Somethingtodo's PSU roundup

Soldato
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well its probably been 6 months since i had my akasa paxpower, and recently the fan has started to rattle every now and then, saw this thread again whilst passing and thought i'd give a bit of an update.
 
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Can I add I brought a Jeantech 450w and the fan was acctually the wrong way round! and untill I found the prob gave me no end of head scratching moments coz it made the boys pc very unstable, and yes the factory seals were in place. wired in a new 120mm fan (the right way round) and it's still going so at least extreme heat wont kill it!

got an FSP blue storm 500w I think it is very good for the price, but it says total output 445w (peak500w)

figures from booklet

-------- minimum load ---------- normal load -------------- max load
+3.3v------0.5a------------------15.0a ------------------- 30.0a
+5v -------1.0a ---------------- 14.0a------------------- 28.0a
+12v1dc----1.0a ------------------ 7.0a -------------------15.0a
+12v2dc ---1.0a------------------ 8.5a -------------------16.0a
-12 -------- 0.0a------------------ 0.4a-------------------- 0.5a
+5vsb-------0.0a ------------------ 1.0a-------------------- 2.0a
 
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A very intense comparitive review of 34 different PSUs!! Very useful for those who want some of the details behind why you need a quality PSU.

For once, this is a truely technical review. They borrowed a test lab so they can measure loads in a quality way. So it is nice to see real proof behind all us Tagan and Akasa fans. :) Shows what you are getting for your quality cash. :)

Article can be found via www.HardOCP.com ("34 PSU Round-Up") (23 Sept 2005)
 
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I'm going to rush out and buy a Q-Tec Triple Fan 650W! As a doorstop.

That's one of the harshest pannings of a piece of hardware I have seen for a long time. "clearly a joke power supply", "Recommended systems: none whatsoever", "don't say we didn't warn you".
 
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There's a few sacred cows slaughtered there. I was particularly shocked at the way that so few of them were legal in the EU, with no CE marking. I can hear the Thermaltake detractors sharpening their knives already.

Excellent info though. Qtec really ought to just bundle that PSU with a red nose and some really big shoes :D
 
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I see that CustomPC has done a piece on PSU's this month with the headline
"EXPOSED !!
POWER SUPPLIES
Why your PC's
PSU could
be dangerous
(31 tested/15 failed/ 9 exploded!!)"

Haven't got round to reading it yet.
 
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pmbuzz said:
I see that CustomPC has done a piece on PSU's this month with the headline
"EXPOSED !!
POWER SUPPLIES
Why your PC's
PSU could
be dangerous
(31 tested/15 failed/ 9 exploded!!)"

Haven't got round to reading it yet.

Custom PC has lost all credibility with me, read the review carefully then look through the magazine, they have 5 Seasonic PSU's to give away.

Call me cynical but some years back I was very good at a particular activity I was approached by a World wide magazine to write for them, I refused because I knew of around half of the people who did wrote crap for freebies.
There was only one chap who could not be bought and he wasn't the editor.

I'm not saying that is happening at Custom PC but I will be cancelling my subscription because of that artical. Unless they were massively unlucky with the PSU's they tested then the results have been twisted.

Just read carefully the review and all will reveal itself I do not need to give any clues.
 
Soldato
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Suggesting a Seasonic bias is a bit unfair. They also liked Seasonic a lot in the November 04 issue. I'm getting a sneaking regard for the Akasa PaxPower PSUs - time after time they seem to come up as good kit and they're quite cheap.
 
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WJA96 said:
Suggesting a Seasonic bias is a bit unfair. They also liked Seasonic a lot in the November 04 issue. I'm getting a sneaking regard for the Akasa PaxPower PSUs - time after time they seem to come up as good kit and they're quite cheap.

It is a shame that Seasonic happened to give 5 PSU's away when that review was due out, I agree that Seasonic is a superb product but Custom PC have outright slated other very well known products who happen to have not ever given anything away.

What must be born in mind is that this is ONLY my opinion based on what happened in a World wide magazine, I knew the Editor and almost the whole team in that magazine, they couldn't help themselve's sometimes it was painfull to see.

