Mysteries behind AMD approved power supply list? Time for another Anandtech PS roundup?

[Vinny N]

Does anyone have any idea what procedures AMD uses to test Power Supplies for its approved list?

I was just curious to see what power supplies were approved for 1.1ghz and 1.2ghz CPUs...the list has 250w power supplies such as Delta, Enhance, and Sparkle.

No Enermax power supplies though! What's the deal?
The 450w watt is still only approved up to 1ghz, and the 350 is still approved for only up to 950mhz?(keep in mind that the Antec that everyone considers good but not the quality of the Enermax is approved for 1ghz).

Is AMD doing something peculiar in testing or is there some conspiracy at work keeping certain power supplies off that list? Or are Enermax Power Supplies being overhyped?

I think it'd be nice if Anandtech did another Power Supply roundup with a 1.2ghz Thunderbird and the light/heavy system loads that it used before in testing.

 

[vaclav]

Great idea! I agree 1000%.

I have an Aopen KF45A case with 250W Component Pro PS which is NOT on the AMD list. I think mine is ATX 2.01. AMD shows an approved Aopen PS (for Athlons up to 1GHz) which is ATX 2.03. What's the difference? How many watts do you really need for a 1.0/1.1/1.2 GHz T-Bird, a couple of hard drives, GTS2, CD-RW, DVD, and the usual stuff?

 

[Dulanic]

There are a few things they check.....

#1 There has to be 2 fans.... one on the back, and one on the bottom that is right above the CPU.
#2 Of corse it needs to be a certain W.
#3 They check the variances on the lines to make sure they dont vary too much.
#4 They check for noise in the lines from the PSU also, this is the prime reason you can get lockups with older PSUs.

They probably check more, but this is what I know.

 

[timco]

I've got an Enermax 330W PSU and it works just fine... Perhaps the list hasn't been updated yet... I originally bought a 300W PC Power and Cooling PSU which was on the list but when it arrived it didn't have the bottom fan on it so I changed it for the Enermax - don't read too much into the list; I recommend Enermax...