New Modular PSU - Advice/Comments needed

[Big.Wayne]

Hello all,

I'm in the market for a few new PSU's since I had a bunch of ANTEC PSU's go belly up on me.

Been spending some time reading a few reviews and have narrowed my choice down to these units. .

In order of costs (cheaper to more expensive)



OCZ ModStream 520w

Tagan Easycon 530w

Hiper Type R 580w

Enermax Liberty 500w

Tagan Easycon 580w

Seasonic M12 500w



I've already got a Tagan Easycon 530w which I am testing now, first impressions awesome but I'm not sure how they stand the test of time?

System #1: P4 *Northwood* 2.6GHz - 1GB (2x512) P3200 - Radeon 9200 - 1x HDD - 1x Optical - Floppy - 3x Case fans.

System #2: P4 *Northwood* 3.4GHz - 1GB (2x512) P3200 - Radeon 9800 Pro -4x HDD (2x36Gb Raptors, 2xIDE) - 1x Optical - Floppy - 3x Case fans.

System #3: Opteron 170 (@2.6GHz) - 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 - Radeon X850XT - PCI DVB-T card - 4xHDD - 1xOptical - Floppy - 3x Case fans

System #4: Opteron 170 (@2.6GHz) - 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 - Radeon X1900XT - 2xHDD - 1xOptical - Floppy - 3x Case fans

The P4 systems need a fair bit of voltage right? Do you think any of the above PSU's are too weak for any of these systems?

 

[Big.Wayne]

Yes a few other people have said the same thing but I also know a few peeps who say how good they are, gawd!!

Buy yeah I will probably scratch that, it's my least fave choice as far as *internals* go, only made it in the list due to looking nice and being modular.

Looking at the costs (because I need 3) these PSU's are looking like the possible short-list:


OCZ ModStream 520w

Tagan Easycon 530w

Enermax Liberty 500w

Playing with the Tagan now, having to *test* fit it into the various cases because it is a big beast, already looking like it will be a squeeze in the original ANTEC Lanboy (have to take the mobo out to test fit it gah!) and next up is the SILVERSTONE LC20 (HTPC desktop case).

Just got off the phone to me mate Big Dave who owns the ENERMAX Liberty and he says it looks like a standard sized PSU (more square shaped) which should be helpful in the two smaller chassis. . .

 

[Big.Wayne]

Thanks Mekrel

again I have heard *murmers* around the campfire about the OCZ units!

It is looking like a grudge match between:


Tagan Easycon 530w

Enermax Liberty 500w


Going by brand name alone I am leaning torwards Enermax, the costs are roughly the same and not sure if the 30w difference is something to be concerned about.

I wonder what other features these PSU's offer (or don't offer), lol nearly there

 

[Big.Wayne]

tbh I think your spending way more than you need to here, I can't see the 400 Watt Liberty struggling with any of those systems and the P4 ones, especially with those graphics, just aren't gonna need a £70 PSU

Hi there Tetras and GhostRider,

I kinda know what you mean, but was just making sure I was covered, better too much than too little sorta thing!

I made a mistake on System #2 (corrected above), so you think a quality 400w would be enough to feed this machine?, bearing in mind it has 4x HDD and the P4 guzzles a lot of juice!

System #2: P4 *Northwood* 3.4GHz - 1GB (2x512) P3200 - Radeon 9800 Pro -4x HDD (2x36Gb Raptors, 2xIDE) - 1x Optical - Floppy - 3x Case fans.

[edit] I say this because the above system already munched through an ANTEC TRUEPower550 in 18 months, and the other P4 system chomped another ANTEC, this time a NEOPower480, maybe just unlucky but I thought maybe the wattage wasn't enough

 

[Big.Wayne]

Tagan Easycon 600 XL. nuff said

Funny I was just looking at that product, didn't see much news about it yet, you in the know?

 

[Big.Wayne]

having looked at more psu threads and googling for far to long on psu , it is the same old story buy cheap , you buy dear in the end , if you want a top quality (the best most relaible psu) you need to spend the money

Hi rippling,

yes I understand that well, but looking at my PSU's that have given up the ghost after running between 12-24 months I don't think I have been buying cheap PSU's. .

ANTEC TruePower550 = £99 about two years ago: Held in high regard at the time, has now died after 18 months use running a modest set-up (P4 3.4GHz).

ANTEC NEOPower480 = £90 about a year and a half ago: Was the first modular PSU and one of the first with a 120mm fan and dual-rails, has also now died after just 18 months

I have an overclocked p4 northwood @ 3.2ghz, 4x 256 PC3200 (doh), 6600gt, 1 sata hdd, 2x nec dvdrw's, PCI Sound blaster, Nebula DigiTV PCI, and 4 case fans and I am using a Nexus 400w PSU (has been solid for over a year), personally I think I could get away using a 350w for this system!

Yup I'm running a similar system in a ANTEC Case/400w PSU bundle, all sweet atm, can't quite hit the same overclock though (6MHz less on the FSB to be exact!) but apart from that its sweet, however leave that system running for 1 year/2 year/3 year what happens.

Lol don't say chuck it in the bin and spend some money on a new system you mean git " I'm a Eco-Warrior don't you know.

 

[Big.Wayne]

Corsair HX 520W. Far superior to my slightly older tagan. Very quiet, sooo stable even with my E6300 at 3.5ghz, 1900xt, and many other bits in *** case.

Thumbs up from me !

finally someone who agrees with me the corsair is far better than most of the one listed i love mine as im sure most other owners do

Hi adfinni and Massive Attack,

I would imagine that the Corsair PSU's are rather good, the company has an excellent reputation as a memory manufacturer but to be honest we (joe public) don't know that much about them and how they last, because they are so new, still would be happy to hear of any reviews/features you would care to share. . .

 

[Big.Wayne]

Cheers for that Massive Attack,

Having read that review there is one feature that I totally forgot about,

Fan-Only Connectors!

thatsquite important as well because two systems have the case fans controlled by these, both of them are *Silent* systems. .

 

[Big.Wayne]

I got my Corsair HX520W after the Tagan Easyconn 530W popped on me in less than 6 months.

Hi psumann,

good to know, oh dear I have a Easyconn 530w here now, looks like a great PSU but yours popped after only 6 months

What system was that powering out of interest?

I need to get my orders in tonight, had pretty much decided to grab the Enermax Liberty 400w (x2/P4's) and 500w (x2/Opterons) but It looks like the Liberty doesn't have a fan-only connectors (which is standard on most ANTEC PSU's and I got used to having that function now). I really need the fan control on two of the systems (to help reduce noise), hmmm this is proving to be a tricky process. . . .

BTW: The Corsair PSU looks neat and has the fan-controllers *but* is a bit pricey for me, lets see. . . . .