New v2.0 fsp/sparkle question

[jamesattufts]

I've been lurking here for a while since everywhere else but maybe spcr seem to be offering mostly dodgy advice on the topic-i swear ice czar could get advertisers if he just started a niche site with his answers from here. there's really nothing reliable for reference and far too many positive reviews of what are basically hand grenades with LED's and modular cabling.

to the point, I needed a decent temporary PSU for a second system and noticed there are a rash of FSP/sparkle supplies that are 2.0 complian and come in with dual lines of 14-15 for the 400w and 8-14 on the 300w. i'm concerned that the +12V1@8A on the 300w seems both a little low and that most other 2.0s seem to differ much less than this one on the 12v(the second line is 14). the 14/15 balance seems more along the lines of what i'd expect versus the disparity of 8/14. i'd rather go with the 300 since it's the cheapest relatively silent psu that i'd trust, but now i'm a little hesitant but the 400w's price makes the 500w at a few bucks more too tempting. which is not the idea for the second system.



sparkle fsp350 fsp400

 

[Kain]

What are you going to power?

Use the calculator here: http://takaman.jp/D/index.html?english

 

[Ice Czar]

What are you going to power?

Use the calculator here: http://takaman.jp/D/index.html?english

to calculate the +12V amp load on the +12V1 rail
which is dedicated to the mobo and CPU so the first two fields
for instance an Athlon84 3400+ and a mobo that would support it come in at 7.7 Amps
and that would be before you deduct amps from the PSU rating off that rail for the difference in temperature
but a XP1500+ and mobo only weight in at 5.3 Amps

also add in the load of any PCI cards and the AGP slot draw based on these
Power Consumption of Contemporary Graphics Accelerators. Part I: Graphics Cards on ATI Chips
Power Consumption of Contemporary Graphics Accelerators. Part II: NVIDIA vs. ATI
(click the charts and add the AGP only, not the auxillary)

FSP supplies are likely better at the test temperature rating than the industry norm
(Fortron Source - Sparkle Power, being the same difference)
considering they consistently test "high" in competent independent reviews, but being conservative is better than taking chances considering whats on the line

and thank you for the complement

 

[jamesattufts]

thanks for the responses, the main concern i had was actually about the difference between the 2 rails on the 12v. i checked out the other 2.0s i could think of from enermax, antec, and the other fsps--what's bothering me is most of them have almost identical outputs on the 12v line. most are seperated by 1-2 amps, the antec neo has the biggest difference at 3(but proportionally less signifigant given the values are pretty high). the fortron really stands out with the lines 6amps apart at only 300 watts. i think i'll just play it safe with the sparkle fsp350. the 8 figure seems to be cutting it close enough to make a 1.3 with a stronger single rail more appealing, am i justified in worrying about this and the large disparity versus the other 2.0s 12v values?

i'm actually pretty familiar with fortron, my 530 was great until it died in a freak fan accident and got my zippy. it's kind of a happy medium between the 530 and the pcp&c 510 and comes from good redundant breeding(no bad psu is upfront about temps). the one i'm about to buy is for a 2.4c, 9100, 2 hds and a dodgy old terratec so a quality 300-350 should do. i may still beta test the new fsp after i run a few more variables through the wattage calculator.

no problem about the comments, you've probably saved a few disasters giving people advice better than the usual "the ultra rules", lol.

 

[Ice Czar]

the usual "the ultra rules", lol.

LOL
its true I havent been very kind to the Ultra
luckilly I was vindicated when it turned out to be a POWmax

I would guess the 300 watt Fortron isnt targeted at the normal gaming rig
but at a low power CPU board like a PIII where its being powered off the 5V rail
which would give it plenty of juice for storage on the +12V2 rail and any Host Bus Adapters or NICs on the +12V1
you could actually build a fairly nice NAS with that out of older components
by comparision to older 300 Watt supplies its still a beast

the current crop of 500 watt ATX12V v2.0s are under employing the +12V1 rail
in most "typical" gaming rigs, where your not likely to see alot of HBAs and or other cards since most of it is integrated, that might change with PCI-E

I need to do more mobo research regarding typical draw of various cards and the power distribution scheme mobos employ

 

[jamesattufts]

while i was trying to make sense of things, i was looking at pcp&c's site to see what the stats were for their lower-powered offerings as a reference, i ended up buying the silencer 310. i haven't seen much feedback about it, but it looks like it's conservatively-rated and it's not sexy but 19A and solid ripple/efficiency stats that are honest made my headache go away.

the ultra was fishy in that it just appeared out of nowhere with no info about the hot new taiwanese company and it's state-of the art factory opening up. when anything competitvely priced puts emphasis on secondary stuff(heatspreaders and ram come to mind) it usually ends up dissapointing people.

 

[Ice Czar]

well there are alot of rebranders out there
in fact PCP&C is a rebrander, or more accurately some of their line is rebranded
some is custom built to order by other major manufacturers
its entirely possible you just got another FSP
or maybe a Zippy Emacs

but the ratings they lable with are very solid

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=775032
(just bumped it again)