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Antec or Enermax?? I need a new PS quick.

shurato

Platinum Member
I'm sick of my pc rebooting sporadically...I'm gonna just invest in a high quality power supply. I've gone through a 300watt Antec and a 300watt PS from an inwin q500 case. My experience is already soiled with ANTEC but I'm willing to give them another try.
I'm looking at either a Enermax 431Watt or an Antec 430W Power Supply TRUE430 from newegg. The enermax is more expensive but I will pay up to get rid of these headaches and a stable 5v rail.
 
I just put the Enermax 431w PSU in my case, my only complaint being that the exhaust fan from the "quiet" PSU is the loudest part of my PC. But it really isnt all that loud, so basically I have no complaints 🙂 Nice solid 12v+ as well as 5v+ readings.
 
I'd get Enermax even if I hadn't had prior problems with Antec, so since you have, it would be a no brainer for me.

Enermax.
 
I bit the bullet and purchased the Enermax...My previous bad experience with Antec was a deciding factor as the 2 ps'es were pretty much equal in price. I know I can't decide against a brand after 1 bad experience but it was actually 2...I was building a friends system and purchased an Antec case with a 400watt antec ps in there...I know that motherboard monitor's readings can be inaccurate but the 5v rail seemed awfully low at 4.88 at idle.

Again...this is not a knock on antec...i just made this decision based on my personal experience. I know they make great power supplies otherwise people wouldnt be reccomending them on this board. I still like Antec for their awesome cases...I will be using my 1030b case for a really long time. However I hope this enermax helps me with my problems.
 
Looks like I made the WRONG decision by going with Enermax. I was reading AMDMB's forums and found a bit of info. I have an Epox 8k7a motherboard that is notorious for low 5v ratings with enermax ps'es....and just wacky 5v rails in general with the 8k7a. This can be solved by adjusting the POTS which the Enermax does not have. Of course Newegg is awesome and they shipped out my order the same day. So what should I do? RMA the enermax and get the Antec? The sparkle 400w is out of stock at newegg.

How is newegg's RMA with products that are not opened? Will they foot the charge to ship it back to them? I still have some life I want to squeeze out of my mobo + cpu so getting a different mobo is out of the question for now.

I want to test out my geforce4 4400 that is in the same order and I need a new PS as the one I have currently is dying on me! What should I do?
 
Originally posted by: shurato

How is newegg's RMA with products that are not opened? Will they foot the charge to ship it back to them? I still have some life I want to squeeze out of my mobo + cpu so getting a different mobo is out of the question for now.


i RMA'd a PS to them a while ago. it was unopened so they didn't give me a restocking fee. However, there's no way you're going to get them to pay for shipping it back to them. i'm guessing the only reason they'd do that is if something happened where it was THERE fault, not a reconsideration.

My vote goes for the Enermax. however their fans ARE a little louder than Antec's....but all you have to do is perform the "fan mod" and slap some panaflo's in that guy. i've done it to my Enermax and i love it now. practically silent w/ a 92mm & an 80mm panaflo inside it.
 
Thats weird, thats what i thought too but i called and this csr told me otherwise that they would be reimbursing me for shipping, i asked her twice and she told me they would.... maybe she was confused but i specifically told her that I would be sending it back and asked if they'd pay for shipping. Of course its not their fault it doesnt work well with my mobo but i thought id ask... guess we'll have to see. Anyone have experience with the 431w enermax?
 
Originally posted by: shurato
Looks like I made the WRONG decision by going with Enermax. I was reading AMDMB's forums and found a bit of info. I have an Epox 8k7a motherboard that is notorious for low 5v ratings with enermax ps'es....and just wacky 5v rails in general with the 8k7a. This can be solved by adjusting the POTS which the Enermax does not have. Of course Newegg is awesome and they shipped out my order the same day. So what should I do? RMA the enermax and get the Antec? The sparkle 400w is out of stock at newegg.

How is newegg's RMA with products that are not opened? Will they foot the charge to ship it back to them? I still have some life I want to squeeze out of my mobo + cpu so getting a different mobo is out of the question for now.

I want to test out my geforce4 4400 that is in the same order and I need a new PS as the one I have currently is dying on me! What should I do?

Keep the Enermax, the Antec has a low 12V rail as well compared to Enermax.
 
The thing is...there are specific problems with the enermax power supplies with my Epox 8k7a motherboard. Its been noted by many users on amdmb.com in the epox section. I think i'll go with the sparkle 400 as it has adjustable pots for the 5v rail.
 
Originally posted by: ActiveX
get a sparkle ps

I have a 350W Sparkle PSU and it works. 🙂 I did my research before I decided on a sparkle psu, so the reviews are good. Be warned though that it does have a strong fan which blows out a lot of air. If you're looking for a really quiet psu, this might not be the one.

The 12v is usually at 11.7 to 11.8, and the other rails are strong and stable at or a little above what they're supposed to be.
 
My 5v rail is 4.88 at idle. The reason why I need a good PS is because my motherboard is finicky about PS'es because it draws all its power from the 5v rail or something like that....poor design issues on the manufacturer. Also I've isolated my random reboots to either my PS or my video card (its just during 3D games).
 
sorry to bump my own thread. Now my system is starting to reboot on its own during normal use in windows. I dont think its the memory, I tested it with memtest 3.0. The enermax seems to be getting worse reviews and comments over at amdmb.com than the antec. Does anyone know if the Antec 430 true power has the adjustable pots like the Antec 400 watt? After reading about the 5v rail troubles with my epox motherboard, i am realizing now that my antec 300 watt ps wasnt to blame but my crappily designed 8k7a mobo and the way it draws its power.


btw, my system will reboot after running prime95 for a few mins... i did not overclock any part of my system and have set conservative bios settings. My 5v rail dips to 4.81 with prime95 torture test then it reboots. How can you tell if your motherboard is at fault with your problems? I know this sounds like a power supply issue but can't it be the motherboard? How would u even test that.
 
Unplug any fans attached to the Motherboard and run them off the four connectors on the PSU. Too many fans draw an excessive amount of power leading to sporatic reboots. It was a real bear to find it on my system. In my qwest for a cleaner interior, the board mount three pin connetors seemed to be the best bet. Then I switched to a power hungery P4 and a even more power hungry ASUS P4B533-E board. Trouble city for a week. Hope it's your problem also since it's easy to fix.
 
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