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Need a Modular PS Recommendation

J

JC634

Gawd
Joined
Mar 4, 2006
Messages
580
Hi,

I need some advice here from the PS guru’s.

I’m looking for a new PSU, modular that is. I currently have a Seasonic S12 600, which I consider a great PSU, stable and very quiet. I just finished doing a major overhaul of my wire management. Looks good, however, I now desire a fully sleeved/modular replacement.

Requirements:

- Quality PSU, cost is a minor consideration
- Active PFC
- Minimum 500 watts
- Modular
- Sleeved
- QUIET! I have a water-cooled system. Quiet is one the major reasons I went water.

I have read the recommended Recommended PSU's thread compiled by davidhammock. Good info, but a lot can change 1 year.

My system:

Asus P4C800-E Deluxe motherboard
Intel P4 3000 MHz Northwood processor, overclocked to 3500MHz
1 Gigabyte Twin Corsair XMS 3700 memory modules
Seasonic S12 600 Watt Power Supply
ATI X850Pro video card
(2) Hitachi 80 gig HD’s in Raid 0
NEC DVD-DL optical drive
Memorex DVD RW optical drive
Crystalfontz CFA-631 LCD w/SCAB
Crystalfontz CFA-635 LCD w/SCAB
Crystalfontz CFA-632 LCD
Crystalfontz CFA-633 LCD
Crystalfontz CFA-634 LCD
Creative Audigy 2 Zs
7 fans total powered by the PSU.

Please note that I do plan on upgrading to Conroe later this year. This will require a new CPU, MB and video card.

My water pump is installed in/powered from a separate enclosure, so it does not add to the load.

Quality and silence are the main consideration, aside from the desire to have a modular PSU. I know that just about everyone recommends PC Power and Cooling PSU’s, but I have also heard that they are not that quiet.

So, what do the PS guru’s recommend?
 
The Silverstone ST60F, Enermax Liberty or Corsair HX520 or 620W are all solid, modular, have APFC and are quiet. :D
 
Hmm,

All are quality brands. Except where do I find info on the Corsair PSU's? From what I can find, they just started making them. Jonny: even you don't have a review (that I could find)!:)

Oh well, decisions, decisions. I'm sure I wouldn't go wrong with any of the above, but I need to look real close at the cable philosophy of each.

Thanks for the input, guys!

Jim
 
I'm personally waiityng for the Seasonic M12. in about a month's time. Though if you can't wait, the Silverstone looks like the best choice now.

I've only seen one of the lIberty models, and the Infinity connectors are nonsense.

jonny,

who makes the PSU for Corsair?
 
Cliff Couser said:
I'm personally waiityng for the Seasonic M12. in about a month's time. Though if you can't wait, the Silverstone looks like the best choice now.

I've only seen one of the lIberty models, and the Infinity connectors are nonsense.

jonny,

who makes the PSU for Corsair?
Click to expand...
That's nice to know. Nothing seems to come close to the Seasonic for quiet. I'm not in a hurry, so I'll have to check out the M12 when it comes out.

Thanks for the heads up!

Jim
 
Where can I see some information on the M12? I looked on the Seasonic site, but couldn't find any info :)

Cliff Couser said:
I'm personally waiityng for the Seasonic M12. in about a month's time.
Click to expand...
 
I have an ulta x2 550w (UV model) The lights are cool, its stable, and while the cables aren't sleeved, their different than just wire, its called flexforce, I like them better than sleeved except the ATX connector, I had to take a hairdryer to that to get it to flex, but it looks cool and my case is finally (a little) organized :D

I dunno if its Active PFC or not, the newer ones are spossed to be, if you need active though, I've heard great things about the Antec NeoHE 550w PSU's (I don't have one due to the fact that I refuse buy Antec, and the ultra fit my needs better connector wise)

My thing with Antec has to do with the outrageous amount they wanted to charge for replacement drive rails, I have gotten these FREE from every other case manufacturer I have used. I was even willing to pay postage, but they wanted like $30 PLUS postage.

I didn't lose them either, it came from a shop that had closed, I was putting in a DVD-RW for a friend, ended up lucking out with a couple of chieftech rails that I found in the parts graveyard. Assholes.
 
