AC ripple, what's so bad about it?

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digitaldurandal

Golden Member
Dec 3, 2009
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Ok, so I need a quick response here. I have on order through Amazon the PCP&C mkii silencer 950w.

The reviews said that it did not live up to old PCP&P equipment because of the large ripple at high load, they said it was however well within specifications.

Is this a big enough deal that I should cancel my order? Although it says I may or may not be able to cancel this late.

I can switch to a Silverstone OC-1000 for twenty bucks more.

Should I?
 
lehtv

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
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If it's within specs, you don't really have anything to worry about

Curious about what setup you bought it for though
 
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digitaldurandal

Golden Member
Dec 3, 2009
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I currently am running

i7 920 @ 3.8
6gb DDR3 @ 1600
40gb 320 Intel SSD
2x500gb Seagate in Raid 0
1x2tb Samsung Green
2x670 gtx windforce
CD/DVDR drive
Various case fans

My current Power supply is a PCP&C 750 quad crossfire edition

I had two Evga 670 FTWs end up being bad cards. Decided that perhaps my PSU may have something to do with, I have had it for about 5 years now and put it through the ringer so to speak. It is quite loud when running everything, it has always been a loud PSU but I do not remember it being this loud so I figured to err on the side of caution.

I first bought an XFX 850 core edition. Which is supposed to allow 8 more amps than my current PSU on the 12v rail but when I enabled SLI with it the primary screen started shaking with like rippling darkness and the frames became super choppy. So I sent that POS back to Amazon and ordered this new one.
 
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digitaldurandal

Golden Member
Dec 3, 2009
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TemjinGold said:
Btw, this is a better deal for that PSU:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2257568
Click to expand...

EDIT: I see you are right, they did put the gift cards back up.

Also, I don't think that it did that because it wasn't big enough either. I think it did it because it was a piece of junk, which is why I decided to go with PCP&C, since the price wasn't very much for the watts I figured I may as well future proof myself a little bit.
 
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dma0991

Platinum Member
Mar 17, 2011
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I highly doubt that the PSU is the cause of the problem. Two stock GTX670 would need a total of four 6 pin PCIE connectors, with the version you're having it would be two 6 pin and two 8 pin. Despite the difference, it should be almost the same as the factory overclock is pretty mild.

That being said, I've built rigs with HD6870 dual Crossfire powered by a Corsair GS700 which is a much worse PSU and it still runs fine.
 
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digitaldurandal

Golden Member
Dec 3, 2009
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Yea, I agree dma0991 I am not really confident it is either, but after two RMAs I just didn't want to deal with more hassle. A year from now this rig will be my wife's rig and I will need a second good power supply anyway - so from my point of view it is piece of mind.
 
lehtv

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
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That system should run fine on any decent 750W unit, even 650W units with strong +12v rails and four PCIe connectors would handle it.

This really doesn't come down to how much power you have available. Maybe your original PSU did have something to do with your EVGA 670's dying but if so, it wasn't due to lack of power. Lack of power alone doesn't kill components, out-of-spec power characteristics do, like bad voltages, or the ripple issue you'd heard of. Or maybe your EVGA's just were a bad batch.

Sounds like you had bad luck with the XFX unit. Professional reviews for their units are very solid
 
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digitaldurandal

Golden Member
Dec 3, 2009
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lehtv said:
That system should run fine on any decent 750W unit, even 650W units with strong +12v rails and four PCIe connectors would handle it.

This really doesn't come down to how much power you have available. Maybe your original PSU did have something to do with your EVGA 670's dying but if so, it wasn't due to lack of power. Lack of power alone doesn't kill components, out-of-spec power characteristics do, like bad voltages, or the ripple issue you'd heard of. Or maybe your EVGA's just were a bad batch.

Sounds like you had bad luck with the XFX unit. Professional reviews for their units are very solid
Click to expand...

I agree.

I did not get the 950w because I thought it was necessary for 670 sli. I got it because I do not know what I will buy next, and this much power pretty much guarantees I can run at least any two cards and most 3 card setups too.
 
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Anarchist420

Diamond Member
Feb 13, 2010
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Just being within ATX spec isn't enough for me, although I can certainly see why vendors sell parts that are barely within spec.

Anyway, ripple sucks because it's electrical noise. It may or may not be noticeable in the short term (depending upon how high it is and what components you use), but ripple that's just barely within spec will definitely be in the long term.

A lot of voltage deviation on the rails also sucks. I've never liked PSUs with top intake fans, so I think the OP may have made a mistake by selling his PC P&C 750W Silencer... those are actually pretty good even if they aren't quite as good as my Antec Sig 650.

I personally think there should be multiple grades of ATX spec based upon ripple and rail deviation, like a gold, silver, and bronze (they do that for power efficiency, but it's just pass/fail for ripple and rail deviation if I'm not mistaken). OTOH, they're actually not needed because of reviewers like Jonny Guru, HardOCP, and AT (among others).
 
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digitaldurandal

Golden Member
Dec 3, 2009
1,828
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Anarchist420 said:
Just being within ATX spec isn't enough for me, although I can certainly see why vendors sell parts that are barely within spec.

Anyway, ripple sucks because it's electrical noise. It may or may not be noticeable in the short term (depending upon how high it is and what components you use), but ripple that's just barely within spec will definitely be in the long term.

A lot of voltage deviation on the rails also sucks. I've never liked PSUs with top intake fans, so I think the OP may have made a mistake by selling his PC P&C 750W Silencer... those are actually pretty good even if they aren't quite as good as my Antec Sig 650.

I personally think there should be multiple grades of ATX spec based upon ripple and rail deviation, like a gold, silver, and bronze (they do that for power efficiency, but it's just pass/fail for ripple and rail deviation if I'm not mistaken). OTOH, they're actually not needed because of reviewers like Jonny Guru, HardOCP, and AT (among others).
Click to expand...

I did not sell my PCP&C.
 
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