Need to choose a new Power Supply

Lemming · 31-01-2006 2:55pm #1

Hey Guys,

I'm looking to upgrade my AMD64 rig with a new gfx card (PCI-E) which means a new motherboard and PSU.

I was initially going to select the Thermaltake Silent Purepower 680w, but I'd like some opinions from other boardsters.

Basically it'll be going into a Thermaltake Xaser III case, replacing an Antec 480w PSU along side a DVD-rom drive, DVD-RW, Audigy Platinum (with the extension drive-bay thingy) & a zip drive. I'm not going to be running an SLI configuration at least for the foreseeable future, and I'm not running a RAID array, although I will be adding an additional SATA hard-drive.

Requirements I'm looking for a solid, stable throughput from the PSU rails, decent ventilation ability, no modular cabling, and above all, quiet running.

unklerosco · 31-01-2006 3:21pm

seasonic have come out tops in a load of reviews. Seem to be great PSU's... custom pc did a round up of about 20 psu's n it came out tops... www.custompc.co.uk

WizZard · 31-01-2006 3:47pm

Seasonic would be the quietest, and have great power output due to their incredibly high efficiency.
Tagan, BeQuiet and Enermax would be other contenders. I think Antec include SmartFan technology in their new units which shoud keep the noise down.

Komplett do the Seasonic 500W and 600W. I would recommend OCZ PSUs also, they're excellent, if a tad expensive.

Lemming · 31-01-2006 10:37pm

Cheers guys - I'll check out Seasonic. If I could find an Antec or Enermax with a good performance and no modular cabling I'd possibly go for it, since my last two PSUs were Enermax & Antec and I never had a peep out of them.

But alas, modular cabling seems to be all the rage. I don't like it. Yes your inner-case will look prettier, but also means that if a connector on the PSU is not solid you're not going to get reliable, steady voltage. Damaged components potentially.

That Seasonic 600w beastie is looking very tempting - seems to have scored very very highly in the CustomPC try-out. Must do some googling to finish up

Stephen · 31-01-2006 11:09pm

I think you're being a bit paranoid about the modular connectors. Looking at the ones on my hiper 580w, there's no way they could come off without being deliberately removed. They're aviation type screw/lock on things.

Lemming · 31-01-2006 11:40pm

Stephen wrote:

I think you're being a bit paranoid about the modular connectors. Looking at the ones on my hiper 580w, there's no way they could come off without being deliberately removed. They're aviation type screw/lock on things.

What's that electrical buzzing noise? :v:

True, but in any case, having done some googling that Seasonic seems to be comign up with very favourable reviews so I think I'm going to plump for one of those beasties.

po0k · 01-02-2006 12:09am

Fortron. No contest.

Inquitus · 01-02-2006 9:11am

Nah - Seasonic seems to be top o the tree at the moment. Tom's Hradware - Anandtech - Custom PC etc etc

The whole world can't be wrong.

Inqui

WizZard · 01-02-2006 9:47am

Inquitus wrote:

The whole world can't be wrong.

:v:
The world is flat!! Flat, I tell you.

sionnach · 01-02-2006 2:02pm

Go for the seasonic, and never buy another thermaltake product.

gline · 01-02-2006 2:13pm

on the topic of PSU's, what would i need to power my fx 55 rig with 6800?? would would people recommend (cheap psu). a 350watt fotran? would that do the job? bearing in mind i will be ocing everything in it quite a lot

conzy · 01-02-2006 8:29pm

gline wrote:

on the topic of PSU's, what would i need to power my fx 55 rig with 6800?? would would people recommend (cheap psu). a 350watt fotran? would that do the job? bearing in mind i will be ocing everything in it quite a lot

NO:D

You will need a good PSU especially for an overclocked A64 rig, The words PSU and BUDGET and OVERCLOCK should never be in the same sentance:D

Try a enermax liberty or something like that, around the €100 mark

You will need strong 12v rails if you will be overclocking the GPU, my liberty has 2*12v rails at 22amps each, where as that forton probably has 1 12v rail at 14amps which isnt enough.

Get a quality one and it will last years;)

Richard Dower · 02-02-2006 12:47am

That Thermaltake 680PSU is class, have one myself. Hoping to get the new version that has 52A on 12V rails.

Inquitus · 02-02-2006 1:41am

This is a pretty damn exhaustive test of the current crop of PSU's by a very reputable review site.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/07/11/stress_test/

Make up your own mind, but clearly they reckon the Seasonic 600W is best in class.

Inqui

WizZard · 02-02-2006 10:34am

Richard Dower wrote:

That Thermaltake 680PSU is class, have one myself. Hoping to get the new version that has 52A on 12V rails.

It doesn't. It'll say it does, but it won't deliver - or if it delivers then some other part will be shot to crap.
That's what Thermaltake do with their power supplies.

Inquitus · 02-02-2006 11:23am

WizZard wrote:

It doesn't. It'll say it does, but it won't deliver - or if it delivers then some other part will be shot to crap.
That's what Thermaltake do with their power supplies.

I second the motion. thermaltake PSU's = POS

Matt Simis · 02-02-2006 12:37pm

Id like a PC Power & Cooling 850 or 1KW myself.
Currently have a HiperPower 580 which was a definate improvement over the Antec 480 TruBlue (a good PSU too). I see the Hiper (not quite my model) failed the Toms Hardware test not on the grounds of insufficent power, but rather too high voltage on the -12v line. Ill have to check mine later, cant be too good for the mobo.

Matt

Inquitus · 02-02-2006 12:40pm

My Bro has the PCP&C 1KW, great PSU but very expensive

gline · 02-02-2006 12:40pm

Matt Simis wrote:

Id like a PC Power & Cooling 850 or 1KW myself.
Currently have a HiperPower 580 which was a definate improvement over the Antec 480 TruBlue (a good PSU too). I see the Hiper (not quite my model) failed the Toms Hardware test not on the grounds of insufficent power, but rather too high voltage on the -12v line. Ill have to check mine later, cant be too good for the mobo.

Matt

i have to recomment the pc p+c 1kw, it is actually really good and quiet enough. ample juice and connectors

WizZard · 02-02-2006 12:45pm

:eek: I can't believe the OCZ PSU failed that test!

Richard Dower · 02-02-2006 5:22pm

I've read all the reviews for the Thermaltake 680W PSU and it's highly regarded. And the 12V rails are rock solid.

http://www.thermaltake.com/2005/purepower/w0049/w0049.htm

http://www.a1-electronics.net/PcHardware/Various/2004/Thermtake_PureP-680w_Dec.shtml

http://www.gruntville.com/reviews/PSUs/tt_purepower_680/

http://www.techniz.co.uk/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=188

http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=745

http://legionhardware.com/document.php?id=381

And these reviews are for the older version with 38Amps,

Need to choose a new Power Supply

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