• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Need advice on a good power supply

M

Mercmaster

Golden Member
Hey guys,

I've purchased most of my parts for an upgrade for myself after upgrading my wifes system and I'm down to the last major component to get to finalize my rig.

My question is, does anyone own either one of the power supplies below and/or have any experiences with either one. I'm kinda leaning towards the Enermax, I've read that the OCZ's are a little bigger and you may have problems fitting it into some cases.

OCZ

or

Enermax



Any input would be appreciated,

MM🙂
 
well based solely on the pictures on newegg the OCZ doesnt come with a 20-24 pin adapter for the ATX connection.. that could be an issue if you need the 24 pin
 
asfd has a good point, especially for a sequence of characters produced by pounding on the keyboard: what DO you need a 600W PSU for? It's even overkill for an SLI rig...
 
From the reviews the Enermax edges out the OCZ for being quieter and holding the voltages tighter under heavy load.

No you don't need 600w right now. But then again those same people said you didn't need 300w not too long ago and 300w doesn't cut it.
Those same people also said you could just add a 20-24pin converter to an old power supply. Guess what 1/2 of those are failing.
So why bother screwing around with lower components? You buy a 370w now and then later find out you need more, you end up spending more money on two power supplies instead of doing it right in the first place.
 
Im sorry, but 600w is just outrageous. If you have 3 optical drives 2 hd's, a 6800gt, and an fx-55, you still would be approaching 400watts.

here's a cool little PSU Calcultator to see how much you need. Im guessing its well under 600. You can hardly bust 420Watts unless you're just trying to go crazy on your machine.
 
Thanks for the input guys.

Cool PSU calculator too Brad. Using the calculator it recommends a minimun of ~456watts for what I have right now (less a 6800gt, still using a 9800 at the moment), 4 Hd's, A64 3000+ Oc'd, 1gb ram, 2 optical drives, 1 front bay device, a floppy drive, 1 ext. HD, couple of 120mm fans and a 92mm fan, TB sound card, and an Pci IDE card. So its looking like I'm not going too far overboard with a 600w PSU at the moment.

Next year, maybe a mountain mod box for a case upgrade (can hold 9 HD's), so I'd kinda like it so dont have to upgrade the PSU again for a couple of years.

I'll prolly wind up ordering the Enermax this weekend.

Thanks again,
MM


 
Good choice, that is a sweet PSU and you should get many years of good service out of it. There is not such thing as overkill in the performance PC arena. You can have too little power but you cannot have too much.
 
Guys, i think youre missing the point here. When you overclock with high voltages on your CPU, RAM AND Video card, you WILL need a good size monster to get a high, stable overclock. I run DDR voltage at 4.1v's.. I run CPU voltages at 2.1. Ive had stabilly issues with a monster Fortron ( even with adjusted pots ), solved it with a OCZ Powerstream 530. When i step up to the SLI's. ill have a 600 watter in there. If youre a mild overclocker, you can get away with lower powered PSU's.. When you reach the world of harcore, everything changes. Thats why PSUs of this kind are designed. www.xtremesystems.org is a perfect example of seeing how far your daily run of the mill PSUs can go and where they faulter.
 
Originally posted by: Mercmaster
Thanks for the input guys.

Cool PSU calculator too Brad. Using the calculator it recommends a minimun of ~456watts for what I have right now (less a 6800gt, still using a 9800 at the moment), 4 Hd's, A64 3000+ Oc'd, 1gb ram, 2 optical drives, 1 front bay device, a floppy drive, 1 ext. HD, couple of 120mm fans and a 92mm fan, TB sound card, and an Pci IDE card. So its looking like I'm not going too far overboard with a 600w PSU at the moment.

Next year, maybe a mountain mod box for a case upgrade (can hold 9 HD's), so I'd kinda like it so dont have to upgrade the PSU again for a couple of years.

I'll prolly wind up ordering the Enermax this weekend.

Thanks again,
MM
Click to expand...

well. i had no idea you were gonna go crazy with the juice needs. i apologize for saying 600w was crazy. clearly in your case, it is not.
 
Originally posted by: Mercmaster
Thanks for the input guys.

Cool PSU calculator too Brad. Using the calculator it recommends a minimun of ~456watts for what I have right now (less a 6800gt, still using a 9800 at the moment), 4 Hd's, A64 3000+ Oc'd, 1gb ram, 2 optical drives, 1 front bay device, a floppy drive, 1 ext. HD, couple of 120mm fans and a 92mm fan, TB sound card, and an Pci IDE card. So its looking like I'm not going too far overboard with a 600w PSU at the moment.
Click to expand...
You are going overboard, actually. That PSU calculator is very pessimistic, and it's meant to choose a PSU value that will give you plenty of headroom. I would say that there's no way your current system consumes more than about 250 watts under load, and that's conservative (with a 9800 Pro, I'd bet on it being lower).

