Tagan PSU

[ShaolinDragon]

How are the Tagan Line PSUs?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Tagan.html
I read they were good, but that was in an advert and I dont really trust it.
If there are any better PSUs in that price range, please tell me, but don't tell me to get a PCP&C or a Enermax Server PSU, Im 14, so these things are quite out of my price range. Help is appreciated

 

[Ice Czar]

there isnt a "Tagan" line of PSUs per se
epower offers a Tagan in their line and spun it off as a Brand as well from what I gathered
they are both Topower P6 supplies
like the basic model the OCZ Powerstream is based off of
as to if they are actually the same supply as a Powerstream, thats unknown as OCZ claims better specs and might have additional circuitry to maintain a tighter load regulation
Topower offers quite a few options, and what you dont see on the Tagans are external pots to adjust voltage

PS I dont recommend supplies without knowing what they are powering
and Ive given up on doing everyone elses math for them as well

so > How to buy a PSU
post the baselines and I'll make some recommendations and help you wade through the manufacturers hyperbol

to answer your question
Tagan's are strong reliable, ATX12V v1.3 compliant PSUs
but you might not want one, for a great number of reasons
I cant weight that without more info
including what it is powering now and may in the near future

 

[ShaolinDragon]

Thanks for the offer but no, I dont think I would like getting the exactly perfect PSU for me.
As long as it does its job, and is reliable, I will be happy.
I will be using it for my first build. Just a normal PC with:
AMD64 3200+
GeForce 6600GT
Corsair XL 512mb RAM;
480w from a half decent PSU should be more than enough.
I will be running my secondary fans, neons, etc off another cheap PSU.
If you can reccomend a quiet cheap PSU, that would be helpful, as I dont want have to spend a huge amount on my top box (will have 120.3 Thermochill, 6 fans, and custom bay bus)

 

[Ice Czar]

unfortunately that is exactly what you asked

If there are any better PSUs in that price range, please tell me

your stuck on the cusp of a +12V powered mobo and Processor with a Graphics Card that also likely sucks at the +12V tit

and your talking about pumped up ATX12V v1.3 supplies that really vary in their capacity to deal with the potential draw on that rail

you see Watts dont mean Jack

and your not supplying me with the information Id need to make a recommendation
nothing about fans or drives, and even if you had included that you want me to do the legwork

so I'll pass,
Im sure someone will be along soon to through out a few models

Good Luck

 

[zA.Gosu]

Hey Czar, Ive got a question about PSU supplies for my prospective box.

MSI K8N Neo2 or an NF4 board
A64 3200 (Overclocked) to 2.6 or more.
XP-90 or 120 WITH the option of going into Watercooling. Using 120mm Panaflow High speed fan
x800 xt with an ATI silencer 4 and overclocking to at least PE speeds and the option of going more.
1 120gb Sata 7200 rpm 8mb WD drive, WITH the option of going into a Raptor Single or even Raid Config.
1 gb of TCCD ram (Geil Ultra-X) with a possible OCZ DDR Booster. I want to get them up to at least DDR 575 @3.1 v 1T.
3 80mm fans in a Praetorian. Prolly low speed Panaflows. I may also go with a TJ06 with the wind tunnel and a couple of 120 mm fans, also low speed or high speed panaflows.
Creative Audigy ZS 2

I want a PSU that work crash the system, but i dont want to break the bank. I am in Australia, and Fortrons arent available. If you want to, check out
AusPcMarket and their selection. PcCaseGear
is another good site, that stocks OCZ PSU's

Now, I dont want to spend money for features that i dont really plan to use (ajustable rails - why? I thought you want to keep rails AT 12, 3.3 and 5?). I was lloking at an Antec 480 or 550, or a Tagan 480 or 550. OCZ 520's are $220 AUSTRALIAN, and the Antec and Tagan 480's are like $120-$150 just for reference.

 

[Ice Czar]

well use the How to Buy a PSU sticky to workup the numbers (very important)

Down Under, you have common access to the Topower P6 series as Topowers
the external pots might common in handy but ask Santa for a multimeter, as I wouldnt trust the LEDS
you do want your rails at their reference voltage
at leat with a supply that maintains a typical 5% spec
the whole idea being to not exceed that spec at any time
but with a supply that is able to hold a tighter tolerance (like the Topower P6's at 3%)
you can bump the reference voltage a little and still not be overshooting during a transient load

Basic 5% range is
+12V....11.4V to 12.6V
+5V......4.75V to 5.25V
+3.3V...3.135V to 3.465V

anything over the top end is considered an overshoot and while most components have been tested with higher voltages, its the quick way to wear them down or simply fry them (all ICs not being equal\the luck of the draw
reference ESD and electromigration Rant )

The OCZ Powerstreams, might be P6's + additional noise filtering\transient response over the base model Topowers, and Tagans, but that hasnt been confirmed

 

[Acer]

I had the tagan 480 watt, and it died on me. I checked the voltages when it was working and they were pretty good. You have to be careful with the reviews you see, most of them are from UK and Germany, which have a different version of the power supply. I would recommend going with a forton, seasonic or antec.

 

[ShaolinDragon]

unfortunately that is exactly what you asked



your stuck on the cusp of a +12V powered mobo and Processor with a Graphics Card that also likely sucks at the +12V tit

and your talking about pumped up ATX12V v1.3 supplies that really vary in their capacity to deal with the potential draw on that rail

you see Watts dont mean Jack

and your not supplying me with the information Id need to make a recommendation
nothing about fans or drives, and even if you had included that you want me to do the legwork

so I'll pass,
Im sure someone will be along soon to through out a few models

Good Luck

The takamans calculator is pretty out of date IMO.
The Tagan should have enough 12v amps for my equipment.
I will only be having one hard drive (A 160/200GB Maxtor 10) and as I said before, my fans non essential internal case fans will be powered from a secondary PSU. (A cheapie)
I asked if there were any cheapie PSUs with a good 12v amp line and half decent reliability that you knew of.

