Which high end power supply?

[Ch3m1c4L]

while running furmark and prime 95 i was getting 906w, which was before i oc'd my graphics cards. So i guess it will only be around 960w still. i do have things like 2 12" and 2 4" cathodes, a tri led light, and 4 leds to go in the water blocks. And its a dual loop system so 2 pumps etc.

But yea, i would like to put a 1kw psu to power it all. If you think about it though, if your going to with gtx 3 series, youll be drawing a hell of a lot less power. since a gtx 280/285 draws less than my 295, and its unlikely nvidia will have a dual card out that soon of the next series.

 

[VortX]

Done lots of searching on the market and was about to decide on getting the Corsair HX1000W, when I came across Enermax's new Revolution range.

Including an 850W, 1050W and a 1250W.

Rated at LEAST 85 efficiency and has been seen to do up to 91%.

It is the most stable PSU out there by the looks of things, fantastic build quality and is un questionably the most efficient PSU out there atm.

It also looks very sexy haha, but so far can't find a review to fault it apart from a noticeable (not loud) noise at peak output.

I think I will be getting this baby now:

http://www.enermax.com/home.php?fn=eng/product_a1&lv0=1&lv1=7

Reviews:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=138

http://anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3452&p=1

http://www.*****.net/content/item.php?item=19023


The only down side is the cost, it is fairly expensive ranging in the 170-220 mark, but not a huge amount of money to ask when your paying for the best on the market. What do you think??

 

[Mattus]

They are very nice, yeah. But the price If you can afford it then I'd go for it, but there are perfectly adequate PSUs at barely half the price.

 

[JonJ678]

Don't buy thermaltake. Whether its a case, a psu, a cooling system, just don't buy it.

I vote for the 860W pc power and cooling. I'm using two of them, one for a rig that doesn't even remotely need that much power. This is because my motherboard blew 8 weeks ago, and killed pretty much everything attached to it. Processor, ram, I think a hard drive but haven't finished testing. The 8 pin cpu power cable on the supply no longer works, burnt out in the process. The rest of the psu is absolutely fine, its currently running off the second 8 pin cable,

That pretty much sells pc power and cooling for me. The psu was hit hard enough to destroy the cpu cable and it just doesn't care. I'll use their supplies for as long as I can.

 

[PhoenixUK]

Don't buy thermaltake. Whether its a case, a psu, a cooling system, just don't buy it.

Actually the thermaltake toughpower series are lots better than corsairs.

I have used many corsairs before and they were all good but then the thermaltake came out, I used few of them for different builds and it's just no comparison - they are just so much more silent and run better.

Had few of their cases which also were all good for their prices - especially the Shark. Full aluminum full tower case for 80quid? You can't really beat that and that was just bad you could say about it either unless you didn't like the look.

--
I would get seasonic if I had this much cash to spend : ).

 

[JonJ678]

Who makes them for thermaltake? The brand name is far from respected. For one thing I was under the impression that their cases tend to run the internal components hot since the airflow isn't very well planned out. Their water cooling needs no comment.

Quiet isn't better if the ripple on the voltage rails is worse. What do you mean by run better?

The 860W pc power and cooling is made by Seasonic

 

[PhoenixUK]

Who makes them for thermaltake? The brand name is far from respected. For one thing I was under the impression that their cases tend to run the internal components hot since the airflow isn't very well planned out. Their water cooling needs no comment.

Quiet isn't better if the ripple on the voltage rails is worse. What do you mean by run better?

The 860W pc power and cooling is made by Seasonic

Did you actually use some of those toughpower PSUs or just theorycrafting?

No idea about the watercooling as I haven't used it but on the airflow part ...
uhmm...

Found screenie from one of my old builds:

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/4425/cimg1202jz4.jpg

Couldn't really complain about the airflow or temps there, remember that aluminium works better than steel as a one huge heatsink ; ). CPU temps were somewhere about as low as 26-28c on idle and not exceeding 33-35c fully loaded.

I would pick this over the p180 or antec900 anyday.

