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Thermaltake 420-watt Purepower $37.99 shipped at Newegg

K

Karaktu

Moderator Emeritus<br>Elite Member
LINK

I have two of these, both over a year old and still going strong. They're silent, have tons of power connections (no SATA) and have run everything I've thrown at it (9 fans, highly overclocked Radeon 9800 Pro, highly overclocked P4s and Athlon XPs, etc., etc.).

I can't see spending $20 on a no-name PSU when you can get this one for under $40 shipped!
 
While they arent silent, they are definitely tolerable.

The newer ones come with 1 sata plug.

-Steve
 
I love my TT power supply. It has been running for 18 months without a hitch. Overclocked XP3200+, AIW9800, 2 36GB Raptors, 120 GB WD, Sony DVD-R/W, and about 8 case fans. Free shipping to boot. I might have to order a couple.😀

Robert
 
I'm guessing they've been able to drop the price on these, then, by using slightly lesser quality components. The two I have are totally silent (fans are supposed to speed up as it gets warmer, but I've never heard them) and, of course, don't have any SATA power connector(s).

I ran a dual Xeon 3.3GHz/6.6GHz setup with that Radeon 9800 Pro off of one for awhile until I could get a 550-watt Antec EPS12v power supply 😀
 
Originally posted by: Karaktu
I ran a dual Xeon 3.3GHz/6.6GHz setup with that Radeon 9800 Pro off of one for awhile until I could get a 550-watt Antec EPS12v power supply 😀
Click to expand...

Realy what Xeon MotherBoard allowed running on a standard ATX 20Pin? (Or am I ignorant and this is a 24/20pin PS?)

Chris
 
Originally posted by: VooDooAddict
Originally posted by: Karaktu
I ran a dual Xeon 3.3GHz/6.6GHz setup with that Radeon 9800 Pro off of one for awhile until I could get a 550-watt Antec EPS12v power supply 😀
Click to expand...

Realy what Xeon MotherBoard allowed running on a standard ATX 20Pin? (Or am I ignorant and this is a 24/20pin PS?)

Chris
Click to expand...

ASUS PC-DL.
 
This is definitely not hot.... the fcuking 12v rail only measure 11.20 with all these things attached:

4 case fans............ and that's it.

I just had my A64 3200+ and 1GB of RAM, booted into BIOS to see if the mobo and CPU would work, and notice the damn 12V rail only showing 11.20V, and fluctuating. the 3.3V and 5V shows a bit on the possitive side.

EDIT: Read the reviews... most anyone that knows what they're talking about said the same thing, low on the 12V. All the idiots that raves about this posted reviews like "OMG, this is the BESTEST PSU EVA... I replaced it with my STOCK 300W PSU and OMG.... it's teh leet."
 
Recently purchased one of these from Newegg at current price. Definitely a nice well built PS, but does not have active PFC.

mdcrab
 
I have one of these an it works great. Cr4zymofo when I measured the 12V supply I got 12.14V. What DMM were you using and was it calibrated recently? The reading you got was only 6% off (well within the margin of error for many cheap/and or older multimeters. (I used a Fluke calibrated about 3 months ago)
 
Originally posted by: cr4zymofo
This is definitely not hot.... the fcuking 12v rail only measure 11.20 with all these things attached:

4 case fans............ and that's it.

I just had my A64 3200+ and 1GB of RAM, booted into BIOS to see if the mobo and CPU would work, and notice the damn 12V rail only showing 11.20V, and fluctuating. the 3.3V and 5V shows a bit on the possitive side.

EDIT: Read the reviews... most anyone that knows what they're talking about said the same thing, low on the 12V. All the idiots that raves about this posted reviews like "OMG, this is the BESTEST PSU EVA... I replaced it with my STOCK 300W PSU and OMG.... it's teh leet."
Click to expand...

