Is enermax actually the best?

[smp]

I have a Antec 1030b (so 300W antec PSU) .. I have been running my 1.4 @ 1.53 for a few days testing stability and it was great. I bumped up the multiplier one more and everything works GREAT! .. cept for one thing, I don't think the PSU is up to the challenge. Even before, when I had my 900 @ 1070 in this box I'de get the occasional random reboot, I just lived with it, it only happened like once every two weeks. Running the 1.4 @ 1.6 and it happened twice in about 15 minutes, so yeah, need new PSU.
I'm hesitant to get an enermax, I run a 300W enermax on my server, but it is only a BX board with an old celeron on it, so of course, no problems.
I hear people complaining about the 5V rail and stuff sometimes and I just wonder. Can someone fill me in on the 5V rail business, what's a rail? Is that just source 5V that goes to the board?
Anyways, i'm thinking about grabbing a 350W enermax for this box, should it be okay? Or maybe someone can recommend something else. I don't have too many options because I don't want to spend a lot of money and because enermax and generic is about all you can get around here.
I won't hesitate to shop around the FS/FT forum for something though if anyone has a recommend.
Thanks.

 

[rockhard]

I will not touch Enermax PSU's with a ten foot barge pole.
Apparently if any of their PSU's hose the rest of your Hardware like mobo, ram, cards etc it has been posted on the net they will not accept responsibility whatsoever, even though its their PSU that has hosed all your expensive Hardware!
Check the rails on that Antec - you may well find it has more umph than supposed better PSU's with higher watt rating! :Q
I just had a Aopen 300 watt PSU go through my hands and it had better rail ratings than any 350 watt PSU i have seen thus far.

 

[smp]

Check the rails on that Antec - you may well find it has more umph than supposed better PSU's with higher watt rating!

Um.. <DUMB>I'm not really up on power issues or anything, I'm not too sure what a rail actually is or how to check it. If that's just 5V value? Mine is at 4.93 right now, this is what VIA hardware monitor is telling me that came with my KG7.


edit: The reason that I am blaming the PSU however, is because my old case had a unknown "achme" brand 300W psu and it never happened. After I upgraded my case (and I thought my PSU) the random reboots started happening, and it seemed, when there was a spike, like if I spun up a CD or I was playing quake or something.
</DUMB>

 

[$pade]

enermax just happens to be the most popular choice but there is not test to my knowledge that it is superior to antec psu. However anand did a test a long time ago when the athlon just came out and consumed huge amount of power and the selction of a psu was very critical. The results showed the 300 watt antec psu at that time came to be the top performer of the review. It was even more reliable than some of the other 400 watts psu. The second best was sparkle I believe, but I don't think enermax was tested. You may be able to find the artice in the archive.

 

[ronein]

yeah, those AOPEN PSU's are ok, but they arent actually made by aopen. I think they are the same ones made under the Sparkle and Powerman PSU's.

Thats just my 2centavos.

 

[smp]

It would suck for me to spend 65 + tax (15% here ) CND for a power supple (the 350 enermax) and have it do the same thing as this one, that's all I'm really worried about. I mean, I know there are no garautees when you're OC'ing, but random reboots don't seem like chip instability to me, maybe someone knows better though, but I associate lock ups and BSOD's and stuff like that to overclocking, when you push it too far (or not booting at all). Am I wrong?

 

[spanky]

no problems here with my enermax EG651P-VE. very happy... i'd recommend it

 

[The Stigenator]

is enermax alright if your not overclocking.

I built a system for a neighbour.. it uses an enermax powersupply.. should i worry. I have a spare Enlight 340W psu collecting dust.

The system is an Athlon XP 2000+ system.

 

[smp]

I think if you're not overclocking it doesn't matter that much. I have 4 case fans, two cpu fans (don't ask, it's temporary) two rom drives and the regular stuff, plus a 1.4 which is a power hungry chip that is being overclocked.

 

[rockhard]

After reading your thread more carefully i would be inclined to think you may be expecting too much of your CPU rather than it being a PSU issue.
I have a 1.6A Northwood and it wont overclock to the 133 fsb everyone else is bragging about. Seeing as im not a big gamer and couldnt give a monkeys about a few fps i soon got over it
I also have an XP 1600+ (1.4 gig) and it too aint too stable at 1.6gig even with decent cooling so you may too be in the same boat.

 

[DARRIN]

I happen to like my 350Watt Enermax.

 

[LordMagnusKain]

Sparkle.

 

[Mem]

<< Or maybe someone can recommend something else. I don't have too many options because I don't want to spend a lot of money and because enermax and generic is about all you can get around here. >>




Good 350w PSUs are Antec,Sparkle and Enermax,I actually have two Enermax PSUs,the 5v rail on my 350w is 5v & the 5v reading on my 431w which is on my Epox board is 4.95-5.00v on average also the 3.3v reading is 3.41 to 3.44v ,never had any issues with low readings etc,however when you overclock it does put more strain on the power supply.

 

[The Sauce]

There was a decent review of the Enermax PSU's recently...wish I could remember where. Anyway they found a huge difference between the various output models. For some reason models with certain outputs were made differently than others. For instance I know for sure that they said that the 350W model was fantastic whereas the 300, 325 and 400W models had some problems. That being said, I have had the 350W model for over a year now and have massively overclocked 2 systems with loads of components (including an Athlon TB 1.0 -> 1.4) and never had a single hiccup. So I don't think these guys really know what the they are talking about. It is true though that there have not been any good recent comparisons. I would highly recommend the 350W Enermax for anyone though, especially the avid overclocker.

 

[Bluga]

<< no problems here with my enermax EG651P-VE. very happy... i'd recommend it >>

 

[mikebb]

Check out PC Power & Cooling's products, they're pretty expensive, but from what I've heard they beat pretty much beat anything else out there (I'll tell you my experience when I can afford the $150+ for one.)

 

[PlatinumGold]

i recently purchased a 350 watt Power and PC coolings PS. I was hoping it would allow a better OC. not to be. i guess the 500watt compusa ps was ok to start off with.

anyway. can't report anything exciting about this ps. of course there is nothing bad about it either.

 

[Draco]

I have the 400 Watt "Silencer" from PC Power & Cooling. It's definitely quiet, and works great. Good solid power. The 5 year warranty is nice too.

 

[Draco]

Oh.. and this would probably be the best alternative to the PC Power & Cooling units, costs less, but should be very reliable.

 

[smp]

Wow! If that sparkle is a cost effective solution ......
Looks like I'm getting the enermax, unless I hear some strong objections..

 

[PlatinumGold]

smp, how much is that enermax your looking at? the power pc and cooling ps i got was like $80.00.

you might wanna consider it.

 

[smp]

smp, how much is that <FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow">enermax</FONT> your looking at? the power pc and cooling ps i got was like $80.00.

If you read the entire thread you would have seen that I live in Canada and that 80 USD is ridiculous in CND funds (about 125).
I said the enermax is 65 and 70 for the fan control model ... this is the 350 and those prices are CND .. so like.. 40 to 50 USD. I don't want to spend 80 USD no way, no how.

 

[emoney]

Comp USA has a 400 watt Antek on sale with rebates for $50. The sale ends on 3-09-02. This ps is not for most P4 setups, but a pigtale can fix that. Thanks, emoney

 

[JoPalm]

I recently put together a new system with an Enermax 350w psu w/ adjustable fan (leave it at the lowest..) and have had no problems. This was my first build too and i'm damn happy . It's really quiet too!! Until I added a case fan in there then that thing just wrecked it all, loud now... lol. It was $69 CDN but the sales man let me upgrade to the enermax for $20 from a 300 powerman .