 

[JonJ678]

I've used hiper, ocz and pc power and cooling. The only one I know anything about the voltages for is the last one, and that's based on the certificate it came with rather than testing. Obviously I haven't used the psu which I believe to be rubbish, as why would I buy one that I thought was rubbish? Budget 1200W just isn't sensible.

I know you haven't attached yours to a load tester, so what have you done that makes you think it's high quality?

Theorycrafting isn't a word. My damning it based on reputation is the same as you praising it based on appearance. 'Runs really nice' doesn't mean very much.

Ive looked at your screenshot. Ignoring how youve filled it, I see a large top exhaust and a rear 120. All I can see of the intake system is a nearly solid wall with hard drives behind it which if anything supports my point. One showing the entire case would be more useful. How does air get into it?

 

[PhoenixUK]

I've used hiper, ocz and pc power and cooling. The only one I know anything about the voltages for is the last one, and that's based on the certificate it came with rather than testing. Obviously I haven't used the psu which I believe to be rubbish, as why would I buy one that I thought was rubbish? Budget 1200W just isn't sensible.

I know you haven't attached yours to a load tester, so what have you done that makes you think it's high quality?

Theorycrafting isn't a word. My damning it based on reputation is the same as you praising it based on appearance. 'Runs really nice' doesn't mean very much.

Ive looked at your screenshot. Ignoring how youve filled it, I see a large top exhaust and a rear 120. All I can see of the intake system is a nearly solid wall with hard drives behind it which if anything supports my point. One showing the entire case would be more useful. How does air get into it?

by 2x120mm at the front. And you can mount something around 200mm+ size at the side which will be blowing right onto the cpu/gpu area but I didn't really need it as the temps were just fine.

And the top one is a PSU with 140mm, taking any hot air out as well.

Yeh you're right about the load tester, haven't used that but if it runs on several PCs for 1-2yrs, some of them being crossfire with multiple hdds then I guess it's fine.

Corsair ones been just as fine - the only difference I've noticed really was that the thermaltake was better packed with more extra leads, looked more solid, was a lot quieter and cheaper : ). If that's not enough for you, then I'm sorry I can't provide more info.

---
At least we agree on the seasonic part so let's leave it there ; ).

 

[Mattus]

Actually the thermaltake toughpower series are lots better than corsairs.

Was reading HardOCP PSU reviews earlier (their tests are pretty in-depth!)

Thermaltake 850W:

These facts all make this unit a serviceable unit that passes testing, but its price point is simply way out of proportion to its performance today. In fact, asking you to pay $279 for it is insulting. Thermaltake once looked to be setting the standard for high-end power supplies, but today Thermaltake is doing nothing more than following the pack, and lagging well behind at that.

Corsair 850W:

With its exceptional efficiency, absolutely amazing DC Output Quality, and very good voltage regulation the HX850W hit just about every nail square on the head.

... so they much preferred the Corsair.

For what it's worth, never been a big fan of Thermaltake cases or coolers either. All they seem to do is rip off products from quality brands and make cheaper and nastier versions of them.

I would pick this over the p180 or antec900 anyday.

Really? That case looks very basic and not particularly solid compared to my P182.

 

[VortX]

Done lots of searching on the market and was about to decide on getting the Corsair HX1000W, when I came across Enermax's new Revolution range.

Including an 850W, 1050W and a 1250W.

Rated at LEAST 85 efficiency and has been seen to do up to 91%.

It is the most stable PSU out there by the looks of things, fantastic build quality and is un questionably the most efficient PSU out there atm.

It also looks very sexy haha, but so far can't find a review to fault it apart from a noticeable (not loud) noise at peak output.

I think I will be getting this baby now:

http://www.enermax.com/home.php?fn=eng/product_a1&lv0=1&lv1=7

Reviews:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=138

http://anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3452&p=1


The only down side is the cost, it is fairly expensive ranging in the 170-220 mark, but not a huge amount of money to ask when your paying for the best on the market. What do you think??