JC634 said:
That's nice to know. Nothing seems to come close to the Seasonic for quiet...
Click to expand...
My Stacker has a S12 in it and I agree that it's very quiet but the cabling is a nightmare.
My new TJ07 ended up with a Hiper580 and it's equally as silent and the cabling is extremely easy to deal with. Plus it has a 80mm "booster" fan which stays on for a few minutes after shutdown to exhaust heat build up...a nice touch, IMO.
Rails, measured with a DMM during dual prime (AMD4400 Toledo) whilst looping PC Mark demo (7800GT), did not fluctuate at all- the +5v is dead on while the +12v is a constant 12.29v.
If you can accomodate the extra depth necessary for the pseudo stereo plug fittings (approx. 1.5"), I'd recommend it.
 
sprocket said:
My Stacker has a S12 in it and I agree that it's very quiet but the cabling is a nightmare.
Click to expand...
That's the only reason I am looking at modular, the cabling. I just don't want to trade off "nicer cable management" for a louder PS fan(s).:)

After all, I don't sit there and admire my cable management as much as I have to hear the fans, if ya know what I mean!

Jim
 
I <3 my Sunbeamtech NUUO 550w. All of these suggestions have been superb, though.

Just avoid the Ultra X-Connect and you should be golden. :p
 
After all the discussion here, I'm still leaning towards a Silverstone modular... if I have to remove the PS 120mm fan from that compartment, I'll just move it forward to the front of the case. In all the cases I've built, I'd really like this one to be cabled nice and clean using some of the information I've gleaned here are HardOCP over time.

I love the pictures of boxes where the cables are as hidden as possible and want to do that to the max on this next build :)
 
JaYp146 said:
Just avoid the Ultra X-Connect and you should be golden. :p
Click to expand...

Why would someone suggest a 2-year old non ATX12V compliant PSU? But I would say the Ultra X2 would be a decent choice.
 
I'm quite happy I started this thread. I haven't really perused this forum for awhile. A lot when deciding to buy my Seasonic. At that time, modular PS's seemed be at the low end of recommendations.

So, what do I read from this thread?

1. Quality modular PSU's are available.
2. Other than possible loyalty to a particular make, the major item to look at is the modular cable philosophy of a particular manufacturer. For example, I'm not sure I like the SATA/PATA/SATA/PATA style (PATA = std 4-pin molex) of 1 manufacturer.

And in my case, I love my Seasonic (quiet), but hate the cabling. I'm going to wait a bit and see if the M12 series are as good as the S12 series, and has an intelligent modular cabling philosophy. If not, I have a lot of good recommended alternates to choose from.

Jim
 
check the Ultra X-2...people hate their older PSUs but there have only been good reviews on the net of this newer revision and i have a friend who has and loves it. Google some reviews on it and read the info of it from this site since it has the most detailed...its ultra sexy, and has the best cabling system I've seen, love it.

http://www.xoxide.com/ultra-x-connect2-uvblue.html
 
Chris583 said:
check the Ultra X-2...people hate their older PSUs but there have only been good reviews on the net of this newer revision and i have a friend who has and loves it. Google some reviews on it and read the info of it from this site since it has the most detailed...its ultra sexy, and has the best cabling system I've seen, love it.

http://www.xoxide.com/ultra-x-connect2-uvblue.html
Click to expand...
Will do. The cables look quite easy to route/hide. Also seems to be the way I would them.

Oh my! So many choices! I'm getting a headache!:p
 
JC634 said:
Will do. The cables look quite easy to route/hide. Also seems to be the way I would them.

Oh my! So many choices! I'm getting a headache!:p
Click to expand...

If you have a windowed case and Blue lighting (my lexa case has blue led fans) it is ideal...since the x2 has a blue led fan and the cables are UV Reactive blue....my gigabyte mobo is blue too so im gonna have one ultra sexy blue interior case!
 
Chris583 said:
...since the x2 has a blue led fan and the cables are UV Reactive blue....my gigabyte mobo is blue too so im gonna have one ultra sexy blue interior case!
Click to expand...

It's not a blue LED fan. It's a UV reactive fan. There are a pair of CCFL's mounted inside the PSU, up in the corners.
 
the hiper PSU is really nice, its quiet modular and it stays on for like 5-10 seconds after you turn off your computer. it meets your qualifications and its SLI, it comes in different colors too.
 
I have the hiper psu in black, sitting next to me waiting for my next build in the next week or so.
It looks GREAT and the modular hookups seem to be the best.
However, he said he wanted Active PFC, and this does not have it. The European version does, but they say the U.S.'s power is so stable it doesnt need it lol...
 
I am also looking for a quiet modular psu.
Just incase you didnt know, there is now a new revision of the seasonic S12 which is now sleeved and has more connections, but still not modular:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article596-page1.html

After a lot of research, I have decided on the OCZ GameXStream 600W, which is modular, sleeved and is actually quieter than the S12, but by only small amount.

If I wasnt in a hurry, I would definately wait for the seasonic M12. I might even sell the OCZ and get the seasonic in the future...
 
