New Rig - What psu?

Mp4 · 23 Apr 2006 at 10:05

Hi all,

in the next month i shall have the kit below but im miffed on what PSU to get for it! ive been told to get a Pc power and cooling psu, but that will mean modifying the case and adding more fans ( which isn’t a prob) and the PSU is about £290 inc p&p , and is also 9.1 inches long hence why id have to modify it. And I think its overkill as I wont be upgrading anytime soon.

I want to stick with 1 PSU,

I’ve been looking at the Enermax 620W, but it has quit a lot of bad reviews and I don’t know how good modular PSU’s are.

Sseasonic 600w Not sure about but almost everyone has one so it must be good.!

I want the PSU to handle the system below and to take some upgrades in the future and some overclocking without any problem what so ever. Or do I wait a few weeks until the new Tagan 900W and 1.1kw

The spec is going to be.

Coolermaster CM Stacker T01 (Inc cross flow fan)

DFI Lanparty UT RDX200 CF-DR

Dual Core Athlon 64 4800+

OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC4000 Dual Channel Platinum Series

ATI Radeon X1900 ***Crossfire Edition*** 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)

Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT-X 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)

my old IDE

Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 120GB 1200JB ATA-100 8MB Cache

And Creative DVD Rom
Plextor PX- 708A – DVD RW

And maybe in the future get a nice
Western Digital Raptor 150GB WD1500ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache
Maybe 2x

Please post your thoughts here!

benjo · 23 Apr 2006 at 10:17

Well you cant really go wrong with the Seasonic S12 range. And i'm not sure what reviews you've read, but everyone on these forums love the Enermax Liberty range. All in your budget and all really good quality

gr1mey · 23 Apr 2006 at 10:23

Im sure you would be happy with either PSU, for me it would come down to the fact that the Enermax is modular - making cable management easier

Mp4 · 23 Apr 2006 at 11:13

I’ve just been looking at the NEO HE Range also as it has three 18a rails (max 500w across them) I don’t know if its more suitable for my system other than the S12. Thought I could have 3 separate lines one for the cpu and the other for the graphics cards. But I think that the S12 will be quieter under full load at gaming etc, and better airflow (if that matters?)

wilders · 23 Apr 2006 at 11:16

I got a hiper 580w modular, I gotta say its quiet, and i've never had an issue. And it is nice to not have a big bundle of cables tucked away inside the case.

MikeTimbers · 23 Apr 2006 at 11:37

Dan gives a big thumbs up to the Tagans and gives a few interesting comments around split 12v rails as well. Worth a read even if you don't want a Tagan.

Mp4 · 23 Apr 2006 at 11:53

Intresting read about the Tagan's

Quote from Dan

Any brand name PSU with a reasonable rating will run any sensible PC today, and that's not likely to change. These Tagans, however, don't just suit certain niche users down to the ground. They also give everybody else insurance against problems that they might, perhaps, later have. Buy one, set it to combined-rail mode, and relax in the knowledge that adding stuff in the future won't create weird and wonderful problems.

Highly recommended.

Hmm tempting and the U15 Tagan is modular

brightside_ · 23 Apr 2006 at 11:57

FSP Sparkles are reccomended if you need a lot of power, however they do have four split rails iirc

Mp4 · 23 Apr 2006 at 12:04

So many psu's to choose from

guess it's down to what one is best for the computer. what 1 psu would everyone reccomend Atm for me its the Seasonic / Enermax 620w (mod) or the new Tagan U15

fornowagain · 23 Apr 2006 at 14:10

You don't need the 850W/1.1kW PCP&C, the PCP&C 510 SLI is more than enough for the spec you suggest. And they are the best, but expensive. If you want a modular unit take a look at the Silverstone ST60F , £90 good spec. If you want a lot of power without mods to the case, they are soon to release a 750W model with over 720W at 12v. That's 60A. And the thing to look for with CF/SLI is quad rails. Dual rails can be overloaded with two GF cards. The Tagan only supplies 35A at 12V, so you can get better, but it should be enough.

ST60F

chaparral · 23 Apr 2006 at 15:24

Mp4 said:
I’ve been looking at the Enermax 620W, but it has quit a lot of bad reviews and I don’t know how good modular PSU’s are.

Can you post a link to some these bad reviews please....

Because all the reviews i have seen of it are highly recommended..

Mp4 · 23 Apr 2006 at 15:26

Seems like a nice psu that Silverstone, though I’ve never heard of them. Think ill have to wait until the end of the month and see where the psu manufactures are going.

Atm
Pc power and cooling (Expensive and 9.1 inches long BUT are the dogs breakfast and is a must)
Enermax Liberty (good all rounder and passed the tests at Extreme tech)
Seasonic (same as the Enermax passed all tests at extreme tech)
Antec Neo (don’t really like Antec)

Silverstone Zues – never heard of the company but seem very stable
Tagan – nice features could be a winner but again I’ve never used any of there psu’s

Added

The site is an American so no doubt they will be moody at want the best most people who have done a review has either has a bad psu with it blowing up, there are quite a few on the site that have had this. So hence the bad review.

a quote from a poster on the site.

Quote: In my opinion these burnouts and/or explosions are happening at a rate that could just be parlayed to chance or coincidence. According to this NewEgg sample alone I see an almost 10% failure rate. Just to compare, I spent about the last hour researching the site in the +$70 ramge and couldn't find any other unit that had this kind of problem. I really have no idea what could have caused this to happen, but I am very curious as all the parts seems to be well made. I build PCs for a living so I do know what I'm doing and couldn't imagine it was user error. Also, system load was VERY low. No apps were running and I was just adjusting the monitor settings when it happened. Final thought, my experience happened exactly as by the guy who wrote in that was playing FFXI. In my opinion that would suggest a manufacturing defect of some sort, so CAVEAT EMPTOR!!! Also, I'm pretty sure I followed the guidelines this time and this gets published, people need to know.

