The great PSU debate

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imported_mystro

Member
May 6, 2004
157
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76
I'm always surprised at how little is really known about the heart of the computer system,the PSU. I see experinced users purchase junk quality PSU's simply for the wattage without regard to the quality of the unit and then complain about all the OCing problems they have..whereas,members in my
computer club who use very good quality 350w PSU's with bascially the exact systems have nothing but success even using the exact same CPU for testing purposes,strange..not really when you understand what a PSU is really doing. How important is a quality PSU..they proved it was the biggest contributing factor and convinced the rest of the club to trash the junk forever.Not to plug any one manufactorer,but the majority of my group uses Seasonic's but they also like and use P&S,Fortron,Antec,Evermax and a couple of others..that's an individual call. We use an excellent reference FAQ written by a known expert Burningrave101..he posted the FAQ here:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=756864


comments?





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Power Supply FAQ:Q
 
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OdiN

Banned
Mar 1, 2000
16,430
3
0
Yeah...the PSU is very important. I recommend Antec, Enermax, and also Sparkle (SPI). Sparkle makes excellent supplies. I bought a computer case once just for the Sparkle PSU that was in it.
 
Captante

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,357
10,884
136
Truer words were never spoken... the power supply is at the same time the most important AND often
least thought about component in your system.
I normally stick with Antec for basic systems, & both Fortran & Sparkle are decent, but if you want the absolute best, theres only one way to go & thats PC Power & cooling... be prepared to pay for the quality though... their units don't come cheap, but you get what you pay for.
 
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imported_mystro

Member
May 6, 2004
157
0
76
Originally posted by: Captante
both Fortran & Sparkle are decent,.
Click to expand...


Funny you should mention Sparkle..their past was not all that good but they stopped building/buying the cheapo stuff and now use rebranded Fortron,hence the FSP prefix in the model numbers..look for those models only.

One name that also should be mentioned that is fairly new to the USA is Seasonic,they have stellar line of PSU's that usually finish right at the top in ratings..but also not inexpensive.

Here's a good place to look for reviews on all PSU's:

http://www.amdboard.com/psu.html
 
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Ionizer86

Diamond Member
Jun 20, 2001
5,292
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76
Originally posted by: mystro
Funny you should mention Sparkle..their past was not all that good but they stopped building/buying the cheapo stuff and now use rebranded Fortron,hence the FSP prefix in the model numbers..look for those models only.
Click to expand...
I just got a Sparkle Power-Q 350W a few days ago. $29 shipped from Newegg. It is quiet, the cables arepretty long, the unit is heavy, and the fan is quiet. Can't get much better :)
 
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Steve

Lifer
May 2, 2004
15,946
11
81
AFAIK, Sparkle and Fortron are the same. And PCP&C units are often rebadged Sparkle/Fortron units with slight mods.
 
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Brian48

Diamond Member
Oct 15, 1999
3,410
0
0
A good PSU is like a good monitor or other long term piece of hardware. My Antec 430w TruePower has seen 5 motherboard upgrades, 4 CPU upgrades, 2 video card upgrades, 2 sound card upgrades, and more memory and drive upgrades of various speeds and configurations that I've lost count. Bottomline, it's an investment for the long haul. Don't skimp on something that's suppose to last a LONG time.
 
apoppin

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
1
0
alienbabeltech.com
i enjoyed skimming the PS faq.

from following the links and reviews, it seems i made a decent choice (i already thought so) for a great bang-4-buck PS - ThermalTake 480w PurePower. SuperSilent and stable.

Now if ONLY that damn 6800u would hurry up. :p

:roll:
 
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SSibalNom

Golden Member
Aug 13, 2003
1,284
0
0
ive had terrible problems from bad PSU's... now on an enermax 431w and havent had any probs since
 
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Sunner

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
11,641
0
76
I got myself a Fortron 400W PSU.
Probably more than I'll need for a while, but it wasn't very expensive, so I figured, why not.
 
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imported_Phil

Diamond Member
Feb 10, 2001
9,837
0
0
I agree, the amount of people I see splashing all of £10 ($22?) on a "400W" PSU is horrifying. It's like Mhz wars all over again. I had some guy buy a 500W Jeantech supply (pretty hefty, all things considered) for an Athlon 2000+ w/ 2 hard drives and 2 optical drives the other day. Bit of a pointless waste if you ask me; all he really needs is a decent 350W, maybe a 400W. Hell, I run a 400W on my system and it's overkill, just gives me a little headroom if I expand some day.
 
