• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Thermaltake or FSP?

S

scottmso

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 15, 2004
Messages
380
I put a cheap "Linkworld" power supply in one of my machines. Inevitably, after a couple of months, it's starting to act pretty strange. So I need a new power supply for it. In my primary machine, a FSP300-60ATV 300W FSP power supply has been powering things great for its 7 months or so of service. (Athlon XP 2500+ OC to about 2GHz, 512MB RAM, GF4 Ti4200, SB Audigy, 2 HD's, 2 optical drives, 5 casefans) So I am thinking between getting either a Thermaltake 420W that is on sale at Newegg ($34 with free shipping) or another of those FSP300-60ATV units ($26.75 + $6.99 shipping) so they are basically the same price. Which one should I get for my primary machine if this FSP I have now is going into the other weaker one (not much - Soyo mobo w/intergrated everything, Athlon XP 1600+, 1 HD, 1 optcial drive, 1 casefan, floppy drive) Any advice appreciated - thanks!
 
have to go, but a cut and paste before I do
(ignore the +12V v2.0 dual rail \ EPS12V stuff)


its very important to actually determine the amps per rail
and not all calculators are automatically the worse case senerio
I use > takaman's Power Supply Calaculator v2
which does have the option to set a utilization percentage, and to manually enter amp values for a given component
which is very handy if you have real world test values like
Power Consumption of Contemporary Graphics Accelerators: ATi
Power Consumption of Contemporary Graphics Accelerators: Nvidia
(all the better because they break out the draw between the AGP and the auxillary connector, which on an ATX12V v2.0 is on different +12V rails)
and various databases like Processor Electrical Specifications
(if the board has a +12V auxillary you add to the +12V otherwise it goes on the +5V rail,
and you convert the watts to amps for the appropriate rail, AMPS = Watts / Voltage)
or the actual spec sheets on the components (like say from Seagate)

that way Im able to run multiple calculations
first I do a "full" calculation, of all the additive maximums of the components
then for an ATX12V v2.0 supply or an EPS12V supply I repeat that for the +12V1, +12V2 and additionaly for EPS12V +12V3\+12V4 rails
for an ATX12V v2.0 the CPU, Mobo, RAM, PCI cards, fans attached to the mobo and AGP slot will be on +12V1
and the rest on +12V2, including the auxillary power to the Video Card

then I run a "realworld" worse case senerio,
Its just as likely Im helping someone calculate a NAS as a lean gaming rig
so a "spinup" calculation is the first criteria
all the fans and HDDs\RAID arrays at 100% value and a 25% value for the CPU\GPU, often that will tell me if a more powerful supply is needed simply to boot or if the NAS\SAN need to employ a controller with a delayed spinup option
(common on SCSI controllers, and found on quite a few ATA)
once the fans and HDDs are spinning they will drop to 1\4 of their full rating, so I recalculate with that value as a static load, and throw in a 100% CPU\GPU and single optical (full spinup draw) for a worse case senerio realworld

once I have those baselines I compare the supplies,

Interpreting the veracity of a manufacturer is the tricky part
since we dont get to actually see the engineering test specs
Mike Chin and Lee Garbutt are about the only PSU reviewers I actually trust

generally I start with deducting a third off the rated amps for temperature
and then start to match to the baselines, factor in thermal considerations (PSU placement, type of thermal solution for the rig,) and special factors like overclocking or usage patterns (NAS\Server\Workstation\word processor :p ),

when I actually make recommendations however I typical build in a healthier safety value than the "real world" worse case senerio unless someone has specifically stated they are running a UPS
Click to expand...

as far as brand veracity, Fortron (FSP Group) tends to conservatively rate their supplies
and Thermaltake (rebranded Sirtec\Highpower) is pretty neutral
deduct 1\3rd for temperature in either case, but factor in that as well ;)

my personal brand preference is FSP,
but the differences in models isnt really weighted in that
and I have to fly

sorry
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top