Fortron have bad capacitors

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harobikes333

Platinum Member
Sep 18, 2005
2,390
7
81
daily-page.com
I'm lost..... in this PSu battle between everyone!

:\ does anyone have any suggestions for a psu with:

x2 3800+
2 gig ram
DFI mobo
XFX 7800Gt
One dvd burner
floppy
seagate 250Gb hdd

and I think thats it........ mabe....
 

thirdlegstump

Banned
Feb 12, 2001
8,713
0
0
I've had mixed results with Fortrons. Had 2 explode on me within 6 months while 3 others are still working fine for almost 2 years. Not sure if I'll be using them again.
 

orangat

Golden Member
Jun 7, 2004
1,579
0
0
Originally posted by: harobikes333
I'm lost..... in this PSu battle between everyone!
:\ does anyone have any suggestions for a psu with:
x2 3800+
2 gig ram
DFI mobo
XFX 7800Gt
One dvd burner
floppy
seagate 250Gb hdd
and I think thats it........ mabe....

Your system probably couldn't draw more than 300-350W at most. So get a ps from a reputable manufacturer that rates it products correctly according to sustained output (like PCPC, Seasonic) instead of peak output for 350W at least and a little more for some buffer and future upgrades.

Edit - I forgot to mention ps supplies should have the bulk of its output on the 12v rail.
 
Feb 19, 2001
20,155
23
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Originally posted by: designit
Originally posted by: rise4310
lol. i feel bad for new members who seek psu advice here.

its funny though to see the same people that say things like "well, antec isn't really a quality psu maker" or "i'd never use antec for oc'ing" when shown a few threads of problems now say "well anyone can find a problem with any psu maker" when its their favorite brand having a few problems. (not you maluckey)
right on.
That Raildogg kept promoting FSP against antec and at times bashing it- even went further bringing alive another dead thread that another clueless individual had started a while back on Antec, thus confusing that new member seeking good advise on PSU. I started this thread to show his/her Fortron beloved company has a few problems of its own.
I also noticed that this individual kept pressing on "no need for good ram and cheap ram is just as good and ram does not effect overclocking". This person is a diamond member and proves that quantity of posts does not make you an expert.

Exacatly. I'm tired of those FSP fanboys because I swear Antec has served me well with Smart Power, True Power, TruePower 2.0....
 
Nov 11, 2004
10,855
0
0
Originally posted by: harobikes333
I'm lost..... in this PSu battle between everyone!

:\ does anyone have any suggestions for a psu with:

x2 3800+
2 gig ram
DFI mobo
XFX 7800Gt
One dvd burner
floppy
seagate 250Gb hdd

and I think thats it........ mabe....


How much money ya got to spend? PC P & C is where the moey is for 150% stability and rock stable rails. Expensive guys though.

Bang for the buck, you want to look at Antec, Seasonic, FSP/Sparkle and Enermax.
 

Cheezeit

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2005
3,298
0
76
Originally posted by: DLeRium
Originally posted by: designit
Originally posted by: rise4310
lol. i feel bad for new members who seek psu advice here.

its funny though to see the same people that say things like "well, antec isn't really a quality psu maker" or "i'd never use antec for oc'ing" when shown a few threads of problems now say "well anyone can find a problem with any psu maker" when its their favorite brand having a few problems. (not you maluckey)
right on.
That Raildogg kept promoting FSP against antec and at times bashing it- even went further bringing alive another dead thread that another clueless individual had started a while back on Antec, thus confusing that new member seeking good advise on PSU. I started this thread to show his/her Fortron beloved company has a few problems of its own.
I also noticed that this individual kept pressing on "no need for good ram and cheap ram is just as good and ram does not effect overclocking". This person is a diamond member and proves that quantity of posts does not make you an expert.

Exacatly. I'm tired of those FSP fanboys because I swear Antec has served me well with Smart Power, True Power, TruePower 2.0....

And all the time, I can call you an Antec Fanboy ;) Fortron has served me very well but I would have no problem useing an antec in my rigs even though I usually use fortron. What I mean is, it dosen't really matter which antec or fortron you use, they are both great PSU companies. I assume we can all agree on that?

And what are you meaning by FSP fanboys? Do you mean the ones that actually bash antec for fortron? I can agree on you with that, but not just people who prefer fortron over antec.

My bluestorm 500 has served me well, but thanks for notifying us that there are potential problems.:)
 

GalvanizedYankee

Diamond Member
Oct 27, 2003
6,986
0
0
I just changed out the 80mm BB .22A fan on a FSP400 while cleaning it out. This was just preventative mantainance.

It had been used at least 6 hours a day for over three years. All the caps were examined as best i could using a magnifier. All looked good. Another three years maybe.

From what i have read the chemical suppier was the party responsable for the BO Caps.
So the substandard caps could show up in/on almost any product.


