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Aspire 500w

S

Stinkfist

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Mar 9, 2000
Messages
1,508
Now, dont get me wrong, I dont expect any miracles from this thing. I know the label is probably going to be way off, but my system isnt exactly the greatest right now and I dont expect to be using much power with my upgrades either, but anyhow I need to know if my computer is going to burst into flames with this unit
the pretty blue one

Really the only reason I'm considering it is because it's flashy, and it will go with my aspire x-gear perfectly. Am I really being stupid with this one? /me puts on flame suit

Current system:
Athlon 1.3ghz (socket a)
Epox 8kta2
Radeon 7200
512mb pc133
single ata100 WD 20gig

Expected upgrades:
Athlon64 3200 venice
Biostar t-force 6100 939
Geforce 7600gt
2gb Gskill ddr500
Single SATA2 drive (probably Seagate barracuda)

Current case has 2 fans, and a bunch of shiny LED's. Can you tell I like shiny stuff?
 
Yes. This power supply will suit you perfectly with power to spare. I have been running a system with the athlon 3700 939 and an x850 xt for over a year with no problems and I leave it running 24/7. I have 2 harddrives and 2 media drives along with 5 case fans and 2 cathodes.

It is pretty and it works very well. Keep the fan knob on high ; )
 
Yeah right, aspire is famous for not even pretending. That's all right though, I just need it to NOT burst into flames, that's about it.
 
Spectre said:
Well I am a soft touch so I'll just say:
Aspire units are often speced for 10% regualtion to achieve their rated wattage. The spec your componenets are deigned for is 5%.

I think jonny was being nice here but:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/PSU/DarkSide/
http://www.jonnyguru.com/PSU/Beast/
Click to expand...

I think I looked at those links before. As jonnyGURU said, that Aspire "500W" is actually a mediocre 400W unit (as measured under the ATX-spec 5% regulation tolerance).
 
Why would it be a 400W? That would be a 20% deduction in Wattage. I could see 5% maybe even 10%....but not 20%.
 
danike said:
Why would it be a 400W? That would be a 20% deduction in Wattage. I could see 5% maybe even 10%....but not 20%.
Click to expand...

Because you refused to admit having a sucky PSU ?

There is tales of Aspire burning down and killing many computers along the way... It's not for nothing it's in the list of PSU brands to avoid like plague.

Bling-bling is one thing but protecting the investment with a good PSU is better.
 
Aspires ratings are out of spec, meaning they dont provide tolerant voltages at the wattage they claim the psu to be. That in itself is deceptive, add that onto hardware that actually requires what it claims and youve got the makings of some damaged components.
 
Which is really why I started this thread. I know for damn sure it's not really a 500w, but if I can get a good 350-400 out of it with sticking to ok voltages, I'd be all right.
 
Stinkfist said:
Which is really why I started this thread. I know for damn sure it's not really a 500w, but if I can get a good 350-400 out of it with sticking to ok voltages, I'd be all right.
Click to expand...

If you want some bling-bling with better reliability than the Aspire, check the Ultra X-2 or X-Finity lines ;)
 
danike said:
Why would it be a 400W? That would be a 20% deduction in Wattage. I could see 5% maybe even 10%....but not 20%.
Click to expand...

Temperature derating from the 25c it's B.S. rating was determined at to a normal operating temp of around 40c can claim up to 1/3 of total output (even on good spec compliant supplies that are rated at 25c will oose a percentage of their output st temp rises). A nonspec compliant questionable quality supply losing only 20% would be generous.
 
Xilikon said:
If you want some bling-bling with better reliability than the Aspire, check the Ultra X-2 or X-Finity lines ;)
Click to expand...

The only problem with that is I really only like to order online from newegg. I'm probably just a little paranoid about it. Now, I DO work at best buy and can get an Antec NeoHE 550 for 90 dollars plus tax, but it just doesnt have the same bling factor, I'll check on the Ultras though. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
yeah, I wouldn't use anything by Aspire..

You could try modding a normal PSU :) replace fans to LED ones, cut some holes and add a window..
 
ChingChang said:
yeah, I wouldn't use anything by Aspire..

