• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Good power supply?

C

cgrant26

2[H]4U
Joined
Oct 23, 2003
Messages
3,416
Well, my 1 1/2 year old raidmax 420W PSU just died and I need a good replacement. I havent looked at PSUs since I bought the Raidmax and I have no clue whats hot these days for PSUs. My system is a real power eater so any recommendations on a good robust PSU would be appreciated.

-EDIT- I apologize if this is in the wrong forum, I guess this would normally be a Gen Hardware topic, but since I OC and my systems power needs are high, I figured posting it here would be OK to get replys from people who have similar needs to mine.
 
Check out the enermax line great stuff! Look for lots of amps!!!
Watts can be misleading:eek:
 
If you have the cash, get a PC Power and Cooling PSU. Check out the reviews. Thermaltake's power supplies are also very good, at lower prices. You can get a 480watt TT for around $70, while a 425watt PC Power and Cooling runs around ~$130.
 
Enermax's silent power and Antec's Silent Purepower are both sweet. Spend the extra 5-10 bucks on same quality PS that is also quiet
 
An Antec True Power 430w would be your best purchase. Antec makes about the best PSU's out there next to PC Power and Cooling. They stay very cool compared to most and are quiet. 430w will be more then big enough and they are only like $60 on Newegg.
 
IMO, I wouldn't buy that one. That price seems way too cheap for a quality 550W power supply.
The power supply is not something you want to skimp on. I'm using an Antec 480 Truepower and it rocks. Pretty quiet compared to most units and is rock solid as far as voltage stability.
 
Originally posted by Sipster
IMO, I wouldn't buy that one. That price seems way too cheap for a quality 550W power supply.
The power supply is not something you want to skimp on. I'm using an Antec 480 Truepower and it rocks. Pretty quiet compared to most units and is rock solid as far as voltage stability.
Click to expand...

80 bucks is skimming on a psu? thats the same price and your psu. i dont need a 550w but i though instead of getting the Super-Flower TT-450SS get the 550w for peace of mind. i thought super-flower (TT) made good psus.. i have only found 2 crappy reviews and both were good. i just cant get over that 12cm fan.
 
Originally posted by ZigZagZeppelin
Antec 550 watt True Power

You'll be set for years & have the quietest ps to boot.
Click to expand...

I'll let ya know as soon as NewEgg get's it here. ;)
 
Well, being the cheap bastard I am, I opted for another Raidmax until I feel like spending more. I just dumped $1500 on my Mustang and another $800 on a TV. If I unload 100+ bucks more for a PSU, my wife might kill me in my sleep, lol.
 
Originally posted by BrainC0DE
80 bucks is skimming on a psu? thats the same price and your psu. i dont need a 550w but i though instead of getting the Super-Flower TT-450SS get the 550w for peace of mind. i thought super-flower (TT) made good psus.. i have only found 2 crappy reviews and both were good. i just cant get over that 12cm fan.
Click to expand...

Dude you dont need 550w for peace of mind. You would have a hell of a time maxing out 400w on a uniprocessor system. Most all the systems i build for myself are workstation style systems in big cases with 4 or hard drives, at least 3 optical drives, a high end Pentium 4, 1GB of RAM, and i usually have my PCI slots all filled. I only use Antec True Power 430w PSU's or another name brand around that size. For the custom built machines i build for others i rarely use over a 350w PSU.
 
Originally posted by burningrave101
Dude you dont need 550w for peace of mind. You would have a hell of a time maxing out 400w on a uniprocessor system. Most all the systems i build for myself are workstation style systems in big cases with 4 or hard drives, at least 3 optical drives, a high end Pentium 4, 1GB of RAM, and i usually have my PCI slots all filled. I only use Antec True Power 430w PSU's or another name brand around that size. For the custom built machines i build for others i rarely use over a 350w PSU.
Click to expand...