 

[zA.Gosu]

So Ice Czar, can you reccomend me a PSU from my specs and wants, keeping in mind future updradability. Throw out some names, and ill tell you if they stock em.

 

[BillR]

I think we all need to chip in and get Ice Czar a “Great Karnack” hat. Just imagine, all he would have to do is press his head to the screen……..and presto, the perfect recommendation every time..

 

[Ice Czar]

LOL

again, Ive given up working up the figures for folks
a little calculating and amp draw research for your own configuration
both a theoretical maximum, and realworld worse case draw are what Id want before I start trying to whittle down the supplies that might meet multiple criteria like quality and price
there is a list of PSUs at the top of the board compiled by computerpro3
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=792566

but making a decision to use an ATX12V v1.3 or a dual rail ATX12V v2.0
weighting future upgrades, planning capacity, whether a supply needs to exceed spec (tighter load regulation, AC Ripple ect) ect, you all need to do

there are a great number of supplies with a healthy +12V rail (s) now
the Topower P6 \ PW series includes the OCZ'z, Vantecs, Tagans, and obviously Topower
Sirtec is making a line Id personally judge to be slightly below those based on an aggregate of what ive seen (Thermaltakes ect)

Ive always liked the FSPs, they get rebranded alot, as ditrect they are Fortrons, Sparkels, rebranded as Aopen ect

but actually knowing what a real amp requirement is, allows me to factor in some windage for a manufacturers veracity, the likely temperature rating, historic trends when tested in the real world and the aggrgate perception of the posts Ive seen here and elsewhere

Seasonic is a Widely regarded supplier, but you dont see them mentioned alot here

ShaolinDragon, how many pins are on that mobo power connection?
20? 24?
what are you after an ATX12V v1.3 or v2.0?
what is the baseline +12V draw you need, and if its for an ATX12V v2.0 what is the breakout per +12V rail?

Takaman's isnt out of date, its geographically removed
its doesnt have the latest and greatest Video Cards granted
Keep in mind there isnt typcally any great difference between drives, fans and PCI cards
so those listed are a reasonable estimate of more current drives
but it is fairly up to date with processors, more importantly it is by far the best calculator Ive seen, if you know of a better one that will break out the amps per rail, Im all ears

Ive got three more days to encode and burn a hundred or so CDs, DVDs, build a computer, and drop a cat5e cable into the downstairs, while keeping 6 Border Collies occupied, moderate these forums, and pour a concrete patio

hope you get that hint

 

[Acer]

Seems as though toms hardware is having the same problem with tagans that I had.
tomshardware

 

[ShaolinDragon]

Yeh I saw the problems that TomsHardware were having with the Tagans, but I have one already, and I can tell you it is QUIET. I plan to use it in a W/C setup (I will help you with your database when I get the pump Ice Czar )
The tagan I have is the newer version to the Toms hardware, as they look very different. It is quite cleverly made as it is a 20 pin ATX plug with another 4 Pin plug, but these can be slid together to make a 24 pin ATXv2 plug. Both the wires are braided, and have black/blue plastic plugs, which is very nice. The dual P4 connecters are both braided and coloured, and there is a extended line with only one Molex which is braided and coloured, which is for use with a graphics card. This is also the case with the PCIe VGA connector.
The paint job is really nice, and it seems ePower have tried to appeal to case modders (albeit lazy ones ).

 

[jacuzz1]

The takamans calculator is pretty out of date IMO.
The Tagan should have enough 12v amps for my equipment.
I will only be having one hard drive (A 160/200GB Maxtor 10) and as I said before, my fans non essential internal case fans will be powered from a secondary PSU. (A cheapie)
I asked if there were any cheapie PSUs with a good 12v amp line and half decent reliability that you knew of.

If I may humbly suggest , take a long look at enermax. I use PC Power and cooling for my rig but when I build for cost concious customers I go Enermax. They have never let me down. I have yet to have a PWS failure in a rig I have built using one.

 

[LoneWolf]

I asked if there were any cheapie PSUs with a good 12v amp line and half decent reliability that you knew of.

I think Ice Czar needs to make a sticky at the top of this forum that states "No I WILL NOT help you find a cheapie PSU for your $1,000 system". (chuckle)

It never ceases to amaze me how people will pay hundreds of bucks for their gear, and then ask who can help them find a cheapie power supply to support it all. People who should know the risk of frying a PSU or system is far higher with a cheapie. People who somehow think that there must be a "secret golden nugget" power supply out there --that is, some manufacturer who has super high-quality standards, but is still willing to pump out high-end power supplies from their factories for $30-40USD each. It doesn't happen. I'm not saying you can't find a 300-350 watt Antec for $50 that will power Mom and Dad's PC fine...you can. But looking for a cheapie PSU for an Athlon 64 system with a Geforce 6 series graphics card is about as smart as looking for a turbo-ed four-cylinder to stick in a Humvee.

 

[Ice Czar]

is about as smart as looking for a turbo-ed four-cylinder to stick in a Humvee.

now that I could probably do
something made by Caterpiller or Cummings

(though it might take up the whole back cargo compartment )

 

[LoneWolf]

now that I could probably do
something made by Caterpiller or Cummings

(though it might take up the whole back cargo compartment )

I should have remembered to specify "non-diesel".