Galvanized
 

designit

Banned
Jul 14, 2005
481
0
0
Galvanized, my antec sp2 has 2 fans inside and one is off and will kick on load. But in 6 months usage the 2nd fan has never kicked on. Do you think it is a good Idea to rewire it to run continuously? I have seen people tweak their ps, do you think I should do as mentioned to prolong the life of caps/ps?
 

Cheezeit

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2005
3,298
0
76
Originally posted by: designit
Galvanized, my antec sp2 has 2 fans inside and one is off and will kick on load. But in 6 months usage the 2nd fan has never kicked on. Do you think it is a good Idea to rewire it to run continuously? I have seen people tweak their ps, do you think I should do as mentioned to prolong the life of caps/ps?

Probably no problem, buddy. Just that you most likeley haven't loaded your PSU enough for it to need that extra fan. What are your specs and what do you do?
 

GalvanizedYankee

Diamond Member
Oct 27, 2003
6,986
0
0
OP,I am not a well experiance electrition when it comes to desktop PCs, my background includes
alot of computer maintanance/repair/programing for monitoring diesel power plants.

I would run Prime 95 for a good while and see if the other fan kicks in. As the load ramps up with this old FSP, the fan does too.

PSUs used to be judged somewhat by how heavy they were. This meaning large sinks and heavy gauge windings. One of the things about the current multi-fan units and w/120mm fans
is the PSU is lighter. I did my first build three years ago using a FSP 400watt 120mm fan that was adjustable,it was much lighter than the one with the 80mm fan. I sold this to a friend and it's still working up in Maine.
The point of all this, is that an ATX PSU is a givin size and compromise might enter the picture at the same time a 120mm LED fan does.

I swore I'd never do it, but when this FSP400-60PFN was open i nudged up the voltage to the top of the ATX tolerance. Using a DMM with a fresh battery and clean contacts.
I was most stongly warned not to go over tolerance, particulaly on the +3.3VDC.
This units +12VDC had been running for 3 years at +11.86. Quite stable but low.

I know that there are many highly rated PSUs w/120 fans and this is not meant as an assault on their owners. It's just the way my mechanican head works.

Peace, Galvanized :)

If i'm a fanboy, it's only to Lian-Li, not the 777 however.
 

raildogg

Lifer
Aug 24, 2004
12,892
572
126
well, I guess those recommending PCP&C, Seasonic, Antec, OCZ are not fanboys, huh?

when someone mentions a company that many here are unfamiliar with, they must a fanboy. as for Fortron being the best of the best, that may or may not be the case. they specialize in building powerful workhorse power supplies. period. they are a large supplier to other companies, such as Dell, AOpen and others as rebadges. so they know a thing or two when it comes to reliability.
 
Nov 11, 2004
10,855
0
0
Originally posted by: raildogg
well, I guess those recommending PCP&C, Seasonic, Antec, OCZ are not fanboys, huh?

when someone mentions a company that many here are unfamiliar with, they must a fanboy. as for Fortron being the best of the best, that may or may not be the case. they specialize in building powerful workhorse power supplies. period. they are a large supplier to other companies, such as Dell, AOpen and others as rebadges. so they know a thing or two when it comes to reliability.

I am a fanboy of high performance and working equipment.
 

BigCoolJesus

Banned
Jun 22, 2005
1,687
0
0
Originally posted by: raildogg
well, I guess those recommending PCP&C, Seasonic, Antec, OCZ are not fanboys, huh?



No, i just reccomend the best that thier is


I AM IN NO WAY TAKING SIDES HERE, since i am running an ePower Tagan (good bang for your buck in the high $80's range)....... i even had a 200 post thread going back in July when i was trying to find the best power supply for me

ive researched every PSU there is to offer, and i hold no biased opinion towards anyone company, so my thoughts are unprovoked by "fanboism"......... but honestly, there are better PSU's then Fortron.

There not all that great, i would take a Seasonic over a Fortron ANYDAY. Period.

Yes, it is a good PSU, but its not how you make it out to be raildog
(ie. Its not God........)



PCP&C > Seasonic > Enermax > Antec/Fortron/ePower/Sparkle
 

AmberClad

Diamond Member
Jul 23, 2005
4,914
0
0
Originally posted by: BigCoolJesus
Originally posted by: raildogg
well, I guess those recommending PCP&C, Seasonic, Antec, OCZ are not fanboys, huh?



No, i just reccomend the best that thier is


I AM IN NO WAY TAKING SIDES HERE, since i am running an ePower Tagan (good bang for your buck in the high $80's range)....... i even had a 200 post thread going back in July when i was trying to find the best power supply for me

ive researched every PSU there is to offer, and i hold no biased opinion towards anyone company, so my thoughts are unprovoked by "fanboism"......... but honestly, there are better PSU's then Fortron.

