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good Cheap PSU

J

jamesrb

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jul 29, 2004
Messages
1,051
OK, here is the system that I am looking for:

AMD Athlon 64 2800+
Geforce 4 ti4200 (64MB)
512MB Corsair Value Select
Gigabyte Nforce 3 250 motherboard (socket 754)
2 harddrives (40gb WD, 80gb maxtor)
1 LG CD-RW, 1 NEC DVD Burner (ND-3520A)
Audigy 2 ZS
Leadtek TV2000XP Expert
2 80mm case fans, 1 fan on vid card (plugged into PSU)

Here is what I have been using:

TigerPro LC-B350ATX
+3.3v - 28A
+5v - 35A
+12v - 16A
350W

I know it is cheap and I have never found out where it comes from since its been rebadged by almost every company at one point or another. But, it does deliver steady voltage to my current system.

Now I know as soon as I submit this, people are going to say don't get a cheap power supply, its the most underrated part of the system, etc, but I cannot afford to spend a lot on a power supply considering most of my system is from trading, hand me downs, and huge sales...

So, the question is, what is a good power supply under $50? I know there are some that are better than others, so if you come in here with the mind set that cheap = bad dont waste my time.

Also, if anybody knows of any testing done on my current PSU or knows the manufacturer go ahead and pass me the info. If it's spec's are not inflated i believe it will work for the new system.
 
jamesrb said:
so if you come in here with the mind set that cheap = bad dont waste my time.
Click to expand...

cheap = extreme caution that the load your placing on the supply equals its actual crossload profile for the operating temperature its will be at

so Id start at your actual needs when it comes to amps per rail
and there is a sticky for that
 
shadowbreaker513 said:
Rosewill isn't good. Stay with known good brands.
Click to expand...

Rosewill has had UL file numbers from Deer, ATNG, Wintech, Leadman/Powmax
all in all Roswill Russian Roulette :p

as far as what you might want for that config
Id work up the numbers first
 
shadowbreaker513 said:
Rosewill isn't good. Stay with known good brands.
Click to expand...

These are the kind of comments I am trying to stay away from. You haven't posted any information to back up your claim, but obviously have something against the company (even though they don't even make any products, just rebadge them).


@Ice Czar
I have ran the numbers in the stuff from the stickies and get anywhere from 14A to 20A on the 12v rail, but it is pretty hard to tell since there isnt much of a selection (for example, an Audigy 2 sound card, TV tuner, and WD hard drives had no listings). I assume it is a good starting point, but I do not plan on just buying based on the specs from the calculator, and I do not have tools necessary to physically measure the load.



I am aiming at keeping the cost to a minimum while getting plenty of room on the 12v rail. If for example these Rosewill's actually do even 2/3rds or what is rated on the label, they should be more than enough for my system.

The purpose of this thread is to figure out which cheap PSU's are actually suitable for use under an average load, since not all people have the cash to get "known good brands".
 
Ok, here is what I am getting at. For $60 or less I can get something like the rosewill, which has much more impressive specs, or something like the Tagan 380W which has a lot less specs. Somebody above recommended the TTGI super flower series, and the 350W (14cm fan) model from directron has 22A on the 12v rail ($30).

So what would be better
Rosewill - 500W - 12v rail 34A ($50)
Tagan - 380W - 12v rail 22A ($57)

I know which one LOOKS better on paper.....

BTW, Rosewill has the RP500 and RP550 which appear to be rebadged Coolmax...
 
Even if the Rosewill does meet your needs and all, what if it blows up like many other generic doorstops have done, and takes all your hardware with it? Save a little now, pay a lot later.
 
_Korruption_ said:
Even if the Rosewill does meet your needs and all, what if it blows up like many other generic doorstops have done, and takes all your hardware with it? Save a little now, pay a lot later.
Click to expand...

Just because its not a name brand doesn't mean it will blow up though. People appear to be assuming that since X PSU which had Y specs and was under Z dollars blew up, that means any thing remotely similar in specs and price will also blow up.

Like these Rosewill, I have already had people tell me not to get it, yet nobody really has any specific reason not to other than its not one of their favorite brands. I understand that there are certain brands/models that ARE bad, but I think there needs to be a lot less generalizing and a lot more facts.