 

[JonJ678]

VortX:
Enermax are good, you'll be quite happy with one. I'm reasonably sure Seasonic are considered the best, so I think emermax are not the best on the market. They do some nice things like the fan spins for a few minutes after you shutdown, and have made good psus for a long time. I'd be inclined to get the 850W version unless you're doing really insane things with sli/crossfire


Phoenix:
I wasn't asking what fans are at the front as such, I'm asking about the internal airflow. Two 120mm fans with a solid metal wall behind them doesn't work well. From the photo you put up, it looks very much like the area behind the front intake is ludicrously restrictive. However as you only showed part of the case, it's hard to be certain.

Consider this. 80 quid case by thermaltake or a 120 quid case by antec. Where do you think the extra 40 quid goes? Many companies make and sell computer cases, few people buy them. The market is very competitive. Margins on the cases will consequently be quite slim. The extra 40 quid on the antec has gone somewhere, and the majority of it will have gone into your case. Buying thermaltake because they're cheaper than the opposition in no way means they're better. Indeed why are you no longer using the thermaltake case? My akasa has now survived three builds I believe

I will laugh in your face if you tell me the thermaltake has a better design than the P182.

 

[Chimerical]

Definitely the Enermax Revolution.

 

[PhoenixUK]

Was reading HardOCP PSU reviews earlier (their tests are pretty in-depth!)

Thermaltake 850W:

Corsair 850W:

... so they much preferred the Corsair.

For what it's worth, never been a big fan of Thermaltake cases or coolers either. All they seem to do is rip off products from quality brands and make cheaper and nastier versions of them.



Really? That case looks very basic and not particularly solid compared to my P182.

279$ for the 850?? Yeh well, last time I've been buying them I've paid 80quid for the 750 one, seemed like a good price to me.

I could put here at least 8-10 other reviews easily saying only good things about it so well, maybe they had a gimped unit or someone paid them to say those things r they have borrowed some of Jons negative energy maybe .
One review vs lots of good opinions on OCuk back in the day and lots of different review sites doesn't say much.
Regarding the antec p182.


As much as this is a very good case and is one of the best cases when it comes to silence it doesn't have much space and pain in the ass to fit anything in there ( their so called 'cable management' system is making more mess than helping - I don't see a point why would you want to put some rubbish plastic between PSU and mobo, it's not gonna stop air from coming there and only makes it harder to do anything with the cabling ). It's too heavy as well.

In mentioned TT, not only you will have better airflow and lower temps, it will be also a lot easier to fit anything with more space in general - on top of that it was about half the price at the time.

Don't get me wrong, I still recommend the antec p182 to anyone that likes silence - it's number one untill at least 160-200+ range in this case.
I've had one P192 as well ( finally more space than 182 ) and it's great : ).

It all depends on what you need and thermaltake has some nice cases, especially their new stuff gets pretty good reviews .

----------------
Anyways, let's cut off the off topic and get back on track.

 

[Mattus]

Re: the PSU - all I can say is that they tested the PSUs with advanced equipment which most users (and lots of reviewers) don't have access to. So when they say that the Corsair is an excellent PSU and the Thermaltake less so, I put more weight on their opinion than those of people on a forum. Without the testing equipment, you can't really say much about a PSU apart from 'it works' and 'it's quiet', which you can say about any PSU that costs more than £30!

Re: the case: matter of taste, I suppose. But I do think the Antec is reasonable value-for-money - you pay more, but you get more.

 

[PhoenixUK]

Re: the PSU - all I can say is that they tested the PSUs with advanced equipment which most users (and lots of reviewers) don't have access to. So when they say that the Corsair is an excellent PSU and the Thermaltake less so, I put more weight on their opinion than those of people on a forum. Without the testing equipment, you can't really say much about a PSU apart from 'it works' and 'it's quiet', which you can say about any PSU that costs more than £30!

Re: the case: matter of taste, I suppose. But I do think the Antec is reasonable value-for-money - you pay more, but you get more.

Yeh : ). It all comes down to what you like, what you need, and how much cash have you got. If it was just about design and stuff without looking at the price or needs I could just as well say that the http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-134-LL&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=187 is lots better than the p182 ; ). ( Gosh I so want this case ).

