Use Enermax or Antec PS?

[Banana]

Dilemma here: I have a one year old Enermax 365W power supply and a new Antec 300W SmartPower PS. Which PS is better? I have a XP1600, Ti4200, 512MB DDR, 2 hard drives and 2 optical drives. I believe the Antec supplies enough juice for this rig. If that's the case, I can save the Enermax for a newer PC. What do you think?

 

[Woody419]

I came across some ps info recently at Overclockers Forum. A good read, the Antec 300w SmartPower is mentioned.

 

[bozo1]

Either one should power your system just fine.

 

[Brian48]

I swear by Antecs.

 

[techfuzz]

Based on my comparisons, I would buy the one that is cheasest that meets your power needs. They are very comparable to each other in terms of specifications.

techfuzz

 

[Banana]

Thanks for the replies. Woody419's link was very helpful for hw idiots like me. Based upon that OC forum, it turns out that my Enermax 365W PS is wimpier than the Antec 300W!

I'll put the Antec in the "better" PC, and the Enermax in the other. Thanks again.

 

[Goi]

Antec's SmartPowers are as good as its TruePowers, and its the TruePowers that are usually compared to the Enermaxes, and Enermax currently only has 1 line of PSUs AFAIK. The EG-365 which is what you're probably refering to isn't really 365W IIRC, but it should easily be better than the Antec SmartPower 300W.

 

[Ardan]

I agree to get either one. Whichever fits your needs and if you have a more demanding PSU, perhaps the Enermax 365W PSU could go in there. They aren't bad PSUs, I have an Enermax 350W PSU in this PC (a T-bred 1800+ @ 2000+) and another in the 1600+ PC and they don't have any issues. They get plenty of power.

 

[Banana]

I will quote from Woody419's link to the Overclockers Forum in the second post:

Knowing a PC power supply is 300W or 400W means absolutely nothing. The are no standards the manufacturers have to meet to call their supply a given wattage. The nominal wattage rating is just that, a rating. It is not a measurement of output . . . (snipped)

. . . Once we understand that we have to look deeper into our prospective supply to know anything at all about it, there is a more meaningful spec. That is the 3.3+5V output which is on the side of any quality power supply. While not completely free of exaggeration this number usually has a much stronger correlation to actual output than the nominal total maximum output. Let's look at 300W supplies as an example. I have seen 300W supplies with 3.3+5V ratings as low as 125W. This is way too low for a quality supply. A 300W supply should have at least 175W of 3.3+5V output before it is of use for high performance PC's of modern porportions. Let's examine the 3.3+5V output of some popular choices-Antec, FSP/Sparkle (Fortron), and Enermax.

Until recently I was using an Antec Smartpower 300W supply, the PP-303X. This unit served me well in the P3 days, but was overwhelmed by the power consumption of my current P4 rig. It has a 3.3+5V output of 160W. These supplies have recently been replaced in Antec's linup by the Solution series, and the new Antec SL300s supply is rated at a 3.3+5V output of 220W. These are both 300W supplies, but one might run your proposed rig and the other probably wouldn't. In the past I have not been able to recommend 300W Antecs because of their low output and difficulty powering modern loads. The new version however looks to be a safe bet, and combined with a reasonable cost makes it far easier to recommend.

The FSP/Sparkle 300W supply has a 3.3+5V output of 200W. This is good, and in fact this supply will power all but the most powerful and expansive of PC's. Its actual total output has been measured at 390W, far in excess of its rating. FSP/Sparkle supplies are rated very conservatively, and as such compete with supplies from other makers that have larger numbers pasted on the side. For example the FSP/Sparkle 350W units have the same 220W 3.3+5V output as the Enermax 431W, and when tested produce more total output (454W).

The Enermax power supplies have a somewhat undeserved [good] reputation. While not bad quality, they are lightweights when the output is compared to the best Antec and Fortron produce. The 300W Enermax has a 3.3+5V output of only 170W, and as such is only suitable for the lightest of loads. Even the 350W Enermax has only 185W of 3.3+ 5V output, making it far less capable than the SL350 Antec or FSP/Sparkle 350W supplies. While better than no-name or el-cheapo supplies, these units are outperformed by FSP/Sparkle's 10 times out of 10, and for less money. I see many more user reports of trouble with Enermax units than Antec or Sparkle, and as such can't recommend you spend the money that could have bought one of these on an Enermax.

After reading this, I examined the 3.3+ 5v output for my power supplies. Lo and behold, the Enermax 365W (model PVE) churns out only 185W, while the Antec 300W Smartpower produces 220W! I based my decision on this. Hopefully, the information from OC Forum is accurate. Thanks again for the input.

1YP

edit: Just for kicks, I looked at an old Enlight 300W power supply. Its 3.3 +5V rating was only 145W.

 

[Blastman]

Unfortunately, larva is a little off-base with his comments about the Enermax psu?s being lightweights. A P4 CPU draws its power from strictly from the 12v rail, whereas an Athlon and P3 draw from the 3.3v and 5v rails. Read this post ...

here

Athlon motherboards only require ATX power supplies. The board connects to the power supply using a single, 20-pin connector.

Pentium 4 boards require ATX12V supplies. These have three connectors, a 20-pin, an extra 4-pin 12V connector, and a 6-pin AUX connector.

