I want a new PS, can't afford the top end ones, so my price range is under $75. The closer I get to $50, the happier I am. My current Antec True380 has been running fine, but at 4+ years old, it's time to replace it. While I could replace it with the same thing, looking for recommendations on more modern power supplies. Thanks in advance.
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Whats the best PS under $75?
- Thread starter Staz
- Start date
lobadobadingdong
Lifer
Better on the rails even though I've not used the brand... looks decent (26a on the 12v rail)... and could be good...
BTW, you really DON'T want to go cheap on a PSU... I usually set the cap/limit on a PSU at ~$125... That way, I'm SURE to get a quality unit that will provide more than enough power for the next few years (or more).
BTW, you really DON'T want to go cheap on a PSU... I usually set the cap/limit on a PSU at ~$125... That way, I'm SURE to get a quality unit that will provide more than enough power for the next few years (or more).
imported_Computer MAn
Golden Member
I have one of those and has given me no problems at all I know people really dont like Aspire but I recommend it.
It will be powering...
AMD XP-M 2500+ OC'ed to 3200+ on a Gigabyte GA-7N400Pro2 mobo.
Gig of Hyper-X memory in dual channel mode.
Two 80GB SATA hard drives, both with HD coolers on them.
FX5700 videocard.
Two DVD drives, one is a reader, one is a writer, and I do burn a lot of DVD's.
Basic SB Live sound card.
Six 80mm fans, 5 on case, 1 on CPU.
System is on 24/7, and gets a good 2-4 hours per day of 3D gaming.
Near future upgrades would include going to a A64 platform and upgrading my video to a 6600GT or 6800.
Which ever PS I get would have to handle all the power I need for future upgrades, so a 350W probably wont cut it. I consider 380W to be a min, and prefer 400W+.
AMD XP-M 2500+ OC'ed to 3200+ on a Gigabyte GA-7N400Pro2 mobo.
Gig of Hyper-X memory in dual channel mode.
Two 80GB SATA hard drives, both with HD coolers on them.
FX5700 videocard.
Two DVD drives, one is a reader, one is a writer, and I do burn a lot of DVD's.
Basic SB Live sound card.
Six 80mm fans, 5 on case, 1 on CPU.
System is on 24/7, and gets a good 2-4 hours per day of 3D gaming.
Near future upgrades would include going to a A64 platform and upgrading my video to a 6600GT or 6800.
Which ever PS I get would have to handle all the power I need for future upgrades, so a 350W probably wont cut it. I consider 380W to be a min, and prefer 400W+.
Spike
Diamond Member
480 watt
Thats the one I have powering:
Athlon XP 2500+ @ 3200+
1024 MB DDR400
Abit NF7-S 2.0
BFG 6800GT OC @ ultra speeds
200 GB Seagate 7200.7
250 GB Maxtor DM 9
Lite-On 48x12x48
NEC 2510a 8x +/-/dl
2 120mm fans, 1 80mm fan
The psu good rails (11.86 on +12) though only 18a. Should be enough for me, but not enough if I wanted to get a super power hungry system. I plan to upgrade to a A64 and use this same psu
-spike
Thats the one I have powering:
Athlon XP 2500+ @ 3200+
1024 MB DDR400
Abit NF7-S 2.0
BFG 6800GT OC @ ultra speeds
200 GB Seagate 7200.7
250 GB Maxtor DM 9
Lite-On 48x12x48
NEC 2510a 8x +/-/dl
2 120mm fans, 1 80mm fan
The psu good rails (11.86 on +12) though only 18a. Should be enough for me, but not enough if I wanted to get a super power hungry system. I plan to upgrade to a A64 and use this same psu
-spike
Aspire is junk, Thermaltake is nothing but a re-badged Enlight.
I think this Tagan is one of the best sub 400 watt PSUs you can get regardless of price.
A good 350 watt unit will handle that without any problems. The one factor aside from total watts is the 12v rail; it?s by far the most important rail on a modern PSU. That Thermaltake linked above only has 18A on the 12V rail, pretty bad for 480 watt PSU, the Tagan I linked has 22A despite being rated 100watts lower total.
I think this Tagan is one of the best sub 400 watt PSUs you can get regardless of price.
A good 350 watt unit will handle that without any problems. The one factor aside from total watts is the 12v rail; it?s by far the most important rail on a modern PSU. That Thermaltake linked above only has 18A on the 12V rail, pretty bad for 480 watt PSU, the Tagan I linked has 22A despite being rated 100watts lower total.
Is this one any good?
E-POWER "Puma" Series
This SITE has more info on this unit.
It basically has everything I want...
450W of True power.
Well known brand name, E-Power.
SATA connectors for my 2 SATA harddrives.
Low noice unit, only 23dba.
Two fans, including one 120mm and one 80mm.
28A on the 12v line.
Right at the $50 mark.
I could care less about the red color or LED fans, but the other specs are impressive. How is this one vs the one recommended by Operandi? Thoughts in general?
E-POWER "Puma" Series
This SITE has more info on this unit.
It basically has everything I want...
450W of True power.
Well known brand name, E-Power.
SATA connectors for my 2 SATA harddrives.
Low noice unit, only 23dba.
Two fans, including one 120mm and one 80mm.
28A on the 12v line.
Right at the $50 mark.
I could care less about the red color or LED fans, but the other specs are impressive. How is this one vs the one recommended by Operandi? Thoughts in general?
Spike
Diamond Member
Yes, 18a on the 12v rail is low by the current super-power users standard, yet I know people using the antec sonota case with it's stock 380 watt PSU (which was 18a till just recently) and run A64 systems with 6800 ultra GPU's. Tagan is a mixed bag just like Thermaltake, you get good reviews and bad ones. I went from others personal experience and bought the Tt which has been great.
