Suggestion for replacement for superflower psu

[excalibur313]

I'm looking at getting a power supply around 350 watts with preferably 18 amps (amd 3000+, 512mb ram, two 80gb hard drives (raid), dvd burner and maybe a few usb things) on the 12 volt rail but I want one that can suck lots of air past a power supply to keep my processor cool. I had a super flower one that crapped out and I'm not sure if I just got unlucky or whether I need a better company. What do you guys think? I would perferably prefer a fan that is larger so it can pull more air and still be quiet.
Thanks,
Stephen

PS- without a fan pulling air past the psu my cpu idles at 45 C and when I was using the super flower (with a different motherboard granted...I got DFI this time) it idled at 25 C. (I use arctic silver 5 now instead of the pad)

 

[wisdomtooth]

Yep, I depend on my Seasonic Super Tornado and its 120mm fan to do the same for my CPU in my HTPC case.

Give the Seasonic Super Tornado 400 a try-- It puts out 22 amps on its 12V rail. Vents very well, and is the quietest fan-cooled PSU your money can buy.

HTH.

 

[Zepper]

I think the XClio 450 is a good choice for just about anyone needing a standard ATX PSU. <$60. shipped from newegg. If you're really sure you'll never need that much then look at some of their lower powered units.

.bh.

:moon:

 

[Operandi]

Seasonic Super Tornado or S12 300-400 watts.

 

[excalibur313]

One last hitch....I bought it from directron and they are being a pain in the butt about refunding money so I was curious if there were any they sold so I could exchange it. Thanks

 

[excalibur313]

Actually they do sell seasonic but the $50 one the sell is out and there is no estimated time they will sell it again...

 

[excalibur313]

Any other suggestions? how is fortran, enermax or antec? should i get superflower again?

 

[colonel]

I just replaced my superflower for a Targan.....great!

 

[wisdomtooth]

Originally posted by: excalibur313
Actually they do sell seasonic but the $50 one the sell is out and there is no estimated time they will sell it again...

You can get a Seasonic Super Tornado 400 HERE.

That vendor is rated a 10 on Resellerratings so you know they are reputable.

HTH.

 

[excalibur313]

The issue is that since i bought the original power supply from directron and i'm now trying to return it since it is only a month old i want to apply the money i spent on that toward a new one and they aren't giving me cash back.

 

[wisdomtooth]

Directron has the Seasonic Super Tornado 350 in stock. It puts out 19A on its 12V rail (1 amp more than your Superflower). You can go for that too.

EDIT: I also searched for the 400 (with the 22A on the 12V rail) on Directron, and they got a page for it, and it looks like it's in stock: HERE.

HTH.

 

[excalibur313]

Thanks! Oh man it looks so nice but I have a hard time justifying the $60 price point especially when enermax and antec both make power supplies of similar builds for like $45-$50. Would those made by those companies cool as well even though they had smaller fans or would it mean that they were louder? Or should i just quit whining and purchase this?

 

[wisdomtooth]

Silent PC Review rates the Seasonic Super Tornado as THE quietest fan-cooled PSU available. HERE. Quieter than Fortrons, Antecs, Superflowers, etc.

The 120mm fan might be a bit smaller than the 140mm in your SuperFlower, but it ain't no slouch either. I think you will be satisfied with its venting capabilities. I'm running a horizontal HTPC at just 6C above ambient in a system with a hot P4 3.0C and a Radeon 9800, all in a flat case that is harder to cool than towers.

 

[excalibur313]

Well you convinced me! I'll order it tomorrow. Thanks again!

 

[frank84]

me sell PSU,,.. check my sig.. thanx

 

[excalibur313]

Sorry to bring this thread back but I just got this today and it is soo quiet but it makes my cpu kind of hot. Underload it ranges around 49 to 53 C and off load it is like 41-45 C. Is there a way to speed up the fan or something to cool this guy down?

 

[wisdomtooth]

First thing to do would be to make sure your case isn't in a poorly-ventilated environment like an enclosed cabinet.

Next to check would be your case cooling config. Which case do you have and how are the fans placed?

 

[excalibur313]

I just have the cpu and the psu fan. Before I had to rip apart my computer because the motherboard blew it ran much cooler using a thermal pad that came with the processor. Is this typical or did i not put enough arctic silver on? My cables are bound together using the dr. cable thing and the ata cables are the skinny kind. I bunched all the cables into a space where I would put other drives besides my CD so the bottom is pretty clear.

 

[wisdomtooth]

The 41-53C are your CPU temps, correct?

What are your case temps? If your case temps are staying in the mid-30C's, your Seasonic PSU is doing its job of venting your case properly. If your case temps are good, it's your CPU heatsink that's not mounted right.

HTH.

 

[excalibur313]

How much should my case temp deviate from my cpu?

 

[wisdomtooth]

If your room's ambient temperature is around 25C (77F), your case temps are good if it is in the mid-30C's (90-100F). Any case temp under 10C above ambient is good.

Check your case temps and we'll know for sure what's up.

HTH.

 

[excalibur313]

Well I have two sensors in the case: one gets up to like 40 under load and the other gets to like 31 under load. The cpu got up to 50ish after running a benchmarking tool for about 5 minutes.

 

[wisdomtooth]

That 31 is your case temp. Your Seasonic is doing a fantastic job keeping your case cool without any help (since you have no case fans).

It's definitely your heatsink mounting that's screwed up. If your case is cool but your CPU is not, it's not the power supply's fault.

HTH.

 

[excalibur313]

Is this just a consequence of using arctic 5 instead of the pad that came with it or should arctic 5 cool the cpu just as much? If it is that I screwed up putting it on are there any tips for doing it correctly this time? When I put on the thermal compound i put a very very small amount (maybe the size of a bb) per the instructions that came with it. Should I have put more or less or is it that I need to break this in more? Thanks so much for your help!

 

[wisdomtooth]

AS5 should work very well, yes, as long as there is full direct contact between the CPU die and the heatsink. AS5 is there only to seal out air-- If there is a sizeable gap between the heatsink and CPU, your CPU is going to run hot no matter how much AS5 you put in there.

Take off your heatsink, clean off all of the existing thermal grease, respread a new layer (you can try the finger-in-a-sandwich-bag spreading trick that Arctic Silver recommends, or use the edge of a credit card, etc.), and then remount, making sure that the mounting mechanism is exerting enough pressure.

HTH.