Strictly speaking, you can use a Pentium 4 power supply with an AMD board. It has the same 20-pin plug the Athlon boards need (plus two extras), so you can just plug that in, and leave the other two disconnected, and you'll be able to boot and run fine.

HOWEVER. The reason the P4 boards have the extra 12V connector is that the P4 draws its power from the 12V rails. Thus, extra 12V power is needed to the motherboard. In contrast, the Athlon boards deliver power to the processor using the 3.3 or 5V rails (which are powered via the 20-pin connector). P4 boards still use 3.3 and 5V power, but for things like memory, AGP and PCI cards, etc.

As a consequence, Pentium 4 boards require MUCH less current from the 3.3 and 5V lines, since they're not feeding the CPU from it. As a result, most Pentium 4 power supplies have rather low 3.3 and 5V ratings (cause they're not necessary). A *GOOD* AMD power supply will have a much higher rating on the 3.3 and 5V rails. Thus, while your P4 power supply should technically work with an AMD board, and allow it to POST, it's probably not optimal, and may have trouble with higher speed Athlons (the current draw increases with CPU speed). ? ? ? ?

My Enermax 350watt ? (EG365P-VE FMA 1 year old) ? is rated ?
3.3v ? 32A ? ? ? (3.3 and 5 combined 185watts)
5v ? ? 32A
12v ? 17A ? ? ?-> 204watts

the new Enermax 300/350watt ?
3.3v ? 28/32A ? ? ? (3.3 and 5 combined 170/185watts)
5v ? ? 30/32A
12v ? 22/26A ? ? ? -> 264/312watts

Now the Antec Solution series ?smartpower ?
300/350watt
3.3v ? ? 20/28A ? ? ? (3.3 and 5 combined 220/230watts)
5v ? ? 30/35A
12v ? ? 15/16A ? ? ? -> 180/192watts

Look at the 12v rails on the new Enermax?s. They have a huge increased rating over the old ones - on my 350w model the 12v rating has increased by over 100 watts. Judging from what I?ve seen, the new Enermax?s are way better than competing psu?s now on the 12v rail. The 350w Enermax has a 120watt better rating on the 12v rail than the 350w Antec smartpower. This basically makes the Enermax?s much better as a P4 solution. Even my old Enermax 350 has a better rating on the 12v than the Antec and would thus be better for a P4. The Antec?s will be better for Athlons because they have a much better combined 3.3v and 5v ratings - where the Athlon draws its power. So, while the Enermax may be lightweights against some other power solutions for an Athlon, they are heavyweights for a P4 solution.

I think either power supply is more than adequate for midrange P4?s or Athlons. But if you are going to power the top end systems with a 300 or 350w psu. You might want to consider the above.

Also, on a final note. The manufacturers overall output of the Enermax?s is rated higher than the Antec?s

---------------------------------------
Enermax ??
300 ? 300w ? manufacturers overall output rating
350w ? 350w

Antec ? ?
300 ? 280w
350 ? 330w
---------------------------------------

 

[WraithAkaMrak]

So for Athlons, you look at the 5/3.3 combined rating.
The SmartPower 300W's 5/3.3 is 220W.
The SmartPower 350W's 5/3.3. is 230W.
Does this mean that the 350W version is only slightly better than the 300W?
I don't know a lot about power supplies. I've been recommended both 300W and 450W. And the 450W P/S (Allied) only has a 5/3.3 rating of 230W.
If I'm going to run an average Athlon system, no heavy OC-ing, is any one of these going to be 'better' in the long run?

 

[WraithAkaMrak]

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

 

[Auric]

The important info is the amperage on each line, not the total claimed peak wattage output.

Goi wrote the "SmartPowers are as good as its TruePowers" but actually the latter have a much higher MTBF and are worth spending the extra on despite the gimmicky "TruePower" spiel (especially useless if running a CPU and GPU that draw from 12V as mentioned). It is also annoying that a so-called "TruePower" 330W, for instance, actually has a true peak power output of 310W which would be funny if it were not so lame. But Antec is, afterall, just a marketing company.

I would only recommend buying an SMPS with Active PFC but unfortunately for Antec fanatics, the marketing department have not yet deemed it necessary for the North American market and even though they have a lower operating cost, are devoid of RFI & EMI problems and provide more reliable power for very little extra manufacturing cost.

 

[Blastman]

?So for Athlons, you look at the 5/3.3 combined rating.?

Well, in essence yes, the 5/3.3 combined rating is much more important for an Athlon user but you will still need to look at the overall rating. The smartpower 350 would probably be as good as the Allied 450 for powering an Athlon because they both have the same 230watt combined 3.3+5v ratings. The exception to this is that the Allied might have a better overall/12v rating which would help it power a bunch of accessories. If you?re running 5 case fans and 4 HDD?s (12v) etc., etc., ? the Allied still might be a better overall solution. Also, Antec psu?s (like the Truepower) tend to very well built so they easily exceed their manufacturers ratings whereas some other cheaper psu?s barely make their ratings.

I should note that I?ve read that Nvidia nF2 boards also have the extra 12v connector on the motherboard to draw power from although I don?t know if these nF2 boards are actually using the 12v rail to power the CPU. If AMD motherboards start using that 12v auxiliary connector to power the CPU like the P4 then pretty well all manufacturers will probably be forced to go the way of Enermax and substantially upgrade their 12v rails.

 

[jaeger66]

I have a significantly higher power system that runs fine on a 300W Antec.