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Need help picking between 4 PSUs

J

jodonnell

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 15, 2004
Messages
73
OK, it looks like my old Antec SL400 (18A @12V) is simply no longer enough to power my system (as it has eaten 1x 9800Pro and 2x BFG 6800OCs) so I'm in the market for a new PSU. I'm budgeting something like $100, and I've picked four likely contenders. First though, here are my system specs:

Abit NF7-S rev2 w/ Mobile AthlonXP 2500+ clocked to 200x12
2x 512MB Corsair XMS3200 Pro
BFG 6800OC
2x optical drives, 2x hard drives, 4x 120mm fans
Antec SL400 PSU

And the PSU's I'm looking at:

Fortron Blue Storm AX500 - 2x 12V @ 15A, sleeved cables & easy grip molexes $90
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=17-104-934&depa=0

Antec TruePowerII 430, 2x 12V @ 17A, $89
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=17-103-928&depa=1

Enermax EG425P-VE , 2x 12V @ 18A, $76
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=17-103-459&depa=1

Superflower Plug-N 550, 1x 12V @ 30A, sleeved & modular cables, $100
http://www.frozencpu.com/psu-115.html

At this point I'm leaning to the beefy rails and low price of the Enermax; however, I'm a little leery of accidentally spending too little and regretting it later. I'm also a little shaky on the Antec, as folks on the Abit-USA forums were saying that QA at Antec hasn't been very good lately especially with regards to the 12V lines. I don't know how true that is (or isn't) but since my last PSU was Antec and may be dying on me (or is at least simply insufficient) I'm not totall 100% on it. The Fortron looks nice and has other nice features in the sleeving; but with the Enermax beating it by a good $15 I wonder which is the better deal. I also dig the modularity of the Superflower, but I haven't heard any reviews on it yet and it only has one 12V rail (and although I don't plan on making an SLi rig anytime soon, from what I understand dual rails is safer and better regardless.) So there's my quandary. Do I go with an inexpensive but seemingly good (on paper, at least) PSU from Enermax or do I spend a bit more for a PSU that at first glance seems to offer less goodies? Thanks all for any advice and reccommendations! :)
 
I have one of the Superflower/TTGI Plug-N 550w..........there will hopefully be a review up on the web soon from a good source. If you are interestd give it some time and see the review.
 
i bought a Fortron Blue Storm AX500 not long ago and its been perfect. i have NF2 mobo 2800+ amd 1gig ram. 6800 NU. we have kinda similar specs. well not really too much diff at least.
 
Antec NeoPower 480W at ZZF for $110 shipped. Getting one myself.
Split rail, combined 33A.
Modular
120mm fan, nearly silent
Gets decent reviews around the web, too lazy to search for links. Use Google.

You definitely want split rails, if nothing else, just because the new revisions of the ATX specification (2.0+) require it. New motherboards will be built around these criteria.
 
the Truepower II will have the tightest load regulation @ 3% exceeding spec
they are brand new in ATX12V v2.0 trim (w\ dual +12V rails)
and havent had any real reviews done yet however

after that the FSP and Enermax are good strong supplies of basic compliance
dont know enough about the superflowers to say much
 
Cool deal, thanks all for cheap links :)

I guess my biggest question in here is; the Enermax appears to be better on paper and costs less. Is this just a genuine bargain here, or is there something missing that a buyer should know going in?
 
I have done a lot of research on psu's, and being very frugal with my money have always gone with lower priced units with good reviews.
started with an allied source 450w unit that was pretty stable but after some upgrades went to a seasonic 400w. sound stupid right going from a 450w to a 400w but the stability in the rails was noticable.
After going to an a64, 6600gt setup i went to a tagan 480 and man what a quality unit this is. the paint on the metal is supreme(not that this makes any difference in internal quality) but it shows the attention to detail that this company make to their units. the reviews that can be googled are excellent and i can verify what a stable powerful unit this is. i would recommend this to anyone with the exception of the newer pci e setups.
for the price i don't think you can get a better buy.
just my 2c

http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817101509
 
jackson18249 said:
Thanks for finding that price Jesus. I bought it for $80.41 shipped. Actbuy only has 14 reviews on resellerratings.com, but so far everyone has prasied the store. Ewiz.com sells the drive as well for $72 with free shipping shown here

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=PS-FS500A&c=pw

but it is often out of stock.
Click to expand...

Lolz.. I ordered at $72. After that, I went back and checked on the price.... wow.. it jumps up to $85. Lucky me....

Thank you so much for the link, jackson18249.
 
Enermax makes great power supplies, which is why I use them regularly. However unless you're loading your system down considerably, I'd look at the Fortron. My Enermax has 15A/16A 12v rails and works great, powering a 24-pin ATX mainboard (I bought ATX 1.3, four months later ATX 2.0 PSU's become available, go figure) quite well, plus, I continue to hear that Fortron has rated the Blue Storm somewhat conservatively so it outperforms its own specs.

Finally, if you've ever sleeved a power supply (I have done so with my Enermax) you'll find out it's a 2-hour job and a major PITA. I added sleeving and EZ-Grip molex connectors; the Fortron already has them. It makes cable-routing a lot nicer and if you get a windowed case, it's a big plus. The EZ-grip molexes are also nice when you need to change things around in tight quarters.
 
Weird... if I click through the link given by jackson18249 for the fortron 500 from ewiz, it is still $72. However, I go to the site and browse to the forton 500. It is priced at $85. :confused:
 
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