Should I buy a SeaSonic Power Supply? And which one?

homestarmy

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Apr 16, 2004
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I read earlier that the Ultra X-Connect PSU was one of the least efficient. I found in another post that a person used the Kill-A-Watt meter to find that he saved 50w continuously by switching from an Antec 400w PSU to a Seasonic model. Is this possible?

In that thread, someone did the math, and the 330w PSU would pay for itself in under 1.5 years in my situation (running PC 24 hrs a day) if I saved 50w continuously, plus hopefully the room could be cooler overall - less heat generated.

So this makes me want to pick up a Seasonic... it will pay for itself anyway, right?

I am not sure which PSU I would need for my setup.

Sempron @ 1.58v (when at full load)
Two HDDs, one running most of the time, downloading
Two DVDRW drives
Radeon 9550 and not looking to upgrade (not a gaming computer)
2GB RAM

Would the 330w one be enough?

Link to all SeaSonic PSU's at Newegg

And again, is it realistic to save a constant 50w when changing from one to the other?

Thanks!!
 

essasin

Platinum Member
Mar 4, 2004
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Just because a powesuppply says 400 or 330 watts does not mean it contastantly runs that all the time.
 

thecoolnessrune

Diamond Member
Jun 8, 2005
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Seasonics are rated at RMS. Its the super budget models that rate at Super Ultra Peak with all components being triple cascade cooled. If a seasonic says 430 watts, then that is the max amount it can put out at a normal level (Althought it wont use that if your system doesn't require it).
 

homestarmy

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Originally posted by: essasin
Just because a powesuppply says 400 or 330 watts does not mean it contastantly runs that all the time.

Yes, I know this. But according to this page, it says that it takes up a whole lot more power than the Seasonic. And being less efficient will cost me money on my power bill and help heat up my case and the room.
 

Operandi

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
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Originally posted by: homestarmy
thoughts?

The X-Connect is one of the worst PSUs there is; you should trash it regardless of it's efficiency.

More to your point the 330 watt S12 is a great PSU with some of the highest efficiency numbers out there.
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
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You'd save a great deal more by turning your rig off when your not using it. That option pays for itself in the first second.
 

mikester

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Originally posted by: homestarmy
But I access it remote desktop from work and generally have torrents running 24/7.

Will the Wake On Lan power management settings work in this instance? I haven't tried it, but I've been thinking of doing it for my media server.
 

furballi

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Apr 6, 2005
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The best option to save $ is to turn-off the PC when it is not in use. Do you sleep? That's at least 5 hours of power saved per day. As to the power draw, the average PSU (70% efficiency) will consume about 200 watts PEAK with your rig! If it is idling (most of the time), then the load will be less than 130 watts. It will take a very long time to pay for the extra cost of the Seasonic.

I have an $16 Antec SmartPower 350 V2.0 powering a similar rig. The maximum load is around 150 watts. The 12V rail is 12.15 to 12.21VDC as measured by a calibrated DMM. The PSU runs cool at full load...translation...high efficiency...at least 75% and probably better than 80% at full load. This PSU is found in the Antec SLK2650 case currently on sale at CompUSA for $30 AR. Order one online and arrange to pickup in-store. Sale ends tomorrow.

THERE IS NO WAY the Seasonic will save you 50 watts on a continuous basis. Best case is about 20 watts at PEAK LOAD.
 

Bobthelost

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Dec 1, 2005
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Seasonics are one of the most efficent out there, but you should consider any other PSU that's on the 80+ list. Also try and get the smallest PSU you are sure will work, while efficency drops off at the max wattage it's normally less than what happens when you try to run a PSU at a low percentage of it's maximum output.

Other things to do to cut power, undervolt that semperon of yours, unless you need the CPU speed then it's just sucking up power, think about getting a different motherboard with integrated graphics from ebay, enable any sort of power conserving software you can find.

Don't forget to turn off the monitor too.

Oh and there is no way on earth you'll save 50W, for a low spec machine like yours it may hit 100W for the time it's running (rough guestimate) from the PSU, a 60% efficency PSU will draw ~160W from the wall, an 80% efficent PSU like the seasonic will draw ~125W, that's a 35W improvement. According to that review you're looking @ around 20W difference from the wall. For a higher powered system than yours, which means the difference will be even less for you.
 

homestarmy

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Originally posted by: furballi
The best option to save $ is to turn-off the PC when it is not in use. Do you sleep? That's at least 5 hours of power saved per day.

First, it is generally downloading overnight. Second, I would rather not have to remember to turn it back on every morning.

Originally posted by: furballi
I have an $16 Antec SmartPower 350 V2.0 powering a similar rig. The maximum load is around 150 watts. The 12V rail is 12.15 to 12.21VDC as measured by a calibrated DMM. The PSU runs cool at full load...translation...high efficiency...at least 75% and probably better than 80% at full load.

