Looking for a good 400W power supply

Parja

Member
Dec 20, 2000
85
0
61
Can anyone tell me some good 400W power supplies and where I might buy them?

I think I'm stressing the 300W power supply in my comp. I'm running a P3-700@933 on an Abit BE6-II with 256mb of Rev2 Mushkin PC133. I'm cooling it with an Alpha PEP66 with a 38cfm beast of a fan on it. I'm also running two other high speed 80mm Sunon case fans, a 45GB 7200RPM EIDE hard drive, a Voodoo5 5500, SBLive, NIC, two CD-ROMS, and a CD-RW drive.

The problem is, when I'm doing things that would use a lot of power (burning CDs, playing intensive 3d games, etc.), I can hear a significant change in pitch (and thus speed) of the fan on my heat sink...which would logically mean a drop in the 12V supply. I also have occasional lock-ups that I think may be attributable to this. I've run stability programs for my processor and video card for many hours with no problems, but occasionally upon loading some games (Mechwarrior 4, in particular), my comp will lock up.

So, am I on the right track here in that a 400W PS might solve some of my problems, or am I just pushing 'er too hard?
 

Turdorf

Banned
Feb 5, 2001
116
0
0
I would recommend the Leadman. Here are the specs.

400W ATX Switchable (115v or 230v) Power Supply (Model #LP-6100D)
Available Wattage: 400 Watts
Low Noise Design
Short Circuit Protection
Over Voltage Protection
Thermal Overload Protection
Dual Ball Bearing Fans
Dimensions: 165mm (d) x 150mm (w) x 85mm (t)

This is a recommended power supply from AMD.

You can find this for $61 at Computer Geeks

 

Bignate603

Lifer
Sep 5, 2000
13,897
1
0
I second the call for an enermax, very high quality supply. They number kind of strange, like a 276 watt, 330 watt etc... They do very well and I would think the 276 watt would kill any generic 300 watt. I've got my t'bird running on a 330watt and it's fine. The dual fan is cool too.
 

CoolTech

Platinum Member
Jul 10, 2000
2,345
3
0
i just want to tell you, never buy leadman, had to return 2 from compgeeks because of it heavily squeaking, very loud shrill noises emitting from it, I went to Enermax and its whisper quiet, best company for ps hands down, nuff said. Btw, compgeeks is a pos company, never buy from them, ever.
 

alpineranger

Senior member
Feb 3, 2001
701
0
76
Before you run out and plunk down a load of money on a (admittedly awesome) ps like the 330 Enermax just because your fan changes pitch, consider this:
If your power supply has a temperature controlled fan like mine (antec p303x), changing pitch with load is something that is supposed to happen. You stress your ps a little more than you normally do, it starts getting hotter, the fan speed changes => the fan pitch changes. If you aren't getting any stability problems / data corruption errors, etc. don't worry.
 

Parja

Member
Dec 20, 2000
85
0
61
Well, my power supply doesn't have a temperature controlled fan, but that's beside the point. It's my CPU fan that's changing pitch. It's not temperature controlled, either.

I mentioned that I have been having some stability problems. I'd like to, at least, get a new power supply so I can rule that out as a culprit...nice to have for future upgrades, anyway.

Thanks for all the help, guys. From the looks of it, the Enermax is the way to go. Now I've just got to decide how big I feel like going. :)
 

MortaniuS

Senior member
Oct 12, 2000
654
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i have about 16 fans in my case runni goff a 430 watt enermax, 1200mhz cpu, the werks! its a great PS
 

Gawker

Junior Member
Feb 9, 2001
17
0
0
Where is the 2nd fan on the 400 Watt Leadman Powermax power supply?

Also, since its AMD approve, does air flow vertically down onto your cpu?


 

Turdorf

Banned
Feb 5, 2001
116
0
0
The fans on the Leadman are: One in the intake and one in the exhaust. Trying to audibly tell the difference in sound from a Enermax and Leadman was impossible even with the case off.