PSU question, is it any good?

I had a OCZ GameXstreme that ran my system perfectly. I was very happy, only reason I changed to a Corsair was because I wanted a modular psu, in some ways the OCZ was actually better.
 
I want a modular PSU but it's not a must, my favourite two at the moment are the OCZ StealthXStream and the Antec NEO HE550 (Modular). They are around the same price and have similar specifications. Which would you recommend?
 
Rackerz said:
That's sort of put me off the OCZ PSUs now, what do you mean by ripple?

The Corsair 520W is the only PSU is my price range but the OCZ was a pretty good price for what it seemed to be. What troubles could I have with an OCZ?

Thanks
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Think of it as how clean the supply voltage is, it's basically tiny fluctuations. Onboard your graphics card and motherboard there are circuits that clean input voltage and ripple basically causes more work and stress for these components.

JonnyGuru said:
Things were satisfactory until test 3. During test 3, I started to see ripple on 12V1 and 12V2 that was nearly 100mV. By test 5, the ripple was 100mV on 12V3 and 12V4 and had exceeded 100mV on 12V1 and 12V2. By test 6, the ripple on 12V1 and 12V2 had exceeded 150mV.

ATX specification has an "allowance" for 120mV. Mind you, test 6 was very stressful, pushing the power supply to it's limits, but it doesn't change the fact that the ripple exceeded spec and this is the first power supply to date I have had do this.

What's wrong with too much ripple? Well, if the voltage fluctuates too erratically, it can over work other regulators used to provide Vcore to the CPU, GPU, etc.

A representative of OCZ did find my findings concerning and asked that I return the unit for an exchange. I did so, and in the interim I obtained an FSP Epsilon 600W. The 600W version of the power supply the OCZ GameXstream is based on. In testing that unit, I found a good deal of ripple as well. When a brand new GameXstream was finally returned to me, I immediately plugged it in and found the same results as the first sample
Click to expand...

HardOCP also found the same ripple problems.
 
Ok, I've made a decision. I'm buying today otherwise I'll never make a decision, I'd like to go for the Antec NEOHE 550. Is there anybody who could give me good reason to sway from that decision and get a Corsair?

Thanks
 
I guess the only reason I would give is that the 120mm 'underside' fan on the Corsair will achieve a better combination of cooling efficiency and low noise than the 80mm 'backside' on the NeoHE.
 
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