Do you have the K8V SE Deluxe too?
 
i have one, bought a while ago, my 12v rail was under 12, i dont know alot about them, but it does run my computer fine, three hd's, two optical drives, all 5 pci slots full, 2500+ cpu, 4 case fans, 1gb ram, i have never had a problem with the power supply, some people say to adjust the pot? i am not that good, plus i have never had a problem other than just seeing the thing in bios under 12, maybe it is not measured right on board, or maybe it is under, i dont know, i like the p/s, i dont know alot about them but mine works good and i have never had a problem, my system stays on more than it is off, usually only off a couple hours a week, not a couple days, i said a couple hours off a week
 
Originally posted by: Triggerhappy007
Originally posted by: cr4zymofo
This is definitely not hot.... the fcuking 12v rail only measure 11.20 with all these things attached:

4 case fans............ and that's it.

I just had my A64 3200+ and 1GB of RAM, booted into BIOS to see if the mobo and CPU would work, and notice the damn 12V rail only showing 11.20V, and fluctuating. the 3.3V and 5V shows a bit on the possitive side.

EDIT: Read the reviews... most anyone that knows what they're talking about said the same thing, low on the 12V. All the idiots that raves about this posted reviews like "OMG, this is the BESTEST PSU EVA... I replaced it with my STOCK 300W PSU and OMG.... it's teh leet."
Click to expand...

Do you have the K8V SE Deluxe too?
Click to expand...

Yeah... I have 2 of them, one is running an A64 3000+, and the one I'm building will have A64 3200+ (will probably try to OC to at least 2.4GHz, before the mobo craps out). I also have a Superflower (mirrored) that I got for $20 a while back (I'm sure some of you remember that deal, and what a gorgeous PSU that was). I put that in and it registered at 11.87.
 
The thermaltake psu is as far from silent as the north pole is from antarctica..... seriously it's not so bad, if you manually set the fan to med-low speed it's tolerable. Yeah, and the 12v rail is a bit low, but mine is within 3% of spec.
 
This doesnt allow fan speed changes, or does it?

Btw, getting 11.98v on a p4 3.0, radeon 9700, and 8 harddrives, at load.

-Steve
 
Originally posted by: cr4zymofo
This is definitely not hot.... the fcuking 12v rail only measure 11.20 with all these things attached:

4 case fans............ and that's it.

I just had my A64 3200+ and 1GB of RAM, booted into BIOS to see if the mobo and CPU would work, and notice the damn 12V rail only showing 11.20V, and fluctuating. the 3.3V and 5V shows a bit on the possitive side.

EDIT: Read the reviews... most anyone that knows what they're talking about said the same thing, low on the 12V. All the idiots that raves about this posted reviews like "OMG, this is the BESTEST PSU EVA... I replaced it with my STOCK 300W PSU and OMG.... it's teh leet."
Click to expand...

Yeah, 64-bit systems really suck up a lot off the +12v rail, especially if you overclock. I personally wouldn't use anything under +12v/25A spec anymore, but this Thermaltake 420w PSU should still hold its own for XP/P4 systems.
 
Because of all the generic PSU flooding the market, 12V amperage rating comparisons are pretty worthless these days. The TRUE capcity of this unit is slighlty higher than an Antec SL400, and it's built fairly well, my main gripe is that the rear exhaust fan could've used a high-end fan instead, since that fan location is one of the most prone to fail in a system (ignoring video card or northbridge, tiny fans).

The real question is, what better can you get for $38 delivered?
These are better than those superflowers directron had on special, and better than anything generic even when wearing the pseudo-600W labeling.

If you want to o'c your P4 to 4GHz and run a dozen HDDs, you may have a problem, but it should go without saying that you need a $100 PSU for any decent lifespan if that's the plan.
 
does anybody know a good resource that explains some stats of a power supply? I usually just buy what people say is good (and cheap). For example, I am interested in 12v rail. What is it, what is its significance?

I just bought this to upgrade my enermax 350W (? - maybe 330) power supply. Is this a good upgrade? From using a calc on the web, it seems like I nearly had the enermax maxed out.

Thanks for your help!
 
