Somethingtodo's PSU roundup

Gutted this morning, turned on box and 30 minutes later 'pop!, flash! dead!'

I have a Sonata case and the PSU went out like a fireworks display!

Im now running some nasty 350w 'spare' PSU from a repair I'm doing for a friend... noisy? not bad, kinda like a helicopter sitting 2 feet away from your body

I'm now in need of a new PSU and Antec has moved to the bottom of my list, I'm swaying towards the Tagan 480, but reading through this thread I'm not sure if I want to take chance on something that 'ticks' ... any more info on this before I click the submit button and order?

BTW Excellent thread, it helped me out in my hour of need! :D
 
well from what ive read of people buying these from ocuk there doesnt seem to be any tickers, but you could ring ocuk up and ask if they are the new revisions that they have in stock.
 
Excellent thread, just read the whole thing beginning to end!

Wonder if anyone there can answer me a question on two?

I want to replace my generic PSU to achieve better stability. My NEC DVD writer is giving me muchos hassle and I think one of the possible reasons could be my sh*te power supply.

It would seem that Antec and Tagan are both tried and tested and good quality products. Most people here seem to opt for the 480W Tagan, though I would rather spend less on the 380W one. Can anyone tell me if that is a bad idea? I do have a lot of stuff in my rig that may eat up that power, but I also remember seeing someone say that the PSU's nearer 500W were only needed for people with vapochill, many SCSI devices and/or a next gen graphics card. Anyone comment on this?

The PSU will have to run the following...

Barton Mobile 2500 @ 3200
DFI Ultra NF2
Geil Golden Dragon 3200 2x256Mb
ATI Radeon 9800
1 Sata Hd
1 IDE Hd
NEC 2510 DVD writer
Liteon DVD rom
Silentx 80mm CPU Fan
2 case fans

Possibly a TV card in the nearish future.

Will 380W be up to the job? Might it let me take my chip higher?

Thanks
 
the 380w should be ok yes, but whats the price difference? it might not be worth going for the 380w if the 480 is just, say £10 more.
it would probably let you take your chip higher yes.
 
thanks for the reply buddy. Price difference of about £20, but I have found it cheaper other places. Still not sure though!

Can I ask you one other thing... The output characteristics of some of the PSUs on offer have one maximum load Ampere value at 12V, while others have two, labelled at +12V1 and -12V2 and then the third at just -12V. What does this mean?

If one PSU says its output is say 20A at 12V, is this better or worse than another PSU saying 14A @ +12V1 and 15A @ -12V2?

Thanks
 
Originally posted by hp01jpc


Can I ask you one other thing... The output characteristics of some of the PSUs on offer have one maximum load Ampere value at 12V, while others have two, labelled at +12V1 and -12V2 and then the third at just -12V. What does this mean?

If one PSU says its output is say 20A at 12V, is this better or worse than another PSU saying 14A @ +12V1 and 15A @ -12V2?

Thanks
Click to expand...

well £20 is a lot to one person, but nothing to another, if you can afford it i would go for the 480w, you wont need a psu upgrade for a very long time,

the 12v and 12v2 means it has a dual 12v rail, one rail is used purely for the cpu and the other for the rest of the system iirc.

hth
 
Thanks for the prompt reply.

Is the dual rail system better in terms of stability? What I really want to know is whether the dual rails of the Nexus negate the advantage the Tagan has in terms of amps at 12V single rail.

It's just that the Nexus is rated at 16dBA, and I'm getting some more silentX fans from the same supplier. Silence is golden after all...

Cheers

edit... what does hth mean? thanks :)
 
i would say dual 12v rails is better.
and 16dba is nice;)
as for the silenx fans...a lot of people on this forum have them and are dissapointed as they push no-where near the stated amount of air...

hth = hope that/this helps.
 
After blowing up my brand new UltraX connect PSU the other day,I'm after a new one.

Would ideally like a high powered unit with fully braided cables,have been looking at the Enermax 485w cooler giant and also the antec neopower.

There doesn't seem to be much info around about the coolergiant,are they reasonably new or something?

Have been looking at the Neopower due mainly to its modular cabling design,similar to the UltraX connect,no where near cool looking though.

Any comments on the above units or any others of interest would be welcomed.

Still can't believe I borked the UltraX,it was my ideal PSU and as rare as rocking horse plop,oh well thats life I s'pose.:(
 
Originally posted by backslang
well from what ive read of people buying these from ocuk there doesnt seem to be any tickers, but you could ring ocuk up and ask if they are the new revisions that they have in stock.
Click to expand...

Hey backslang ;)

Just to let you know (and anyone else interested) I ended up ordering 2 Tagan 480 (1 for a mate) PSU's - both nice and quiet and no ticking :D

Rumour squashed ;)
 
Originally posted by smit101
After blowing up my brand new UltraX connect PSU the other day,I'm after a new one.

Would ideally like a high powered unit with fully braided cables,have been looking at the Enermax 485w cooler giant and also the antec neopower.

There doesn't seem to be much info around about the coolergiant,are they reasonably new or something?
Click to expand...

think cooler giant is non quiet version of noisetaker so should be good
 
Having used my trusty Q-tec for nearly 2 years, i have decided now that its a tad too noisy, what with the advent of the watercooling in my PC, so its time for a new, quieter PSU. After reading thru all the posts, i decided to go for something with dual 12V rails, as it would seem to make more sense to get the new standard than the old in the upgrade, and i came across the Antec Neopower. Does anyone have any experience with this PSU, whats it like etc. etc.

Its either that or the Akasa. Help me choose people!

Kangaxx
 
Hello Kanga. I posted on this thread a week or two ago, also looking to change my PSU. I found one with dual rails and it's rated as 16dBA, possibly one of the quietest on the market at the moment.

Check out this review of it...

http://www.mikhailtech.com/modules.php?name=Articles&rop=showcontent&id=78

unfortunately it's not available on OC, you will have to find it on a competitors site, but there are domestic suppliers.

Just another possibility to consider. I think it may well be a far bit cheaper than the other ones you have been looking at.

Easy dude...
 
Thnx for the reply hp.

Silence is golden they say, and that is what i am headed for. However, i have a feeling that 400W hasn't quite got the grunt to power the multitude of rubbish (Cathodes, El-string, coffee cup warmer etc.) currently in my pc. Even tho my 550W q-tec doesn't get near 550w, i still need the xtra juice, hence the 480W Neopower. The detachable cables look like a good idea, as the interior of my case looks something like a set of intestines on a bad day, so less cabling would always be an advantage. Thnx for the link anyway tho :)

Anyone else used the Neopower? Or Akasa's for that matter. They are both on the possible list.

Kangaxx
 
well, this just confirmed my theory on system instability \o/

i have a 350w Enermax, 185w max on the 3.3+5v, 32amps Max on the 5v Rail....

My Usage; as close as i can get is: 200w 3.3+5v Combined; with 38.5Amps on the 5v Rail :eek:

no wonder i had to unplug the cathodess, swap out my 9800Pro, disconnect an optical drive etc to make it stable... An Antec 550 True Control is on my shopping list i fear, or maybee the Tagan, appreciate the round up :)

EDIT: i think actually those calcs are wrong, they did seem awfully high!... but im not sure... does the Asus A7N8X have a 12v connector? im assuming thats the aux input and it doesnt have one... since thats the only thing that would result in such low 3.3/5v rails, and the instability... but doubt has been raised, can someone confirm this for me plz?
 
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