ViolentPacification said:
However, he said he wanted Active PFC, and this does not have it. The European version does, but they say the U.S.'s power is so stable it doesnt need it lol...
Click to expand...

Active PFC has nothing to do with "stable power" (unless you are the power company). And no matter what it is still an overinflated specwise Andyson with some questionable design choices.
 
ViolentPacification said:
I...but they say the U.S.'s power is so stable it doesnt need it lol...
Click to expand...

Who's "they?" Hiper? Because whoever said that should be knocked around.

That's not what power factor is for. Power factor corrects the non-linear load and the harmonic distortions CREATED BY the power supply. Not necessarily the other way around (unless something on the same circuit has poor enough power factor to cause harmonic distortion to everything else.)

If mains are unstable, they're not unstable in the sense that the real and apparent power are non-sinusodal. At least not as they're coming into the building.

The reason the Hiper has APFC in the EU is because the EU uses 230V input. That means half the amps are going into the PSU. There's less heat caused by the input current of the unit, so components, like the APFC components, generate less heat. At 115V input, the APFC components get too hot for that PSU to be able to sustain 550W.

I have two issues with the Hiper: The wires are not one to one going from the modular interface to the peripheral connection and the fact that they took a 550W PSU and labeled it 580W. But there's plenty of me blabbing about that if one searches for "Hiper", author: jonnyGURU.

I can understand recommending a product you have good luck with, but try to better understand the product before assuming the product is in fact the best choice for the OP. ;)
 
I've looked at reviews of the OCZ GameXStreme and don't see that it is modular... are you sure? The reviews are nice though from what I've read...

sitalchauhan said:
After a lot of research, I have decided on the OCZ GameXStream 600W, which is modular, sleeved and is actually quieter than the S12, but by only small amount.
Click to expand...
 
Milehigh said:
I've looked at reviews of the OCZ GameXStreme and don't see that it is modular... are you sure? The reviews are nice though from what I've read...
Click to expand...

Nope. Not modular.

OCZ will have a new modular in a couple months. It is NOT called GameXstream. ;)
 
PFC will improve PSU efficiency simply because the the amp and volttage sine waves will be *nominally* in phase with each other. When in phase, real power = apparent power. When not in phase, apparent power > real power.

Real power = apparent power * power factor. PF = 1 when in phase, <1 when out of phase.

Other than voltage/amperage flucuations in the power lines coming into your home, out-of-phase sine curves (which are in virtually every power line!) contributes to the "instability" of power lines. If the sine waves were exactly 180° out of phase, PF = 0 and you have no electricity (power).

If the PF were .8 and your PS had an 80% efficiency rating, the "apparent" efficiency of a PS without PFC when testing would be 64% (.8 * 64%), based on input power and output power numbers.

Does this explain it well enough?

Jim
 
JC634 said:
PFC will improve PSU efficiency simply because the the amp and volttage sine waves will be *nominally* in phase with each other. When in phase, real power = apparent power. When not in phase, apparent power > real power.

Real power = apparent power * power factor. PF = 1 when in phase, <1 when out of phase.

Other than voltage/amperage flucuations in the power lines coming into your home, out-of-phase sine curves (which are in virtually every power line!) contributes to the "instability" of power lines. If the sine waves were exactly 180° out of phase, PF = 0 and you have no electricity (power).

If the PF were .8 and your PS had an 80% efficiency rating, the "apparent" efficiency of a PS without PFC when testing would be 64% (.8 * 64%), based on input power and output power numbers.

Does this explain it well enough?
Click to expand...

No.

PFC does not make a PSU more "efficient" in the sense that it does not use less wattage.

So to say APFC makes a power supply more efficient is misleading because when a power supply company makes the claim that their product is more efficient, they are making this claim based on the power supply's ability to produce just as much DC power, while utilizing less AC power (DC W / AC W.)

In fact, an APFC power supply can use MORE wattage....

...But it will use less VA. Which is what you're describing.

In the US, we're not charged per VA. We're charged per kWH (unless you're an industrial commercial customer in some areas.) So PFC is NOT going to help you with your electric bill and THIS is why a power supply company focuses on efficiency as Wattage used... not VA used.

But PFC is still a good thing, especially if you have a lot of PC's! Like in a server room. ;)

If you have a whole bunch of non-PFC power supplies together on the same circuit, you could have a problem due to the harmonic distortion created by the inductors in a power supply. That can certainly effect your equipment and APFC can help that.
 
Here's a review for the Enermax Liberty 620W....its one of the best modulars around w/ dual 12V rails with 22 amps each just in case you wanted to build an sli or crossfire rig ;) .....sleeving is pretty nice too. I've used to own one and I plan on buying another pretty soon.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/psu/307/
 
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