I personally would get a 380 watt Enermax or Antec before getting a Tagan of any wattage, but thats just me.
-spike
EDIT** on the plus side for the Tt, it comes with fan controllers (a 5.25" bay and a PCI slot controller) to change the voltage on the exhaust fan (not the intake fan on the under side). At a little under medium settings the fan is silent (no fan noises besides the movement of air) and still pushes alot of air. A nice bonus.
How do you figure it has "450W of True power."?? Just about ALL PSU's have SATA connections these days.
As for "well known brand name" I've never heard of them before now...
Just don't be surprised if that PSU craps out early, or just a few weeks/months out of warranty...
As for "well known brand name" I've never heard of them before now...
Just don't be surprised if that PSU craps out early, or just a few weeks/months out of warranty...
Where have you seen a negative review of a Tagan? I've used plenty of Enermax units the Tagan is much better built PSU in my opinion, and defiantly better the most Antecs.
Thermaltakes are just re-labeled Enlights, not horrible but not in the same league as Enermax, Tagan or Antec.
Spike
Diamond Member
I have not found nor looked for bad reviews of the Tagans, I based my comments on what others have said in both these forums and others I read. There was never anything super-negative like you hear about aspires or generic PSU's, but there was a wide range of results tending towards the middle of the pack.
I don't know if they are good or bad, which is why I would not get one. I do know that Tt's are decent and "good enough" with some headroom left over. That combined with the price is why I went with them. I will be buying another PSU soon (building a third comp) and may look at the Tagans, but until I hear more about them they are a '?' in my book
-spike
I don't know if they are good or bad, which is why I would not get one. I do know that Tt's are decent and "good enough" with some headroom left over. That combined with the price is why I went with them. I will be buying another PSU soon (building a third comp) and may look at the Tagans, but until I hear more about them they are a '?' in my book
-spike
Well the only negative I can think of is the lack of APFC. Tagan is German company I believe and APFC is requirement there so all the reviews from the U.K. list APFC as a feature. There is no mention on Tagan's site that North American Tagan's don't feature APFC, kinda lame I guess.
Everything else indicates they are some of the best PSUs you can get, very well built and tons of power. Tagan and OCZ share the same manufacture; the 480 watt Tagan and 520 watt OCZ have nearly identical internals, I haven?t seen a negative review of either OCZ or Tagan.
Everything else indicates they are some of the best PSUs you can get, very well built and tons of power. Tagan and OCZ share the same manufacture; the 480 watt Tagan and 520 watt OCZ have nearly identical internals, I haven?t seen a negative review of either OCZ or Tagan.
Spike
Diamond Member
Well, for the most part APFC is useless (at least to me) and the only real winner with that is the power companies (and possibly your power bill, but not by much). I may have to give tagan a second look as I did not know they were made by the same people as OCZ.
I am still very happy with my Tt ( was very stable before my 6800GT and since the voltages have become even more stable... strange but welcome) and love the orange fans (strange, I know).
To the OP... if you like the Tagans/E-Powers then go with them, from what Operandi is saying they are a good PSU and should power your system fine. If you still wanted to look elsewhere don't be afraid to consider a Tt.
-spike
I know it's a good brand, but my question has more to do with the specific units. The unit I like has more power and more features than the one he recommended, but is $6 less, and that raises an eyebrow. Why is his recommended unit $6 more expensive, but has fewer features and less power, there must be a reason, and that is what I am looking for. That same info could carry over to other brands and help me decide incase I don't go with that brand.
It's not the same brand E-Power and Tagan are separate companies. I do think they come from the same source though along with OCZ. It's prolly a decent PSU but there is good chance it?s not going to be as good as a Tagan. If was me I wouldn't try my luck with anything I was unsure of, besides it looks kinda ghetto.
Spike
Diamond Member
Techincally you are right, they are not the same. Topower makes e-power, tagan, and OCZ psu's. They are all pretty much the SAME except marketed by different companies. you are fine with ANY of them if you like one (and OCZ's are pretty good so that translates to the other three)
The funny thing is, topower has a bad reputation. At least one of the PSU's (a tagan 330-watt) was deamed "unsafe" in Finland for sale. lol...
-spike
The funny thing is, topower has a bad reputation. At least one of the PSU's (a tagan 330-watt) was deamed "unsafe" in Finland for sale. lol...
-spike
hmm. i was in a shop earlier today and was wondering if an enlight 200w ($44.95) would be worth it over the orignal delta 185w (i would like to keep the original hp 8770c steel case) if i added a ti4200 or 9500 pro with one optical, one hd, and celeron d
the orignal 850 slot a amd is power hungry?
the orignal 850 slot a amd is power hungry?
When dealing with psu's, the first thing to remember is that there's absolutely no truth in advertising for 'em....
Just the way it is, so the smart thing is to stick with a brand you can trust. Antec and Enermax market good stuff, but for my money, the Fortron/Source (Sparkle) line is first pick, unless dealing with something very critical, in which case I'd go with Zippy/Emacs.
Fortron also manufactures consumer, rather than professional grade units, labelled as Power Q or Hi Q, Inwin, and some others... they're not bad, but any that carry the FSP-XXX model number having 350w rating or better will more than serve your purpose... good stuff, some of the best.
Just the way it is, so the smart thing is to stick with a brand you can trust. Antec and Enermax market good stuff, but for my money, the Fortron/Source (Sparkle) line is first pick, unless dealing with something very critical, in which case I'd go with Zippy/Emacs.
Fortron also manufactures consumer, rather than professional grade units, labelled as Power Q or Hi Q, Inwin, and some others... they're not bad, but any that carry the FSP-XXX model number having 350w rating or better will more than serve your purpose... good stuff, some of the best.
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