All I ask is that the actual artical be read then form your own conclusions base it on the actual figures they give and then the wording on each sample the discrepancies speak for themselves.

They completely eliminated the whole results from some PSU's when obviously they must have passed some tests before they gave some out of range figures.

They have had a very large amount of failures also what's to say that their testing was out of spec? I find it hard to believe that so many great PSU manufacturers have produced samples that have failed their test when many of them are the bee's knee's with other reviews.

The whole of the above is ONLY my opinion I MIGHT be totally wrong but it would be interesting to see what other people say when they have read the review.

Amen.
 
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Advertisers pay large bucks. So all magazines which use advertising (i.e. all except the Which magazine) will be caught out by this little trick. Not only are there the reviewer's own biases to deal with, but there is also the problem that they can never upset a major advertiser.

The same advertisiers that will pay for an article to help shift some stock....

This is why it always pays to get a second and third independent opinion. And the web is great for this. Lots of different views. And loads of first hand experience on the forums..... (though that too has to be taken with a pinch of salt at times with many amatures passing on "something they heard"...)


(I am amazed that they managed to damage so many PSUs in the CustomPC review. What on earth were they doing with them? Was it a special Seasonic test that Seasonic has designed that they know their "special trip fuse" can handle of something? May have to have a quick read of the magazine in a shop....)

It is scary though when the average "man in the street" cannot see through the mask of Marketing....
 
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Soldato
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Custom PC did a review of my mobo, and when they tried to o/c it, they blew it up. They got a replacement and blew that up too!!! Perhaps they forgot you need cooling on the cpu??? Or something else, who knows.

But to keep on subject, I have recently purchased a Hiper type R modular 580w jobbie. Very nice it is too... sexy blueness and rather quiet to boot.
 
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Hmmm, interesting, how the hell did they manage to blew 9 of them up ?.
Will hopefully get time to read the review tomorrow.
I remember that CPC also reviewed monitors a couple of months back and said that the Samsung 913N was the absolute pits of monitordom !!!
I wouldn't of minded but i had just bought one !! (Recommended to me by Baddass and others).........it's a great monitor btw !!!
 
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Well here's something to add, looks like I was very wrong!

This is from the Custom PC website it forum where I posted what I thought about the tests.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

kimandsally wrote:
I feel dissapointed at the results from the tests, reason 1/ why were the Enermax 701 results included when other PSU's that failed were given a red strike and no results?


The 12V2 results for the 600W Enermax are included because unlike most PSUs that failed it didn't blow up or switch off. Therefore we were able to test how much current it is able to supply (as stated in the review) and at what voltage.

kimandsally wrote:
I personally find it hard to get to grips that some very well made and well known makes failed so badly, we all know that the generic ones are rubbish but some of the tests brought high quality PSU's to their knees.


Do remember that the tests are focussed on the 100% load test results(which most PSUs won't be subject to very often), although 50% and 75% load tests were also carried out. However, if you're going to pay for a 600W it should be capable of 600W.

kimandsally wrote:
Were the tests done absolutely in accordance of what the respective manufacturer claimed?


Absolutely, that was the whole basis of the article - testing whether each PSU was capable of what its manufacturer claims.

kimandsally wrote:
If so I feel that a lot of people have a strong claim to get their money refunded because they have been described inaccurately. Will Custom PC back us up in this action?


As for getting your money back, it probably depends on who from and when you purchased it... but as I stated in my column a inaccurately labelled PSU should contradict several Trading Standards laws.
_________________
James Gorbold
CPC Deputy Editor
 
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Hi All,

thought I'd put my 2 cents worth in...

I've found a lot of good useful info in this thread and it's great to see ppl taking the time to add their own experiences.

As for the Tagan I bought one for a family members PC (380W Tagan Whisper quiet 20db aPFC) after his Q-TEC died suddenly, it has performed flawlessly for the last 4 months and the system has become more stable. This is definately typical German quality from a materials and build perspective, something thats also supplied with these PSU's is an earth strap, quality shielded mains cables and very tidy wiring with plenty length.

