Need a PSU, your advice please.

[Woodie]

So, I'm preparing for my next computer. I have the case (to be modded), but I need a PSU for it.

Case is a full tower
3 x 120mm fans
4 x SCSI HDs
CDRW
CD
nforce2 mobo
AMD 2200+ (or something like that)
Since I have space for it, I'd like to put in some sort of sound dampening material

Typical usage:
email/surfing and some gaming
occasional burning
Seti/other DC project
will be on 24x7
Win2K client
no O/cing

I'd like to get a PSU on the quieter side, though I know that this won't be a particularly quiet machine, because of the HDs and the fans. I'm also pretty cheap, so nothing fancy/expensive. My questions are:

1. How big (watts) a PSU do I need?
2. Particular brand/model recommendations?
3. Additional Mods?
I know I'll have to mod it for a switch, becuase the existing one is AT rocker switch. (Ideas, anyone?)
I want front USB ports, so I'll have to put them somewhere too. Maybe firewire and audio, but I'm not sure yet. (I can't put in retail unit, there's not enough space.)


TIA for your opinions!

 

[xXgambitXx]

1.) personally, i think that big power supplies are overrated. but it never hurts to be safe. go with a 350 to 400 Watt PS.

2.) for total silence, the Zalman's are very nice. other than that, i like Enermax Power Supplies.

3.) you've probably heard of this before, but you can always get a cheap Power Supply and mod it with a different fan. something i've always thought about doing is slapping an 80mm blue LED in a PS. i've switched the fans in my Enermax 350 Watt with 2 panaflo's. 80mm in back and 92mm on the bottom. the stock ones were too loud so i put 2 panaflo's in there. it's very easy as long as you're careful about not touching the rest of the power supply when you open it up, just splice the new fans' power into the old cable.

Coolest Light Switch Ever.

 

[BowlingNut]

with all the scsi drives, multiple fans, and multiple optical drives on top of an axp2200 i wouldnt go for anything less than 350. right now i'm using an enermax 350 and i love it. the antec truepower and smartpower series are very nice, as well as the zalman's mentioned above.
if you want to keep this system on 24/7 make sure it has good cooling for the ps,. especially look into the smartpower series for a quiter solution that will give you a good quality psu that can stay on forever and ever.

 

[Woodie]

Thanks for the responses...I didn't find the Zalman PSUs mentioned (@ newegg) but a lot of people seem to like the Enermax lines.

So, I'm thinking about the EG365P-VE FC
What that translates to is a: 350Watt, Dual fan (80mm output, 90mm intake from the case) with FanControl.
Fan control means that the motherboard can control the 90mm fan speed, based on a temp sensor in front (?) of the fan. The site talks a little about noise control, but I think that's related to controlling the fan speed.

Newegg rates it 5 stars (38 reviews) but it's pricey at $52.

Antec 350W is $48
350Watt, Dual fan. Also has some case-fan leads, so the PSU can control their speeds. NewEgg says the fans are thermal control, but Antec's site doesn't say anything about that.

I guess I'm thinking that the Enermax sounds better. (Long case leads isn't a bad thing either )

Thanks for your input folks.

 

[TumBO]

Check out this article... Link

I'm running an EG465P-VE FC (VERY quiet) with 4 HD's, 4 case fans (1 120, 3 80), AMD 1600+ (not oc'd), DVD, CD-R, GeForce2 Pro, SB Live, NIC, and 256x2 RAM with no problems. But, after reading that article, I would have gone with an Antec True380.

 

[AntecCSR]

SL350's fans are thermally controlled (all SmartPower power supplies are).

AntecCSR

 

[drewdogg808]

i actually have the EG365P-VE FC, and it's pretty nice but i'm thinking of getting an antec tru power. i hear they're a little bit quieter and their voltages don't fluctuate as much as enermaxes.

 

[Woodie]

Thanks for the link tumBO...I'm reading it now.

AntecCSR... thanks for the info. How are the fans controlled? Is it both fans? Does the mobo control the fan speed, or is it entirely within the PSU? What about the case fan leads--are they controlled by the mobo or the PSU? What about monitoring--can MBM (or a comparable product) monitor fan speed?

 

[dannybin1742]

check out my rig, antec true 480, hold rails great, has leds in fans, and is fairly quiet, i run 4x120s, 2x80s, 1x15k hd, 2x7200hds, 2 optical drives, got mine from newegg.com this summer

 

[Egrimm]

I couldn't be more satisfied with my Enermax EG465P-VE FC. It's pretty silent and all voltages are stable and above the specs (12v=12,288 5v=5.107 3.3v=3.328) with an oc'ed P4 and 5 hd', see Baudros Ice under My Rigs for more details of my setup.

 

[tuan121]

i got the antec truepower 430. excellent power supply and VERY quiet. like alot better than my previous enermax whisper 300 watter.

 

[Sm0kes]

Its all pretty much what you're willing to spend. I've had a Powerman 300w supply that came with my Inwin Q500 Full Tower for like 5 years. Only now is it finally starting to die on me. I was looking all over to try and find and figure out what I needed, but instead I just said screw it ... and got an Antec Trupower 550W. It was only a few dollars more than the 480w, which was only a few dollars more than the 430w ... hehe ) While I was at it I picked up a Lian Li PC60USB It was only like ~$220 shipped for the pair.

I'm gonna be pushing:

Athlon XP 1800
Abit KG7
512 Crucial DDR
Geforce2 GTS 32mb
Netgear NIC
Aureal Vortex2 2500 (with optical out)
Adaptec 2940UW
Plextor 10/12/32 SCSI
Plextor 40x SCSI
4 x 120GB WD 8MB cache HDs
5 x 80x80 Case Fans

So was the 550watt overkill? Perhaps..... but then again, I plan on slowly upgrading my box to a newer board (KT400 or P4 variant) and the latest CPU, as well as the next generation power hoggin video card. My mentality is, why buy crap to hold you over, when you can buy some quality beefy stuff to start with .... and not have to second guess later.

You're running a decent amount of hardware, and it appears as if you've stuffed your box with the latest and greatest, so I imagine upgrades are ineviatable in the future. But i'd get what you can afford ... 550 may be extreme, anywhere from 430 - 480 should be more than sufficient, with 350 being a minimum.

Just my 2 cents ....
sm0kes

 

[Woodie]

Thanks for all the opinions folks. I think I'm going to get the Antec TruePower380, because:

1. Positive comments from users, and no negatives.
2. THG review
3. Capacity meets my requirements (even if it overloads a bit)
4. Dual fans
5. Automatic fan speed control
6. Wires are long enough for my full tower case
7. Noise level appears to be a tad lower than the Enermax (based on THG)
8. It's $4 cheaper than the Enermax at newegg.

 

[DealyDo]

i got the antec truepower 430. excellent power supply and VERY quiet. like alot better than my previous enermax whisper 300 watter

I just replaced my 550W Enermax with the Antec Truepower 430W. It was on open box table for $45.00 at BB) It is quieter. There a small high frequency whine, not much mind you, that the Enermax fan put out.

I'm on a quest for quiet. Added a Zalman CPU cooler last week also.