Get what you want, of course. Too much power can't hurt anything but your wallet. Just pointing out that 600W is gross excess even for an SLI rig.


Guys, i think youre missing the point here. When you overclock with high voltages on your CPU, RAM AND Video card, you WILL need a good size monster to get a high, stable overclock. I run DDR voltage at 4.1v's.. I run CPU voltages at 2.1. Ive had stabilly issues with a monster Fortron ( even with adjusted pots ), solved it with a OCZ Powerstream 530.
Click to expand...
I assume he wants his gear to last more than two hours. That aside, too many factors have changed for you to actually say for sure that the higher wattage rating of the PowerStream did it for you... PowerStreams are simply better PSUs than Fortrons, after all.
 
Originally posted by: svi



Guys, i think youre missing the point here. When you overclock with high voltages on your CPU, RAM AND Video card, you WILL need a good size monster to get a high, stable overclock. I run DDR voltage at 4.1v's.. I run CPU voltages at 2.1. Ive had stabilly issues with a monster Fortron ( even with adjusted pots ), solved it with a OCZ Powerstream 530.
Click to expand...
I assume he wants his gear to last more than two hours. That aside, too many factors have changed for you to actually say for sure that the higher wattage rating of the PowerStream did it for you... PowerStreams are simply better PSUs than Fortrons, after all.[/i]
Click to expand...


I get more then 2 hours worth of operation out of a highly OC'd system. Saying a Fortron is inferior to a Powerstream is an incorrect statement. Powersteams make it very easy to raise the rails without overloading, which in turn, will fry your ram and cpu. Fortrons have their place, esp for best bang for the buck. Its when you go phase change, the whole situation changes. But, im sure you knew that..
 
Originally posted by: Venomous
Originally posted by: svi



Guys, i think youre missing the point here. When you overclock with high voltages on your CPU, RAM AND Video card, you WILL need a good size monster to get a high, stable overclock. I run DDR voltage at 4.1v's.. I run CPU voltages at 2.1. Ive had stabilly issues with a monster Fortron ( even with adjusted pots ), solved it with a OCZ Powerstream 530.
Click to expand...
I assume he wants his gear to last more than two hours. That aside, too many factors have changed for you to actually say for sure that the higher wattage rating of the PowerStream did it for you... PowerStreams are simply better PSUs than Fortrons, after all.[/i]
Click to expand...


I get more then 2 hours worth of operation out of a highly OC'd system. Saying a Fortron is inferior to a Powerstream is an incorrect statement. Powersteams make it very easy to raise the rails without overloading, which in turn, will fry your ram and cpu. Fortrons have their place, esp for best bang for the buck. Its when you go phase change, the whole situation changes. But, im sure you knew that..
Click to expand...
2 hours was exaggeration for the sake of making a point. I was pointing out that extreme overvolting does serious damage to lifetime, something backed up both anecdotally and technically (electron migration goes through the roof). I'm sure you replace your hardware frequently enough that it doesn't matter, but others might not want severely reduced lifetime coupled with a much higher risk of sudden death.

And yes, PowerStreams do make it easy to raise the rails. However, they also supply cleaner power than Fortron PSUs, and they supply more of it. I could say that a Powmax PSU is better than a PowerStream because it's lighter, but that would be incorrect, because the primary duty of a PSU is not to be lightweight. Similarly, the primary duty of a PSU is not to prevent against user idiocy if abnormal demands are made of it. The primary duty of a PSU IS to supply as much power as the the system needs, and the secondary duty is to supply the power as cleanly as possible. Do you see why your statement was incorrect now, or do I need to explain further?
 
How many people posting here saying 600w for an SLI is excess actually have an SLI setup? If you're running a 6800GT SLI setup the 510w PCP&C or better is required. If not then don't even think about overclocking it. Personally I prefer the OCZ to the enermax because the enermax isn't really putting out the amperage (In real world usage) its suggesting for retail marketing.

Also, its ALWAYS better to go over board when buying a new PSU. If you try to skimp and find out the PSU won't power your rig then you only have one person to blame. Calculate the wattage you're going to be using, slap on another 10% or so if you're going to overclock it. Now lets just say that adds up to be about 300watts. I would buy a 350watt quality PSU.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top