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Which psu for my system? Enermax, Antec, Fortron?

Q

qp

Member
Hey guys. I'm building a new system and I'm gonna have to replace my current power supply. I don't know anything about psu's and how much power I'm going to need though, so I want some suggestions/help from you fine folks. Ok what I'll be powering:


Asus A8V Deluxe mb
Athlon 64 3500+ Winchester
BFG 6800GT OC
1gb dual channel 3200 ddr400
2 hard drives
2 optical drives
3-4 led case fans


That's about it.. I'm not going to be overclocking right away, but would like to have the room to have that ability if I decide to. So how much power am I going to need for this beast? I'm not lookin at anything less than 450W. The problem is, I know there's a lot more to consider than just the watt rating or whatever, and that's what I don't know. So what I've been looking at with my limited knowledge are these:


ENERMAX Noisetaker Series 470W
Antec 480W TRUE480
Fortron 530W


Between the Enermax and the Antec I'm lookin at the 12v rails. Is it better to have dual 12v rails at 16A or one 12v at 22A? And the Fortron says +12V@16/28A.. what does that mean? What else do I need to look at and consider here?

Another one I was sorta considering before reading about it here was the Ultra X-Connect 500W. Like I said, reading about it here has scared me away from it a little bit, but I would like to know more about it. Are the specs on it just an outright lie or what? It claims 34A on the +12V rail, which none of those top name brands do. So is that simply not true or what? I gotta admit, I like the modular cables, but if the psu itself is inferior to others at the same price, I'll stick with an old fashioned style that performs better.

Should I go with one of these, including the X-Connect, and if so which one? Should I go with something different, and if so what? Price definately IS a consideration here since I've already spent way more than I wanted to on all this. However, I didn't spend all that to have it blown up by a crappy psu, so I want something decent. So I'm willing to spend around the price range of those four units. I'm trying to get one ordered today, because I've had this beautiful new hardware in my possession for over a week now and have only been able to look at it*. Any help and suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks a lot guys.




*Little word of advice to any noob out there like me looking at the A8V deluxe mb and a 90nm core cpu: be prepared to have your bios chip flashed to the latest in some way... I didn't have the ability to do it myself (no spare 939 cpus lying around) and had to send it off to Asus. Still waiting for it. 😱
 
Definately stick to a reputable name. Single or dual +12 volt rails doesn't matter. Just get a total of more than 24 amps. The Ultra X-Connect is a cool idea, but I have read it is not from a reliable builder. I have a Vantec 'Stealth' 520 watt in my system. Very reliable and quiet too.
 
Antec and Enermax are the front runners there, but I think Enermax is a more solid build. I'd go with them.

BUT, you shouldn't use that Noisetaker. It has a weak 12v rail at only 16 Amps.

I have one of these, the Whisper II, and it has a much better 12v rail at 33 Amps, and to boot, it's less expensive too, so you should probably go with it:

http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=17-103-456&depa=0
 
Hey thanks for the replies guys. Yeah that Whisper II is actually the one I was looking at, but I ended up on the wrong page when I went back to get the link. I know of pcp&c, but like I said I want to keep this under $100. I actually ordered the x-connect yesterday from zipzoomfly (gotta admit that free 2nd day shipping is attractive when you're in a hurry). It was recommended to me by a couple friends and the reviews on it are all glowing. I still have no reason to believe they're lying about the specs on the unit, so it looks good to me..

I can still cancel the order and go with a whisper II, which I might do, but I need a reason to. Are the specs on the x-connect untrue? Or what makes the x-connect a worse decision than the whisper II? The rumors that it's just a Powmax in a shiny Ultra shell have been shot down, correct?
 
The Forton, Antec and Enermax are all really good PSU"s, either one would work well. I'm not sure what to say about the X-connect, it's been tested and reached its 500 watt ratting without much trouble but the inside is a little scary; cheap components and messy wiring.

Originally posted by: qp I can still cancel the order and go with a whisper II, which I might do, but I need a reason to. Are the specs on the x-connect untrue? Or what makes the x-connect a worse decision than the whisper II? The rumors that it's just a Powmax in a shiny Ultra shell have been shot down, correct?
Click to expand...

I didn't see your last post.

Basically it comes down to the fact that it's just not built like a high quality Forton or Enermax. Even if Powermax doesn?t make it's not built very well.
 
Originally posted by: Insomniak
Antec and Enermax are the front runners there, but I think Enermax is a more solid build. I'd go with them.

BUT, you shouldn't use that Noisetaker. It has a weak 12v rail at only 16 Amps.

I have one of these, the Whisper II, and it has a much better 12v rail at 33 Amps, and to boot, it's less expensive too, so you should probably go with it:

http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=17-103-456&depa=0
Click to expand...


insomniak, what h/w you running with the Whisper II ?
 
I read the review on the Ultra X-connnect @ SPCR and my take on it was that it performed well under their tests. Although, it had higher db noise levels due to the small heatsinks used.
If you don't care about noise it would probably be fine, but if it were me I would go with the Noisetaker or a Seasonic Super Tornado 400.
 
Originally posted by: flexy
Originally posted by: Insomniak
Antec and Enermax are the front runners there, but I think Enermax is a more solid build. I'd go with them.

BUT, you shouldn't use that Noisetaker. It has a weak 12v rail at only 16 Amps.

I have one of these, the Whisper II, and it has a much better 12v rail at 33 Amps, and to boot, it's less expensive too, so you should probably go with it:

http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=17-103-456&depa=0
Click to expand...


insomniak, what h/w you running with the Whisper II ?
Click to expand...



It's sitting on my desk that's going into a new system build. I don't have all the parts yet, but the final system will be:

1x Athlon 64 3500+ (.13nm)
1x GeForce 6800GT
2x 512 Mushkin PC3200
1x 120GB SATA Seagate 7200RPM
1x 52x32x52 Samsung DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo
1x 120mm Silverstone high performance case fan (5000 RPM max, max CFM ~103)
1x 80mm Silverstone high performance case fan (5000 RPM max, max CFM ~73)
1x Vantec Nexus 3.5" Fan Controller
1x Creative Audigy 2

1x Socket 939 Mobo - Haven't chosen one yet. Waiting to see if Nforce 4 makes it out by January, in which case I'll nab a 6800GT PCIE and go the PCI Express route. It will be either an Nforce 3 Ultra or Nforce 4 SLI board.

All this will be housed in a Cooler Master Centurion 5. I know that PSU is a bit of overkill considering the low number of HDDs and Optical drives, but I like a big fat security cushion.




 
Originally posted by: Insomniak
Antec and Enermax are the front runners there, but I think Enermax is a more solid build. I'd go with them.

BUT, you shouldn't use that Noisetaker. It has a weak 12v rail at only 16 Amps.
Click to expand...

The noisetakers have dual rails though, 16A on the first 12v rail, 15A on the second, for a total of 31A.
 
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