Originally posted by: RuffRyder1672
does anybody know a good resource that explains some stats of a power supply? I usually just buy what people say is good (and cheap). For example, I am interested in 12v rail. What is it, what is its significance?

I just bought this to upgrade my enermax 350W (? - maybe 330) power supply. Is this a good upgrade? From using a calc on the web, it seems like I nearly had the enermax maxed out.

Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...
Online calculators are often misleading. Actually, I've only seen one that was even close to correct, most GROSSLY overestimate power needed, which only seems to apply if compared to a generic PSU that randomly had similar gross overrating of it's true capacity. Unfortunately I don't recall and ATM, don't have access to a link for that calc.

Primarily consideration is on which rail(s) need most current, and how power supply is responding to that load. For example, typical sign of a power supply near max capacity is that one of the (the most loaded rail) has voltage staying near spec if not dropping below spec, while the OTHER, less loaded rail has risen significantly (over 3-5%). This shows that power supply is already approaching peak output and any sudden surge (like loading a game level or coming out of HALT-Idle state) could result in voltage depression after recovery time that is not fast enough, induces crash or at least stress on motherboard.

Enermax are overrated compared to other popular, similarly priced name-brands. You have not provided spec of your system but odds are for a semi-modern power build, the Enermax <=350W (by their labeled rating system) is borderline. By contrast, similar if not cheaper Fortron 350W will run more hardware, but ideally higher wattage is a prudent purchase these days.

GOOD <> CHEAP

Unless you find fairly rare closeout/surplus deals, rather than a sale price, there are no cheap good PSU. Fraudulently rated 660W generics are no deal unless system really only used ~ 200W, and if that generic happens to have a amperage-rail distribution that coincides to what the target system needs... even so, often noise filtering is poor and generic rear exhaust fans are one of the weakest links, more prone to failure.

The is a good value power supply (Thermaltake 420W), with true output capacity higher than your Enermax. If system ran with the Enermax this should be suitable yet due to nature of upgradable-PC, only you can forecast how much margin you have for the future with *any* particular power supply.
 
Thanks!
What I have-
Shuttle AN35N - AXP mobile 2400+ @ 2.3ghz - Volcano 12 hsf (pretty big) - 2 80mm cheapo case fans - 2x 512mb Crucial PC2700 - Audigy - Radeon 9700 Pro (not oc'ed yet) - 2 hard drives (only 1 powered right now) - Pioneer dvr-105 - Sony combo (52x cdr burn, 16x dvd read) - floppy
I think that is about it. I haven't been having any complete lock ups, but after I added the 9700 Pro, sometimes my games kick me back to the desktop (which I know could be a million things, I will be doing a reformat tonight along with adding the new PSU - should be here today) Would there be any possibly less severe symptoms if I was pushing the enermax too much?
 
... sometimes my games kick me back to the desktop (which I know could be a million things...
Click to expand...
True, it might not be power related at all, but the R9700 could be enough to push a 330-350W Enermax over the edge... you'll just have to try it and see, though if you have a multimeter you could take voltage readings of 3V, 5V, &amp; 12V rails while firing up one of those games that fails, see if voltage is dropping enough to be read.
 
Originally posted by: cr4zymofo
This is definitely not hot.... the fcuking 12v rail only measure 11.20 with all these things attached:

4 case fans............ and that's it.

I just had my A64 3200+ and 1GB of RAM, booted into BIOS to see if the mobo and CPU would work, and notice the damn 12V rail only showing 11.20V, and fluctuating. the 3.3V and 5V shows a bit on the possitive side.

EDIT: Read the reviews... most anyone that knows what they're talking about said the same thing, low on the 12V. All the idiots that raves about this posted reviews like "OMG, this is the BESTEST PSU EVA... I replaced it with my STOCK 300W PSU and OMG.... it's teh leet."
Click to expand...


