Which PSU do I keep? 3 x PSU's full spec given

pendulum666

pendulum666

pendulum666

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2 Dec 2007
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OK I have 3 x PSUs here from various systems and the one I keep will be powering:

e2140 @ As higher clock possible on air
Gigabyte board with 2 x 1gb ram
4 x HDDs
1 x DVD drive
1 x floppy
3850 gfx card
couple of fans


1: Akasa 460 watt
This has Dual 12v rails from what I can make out, as the +12V1 = 14A and the +12V2 = 15A.
The good thing about this PSU, is it has a 120mm fan and runs very cool. It has been fautless in a socket 939 system overclocked with same amount of drives and an overclocked x850 card. About a year old.
It is similar if not the same as the one at OCUK HERE.

a9.JPG




2: Tagan 480 watt
I believe this has single 12V rail from the pic below of 28A. About 2 years old. Has 2 x 80 mm fans front and back and seems fairly quiet. Hard to tell with other system fans on.

ph07.jpg




3: Antec Earthwatts 500 watt
Looks like a dual rail one again with 17A on each making 34A? Its this one HERE and comes with 2 x PCI-e adapters which kind o fsuggests its capable of SLI maybe. This is new and so has 3yr warranty. Has this new environment friendly ultra efficiency stuff going on. 2 x 80mm fans I think. Not sure on noise. Couple of reviews say it could be quieter than some 120mms but only read like 2 reviews. I read somewhere that these are basicalyl rebranded Seasonics? Not sure of the truth behind that. They dont look very fancy but function over form here really.

ant_ea6.jpg


None of them are modular.

Thanks for your advice :)
 
I'd go for the Antec. Good PSU, and brand new with warranty

The Tagan is 2 yrs old already. It may last years more yet, but on the other hand it may fail sooner than you'd expect. Maybe just outside it's 3 yr warranty...
 
I vote for Antec aswell, good brand and very respected. Never really heard any problems from owners of them either.
 
Ok so fairly unanimous votes then in favour of the Antec. Only thing with the Antec is it does "look" fairly cheap, even on the inside I mean (seen shots in reviews) in comparison to the Tagan and Akasa. I'm probably getting too wrapped up in the actual casing finish though to be honest which does't mean a thing.

@ Billytheimpaler

Thanks for your comment. So you say the Tagan as it has a single powerful 12V rail. Why is this beneficial then over more overall power from dual rails?
 
If the Antec is a rebranded Seasonic, as has been suggested a few times then it probably does have a single rail rather than double because it could be like the Corsairs that Seasonic built, they labelled them as multi rail but had no internal limiters to them so in effect you got a massively powerful single rail.

You can't simply add the rails to get 34A though, it isn't a simple additive formula, I could probably work it out but it is a lot easier to just guesstimate that it will also be around 28-29A total so roughly the same as the Tagan.

My only other suggestion for differentiating them is to pick them all up and feel the weights, going with the heaviest is usually a fair plan as they are generally the best built of the lot. :)
 
The Tagan is a beefy PSU, but the one I had lasted just over 2 yrs of 24/7 operation I think before it developed a high pitched squealing sound and had to be replaced. Unlucky maybe, but that is what puts me off that one especially since yours is 2 yrs old already
 
Okaaaay... Im now not sure what to do! lol
Ok I might pick them all up and see whats heavier but I'm sure there is more to it than that, hence why I asked here really.
 
pendulum666 said:
Ok I might pick them all up and see whats heavier but I'm sure there is more to it than that, hence why I asked here really.
Click to expand...

Well you've had the vaguely technical answers so if you can't decide because of them then the next best step is to go with the anecdotal method of differentiating. It doesn't sound very useful perhaps but you might be surprised just how accurate it is to pick them up and feel the quality.
 
semi-pro waster said:
Well you've had the vaguely technical answers so if you can't decide because of them then the next best step is to go with the anecdotal method of differentiating. It doesn't sound very useful perhaps but you might be surprised just how accurate it is to pick them up and feel the quality.
Click to expand...

Nah thats good advice to be fair. Always used to have people say the same about amplifiers :) Will do that and post back :) Ta
 
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