On the PSU part:
Well, if it works with 2 GPUs in SLI, 10HDDs connected, 2 DVDs and a rad + some fans along with OCed CPU/ram for years without any problem then it cant be all that bad??

Somewhere I've read when they ripped it apart and checked what's inside and the parts were a lot better than they should be (ie. 750w psu having parts that could handle 1100-2000w load ).

As much as I like reading reviews, I trust more what I've tested personally.
Maybe I don't have those fancy testing equipments that they've got but if it works fine with the things it should I see no point why I would bother caring about some fancy review.

It's like saying the phenom II, xyz ram or hdd is rubbish because this and that part had better scores on one or two reviews. Or that you should buy Porsche and not Ferrari because some guy said that Ferrari engine pulled out less horsepower or whatever has tires of lower quality.

 

[JonJ678]

Its not the same at all. Testing the voltage available at a range of current draws and reporting the results is completely different to testing the horsepower of a car. Clean, stable power is important and pretty much the entire picture when it comes to power supplies. Cars also have torque, mass, where mass is distributed, torque vs engine speed characteristic, suspension properties, braking effectiveness, and a whole heap of exciting electronics that I haven't got to yet.

I suppose all it misses is what the supplies damage when they fail. My ocz elitexstream just had an led turn red on the back, did nothing whatsoever to anything conencted.

Its the difference between 'quiet' and silentpcreview rating it I suppose.

I'm still curious as to why you're changing case so often, why not buy one you love and stick with it?

p.s. thats not even close to the rated 1200W, I don't think it comes near even if they were both dual gpu cards. So not a very solid test of its capabilities.

 

[Mattus]

On the PSU part:
Well, if it works with 2 GPUs in SLI, 10HDDs connected, 2 DVDs and a rad + some fans along with OCed CPU/ram for years without any problem then it cant be all that bad??

Not saying it's a bad PSU. It's probably a perfectly good PSU. I just think the Corsair is better

 

[PhoenixUK]

Its not the same at all. Testing the voltage available at a range of current draws and reporting the results is completely different to testing the horsepower of a car. Clean, stable power is important and pretty much the entire picture when it comes to power supplies. Cars also have torque, mass, where mass is distributed, torque vs engine speed characteristic, suspension properties, braking effectiveness, and a whole heap of exciting electronics that I haven't got to yet.

I suppose all it misses is what the supplies damage when they fail. My ocz elitexstream just had an led turn red on the back, did nothing whatsoever to anything conencted.

Its the difference between 'quiet' and silentpcreview rating it I suppose.

I'm still curious as to why you're changing case so often, why not buy one you love and stick with it?

p.s. thats not even close to the rated 1200W, I don't think it comes near even if they were both dual gpu cards. So not a very solid test of its capabilities.

Hehe, it's not exactly one of those chinese PSUs, so it won't take anything with it I can bet on that : ). Dunno why are you so negative about it : ).

Regarding the case, oh well, I would probably stick to one when I get myself THIS or that ; ). But then probably I'll change it in max 2 years anyways because something better will come out.

But anyways, I just like to test different stuff out and I'm not this type of guy that will buy a PC and keep it for 3-4years if you know what I mean.

 

[JonJ678]

I'm completely in agreement with changing hardware when its not really required. Ive recently decided to put a lot of effort into case and watercooling, mainly because I'm enjoying doing so, but once finished with that I'll go back to playing with the hardware in the middle and hopefully making things out of copper to put in the case.

Making things is not possible at present sadly because my computer is on rma, so I have no cad, so I can't make things. This may have started playing with the case

Its not the psu I dislike as such, its more the name Thermaltake. I definitely don't like their cases though, and wouldn't like them even if they had a different name. Perhaps thats unreasonable of me.

I fear we've slightly taken over the thread though, with many posts establishing that thermaltake might be worth a look, but there is considerable doubt about it.

Seasonic/pc p&c/corsair/be quiet seems to be the standard recommendation, I'm unsure how enermax compares but reviews like them