Thermaltake Vs. Antec

[Trente]

I would like to know which PSU of these two is better over-all?

Thermaltake

Antec

It'll be powering this system, more or less:


AMD Athlon 3200+ 90nm

Gigabyte nForce4 K8NF-9

2x512MB A.Data 400MHz

Gigabyte GF6600GT PCI-e

WD 160GB w/8MB S.ATA

1.44MB Floppy drive

MS Multimedia keyboard

MS Optical mouse


I will throw in an optical drive (CD-RW/DVD), and maybe a sound card - that's about it. Do note that I might install a DVD burner and/or another PCI card in the future. CPU is left with stock cooling + an 80mm/120mm case fan will also be thrown into the mix; no overclocking is due ATM...

Which PSU is better in terms of stability, noise and reliability? *please ignore the difference in cost!*

Thanks guys!

 

[Rip the Jacker]

<senses some Thermaltake flaming>

Don't get that powersupply from Antec if you are going to. It's smartpower and not truepower.

Yeah I got it because it was the only case I could get for my budget... (to all you quoters)

I suggest you get 380W Truepower (like the one on the Sonata).

As for Thermaltake, I have never tried them but in almost every thread Antec mostly rules out Thermaltake in opinions.

 

[fstime]

thermaltake.

 

[fstime]

yea most thermaltake flamers dont even have one of their psu's.

 

[Trente]

Originally posted by: ItmPls
<senses some Thermaltake flaming>

Hi, I see you got the Antec PSU according to your sig... Could you please post your own impressions?

 

[fstime]

The thermal take even has more amps on the +5,+3,and +12 rails.

 

[Trente]

Originally posted by: BouZouki
The thermal take even has more amps on the +5,+3,and +12 rails.

Yeah, I noticed that too... must be because of the higher 'W' rating.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

i had an antec and it blew up
i replaced it with a thermaltake and it has not blown up

then again, i havent had the tt as long as the antec so who knows

 

[Gamingphreek]

I would get the Antec. Thermaltake is flashiness over quality. I also recommend the antec even though it has 2 amps less on the 12V, but i would also look at a more expensive Antec. The TT PSU has weak rails, and lots of fluctuation, small heatsinks, its loud. Only for entry level people with entry level systems.

Bou did you just answer your own post??

For your information i own a TT PSU and i have owned other products of theirs and they are all barely better than generic stuff.

-Kevin

 

[SrGuapo]

Yeah, I would get an Antec myself. Look for the 430 W true power. They are only ~$70 (newegg) and have sronger rails than both those PSUs.

 

[fstime]

I own that psu, it has very stable rails NEVER going under 11.90, very quite, do you even own the psu? I'm sorry but the results I get with a 3400+ oced to 3700+ impress me.

EDIT: these results I got with MBM5 showing high- 11.98 low-11.92

With a 6800. Most of these guys dont have the psu, but it is a really good product considering the price.

 

[Gamingphreek]

I just said i owned the PSU. I can read the model number off the side of it.

It is for Entry level computing only. 18A is barely enough as 15-16amps is considered minimum.

All TT products are loud, this is no exception. I have 5 Panaflo L1A's running at 1/2 speed as well as 1 92mm Panaflo running at full speed. And it has a whine to it. Never going under 11.90? Well try running Seti and P95 for months straight, this PSU was scaring me not only with the voltage dipping to like 11.5 but the fluctation is bad as well. My case temp also went up when compared to my last PSU.

If you want proof look at the OCZ compared to the THermltake. The OCZ slaughters it.

http://www.viperlair.com/revie...pstream420/index.shtml

The OCZ is the best 420Watt PSU out there, that Antec even though rated lower will also beat the TT.

-Kevin

 

[fstime]

Dude look at the price differance with the OCZ what do you think, I dont know whats wrong with your psu but mine never goes under 11.90 even with hours of playing games. Your full of it, or you got a defect. Yes their heatsink/fans are loud, but this psu is quite.

 

[fstime]

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Fsturbo15/PSU.JPG


http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Fsturbo15/specs.JPG

3400+
6800nu
2x 40 Gb HD
SB Audigy 2
4 case fans
1 CD-RW

 

[Gamingphreek]

I do not have a defect and im not full of it. Simply playing games for a while will not stress the PSU much at all. Its when you use number crunching apps and formulas while doing other things that the PSU becomes stressed.

Of course i notice the price difference but the performance does justify the cost. The TT is not powerful enough, noisy, and of poor quality.

What do you want proof that i have it?!