You could try modding a normal PSU :) replace fans to LED ones, cut some holes and add a window..
Click to expand...

Dood your so right, I guess I wasnt thinking [H]ard enough.
 
Adding a window to your PSU isn't really a good idea. They come with boring steel covers for a reason, to keep EMI from getting all over your case.
 
_Korruption_ said:
Adding a window to your PSU isn't really a good idea. They come with boring steel covers for a reason, to keep EMI from getting all over your case.
Click to expand...
Is it that big of a problem? Why do people sell those clear(colored) replacement covers to replace the metal casing? And what about that Aspire PSU? or the Ultra X2 PSU?
 
ChingChang said:
Is it that big of a problem? Why do people sell those clear(colored) replacement covers to replace the metal casing? And what about that Aspire PSU? or the Ultra X2 PSU?
Click to expand...

It's a problem, not a huge one, but a problem.

Bling bling is why they make them.

Aspire is crap, read the stickies.
 
Bbq said:
It's a problem, not a huge one, but a problem.

Bling bling is why they make them.

Aspire is crap, read the stickies.
Click to expand...
So how much of a problem is "a problem"?
I think I'd rather use a quality name brand PSU with windows over an aspire PSU.

and I think everyone here already knows aspire is crap. You could have at least given him a suggestion!
 
It's not a "huge" problem, per se.

The steel in a housing that has just windows has enough steel to shield EMI.

What worries me is when PSU's have an all acrylic case or cover. Unfortunately, I don't have the means to measure the amount of EMI that penetrate acrylic. ;)
 
I think I'm now leaning towards an x-connect x2. Zipzoomfly has them, I really didnt want to order anywhere except from newegg, but I guess I'll suck it up and go for it.
 
ive had one of those psu's running for the past 2.5 years now with no problems.
pushes a 2500+ barton setup, nothing crazy, no oc and no gaming.
but hey, its run flawlessly!
noisy SOB though, i hate 80mm fans.
 
See, this is the exact thing I was afraid of. We all know (or should know) that aspire doesnt give accurate ratings for the psu in question, but the people that have them and have used them have no problems whatsoever. I know I'm not going to use as much power as the label on the psu says it has, so should I penalize the psu because aspire's label is all lies? The only huge problem I see is crossloads, obviously they DO NOT like to be crossloaded and voltages will be way out of spec if I do so, but I don't think that will happen with the gear I've chosen, although that may be a misinformed statement.

Another thing that concerns me about them is they all seem to be the same unit, no matter what aspire say's the wattage ratings are. Jonny did mention that they appear to be youngyear units, and from the pictures I've seen the pcb's and components used all appear to be the same no matter if it's the 680, 600, or 500 watt units. They even have a 520 watt unit that has an extra fan in the supply compared to the 500's, makes it seem that because the fan is there all of a sudden the 12v rail is capable of 1 more amp and 20 more total watts of power. Makes sense to some degree, considering that if they rate by maximum peak outputs, a cooler component will spike slightly higher. Now I realize that the bigger units do have dual 12v rails and obviously would have to be different internally.

So, what are these units really? IF they are all the same unit (which i'm starting to suspect) what is the real output on them? Because to be honest as long as it provides stable non-crossloaded voltages at around 350-400 watts or so I'm fine, and from the reviews I've seen it's capable of that.
 
They're not all the same unit. They're all the same PCB's, though.

Aspire's aren't always "so bad" which is why when people already have them, they tend to be trouble free. They're just typically a horrible value.

Never mind the bling. You're going to pay for bling so that does factor into the price. But in your mind you're thinking you're getting a 580W when really you're getting a 500W. Regardless of price, that's not a good value.

Example (using a different brand so it doesn't seem like I'm picking on Aspire): I've recently reviewed two power supplies made by Seventeam. The Sytrin 460W and the Cooler Master 600W. Both have about the same performance though! And the 460W actually LOOKS better than the 600W. Yet the 600W costs almost 60% more than the 460W. Why? Because of those three digits: 6 0 0.

So the Sytrin gets a value rating of "10" and the Cooler Master gets a value of "3"

Intentionally, grossly mislabeleing power supplies is wrong. It's deceitful and I don't think they deserve your money. ;)
 
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