450W Shootout : FSP AX450-PN vs. XClio 450BL

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Anyone know which I should pick? There's only a $2.50 price difference on newEgg and the XClio comes in black.
I realize that Fortron typically underrates their PSUs though, so the 450W FSP might be more like a 500+W?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817189003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954

 

[emilyek]

Your links both lead to the XCLIO =p

The xclio has 32A vs the Fortrons 30A, but is a $10 more.

Both of those are my favorite budget PSU picks.

If I had the extra ten bucks I'd probably go with the xclio, but would guess that they would be pretty close in terms of performance.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

My bad, clipboard bloopers
The Xclio is really only $2.50 more at the egg.

 

[Zepper]

I'd look for a single +12 rail supply instead. In case you hadn't heard, split rail was a BAD IDEA that only got traction because Intel was behind it (who now pretty much ignore it themselves) and the PSU makers saw that they could make a higher profit margin on them (at least for a while). Other than that, it's a tossup. It is unlikely you would get a real dog from either brand. The XClio have mostly been made by Channel Well who also makes most Antec and many Enermax PSUs. The Fortron AX series PSUs are currently unknown quantities. It's the FSP series that has the strong track record.
. I prefer PSUs with active PFC and wide range voltage compensation such as those you can get from Silverstone (mostly made by Enhance) for only a bit more. But those are split rail too. I'd still look for a single rail unit...

.bh.

 

[KoolDrew]

Fortron.

 

[Maluno]

The fortron has 2*18amp 12volt rails, I don't know why he said they only had 30amps total.. Am I missing something here? BTW, I would definately go with the fortron. It is a killer unit for the price!!!

 

[JEDIYoda]

I'd look for a single +12 rail supply instead. In case you hadn't heard, split rail was a BAD IDEA that only got traction because Intel was behind it (who now pretty much ignore it themselves) and the PSU makers saw that they could make a higher profit margin on them (at least for a while). Other than that, it's a tossup

I totally agree!!
In fact Intel has all but shied away from the split rail fiasco!!

 

[MadScientist]

Mike Chin's "Confused about Dual 12V lines? Here's the FAQ!"
Link

 

[Zepper]

"...I don't know why he said they only had 30amps total" writes Makuno.

. It's hard to read on the label pic on the Egg's site, but the total max for the two rails is under 360W (looks like 345W to me but it's hard to read - need to check the Fortron site.) Other ratings for the rails are separate ratings. Both 12V rails come off the same secondary winding in most PSUs (some high end Antecs and a few others being exceptions), so the total you can get between the two is limited by the capacity of that winding. So if you're only drawing say 10 from one then you might be able to get the full 18 from the other. What you can get total is dependent also on what the other + rails are doing, as ALL + voltages except the +5 Standby come from ONE primary winding. So the total across all + rails is limited to the capacity of that one primary winding.

.bh.