Some video cards require at least a certain amount of juice from the PSU. For example the Leadtek GeforceFX 5900Ultra wants at least a 460W PSU I believe. I know someone who had one and the 420W Thermaltake wasn't providing enough juice. He had instability with that PSU with the video card. When he switched to a 550W PSU he was good again. It depends on the requirements of the system.
 
All of those facts are false dude. Anyone thats built alot of systems and knows how to use a multimeter knows anyone that says you need over a 350-400w PSU for most all uniprocessor systems is full of it.

I usually dont go lower then a good 400w PSU in my main rig but i dont waste money on a big 500w+. They are less efficient and usually louder.

If his system wouldn't run with that 420w PSU it WASN"T because he needed a larger PSU. It was because he ither got a bad PSU or he doesn't know what the fuck he's doing when he arranged the hardware components. If you try and daisy chain and stick a whole lot of stuff especially if you stick hard drives and vid card on the same line it will overstress the line and cause problems there.

Reason that instability went away with the 550w is because it could handle more on each line. If he would of split up his stuff better in the first place he wouldn't of ever had an issue.

When people use multimeters on high end systems they usually found out their system isn't pulling over 300-350w. It doesn't matter what they recommend. When they recommend those high wattage ratings they expect you to be able to run everything in your system at max draw which is impossible to do even if you did everything possible to pull it off. They sit min and max values so that you can get an average idea what each component will need. 400w is plenty for almost any uniprocessor system.
 
Originally posted by burningrave101
Dude you dont need 550w for peace of mind. You would have a hell of a time maxing out 400w on a uniprocessor system. Most all the systems i build for myself are workstation style systems in big cases with 4 or hard drives, at least 3 optical drives, a high end Pentium 4, 1GB of RAM, and i usually have my PCI slots all filled. I only use Antec True Power 430w PSU's or another name brand around that size. For the custom built machines i build for others i rarely use over a 350w PSU.
Click to expand...

yeah i understand what you are saying but i do need a 550W.. my case has everything you can have in a case and my Mobile Barton needs a lot of voltage and it has to be stable. with my current 420W (crap) i can run my CPU at 2659mhz and stable as can be (zero errors in prime95) but the second i start a game or benchmark or in other words second my 9800 pro is called into the situation my core voltage fluxes and my cpu is then no longer stable.
 
Originally posted by BrainC0DE
yeah i understand what you are saying but i do need a 550W.. my case has everything you can have in a case and my Mobile Barton needs a lot of voltage and it has to be stable. with my current 420W (crap) i can run my CPU at 2659mhz and stable as can be (zero errors in prime95) but the second i start a game or benchmark or in other words second my 9800 pro is called into the situation my core voltage fluxes and my cpu is then no longer stable.
Click to expand...

What is your current PSU? Is it any good to start with. If not, than check out a better brand. IMHO I would stick with two companies for a Power Supply. Antec, and Enermax. Never heard a bad thing about either, and I own an Antec True 430W.

But than again, getting exactly what you want is also important.

Cheers,
 
Originally posted by burningrave101
All of those facts are false dude. Anyone thats built alot of systems and knows how to use a multimeter knows anyone that says you need over a 350-400w PSU for most all uniprocessor systems is full of it.

I usually dont go lower then a good 400w PSU in my main rig but i dont waste money on a big 500w+. They are less efficient and usually louder.

If his system wouldn't run with that 420w PSU it WASN"T because he needed a larger PSU. It was because he ither got a bad PSU or he doesn't know what the fuck he's doing when he arranged the hardware components. If you try and daisy chain and stick a whole lot of stuff especially if you stick hard drives and vid card on the same line it will overstress the line and cause problems there.

Reason that instability went away with the 550w is because it could handle more on each line. If he would of split up his stuff better in the first place he wouldn't of ever had an issue.

When people use multimeters on high end systems they usually found out their system isn't pulling over 300-350w. It doesn't matter what they recommend. When they recommend those high wattage ratings they expect you to be able to run everything in your system at max draw which is impossible to do even if you did everything possible to pull it off. They sit min and max values so that you can get an average idea what each component will need. 400w is plenty for almost any uniprocessor system.
Click to expand...

