Enhance 350w PSU and GF4 4200???

[Therapist928]

Hey guys,

I had some serious problems with my Ti4200. You can read all about them in the video and general hardware forums, just search for 4200 and it's under TI4200 HELP!!!

Anyway, I found out that the problem was my generic 400w PSU, by Skyhawk. I can't find this power supply model anywhere on Skyhawkusa.com's website, and the website doesn't even list max loads at combined 5 and 3.3 volts. However, it is a 400w PS...

Long story short, this PS wasn't doing the job. I found out when I tried a friend's 300w Antec PSU and the card worked perfectly. I finally got up the nerve to go buy a power supply off of newegg.com. It's an Enhance 350w PS with a 220w max combined load for 5v and 3.3v, which from what i hear, seems to be quite a bit, even more than most 400w PSUs.

I suppose I don't need too much help, just your opinion. Heard anything good about Enhance power supplies? Think the 350w PSU will be fine for my system? I've got an AMD Athlon XP 1800+, not overclocked. Epox 8k7a mobo, 1 DIMM of pc2100 256 MB crucial RAM, 60 GB 7200 Barracuda IV HD, Gainward GF4 Ti4200, a 32x Lite On burner, Sound Blaster X-Gamer, generic ethernet card, floppy, nothing overclocked... that's all i can think of. Anyone got a reason why a 400w generic brand would do worse than a 300w Antec PSU? Where does the load from the video card go? 3.3v? 5v? Tell me what you think...

Thanks

 

[AnAndAustin]

From what I've heard (and I hear a lot):

Enermax: Good, perhaps slightly over-rated but solid, stable performers. Perhaps a bit pricey.
Antec: Excellent value for money and at least as good as Enermax.
ToPower: Esp 420, 470 & 520W; as good as Enermax but a fair bit cheaper.
SuperFlower: Esp 470 & 550W; very good too (despite the name), may find them rebranded Atlas.

All the above are high quality PSUs and as such some with 2 quiet (and often smart) fans and therefore vent the CPU area, plus HS inside so fans don't have to be so fast/loud. Very quiet, very reliable and very future proof (as much as PC hw get).

A good friend of mine strongly rec Antec Plus430, 2xPSU fans are quiet & smart ctrl (adjust speed according to heat) and has conn for case fans to be smart ctrl by PSU too.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Anyway, here's the links for more info:

ANTEC

ENERMAX

TOPOWER

SUPER FLOWER

PS. Be sure to go for a 350-400W PSU, you don't want to have to upgrade simply because you tried to save $10!

The unbranded PSUs simply aren't worth it, many people find that their 'XXX 400W PSU is worse than a branded 300W PSU' ... beware!

 

[Mem]

Enhance make good quality PSUs and you should have no problems with the 350w model.

 

[Jolt2]

I have that same Enhanced 350 watt power supply and it runs my machine just fine. Alot of your stuff matches mine (1800xp, CD-RW, etc...), except for the video. I have an ATI 8500 retail card. Anyways, the only negavite thing I have to say about the Enhanced power supply is the noise the fan in mine made. I could not stand the noise. I wound up taking the fan out (voiding the warranty on power supply) and replacing it with a lower cfm, quieter fan.

This brings up another subject that I ran across with the Enhanced power supply. Before I bought a new fan, I checked on Enhance web site and found the spec's for that power supply. The spec's said the fan was 25 cfm. When I removed the fan and replaced it with a 21 cfm fan, my air flow was way way less then I had before and I was afraid I'd burn up the power supply. I checked out the fan I pulled out of the Enhanced power supply and found it was rated at 38 cfm and not the 25 cfm that was spec'ed out by Enhance. I e-mailed Enhance about this and never got a reply back. This also makes me wonder if the other stated spec's on the Enhance are right or not. The power supply works for me and I now have the noise down were I can stand it. If I were to do it again, I'd spend the extra bucks and get the Enermax or any top rated twin fan power supply. I wasted more time and money trying to get the Enhanced supply quieted down then it was worth.