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350W Power Supply, 80 PLUS Bronze efficiency, now $9.99 + shipping

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We've used over 30 of these at my work and so far they've all worked perfectly. Excellent units for the price.
 
HEC 485/585 power supplies, available for years, do not meet ATX specifications, are built with poor to bad quality Chinese capacitors, lack proper protection circuits, and lie about power available. These do blow up taking components with them.
This does not seem to be the case with some current units.
Still, anyone familiar with older HEC units have reason to be doubtful. HEC lied about power ratings and protection.
HEC rates their units at 25 degrees C. Not 40 or 50 as is usual industry standard.
Oh, and warranty claims were impossible.
 
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infoiltrator said:
HEC 485/585 power supplies, available for years, do not meet ATX specifications, are built with poor to bad quality Chinese capacitors, lack proper protection circuits, and lie about power available. These do blow up taking components with them.
This does not seem to be the case with some current units.
Still, anyone familiar with older HEC units have reason to be doubtful. HEC lied about power ratings and protection.
HEC rates their units at 25 degrees C. Not 40 or 50 as is usual industry standard.
Oh, and warranty claims were impossible.
Click to expand...

First of all, source or GTFO. Because I can't anything on the HP485/585 being unreliable or inadequate as an OEM replacement. I wouldn't ever expect a $20 PSU to meet its full-rated wattage on a single rail, anyway. It isn't lying about available power if the total power output matches the PSU rating.

Second, the HP485A/B/C/D are all UL listed. They have all the necessary safety circuits to prevent component damage and fire.

Third, the unit hasn't been in production for years. The HP485A is from 1999 and predates SATA. If that is the model you are speaking of, dude...a lot changes in 15 years. HTC used to make crap, Blackberry used to be king, and Apple was....Apple.
 
There may be a misunderstand about this PS as having a Bronze rating. It's possible that it refers more to being constructed using Bronze Age technology.... rather than to an efficiency rating.
 
Cardio said:
There may be a misunderstand about this PS as having a Bronze rating. It's possible that it refers more to being constructed using Bronze Age technology.... rather than to an efficiency rating.
Click to expand...

It helps to read the OP in full.
 
http://www.plugloadsolutions.com/psu_reports/HEC_HEC-350TA-2RK_ECOS 2638_350W_Report.pdf

Repost because people do like spewing ignorant garbage. Reliability is tied to different variables from performance. This unit can output a voltage that conforms to the ATX spec and doesn't waste a large proportion of energy as heat. No, it won't, on average, last as long as something with Japanese caps, etc, but it is not a bad unit for the price.
 
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Sorry 'bout that. Somehow lost the product link when the original post was updated.

Category link: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...=821&CatId=106

Rebate offer comes and goes. Item has briefly been free after rebate, with free shipping (Black Friday is coming up...). More often it is free after rebate, with ~$4 / unit shipping when 3 are ordered. Has also been sold at 9.99 AR with free shipping. Currently Tiger rebates put Newegg to shame. Often get the standard service level rebate check before the credit card bill is due.
 
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Looked, skipped, nothing I build I would want this low of quality PS in. I could see using it for some applications, like building 20 cheap systems for work where you can amortize a few failures or a shorter average life, but in a "one for yourself" situation removing the variable of issues due to poor PS far exceeds the cost of something decent.
 
mikeford said:
Looked, skipped, nothing I build I would want this low of quality PS in. I could see using it for some applications, like building 20 cheap systems for work where you can amortize a few failures or a shorter average life, but in a "one for yourself" situation removing the variable of issues due to poor PS far exceeds the cost of something decent.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I view it the opposite. I would never put this into a client/family/friends box but one for myself yes. At least if it goes I already have a very good idea whats wrong.

I've used a few HEC psu's in the past and free is about the most I would pay for one.
 
monkeydelmagico said:
Hmmm, I view it the opposite. I would never put this into a client/family/friends box but one for myself yes. At least if it goes I already have a very good idea whats wrong.

I've used a few HEC psu's in the past and free is about the most I would pay for one.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree, not something I would put in any "single build" situation, but might consider if I was putting together a batch of identical systems where types of failures could be tracked and corrected. Twenty system and a $50 upgrade in PS is worth a $1000, I can do some troubleshooting etc for that kind of money. Single system and $50 upgrade is just $50, so a rock solid PS costs less than an hour of my time.
 
I like the fact this PSU has four SATA power connectors, I only wish it had the P4 power connector. With that mentioned, most (if not all) Asrock and ECS low power boards (atom, Celeron ULV, Kabini, bobcat, VIA) do not have the 4 pin 12V on them.
 
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Computer Bottleneck said:
I like the fact this PSU has four SATA power connectors, I only wish it had the P4 power connector. With that mentioned, most (if not all) Asrock and ECS low power boards (atom, Celeron ULV, Kabini, bobcat, VIA) do not have the 4 pin 12V on them.
Click to expand...

ATX 1.3 lack the P4 connector. ATX 2.01 and newer should have the P4 (ATX12V) connector.

I would be very surprised to find it missing on these PSUs.
 
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