Friends have recommended the Enermax to me as they have the old 450w psu and its lasted over 3 years now.

chaparral · 23 Apr 2006 at 15:43

Mp4 said:
http://www.*******.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16817194004

a quote from a poster on the site.

Quote: In my opinion these burnouts and/or explosions are happening at a rate that could just be parlayed to chance or coincidence. According to this NewEgg sample alone I see an almost 10% failure rate. Just to compare, I spent about the last hour researching the site in the +$70 ramge and couldn't find any other unit that had this kind of problem. I really have no idea what could have caused this to happen, but I am very curious as all the parts seems to be well made. I build PCs for a living so I do know what I'm doing and couldn't imagine it was user error. Also, system load was VERY low. No apps were running and I was just adjusting the monitor settings when it happened. Final thought, my experience happened exactly as by the guy who wrote in that was playing FFXI. In my opinion that would suggest a manufacturing defect of some sort, so CAVEAT EMPTOR!!! Also, I'm pretty sure I followed the guidelines this time and this gets published, people need to know.

Friends have recommended the Enermax to me as they have the old 450w psu and its lasted over 3 years now.

Many Thanks for that...

(I would star that link out now)

Mp4 · 23 Apr 2006 at 15:49

No problem, i've still no conclusion on what psu to get as new things come into the post and also psu devs are bringing out new psu's mostly this month heh. Wait and see unless ill have to rush , atm will be the Enermax Liberty

chaparral · 23 Apr 2006 at 15:53

Mp4 said:
No problem, i've still no conclusion on what psu to get as new things come into the post and also psu devs are bringing out new psu's mostly this month heh. Wait and see unless ill have to rush , atm will be the Enermax Liberty

Am myself is looking at getting the Enermax Liberty 620watt in a few week..Which was why i wanted to see the reviews..
But i might wait a month and see what new psu ones come out..

(Wish i new what psu power the highend dx10 cards will need next year.)

gr1mey · 23 Apr 2006 at 16:20

Silverstone are a very well respected manufacturer of PC components - they are mainly known for their high quality enclosures; but they also have a very good range of Power Supplies and Cooling solutions.

They are a quality make, so dont worry about that. My Silverstone PSU kicks ass, solid as a rock at almost full load now.

Mp4 · 23 Apr 2006 at 16:36

Enermax Liberty / Tangan / Silverstone - After reading the review at Dans and seeing the results i think that the silverstone will be the best of the lot though its not modular :/ the dual rails have defo caught my attention.

neologan · 23 Apr 2006 at 17:19

I've had a lot of power supplies and the Silverstone was insanely noisy and the 12V rails were all over the place. You need at least 10amps on the 5v rail to wake up the 12v rails. This quote used to be on their website but i believe it's nowhere to be found anymore as it got them bad press.

"+5V min. load must reach 10A when +12V output is 30A to 38A. +5V min. load must reach 15A when +12V output is 38A to 42A".

With CrossFire this might be a concern...I personally hated The Silverstone Zeus and many reviews out there are talking crap about this PSU. Just my opinion but don't touch it, i guarantee you will regret it.

The PC P&C PSU's are absolutely rock solid but very noisy, not as noisy as the Zues but close. They are also expensive. I have an FSP sparkle 700w and it's solid but a little noisey too, if that sort of thing bothers you.

My personal favourite is the Seasonic S12 600w. It's the most quiet PSU i've ever used and has rails to rival the PC P&C models, no kidding. The Liberty series are great too, just sold mine on the MM, it's almost as quiet as the S12 and has above average rails but not like the S12 or PC P&C models.

My first choice will always be the Seasonic S12, it's only downside is shorter cable lengths than typical PSU's, though they may have sorted this out by now (?).

Mp4 · 23 Apr 2006 at 19:36

As the Cm Stacker T01 is quite a large case anyone know if the cables are long enough there? Looking at it i know that the Pc power and cooling psu's are the dogs breakfast but i dont really want to spend £290 odd on a psu but you get what you pay for. The seasonic is quite the main runner at the moment and is on my A list.

fornowagain · 23 Apr 2006 at 20:16

neologan said:
The PC P&C PSU's are absolutely rock solid but very noisy,

I have one and its not noisy. They used to be, but not any more. I can only assume they changed the fan. I have never seen a PSU as solid as the PCP&C. Nothing comes close. Voltages don't change under load. Its weird to watch on the scope, hardly a ripple, just a straight line. The PCP&C 510 is going to give a similar 12v amperage as the S12-600. The early S12's were a bit iffy (DFI + boot problems), not sure if the later revision (A2?) is ok now. IIRC the S12's have internals from Fortron.

Worth a read.

Please note our power supplies conforms to the newest Intel specifications and have been tested by Intel and AMD to be in conformity.

There have been many issues with DFI boards and from a 3rd party testing, they have found that the start up +5VSB on certain DFI boards is out of range of Intel specifications and therefore causes compatibility issues with our power supplies.

The issue here is if the power supply is changed out to another Sea Sonic power supply, the possibility of the same issue to occur is high. This issue should be brought to DFI to resolve.

If you change to another brand of power supply, the problem may or may not surface as this depends on power supply design and tolerances. Normally speaking Intel sets specifications for Power Supplies, Motherboards & VGA in order to minimize or prevent compatibility issues and if one of the 3 items is out of spec, then compatibility issue can arise.

I would like to emphasize that this power supply is not defective and is not a RMA item.
Thanks for purchased our products.