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imported_raybay

Member
May 10, 2004
136
0
0
The most frequently failing component of any PC, next to the floppy drive, is the power supply. Then the user goes out and buys another cheap power supply which may last another two years with luck, or more likely will fail as soon as the warranty expires which is as short as 90 days for some brands and models. There are probably 15 good brands, but they cost more. I buy for $11 power supplies that repair shops sell for $55. So not much money, decent components, or technical expertise goes into building one. There are almost never protective devices such as fuses or cut-offs. Yet nobody writes about them in computer magzines. Few people care about brands. Only two ore three are found in the typical "fully stocked" computer store. People resist spending the money on the power supply, one of the easiest components to upgrade.
 
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ath50

Member
May 2, 2004
168
0
0
Agreed, with my old computer I had for 4 years, I went through three crappy PSUs, one of which took my hard drive down with it. Ended up costing more than if I had just bought a good PSU to start with.

The most frequently failing component of any PC, next to the floppy drive, is the power supply.
Click to expand...

Is that true? I've never heard of a dead floppy drive, but maybe I don't get out enough ;) They seem so standard, how could a company mess up with it.
 
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MWink

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,642
1
76
Originally posted by: mystro
Originally posted by: Captante
both Fortran & Sparkle are decent,.
Click to expand...


Funny you should mention Sparkle..their past was not all that good but they stopped building/buying the cheapo stuff and now use rebranded Fortron,hence the FSP prefix in the model numbers..look for those models only.

One name that also should be mentioned that is fairly new to the USA is Seasonic,they have stellar line of PSU's that usually finish right at the top in ratings..but also not inexpensive.

Here's a good place to look for reviews on all PSU's:

http://www.amdboard.com/psu.html
Click to expand...

When was this? I have an OLD Sparkle 300W AT power supply that I used with my Pentium 75 system and it is an FSP. In fact it still works to this very day, I still use it as my test power supply.

And I really do agree that people buy way too oversized power supplies. The only time I've ever really seen a problem due to an insufficient power supply was a 230W that I think came from a 386.

Just for the hell of it I tried putting my new Radeon 9800 Pro in an old K6-2 system with a 250W Century Electrical (generic?) power supply. To my utter amazement it worked perfectly, even ran 3D Mark 2001SE without a problem.
 
Zebo

Zebo

Elite Member
Jul 29, 2001
39,398
19
81
From your faq:

+12 V: This voltage is used primarily to power disk drive motors. It is also used by fans and other types of cooling devices. It is in most cases not used by the motherboard in a modern PC but is passed on to the system bus slots for any cards that might need it. Of course, drives are connected directly to the power supply through their own connectors
-----------------
This is simply incorrect. Athlon and Pentium 4 CPUs run entirely on the +12V rail and so high performance video chips. It is the most imporatant rail nowerdays. Which is why the emermax's with thier dominate amps on the 12 are the overclcokers choice. And also why enermax has choosen to split this rail into two separate channels for good clean power to these chips and the drives and fans can run off the other 12V rail.

http://firingsquad.com/guides/power_supply/page2.asp
 
biostud

biostud

Lifer
Feb 27, 2003
20,264
7,412
136
Originally posted by: ath50
Agreed, with my old computer I had for 4 years, I went through three crappy PSUs, one of which took my hard drive down with it. Ended up costing more than if I had just bought a good PSU to start with.

The most frequently failing component of any PC, next to the floppy drive, is the power supply.
Click to expand...

Is that true? I've never heard of a dead floppy drive, but maybe I don't get out enough ;) They seem so standard, how could a company mess up with it.
Click to expand...

Dunno, maybe he meant the actual disc
 
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Perplx

Member
Jun 22, 2001
101
0
0
Another reason to get a good PSU is efficiency. A generic $15 built hardly to spec psu might operate at 50% effiency, while a really good psu like an enermax operates at 80%! Depending on components, cpu load, and price of electricty a PSU can pay for itself in less then a year (especially with a 3.4 prescott). You can see some of the math here
 
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