I know this PSU as I had it for a while, but it didn't do much for ventilation. And it seems that you are doing a lot of estimating just by the fact that "it runs cool"...
 

homestarmy

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Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Seasonics are one of the most efficent out there, but you should consider any other PSU that's on the 80+ list. Also try and get the smallest PSU you are sure will work, while efficency drops off at the max wattage it's normally less than what happens when you try to run a PSU at a low percentage of it's maximum output.

Other things to do to cut power, undervolt that semperon of yours, unless you need the CPU speed then it's just sucking up power, think about getting a different motherboard with integrated graphics from ebay, enable any sort of power conserving software you can find.

Don't forget to turn off the monitor too.

Where do I find the 80+ list? And the Sempron has since been replaced with an Athlon. I had the Sempron running Cool n Quiet which undervolted to 1.28v, but I haven't been able to do it with the Athlon 64 at it's current OC. I'll have to play with it...

And my monitor shuts itself off, or rather goes to sleep. It's a Dell 2005FP.
 

MWink

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Oct 9, 1999
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I think people are blowing the whole efficiency thing way out of proportion. I've tested a number of PSU's ranging from high rated came-with-a-$25-case units, to FSP's, to Antecs, the Seasonic S12, and the PC Power and Cooling Silencer. I tested them in the same systems and measured their draw with a Kill-a-Watt.

The results showed that the difference, in draw, in watts is very small. Only about 10 watts from the best to the worst. The biggest difference was in the draw in VA. The units with active PFC's had a much lower draw in VA's. The units without PFC's could draw well over 100VA more.

This means that if you're concerned with your computer's draw in watts, a different PSU may not make much difference at all. Honestly it would NOT likely pay for itself during its useful life. If you're concerned with draw in VA then one with an active PFC would be a good idea. Just remember most people (at least in the U.S.) pay for Kilo-Watt-hours.
 

0roo0roo

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Sep 21, 2002
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Seasonics are one of the most efficent out there, but you should consider any other PSU that's on the 80+ list. Also try and get the smallest PSU you are sure will work, while efficency drops off at the max wattage it's normally less than what happens when you try to run a PSU at a low percentage of it's maximum output.


according to the 50/75/100% load testing the custom pc magazine did a few months back the seasonic doesn't drop efficiency at even max load. heck it even stays cool, thats why its tops:) the best part is how slowly its fans spin up and how cool it is, stability and quiet. there are other efficient psus but most aren't as quiet.
 

homestarmy

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Apr 16, 2004
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Originally posted by: MWink
I think people are blowing the whole efficiency thing way out of proportion. I've tested a number of PSU's ranging from high rated came-with-a-$25-case units, to FSP's, to Antecs, the Seasonic S12, and the PC Power and Cooling Silencer. I tested them in the same systems and measured their draw with a Kill-a-Watt.

The results showed that the difference, in draw, in watts is very small. Only about 10 watts from the best to the worst. The biggest difference was in the draw in VA. The units with active PFC's had a much lower draw in VA's. The units without PFC's could draw well over 100VA more.

This means that if you're concerned with your computer's draw in watts, a different PSU may not make much difference at all. Honestly it would NOT likely pay for itself during its useful life. If you're concerned with draw in VA then one with an active PFC would be a good idea. Just remember most people (at least in the U.S.) pay for Kilo-Watt-hours.

Thanks very much for the information!

Unfortunately, I am not sure that I understand the relationship between Volt-Amps and Watts. I thought that Volts x Amps = Watts, so they were essentially the same thing? There must be something simple that I am missing, would you or anyone care to point that out?

I am billed by Kilowatt hours btw.
 

Bobthelost

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Dec 1, 2005
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Ok, the VA thing is in reference to a PSU that has power factor correction.

The issues around PFC is complicated, and i'm not up to explaining it all, but the short version is that some power companies charge you for having something called "reactive power" and computers are known for having quite a bit of this for various reasons. In the UK/EU you have to have PFC by law, but in the US it's optional, i don't think the US ultras have APFC (active power factor correction) but may be wrong. IF your power company charges you for reactive power then getting a seasonic or 80+ PSU with APFC would be good, but i don't think it happens much for non buisness users.

Odds are that you are just billed by KWh, in which case i don't think the extra efficency of any of the 80+ PSUs will pay back enough money to justify thier purchase, the Ultras have pretty decent efficency by the looks of things (75% very roughly).

PS: http://www.80plus.org/ ;) (although they're tests aren't strictly speaking realistic, they don't include a realistic thermal load to simulate the PSU being in an ATX case)
 

Operandi

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
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The X-Connect has alright efficiency as seen here; not bad but not great.

I think the more important factor here is the overall quality of the PSU. The X-Connect comes from one of the worst OEMs out there, these things are known to die nasty deaths and may take other pieces of hardware with them.
 

tjpark1111

Senior member
Oct 5, 2005
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as I understand it, it seems that the money you save with a higher efficiency psu is really negleglible and the only benefit it seems to give is a cooler running psu, meaning less noise from fans.