I do not expect to find a $20 PSU that is going to be awesome, the same way I dont expect to find a $200 PSU that is going to be really bad, but there is a grey area in the middle, in which some models are a really good value at the price and others are really bad. I am just fishing for information (based on facts and experiences, rather than bias and generalization) reguarding specific models and companies in the grey area.
 
jamesrb said:
I do not expect to find a $20 PSU that is going to be awesome, the same way I dont expect to find a $200 PSU that is going to be really bad, but there is a grey area in the middle, in which some models are a really good value at the price and others are really bad. I am just fishing for information (based on facts and experiences, rather than bias and generalization) reguarding specific models and companies in the grey area.
Click to expand...
With your given numbers, $20 and $200, the centre of that grey area is $110. You can find a hell of a good PSU for $110. ;)

It's all about worst case scenario, who knows, maybe that Rosewill won't blow up, but the fact of the matter is that in the world of power supplies, it's guilty until proven innocent, at least in my books. Which is why you see a lot of people recommending the big name-brands, which have pretty much proven themselves to be good units.
 
jamesrb said:
I do not expect to find a $20 PSU that is going to be awesome, the same way I dont expect to find a $200 PSU that is going to be really bad, but there is a grey area in the middle, in which some models are a really good value at the price and others are really bad.
Click to expand...
So your saying something like a $35 500w Deer might be okay? ;) :rolleyes:
 
Thanks for posting that link.

Does anybody know anything about the Xclio power supplies sold here: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=58&manufactory=8348&DEPA=0

I havent as much as seen a word online about their PSU's. Judging from the price of their top two models, they might not be bad PSU's, as they seem to price about the same as a few other well respected similar models. I wonder if they make them or if they are rebadged. Anyone?
 
appears that these Xclio are made by the FSP group (Fortron, Sparkle, Zalman, Xclio). Fortron and Sparkle seem to be relatively well respected around here so I may be the guinea pig on this one. If I do I will probably get teh 450W model, as the specs on the next one up are only minimally better, although the top two do offer a 8pin power plug that the lower two dont...
 
the rosewill is an excellent psu. the fact that it doesnt cost that much is a bonus. i have tested this PSU againt high dollar 500w power supplys and it came out on top.. i wont go into detail about the tests but i will say that the rosewill put up good solid voltages on all the boards i tried it on. i have a case with 2 120mm high flow delta fans, 2 90mm vantec tornados and 2 80mm vantec tornados. and let me tell you , these puppies really put a strain on any psu. to top that all off ive got 2 HDs and 4 cd-roms and a whole bunch of lights. after all that strain the rosewill psu didnt even flinch.

this is a rock solid little power house. and what amazed me was on the 12v test from my motherboard, it posted 12.09 , when my 150$ 500w psu (i wont name names) only posted 11.89. from what i have read about pentium 4s, you need more then 24 or 26 amps on the 12 volt rail. otherwise you run into heat problems or something to that effect.

and to answer the question of it being a gamble,,, i have 4 rosewills (same model) and there all very good, very reliable PSUs. i like them so much i recommended them to all my buddies. now there useing them and they love em too.

one more thing about them blowing up your machine,,, if any of you would actually read the specs at the rosewill website. you would know they all come with circuitry protection.

here is a few of the specs from the RP550

Built-in inrush current, over temperature, over current, and over voltage protection circuits.
Output: +3.3V@30A, +5V@50A, +12V@35A, -5V@0.5A, -12V@1A, +5VSB@2.5A .
Short Circuit Protection: All Output Equipped With Short Circuit Protection .
Over Current Protection: 160% max .
Over Voltage Protection: +3.3V +5V +12V

just because it doesnt cost an arm and a leg, doesnt mean its not worth it.
 
My advice-- if you don't know who made/and or designed the PSU, stay far away.
 
jeppo said:
the rosewill is an excellent psu. ...... i wont go into detail about the tests
Click to expand...


Then I wont go into detail on how I thought of your review.... ;)
 
the rosewill is an excellent psu
Click to expand...

Did you even read what Ice Czar posted? Here it is again -

Rosewill has had UL file numbers from Deer, ATNG, Wintech, Leadman/Powmax
all in all Roswill Russian Roulette
Click to expand...

So yes, that particular power supply you "tested" may or may not have put out voltages closer to 12 volts than other "high dollar 500w power supplys" but who knows what manufacturer really made that model of Rosewell. Like Czar said, it's Russian Roulette.

P.S. Your "test" using the motherboard voltage monitor will get you nothing but laughs from this forum.
 
category_five said:
P.S. Your "test" using the motherboard voltage monitor will get you nothing but laughs from this forum.
Click to expand...

