Help me decide between these 400W+ PSU's

[Lyfer]

From newegg (budget of ~$60)

Antec Smartpower 400W- $60
Allied True 450W- $42
Thermaltake 420W (w/Active PFC)-53
Enlight 420W - $55
Vantec ION-400W $59


Will go in to a new Kingwin KT-424 Black Aluminum chassis. Rig will be running an Abit IS7/P4 2.6@3.25GHZ/1GB DDR400/AIW Radeon 9800PRO/2+ 7200RPMS drives/2 optical drives/TV tuner/4-5 80MM Fans. I want future proof and maximum stability at my achieved overclocked speeds. Don't really care about the noise as long as it doesn't scream like a tornado.


Right now I've got my eyes on the Vantec Ion-400w because of the professional look and inclusion of SATA power cables.

 

[mechBgon]

Just FYI, I got a retail-boxed Antec TruePower430 about a week ago from Newegg and not only does it have SATA plugs, but all of the plugs are a pleasing solid black color There are some other changes too, like an Antec logo stamped into the enclosure's sheet metal, hexagonal holes instead of slots (maybe for EMI reduction, it's the length of an opening that counts for EMI), and an external 4-pin power receptacle.

I didn't bring my camera home with me or I'd take a couple of photos for you. This one's in my home system, so if you need a precise cable/plug loadout, LMK and I'll enumerate.

 

[Lyfer]

The truepower 430w is out of my financial reach. Trying to stay under ~$60.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Lyfer
The truepower 420w is out of my financial reach. Trying to stay under ~$60.

Dude. You have a Radeon 9800 Pro but you can't swing an extra $15 for a TruePower? I'm still gaming on a crummy $47 GeForce2 GTS-V here.

11. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's video adapter.

 

[DahDee]

Looks like Newegg still has a few good deals (Sparkle, Forton) on refurbished PSUs, too:

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduct.asp?submit=list&catalog=58&Type=Refurbish&order=price&sort=asc

Edit: Ouch, that refurb Antec True480 for $39 shipped would have been nice!

 

[Lyfer]

Sparlke 460W PSU looks interesting for $46. Is it still under manufacturers warranty after the 15day newegg warranty?

 

[Nebor]

I'll be buying a Zalman 400w PSU soon. Super stable, great power, and best of all.... nearly silent. If you're looking for Under 60 bucks though, it's no good.

 

[MaNTiS82]

I just ordered the Antec 430. Hopefully it'll be the new ones that you recieved. I wouldn't recommend the Allied psu. After less than a year the +3.3V line on my Allied 400W has dropped to between 3.10 - 3.18.

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Just FYI, I got a retail-boxed Antec TruePower430 about a week ago from Newegg and not only does it have SATA plugs, but all of the plugs are a pleasing solid black color There are some other changes too, like an Antec logo stamped into the enclosure's sheet metal, hexagonal holes instead of slots (maybe for EMI reduction, it's the length of an opening that counts for EMI), and an external 4-pin power receptacle.

I didn't bring my camera home with me or I'd take a couple of photos for you. This one's in my home system, so if you need a precise cable/plug loadout, LMK and I'll enumerate.

 

[mechBgon]

Good luck on your new PSU, MaNTiS82, and welcome to the Forums The TruePowers are pretty nice... if you look at the main ATX cable closely, you'll see that there are some pins with dual wires, which is evidently for the PSU's feedback circuitry so it can monitor the voltage right where it's going into the motherboard.

(of course, what the motherboard does with it from there isn't the PSU's problem, and so the real test of your PSU's voltage is to use a digital multimeter on it, not to trust your BIOS or montoring software )

 

[Lyfer]

Well after reading Anand's powersupply round up (part 1 & II), and THG round up, I think the Antec SmartPower 400W should do the job fine. It has +3.3v+5v = 240W which is more than any of the listed four PSU's.


HOw does the smartpower differ from the Truepower other than noise? Will it satisfy an overclock rig?

