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Just Yes or No

R

ralfyboy

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 27, 2004
Messages
211
i have a AMD 64 3400+ ClawHammer, 4 Fans, 1GB PC3200, 2HDD, 2 CD/DVD Burners, Floppy haha, and a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS

i have a Ultra X-Connect, and i really wanna replace it. bought it disregarding all reviews, but then as time went on, i got more and more nervous about it. now i'm upgrading.

is this a good reliable (hopefully quiet) PS?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-104-968&depa=0

i just have some creepy feeling i'm gonna leave my pc on overnight and the thing is gonna go kaPOWy! one me. (my x-connect that is)
 
Fortron = Yesness

Read the newegg reviews regarding quietness
 
what is the difference between em besides the aesthetical features like 120mm fan, sleeving, and color?

which one would be better for MY system?

and about the sleeving, are they uv reactive? if not, i can do my own sleeving job on it later.
 
your system is biased toward the +12V rail, (your CPU is powered off that rail)
so the latest spec supply is far better suited toward powering your config

the Fortron 530 (ATX12V v1.3) 16A nominal 28A peak on the +12V rail
the Fortron Blue Storm 550 (ATX12V v2.0) dual +12V rails (combined capacity 30A)

a "peak" rating is for only a few miliseconds in most cases, but the amount of difference in the nominal vs peak rating on the 530 has always been a bit of a mystery
 
Its a strong entry level ATX12V v2.0 supply of basic spec compliance
see the sticky where Mike Chin reviews it at the top of the board ;)
 
maybe this isnt the PS i was looking for. i just want a quiet PS that is REALLY stable, and around the 450-550 range. all preferably around $100
 
i've never opened up a PSU before, but i think i can do it just to insert some quiet 80mm fans, so maybe silence might not be too important.

what i really need is stability. dont want modular, dont want sleeved, dont want anything flashy, i just want a power supply that will remain stable w/ my system overclocked and the like.

i also want some headroom for future upgrades, so i really dont want anything less than 420W
 
supplies that exceed spec tend to cost
the tighter that load regulation the more money you should expect to spend
same goes for the cleaner the power (less AC Ripple)
 
power supplies are just too damn hard to pick out. people say antec is good. i'm gonna go w/ antec. OH NO! people have probs. ok. gonna go w/ fortron. problems too.

i just want a good power supply!
 
well there arent many reasons to exceed spec, but overclocking happens to be one of them
if your looking for a supply that few if any find fault with,
you have arrived at the PC Power and Cooling 510, and its twice your budget
if your looking for a compromise you have the Powerstreams and Neopowers
but some people have sited issues
these are largely statistical anomolies, probably explained by shipping damage (much like HDDs)
they also exceed your budget
a tried and true choice would be the Fortrons or Enermaxs, they are however just basic spec compliance

when buying a supply that exceeds spec, the objective is often to eliminate the power supply as a variable that limits an overclock, but its just one of three links in the chain, the source power which you typically address with a UPS and the the mobo itself, its Voltage Regulation Scheme (a primary component of why one board is able to overclock better than another), the final variable is the luck of the draw with the CPU
(and how well you address the thermal solution)

most serious overclocker I know, have stated that the money they invested in a PCP&C Turbo Cool 510 (or the older 425) was some of the best money they spent
and are pretty happy about its upgrade path (having enough amps on the +12V rail to raise the Titanic), but there are power consumption issues on the horizon that may tax the 510
(PCI-E has been bumped to 150 Watts max, and while they arent out yet, dual 150 watt SLi cards would be pushing it once you add in a typical config)

so there you have it, you dragged it out of me
I rarely actually recommend the PCP&C 510, unless one of three criteria are met
overclocking
massive use of the +12V rail (as in a Network Attached Storage or server)
or simply as an insurance policy on a rig that cost more than my car (see sig :p )
 
well i only plan to overclock my 3400+ (2.2) to 2.5ghz, and my 6800GT to Ultra speeds. that's as much OC'ing as i'm gonna do.

so i guess i'll check out the neopowers, powerstreams, fortrons, and enermaxes.

and can you explain to me (in n00by terms) what exactly was so bad about the Fortron 530W?

i mean, it is a lot of wattage, and from a brand that many people find to be alright.

edit* btw, i really appreciate all the help
 
there is nothing "wrong" with the 530
I used one in my brothers box not that long ago
its in my opinion one of the best ATX12V v1.3 values to be had
but wattage doesnt mean all that much if its not where you can use it
each change of the spec has shifted more capacity from the (typically) combined +3.3V\+5V rail to the +12V rail in a given wattage class, that reflects the changing needs of computer components
not that long ago CPUs where powered off the +5V rail the Voltage Regulation Modual (VRM) drawing that power and stepping it down for the CPU and Front Side Bus, same with graphics cards, but with the need for more and more power that has changed to the +12V rail
then you add in the new requirements for PCI-E and even more juice is needed on that rail

to make matter even more interesting the +12V rail has historically been used to power drives
and drives & fans are notorious for uneven draw, when they spinup they reguire approximately 4 time their run draw to overcome inertia, so at stratup they can introduce quite a transient load (this is the reason RAID cards have delayed spinup options), and even once running an optical does the same dance when it spins up,
so first on servers (the EPS12V spec) and now on the ATX12V spec (v2.0) the +12V rail has been split to isolate that instability

now both the Powerstreams and the PCP&C 510 are actually ATX12V v1.3 supplies with a single +12V rail;
but because they have such good load regulation, they dont really need the seperate rails to maintain that rail stability

of course that is dependent on the actual crossload

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/psu-methodology_13.html
id39867.gif


compare that to just the +12V rail of one of the worse supplies out there
id42209.gif

(L&C = Deer Computers)

for a PCP&C Id expect alot more green on the +12V field than that OCZ
but then Oleg hasnt fleshed out his database
the start of that excellent article is here
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/psu-methodology.html
 
oohhhh.. ok. i get it now. so v2.0 uses seperate rails for 12v right? and that increases stability? especially at startup?

but powerstream and pcp&c are so good (why they're expensive) they dont need it?

that's what i got from you and that article
 
yup thats basically it

a review of a power supplies
Electrical Characteristics
would also reveal the other great advantage those supplies have, which is how clean the power is

Ripple: Also sometimes called "AC Ripple" or "Periodic and Random Deviation (PARD)" or simply "Noise". The power supply of course produces DC outputs from AC input. However, the output isn't "pure" DC. There will be some AC components in each signal, some of which are conveyed through from the input signal, and some of which are picked up from the components in the power supply. Typically these values are very small, and most power supplies will keep them within the specification for the power supply form factor. Ripple values are usually given in terms of millivolts, peak-to-peak (mVp-p). "Peak-to peak" refers to measuring the AC voltage from its negative maximum to its positive maximum (see here for an illustration of what this means.) Lower numbers are better.
Click to expand...

whereas the spec calls for 50mV of ripple on the +3.3V & +5V rail, and allows upto 120mV on the +12V rail
the PCP&C maintains 10mV on all the main rails
 
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