Be nice he did also use x,y, and z components and some really bling fans
 
According to www.ul.com , the UL certification number on the Xclios, E161465, indicates that they're made by Channel Well Technology, the same company behind the Antec TruePowers and SmartPowers. Unfortunately CWT's quality varies greatly, depending on the exact model. Some are just like those Antecs while others are as bad as the best Raidmaxes, and there's no way to tell without looking inside because Xclio uses its own part numbers, not CWT-xxx-yyy numbers.
 
he is however also correct that sometimes cheap doesnt mean crappy
if the config your trying to power falls within the crossload profile of even a junk PSU
keep in mind there are literally millions of cheap PSUs working flawlessly out there
(the trick of course being knowing your crossload and the supply's profile)

the main pitfalls are, they tend to exaggerate their ratings (far easier to inadvertently overload) , they dont supply the cleanest power, they dont deal well with "events" (acceptable AC line voltage) and are less flexible for the type of dynamic configs "typical" in here

consider the vast majority of those millions of supplies where selected by an electrical engineer at an OEM manufacturer, and he (or she) had the real derating curve, and actual schematics, access to real test equipment and then selected the cheapest PSU that would still meet the lifecycle requiremnents of a static config

all in all though, Id trust a cheap "OEM" supply directly from a PSU manufactutrer
rather than from a rebrander (prime examples are the FSPs. HECs ect)

Switch Mode Power Supplies arent simple devices
the quality of the design solution itself, much less the components has a great impact on the quality and responsiveness of the supply,
if your like me and expect your hardware to last its full lifecycle
as opposed to a "typical" gamer that is constantly upgrading
the quality of the power becomes more important and a cheap insurance policy ;)
 
i have two rosewill psus in 2 systems now.
they have good rails and all the wires are sleeved black, which is a huge bonus.
i just recently purchased the 120 mm version of the one posted earlier in this thread.
i also have the dual 80mm one.
the 80 mm fans are really loud if you adjust the knob even halfway, if you were considering buying one, definitely get the version with 1 120 mm fan.

this is in a 3400/s754 setup with
1.6 vcore, 3.3 volts to memory, 2 burners, 2 hard drives, 5 fans, tv tuner, fan controler and 2 cathodes

voltages read

+3.3v 3.18v
+5v 4.99v
+12v 12.18v
-12v -12.12v
-5 v -4.89v
+5vsb 5.43
vbat 3.17v
 
one of you asked , why do i need 4 cd-roms?

i dont exactly need them, but i got a big case with 4 extra slots that looked very ugly with nothing in them :p

so instead of just useing an all in 1 cd/dvd/rw drive. i got a regular 52x cd-rom, a 52x cd-rw, a 52x cd-rw/dvd, and a cd-dvd-rw. i really only use one of them most of the time. but when i burn games or movies, sometimes some drives arent able to read the data correctly. also some games dont like being installed from a dvd or rw drive, so its nice to have a wide variety.

but, i mainly have 4 cd-roms because it makes the case look alittle more busy :)

as for the PSU, i guess i did come off alittle rude. i didnt mean to invite a flame war.
my rig is mainly built for gameing and it performs very nice for what i intended it to do.
i dont mess with voltages or overclock stuff. so i really dont have a need for a 250$ psu. (yet) ;)

as for takeing the votages from my motherboard,, thats the only way i ever get voltage readings, because im not gonna poke around my motherboard or psu with a voltage meter and risk messing something up. i simply took a reading from the board,, tested it at idle and at full load, then plugged in the other psu and did the same thing. i also tested it with bare minimum fans and no lights, just for the hell of it.

the conclusion that i came up with was that the rosewill was a better psu.

i am curiouse to know about the 24-26 amps on the 12v rail.. is it true that is causes more heat on a socket 478 prescott cpu if you dont have those amps or better on the 12v rail? its something i would like to know because the prescott is a very high temp cpu to begin with.


oh one thing i forgot to add in my previouse post.
i did have to use 2 vantec nexus fan controllers because the sucker is loud a hell, and the original controller i bought (super flower sf-609) couldnt handle the power consumption of even 1 vantec tornado even at half the speed. so i left the super flower in just to get the temp and rpm readings and used the 2 nexus controllers for speed ajustment. would be nice if they made one that can handle 6 or more fans in one unit.
 
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