There not all that great, i would take a Seasonic over a Fortron ANYDAY. Period.

Yes, it is a good PSU, but its not how you make it out to be raildog
(ie. Its not God........)



PCP&C > Seasonic > Enermax > Antec/Fortron/ePower/Sparkle

Haha, you lumped his favorite PSU together with his least favorite (Antec). That's sure to get a rise out of him.

*grabs some popcorn*
 

designit

Banned
Jul 14, 2005
481
0
0
Originally posted by: Cheezeit[/i]
Probably no problem, buddy. Just that you most likeley haven't loaded your PSU enough for it to need that extra fan. What are your specs and what do you do?
I have 2 SATA, 1 PATA, a Floppy, 2 IDE(DVD. and CDwr), modem, 6600XT video card,
A64 3000, 2 80mm fans, 1 120mm fan, and all on a 350w sp2.
I don?t do games, just usual PC works and internet.
But I am reading lately many PSU's are using 85c (centigrade) caps instead of 105c.
and caps don?t like heat. But If psu is rated @ 80,000 hrs, that's about 9 years of 24/7, so
If anything happens along the way could be caused by bad caps or other defective components, not good 85c caps.
 

rise

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2004
9,116
46
91
the smartpower2's second fan is supposed to spin up at 50c.
 

raildogg

Lifer
Aug 24, 2004
12,892
572
126
Originally posted by: AmberClad
Originally posted by: BigCoolJesus
Originally posted by: raildogg
well, I guess those recommending PCP&C, Seasonic, Antec, OCZ are not fanboys, huh?



No, i just reccomend the best that thier is


I AM IN NO WAY TAKING SIDES HERE, since i am running an ePower Tagan (good bang for your buck in the high $80's range)....... i even had a 200 post thread going back in July when i was trying to find the best power supply for me

ive researched every PSU there is to offer, and i hold no biased opinion towards anyone company, so my thoughts are unprovoked by "fanboism"......... but honestly, there are better PSU's then Fortron.

There not all that great, i would take a Seasonic over a Fortron ANYDAY. Period.

Yes, it is a good PSU, but its not how you make it out to be raildog
(ie. Its not God........)



PCP&C > Seasonic > Enermax > Antec/Fortron/ePower/Sparkle

Haha, you lumped his favorite PSU together with his least favorite (Antec). That's sure to get a rise out of him.

*grabs some popcorn*

well ok, nice comments there

you are just assuming. Antec is my least favorite? I like Antec. I loved their original Sonata case. but again, wide generalizations

Fortron and Sparkle make workhorse PSUs, many are designed for servers and are able to take a lot of punishment and a ton of usage. their specs may not be as good as PCP&C, but their price more than makes up for it.

if I had the money, I too would buy a PCP&C.
 

AmberClad

Diamond Member
Jul 23, 2005
4,914
0
0
Originally posted by: raildogg
Originally posted by: AmberClad
Originally posted by: BigCoolJesus
Originally posted by: raildogg
well, I guess those recommending PCP&C, Seasonic, Antec, OCZ are not fanboys, huh?



No, i just reccomend the best that thier is


I AM IN NO WAY TAKING SIDES HERE, since i am running an ePower Tagan (good bang for your buck in the high $80's range)....... i even had a 200 post thread going back in July when i was trying to find the best power supply for me

ive researched every PSU there is to offer, and i hold no biased opinion towards anyone company, so my thoughts are unprovoked by "fanboism"......... but honestly, there are better PSU's then Fortron.

There not all that great, i would take a Seasonic over a Fortron ANYDAY. Period.

Yes, it is a good PSU, but its not how you make it out to be raildog
(ie. Its not God........)



PCP&C > Seasonic > Enermax > Antec/Fortron/ePower/Sparkle

Haha, you lumped his favorite PSU together with his least favorite (Antec). That's sure to get a rise out of him.

*grabs some popcorn*

well ok, nice comments there

you are just assuming. Antec is my least favorite? I like Antec. I loved their original Sonata case. but again, wide generalizations

Fortron and Sparkle make workhorse PSUs, many are designed for servers and are able to take a lot of punishment and a ton of usage. their specs may not be as good as PCP&C, but their price more than makes up for it.

if I had the money, I too would buy a PCP&C.

Don't you think this is a bit excessive?
 

raildogg

Lifer
Aug 24, 2004
12,892
572
126
AmberClad,

people want a PSU and I recommend what I think is the most reliable option for them. after reading customer reviews and personal experiences, I believe the FSP line which includes Sparkles are a great choice. plus I have seen them do extraordinary things

however, there is a non-FSP power supply that I would recommend in a second: the Tagan 480W - massive power, quiet and efficient and very reasonably priced from a good company. there