Well, if you want to know who it was who had the problem with the PSU being insufficient, here's the link to the review he wrote for the Leadtek video card: Leadtek WinFast A350 Ultra TDH MyVIVO Video Card Review I will point you to page 5 and here is a quote:

First of all the Leadtek A350 was not stable when using a Thermal Take 420 Watt Power Supply, I needed to use a TT 480 Watt PSU that I had here to get it to run stable on the Asus P4C800. Emailing Leadtek I was told that 450 watts or better was the suggested Power Supply that should be used. The 9800 Pro worked fine with my TT 420 Watt PSU.
Click to expand...

Personally, I think Dean knows what he is doing, but that's my own opinion.
 
I have an Antec TruePower 430W. It is great. I think it is an excellent power supply.

What do you say about a power supply? :) You can't exactly "bench" it.
 
Originally posted by Ricedaddy
I have an Antec TruePower 430W. It is great. I think it is an excellent power supply.

What do you say about a power supply? :) You can't exactly "bench" it.
Click to expand...

Sure you can. Get a multimeter, and check each of the rails. See how close they are to spec. Check the AMP and see how "clean" they are.

Closer to spec the better.

Cheers,
 
Originally posted by MadMikeSS
Well, if you want to know who it was who had the problem with the PSU being insufficient, here's the link to the review he wrote for the Leadtek video card: Leadtek WinFast A350 Ultra TDH MyVIVO Video Card Review I will point you to page 5 and here is a quote:



Personally, I think Dean knows what he is doing, but that's my own opinion.
Click to expand...

Dude just because a guy writes reviews does not make him qualified for anything lol. Thats a video card site. Its not a PSU specialist site.

My two majors in college are Networking and Engineering and i build custom built gaming rigs for people in my area. I think i'm just as qualifed or more than he is.

PSU's and RAM are more my specialty areas and i have debates about them all the time here on HardOCP. Belive me i know what im talking about. And if you dont believe me then PM Ice Czar, hes a moderator here and knows a whole lot about power supplies also.

There was a thread here on HardOCP not long about about this and everyone said that 300-350w was all that a uniprocessor PC could possibly use.

If that guy had to upgrade to a 480w PSU for that system, he ither had a shitty PSU or had no idea what he was doing and thats the plain and simple truth.
 
Alright, I think ya need to relax just a bit there... Having a solid base in electronics myself I can relate. I trust him because I know him personally and he's not stupid. I have not sat down and personally tested every connection or rail coming off the PSU for voltage and current to say for sure that it delivers. I'm not going to dispute what you are saying because I happen to agree with what you say.
worship.gif
I ran my system on a 250W PSU, you know, one of those cheap ones that you get with a cheap case. I never had a single stability issue. But with new hardware also comes more power requirements and it doesn't seem hard to imagine that more powerful power supplies might be needed. We've reviewed PSU's and have taken criticism from people because we don't test them to destruction or to failure. IMHO as long as it performs with stable voltage in a typical system, even a more demanding system, then it's a worthwhile piece of hardware. There's no need to kill it to prove a point. I'm not going to start a debate because you will all kill me. :) I'm just relaying what was told to him when he contacted the video card manufacturer, who I would assume know their own hardware and it's requirements, but that's another story. :)

Sorry if I started anything, wasn't my intention and I apologize.
 
Originally posted by MadMikeSS
Sorry if I started anything, wasn't my intention and I apologize.
Click to expand...

You didn't do nothin dude. I'm just saying that we've had these discussion a million times before with people that know ALOT about power supplies and myself included have tested with multimeters and have a pretty good idea what systems actually draw in comparison to what they are rated to draw. I build workstation style machines for myself and i always use the latest and greatest vid card and i've never had a stability issue because i didn't have a large enough PSU. If i've had any problems it was because the PSU was bad or i had too much hooked up to one line which is often the cause right there.

The larger the PSU you buy the less efficient its going to be. PSU's are the most efficient when they are under a 70-75% load.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top