-Kevin

 

[fstime]

I gave you my proof, look at the MBM5 pic, LOW 11.92 its right there, Thats after 1 hour of counterstrike source, this psu does fine for me during games and stress. I dont think you looked at the picture. Looking at your specs in your sig you probaly got a defect considering you only have an athlon XP abd 5900XT, if you honestly got 11.50 like you said, it was def a defect.

 

[Gamingphreek]

No did you read my post at all!?!?!

1 hour of playing a game is hardly stressing a PSU.

Number crunching stresses it along with running games and apps while that is going on. I run Seti 24/7. I also run prime 95 a lot while surfing the web and playing games. THAT is stressing the PSU.

I am also overvolting my CPU, RAM, AGP slot, and Chipset.

-Kevin

Edit: I didn't ask for proof from you, i asked if you wanted proof that i own this PSU.

 

[fstime]

Like I said, ive left my pc on for weeks and the low has never gone lower then 11.90, usuauly 11.92. hey man, I dont know about you but most people dont play games for 5 hours, I cant say for myself since i dont play games for 5 hours but im 99% sure this psu can take 5+ hours of game play. I pass prime95 and 3dmark loop tests JUST FINE. anything anything above 11.87 is pretty much okay, as you go below that then I would start to worry but this psu never even hits 11.80's. And btw, why would you run prime95 all the time, thats pointless...... Just run it once, pass/fail, your done. Thats just pretty stupid to me.

 

[fstime]

Seeing this argument does not seem like it's gonna end, im not gonna bother anymore, I provided the author of the thread my results with this psu with pics, make the decsion you'd like, i'm sorry if I offending gamingphreek in anyway. But in my opinion, your results of this psu sound complety different which simply made me suspicious, i;ll say it again if you get 11.50 its a defect, simply put, thats way to low for an athlon xp and 5900. Almost every company makes a few defects in the other thread some guys antec blew up.

 

[Gothgar]

I have used both, and I recommend the TT...

A lot of people bash the TT, but they are actually pretty damn good PSU's, ESPECIALLY for the price...

There are much better PSU's out there, but for a budget, you cannot beat the TT.

Furhtermore, to solidify BouZouki's statements, I ran a Barton 2500 @ 3200 speed, with an overclocked 9800pro, 1 gig RAM, 2 optical drives and 4 HDD's, and after hours and hours of anything I did on it, the rails were very very stable, don't think they ever dropped below 11.92 like his says.

 

[Trente]

10x to Bou &amp; Gamingphreek for posting.

 

[fstime]

I have used both, and I recommend the TT...

A lot of people bash the TT, but they are actually pretty damn good PSU's, ESPECIALLY for the price...

There are much better PSU's out there, but for a budget, you cannot beat the TT.

Furhtermore, to solidify BouZouki's statements, I ran a Barton 2500 @ 3200 speed, with an overclocked 9800pro, 1 gig RAM, 2 optical drives and 4 HDD's, and after hours and hours of anything I did on it, the rails were very very stable, don't think they ever dropped below 11.92 like his says.

Thanks for the backup there buddy. I totaly agree on the people bashing TT, I can agree some of their hs/f are loud but this psu turned out great.

 

[The J]

I have the Thermaltake Silent PurePower 420W (W0009R; w/o active PFC) and it seems to work fine. I admit that my system isn't super high-end nor do I stress it out for 20 hours per day, but it has worked well for my purposes. It isn't super silent, but it does seem pretty quiet (mainly just the sound of rushing air). I'll be getting an Athlon 64 within the next week so I'll see how well this power supply holds up.

If you can find a better Antec power supply, that may be your best bet. I got my power supply on sale for $35 and am very happy with it, but Antec seems to have the better reputation all-around. I think that ThermalTake is making an attempt to throw away their old reputation for flash over function, but only time will tell with my PSU.

EDIT: Specs:

Athlon XP 2600+ Barton (stock speeds)
Shuttle AK38/N (VIA KT333CF, can't OC worth beans)
1GB Apacer (Infineon chipset) PC2700 RAM
Audigy 2 ZS
Two hard drives
Two optical drives
2 case fans and CPU fan
GeForce 6800GT
ThermalTake PurePower 420W

 

[fstime]

I'm sure it will run your A64 fine, mine does.

 

[The J]

I'm not worried about it one bit, actually, but thanks for the encouragement.

I should also note that you shouldn't worry about running out of connectors with the ThermalTake.
9 4-pin Molex
2 SATA
1 AUX connector
1 12V
1 20-pin ATX
3 floppy

It also comes with a Molex to 6-pin PCIe power adapter and a 20-pin ATX to 24-pin ATX v2 connector.