Mine ran low on the 12v rail as well. At least it did until it died last week. One year and 2 weeks old.
4 case fans, 3 CC tubes, XP2500 at stock speed, TI4200 mildly OCed. Shouldn't have been too much
for this unit. Found one shorted diode in the 12v circuit, replaced but didn't correct problem. Placed
in circular file. OCZ has a 420 watt unit, pricey but comes with a 5 year warranty.
 
cr4zymofo,

It's pretty much common knowledge that a 12V reading cannot be taken from a motherboard sensor because the board's trace resistance to that sensor drops the voltage significantly. If you have another PSU that causes the sensor to read 12.0V, that other power supply is running overvoltage, incorrectly out of spec. Granted, slightly overvoltage is better than too low, but these are simple adjustments to the set-point on a PSU, not always a sign that it's underpowered. Without proper V reading this cannot be determined. Many PSU have adjustment pots to compensate for motherboard voltage loss, though I don't recall if these do or not. Keep in mind that any cheap junk 230w PSU can have it's circuit set to output 13V, which drops to 12V under load, but that doesn't mean it's a clean 12V, instead of a ton of ripple and only an average of 12V.

These psu ARE NOT da-bomb, but what are you thinking is better for same $$? Of COURSE you can get a better PSU for more $$, when has this ever been different? PC Power &amp; Cooling makes some really nice ones too... for about $200.
 
Originally posted by: mindless1
cr4zymofo,

It's pretty much common knowledge that a 12V reading cannot be taken from a motherboard sensor because the board's trace resistance to that sensor drops the voltage significantly. If you have another PSU that causes the sensor to read 12.0V, that other power supply is running overvoltage, incorrectly out of spec. Granted, slightly overvoltage is better than too low, but these are simple adjustments to the set-point on a PSU, not always a sign that it's underpowered. Without proper V reading this cannot be determined. Many PSU have adjustment pots to compensate for motherboard voltage loss, though I don't recall if these do or not. Keep in mind that any cheap junk 230w PSU can have it's circuit set to output 13V, which drops to 12V under load, but that doesn't mean it's a clean 12V, instead of a ton of ripple and only an average of 12V.

These psu ARE NOT da-bomb, but what are you thinking is better for same $$? Of COURSE you can get a better PSU for more $$, when has this ever been different? PC Power &amp; Cooling makes some really nice ones too... for about $200.
Click to expand...

I've been doing a ton of research on PSUs recently since I need to find one that can handle an XP3200+, 4 hard drives and 6 optical drives (burners). There are only a few that claim 30+ amps on the +12V rail and the only one I've decided to trust (from reviews, testimonies, etc.) is the PC Power &amp; Cooling Turbo-Cool 510. Tolerances of +-1% on all positive rails and ratings that have been verified to be continuous at 40 degrees C (unlike others whose ratings are peak at 25 degrees C). Active PFC as well with trimmer pots for the overclockers out there.

As far as my requirements, since I knew the +12V line would be my bottleneck, I simply added the +12V draw on each of my devices and searched for PSUs that could handle that (continuously at 40C). The calc was as follows:

1 CPU/mobo : 9A
4 HDDs : 2.8x4=11.2A
Opticals : 1.5x6=9A
Fans : 1A
Misc/Overhead : 2A

Total : 32.2 amps

That of course is assuming that I'll be using all the drives simultaneously which should never happen but should still be accounted for.

Besided the PCP&amp;C Turbo-Cool 510 unit, only the Enermax and Antec EPS12V PSUs could handle this amount of draw on the +12V rail - and using those would require a 24->20 pin adapter plus several power splitters and SATA power adapters (since they don't have enough molex or SATA plugs).

The downside of course is cost. 190 bucks for a PSU isn't even close to $40 (or even the $90 I was originally planning to spend) but it will ensure that any failure in the system isn't caused by the PSU itself or secondary issues from noisy rails. It should also (with a couple adapters) be able to last well beyond its 5 year warranty in future systems as well so that doesn't make the cost seem quite so bad.

Hope that helps anyone pondering this or other PSU purchases.

Here's a LINKY for those interested.
 
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