THanx

 

[Conky]

Another vote for Antec.

I'm running the TruePower430 but it's definitely overkill. The SmartPower400 should work very nicely.

 

[bjc112]

I would either opt for for the Antec of the Enlight..

See what offerings Sparkle has. They are highly respected among the forums also.

 

[Slammy1]

Vantec, because it's the most power efficient of the ones listed.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Lyfer
Well after reading Anand's powersupply round up (part 1 & II), and THG round up, I think the Antec SmartPower 400W should do the job fine. It has +3.3v+5v = 240W which is more than any of the listed four PSU's.


HOw does the smartpower differ from the Truepower other than noise? Will it satisfy an overclock rig?

THanx

TruePower has the fan-only connector; fully-independent lines for 3.3V, 5V and 12V (SmartPower uses the conventional shared 3.3V + 5V setup); tighter voltage regulation with active feedback, and dual-ball-bearing fans (I don't know for a fact whether the SmartPower400 uses dual-ball, ball+sleeve or plain sleeve, Antec doesn't seem to say). Both TruePower and SmartPower have the nice 3-year warranty.

 

[Lyfer]

Originally posted by: Slammy1
Vantec, because it's the most power efficient of the ones listed.

from Anand:

The Ion has a very low +3.3V rail,like Vantec?s 520W Stealth. Unfortunately, the Stealth could make up by having a large +12V rail for Intel systems as well. The Ion will work fine for your basic AMD or Intel system, but those who really push the limit (particularly with a hungry video card) are going to eventually have problems with the low output on this unit.

The Vantec Ion was my first choice, but after reading Anand's PSU round up I'm thinking Fotron/Antec now.

edit: after doing a search on google, other hardware sites who have reviewed the unit seem to praise it. So whos testing method should I trust?

 

[Mark R]

When selecting a PSU, I'd personally go for one with the strongest 12V output. Secondary to that, I'd probably choose efficiency - higher efficiency means lower heat production and lower electricity costs.

It was the case a couple of years ago, that the 3.3V and 5V rails were very important - this is because old AMD systems powered the hungry CPU from the 5V supply.

This is no longer the case, and the big power hogs are now powered from the 12V line. I'd think it unlikely that any modern P4 or AXP system needs much more than about 100W on the 3.3 and 5V lines, unless it has some ridiculously overclocked graphics card.

 

[0roo0roo]

for 60 dollars you should be looking at high end 350watts

 

[smashp]

examine the enermax Route. I remeber reading an article here on anandtech a while back saying their 350-ve-p actually put out like 431W

All i have is enermax now.

And i can tell you this.

My house got hit by lightning in june and out of the three computers that i had hooked into the same power center, The NON-enermax PS failed and toasted the mb. The 2 enermax were ok.

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
for 60 dollars you should be looking at high end 350watts

No need for $60... Sparkle might be one of the BEST PSU makers next to Antec.

1700+@2.4ghz (1.75v)
Epox 8rda+
2 x 512 KHX PC 3200 (2.8v)
9500 Pro
1 x 80GB
1 X 40GB
2x Opitcal Drives
3 Case fans
2 cold cathodes

 

[DahDee]

Wow, Newegg just dropped this refurb Sparkle 550 to $65 (w/ free shipping, as usual on refurbs) (the new one is $100 at Newegg). Yikes!

Link: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&type=Refurbish&submit=Go&description=N82E16817103478R&mark=Catalog

 

[eofeapr]

OK so here's Thermaltake SurePower 430 watt for under 50.00

http://www.ajump.com/ajump/product.asp?dept_id=2164&pf_id=4830028

I build to order and TTakes are my favorite for box and power...

 

[whitelight]

after reading AT's psu roundup, i actually thought the 400w fortron was the best bet.

 

[pelikan]

I vote Sparkle/Fortron. I have the 350W Fortron. Very good rails.

 

[Lyfer]

How long is the warranty on Fotron/Sparkle PSU's? And how are they are RMA?


Thanx.