I'm currently looking for an upgrade to a PSU and having read the slating of CPC magazines review paused for thought, hmmmmm... well frankly I think it's more than it's worth for the magazine to give biased info, and the fact that they are recommending to 'Joe Public' is a liability in itself, certainly there may be perks for promoting a certain product, you don't get nothing for nothing in today's world, but good old 'Joe' bites back big time if he buys from recommendation in a magazine and it goes belly up.

There's a review in Tom's Hardware on PSU's and some very respected ones such as OCZ come under scrutiny too.
http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/200507111/index.html

Strangely enough guess which PSU is given the thumbs up... :eek: it begins with 'S'. There are others worthy of recommendation but only 2 are given the OK

And BTW no I haven't bought CPC magazine EVER and I ain't on their paycheque ;).

Well I hope the link helps, and keep adding the info...

sc00bie
 
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Update on my Tagan.

Way back in post #205 I explained about my first Tagan PSU which decided that I could not use the P4 12volt connector. So that went back to the (non-OCUK) shop. They sent me a brand new PSU out.

Less than an hour ago it died. :( And funnily enough I had finished typing a post up on another thread about a "squeaking noise" that had appeared in the PSU. Never heard it before. I first noticed the squeak after I changed two case fans from noisy Sunon's to silent Akasa's.

Less than ten minutes later, the PSU just stopped dead. I walked into my room to see the fans coming to a slow stop. Investigation showed that the Tagan PSU is now dead. It smells burnt. And it also took out the mains fuse on the UPS.

All other hardware is still in perfect nick. So at least it didn't break anything else in the process. Looks like it is time for a new PSU.... and probally not a Tagan this time.

Update: RMA is being done via NanoPoint.Co.Uk who are sending me a new unit out, once they get stock. They didn't even want to see the dead one first, I just do a straight swap with the courier at the door. And I will be glad too as this Thermaltake I am using now is not anywhere near as good. Everytime I boot up, the video card complains and drops into safe mode. It's not even being overclocked now - and still complains!! Bring back the Tagan :)
 
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a Q-tec comment..

my cheapo Q-tec so called 500 watt power supply has been happily running my slightly overclocked athlon 3200+ and heeaily overclocked 9700 pro system for the last two years..

just picked some new upgrade bits..

bit AX8 VIA K8T890 (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-063-AB) £70.44

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3700BNBOX) (CP-121-AM) £176.19

Sapphire ATI Radeon X800 GTO² 256MB DDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-101-SP) £152.69

70.44
176.19
152.69
------------
399.32
------------

i never did believe the 500 watts.. but being as i dont need any more than 350 watts i intend keeping the old cheapo Q-tec.. let u know how it works.. he he..

trog
 
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Clarkey said:
well its probably been 6 months since i had my akasa paxpower, and recently the fan has started to rattle every now and then, saw this thread again whilst passing and thought i'd give a bit of an update.

Cheers for that bud...

I have had mine for 7 months now and not a single problem..been very stable..very quiet.

I have come to a decision to buy a new one due to my system drawing near 440w of the 460w so it is always very hot.

But this PSU is very stable so i would reccommend it to people.

AKASA PaxPower 460w w/Blue LED Fan

DC Voltage-----------Max Output
+3.3V--------------------30A
+5V----------------------30A
+12V1--------------------14A
+12V2--------------------15A
-12V----------------------0.5A
+5Vsb--------------------2A

Backslag you might wanna add it to the list my friend

Townlea :cool:
 
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Nice thread guys :)

After reading through it i think im going to order a - Tagan TG420-UO2 420W I-XEYE ATX2.0 Silent PSU (CA-003-TG).dont think i can wrong with Tagan especially for £50 all in :)
But i am a newbe so feel free to advise me :) :p
 
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IF there's anyone still on this thread, I'm looking for a Psu and I'm down to a short list of: Enermax noisetaker 600w, Tagan tg580 U15 (modular) and the seasonic s12 silentpower 600w. I'm looking for the quietest, most reliable, overclocking friendly PSU which will have to power a sli 7800gtx watercooled rig (it aint got 2 cards yet but it will have at some point) Also, are they all good for powering Opterons?
 
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