extra 47Watts of power.

That is a 52Watt difference between the two. If you leave your PC on 24hours a day like me (Because you Fold for the [H] like you should) then that 52 Watt difference will add up to about a $36 savings each year (using the national average for electrical costs right now). If you live someplace with more expensive power, like NY, NJ or SoCal, then the savings per year could be as high as $55 or so.

So a true high-efficiency PSU like this one can ultimately end up completely making up the difference in just 1.5 to 2 years if you run your PC constantly, or in 3 to 4 years if you only run it 12 hours a day.
 
arentol said:
...A true high-efficiency PSU like this one can ultimately end up completely making up the difference in just 1.5 to 2 years if you run your PC constantly, or in 3 to 4 years if you only run it 12 hours a day.
Click to expand...

That's true, I hadn't thought about it in that way. Of course, even high-end systems only pull around 180 watts at load (that number is from page 5 of the same review you pulled the Phantom's effeciency specs from), so it would take longer to make up that difference. Still, it's something that can justify the cost from a long-term investment POV.

-SEAL
 
i just payed $170 for one of these locally and love it, just wish the rest of my system was working as well as it does.
 
Would this be able to support:

Athlon 64 X2 4400+
3 7200RPM HD's
CD and DVD drives
Sound card
7800GTX (maybe 2)
2GB (4x512)ram
about 8 USB devices

??
 
SEALTeamSix said:
That's true, I hadn't thought about it in that way. Of course, even high-end systems only pull around 180 watts at load (that number is from page 5 of the same review you pulled the Phantom's effeciency specs from), so it would take longer to make up that difference. Still, it's something that can justify the cost from a long-term investment POV.

-SEAL
Click to expand...

You have a good point that actual consumption is lower than the number I used. I actually used a number closer to what you would see while gaming, but nobody games 24/7. So based on what I could find with a little research a PC with SLI 7800GTX's, a 4400+ X2 and otherwise "normal" stuff in (DVD-ROM, etc.) should pull around 190Watts idle and about 370 when playing games.

So it might take a while longer than I said to save you the money, but then again I was talking the $160 price.. At the ~$120 after rebate price it still should make the dough back eventually. :)
 
arentol said:
You have a good point that actual consumption is lower than the number I used. I actually used a number closer to what you would see while gaming, but nobody games 24/7. So based on what I could find with a little research a PC with SLI 7800GTX's, a 4400+ X2 and otherwise "normal" stuff in (DVD-ROM, etc.) should pull around 190Watts idle and about 370 when playing games.

So it might take a while longer than I said to save you the money, but then again I was talking the $160 price.. At the ~$120 after rebate price it still should make the dough back eventually. :)
Click to expand...


WoW I just saw the specs of your system..... I bet you can play Doom 3 will the settings almost on high! :p j/k


Well, I like the idea of the silent, fanless-ness of this PSU and the fact that it's an Antec, but how does this compare to a ~500W Fortron? I mean... $120 seems kinda high....i dunno
 
Chomp said:
how does this compare to a ~500W Fortron?
Click to expand...

In the PSU Forum FAQ, the Fortron/Sparkle is highly recommended. However, I don't think there's been a head-to-head comparison. If I were you, I would google reviews and see what you find (and of course post your findings here :) ).

Useful Comparisons:

Real maximum operable wattage
Amps on 12v and 5v rails
Do they have PFC
How hot they get
How quiet they are
Efficiency rating
Do they have enough connectors (PCI-E, etc)

-SEAL
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top