Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D $30

[Zap]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371034

Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D
$69.99
-$10 sale price
-$5 coupon code EMCKJKC28 (exp.1/9, must be Newegg Newsletter subscriber)
-$25 rebate (exp.1/9)
FREE shipping

=$30

These are 80Plus Bronze certified and made by Delta. Note that power cord is not included.

 

[rivethead]

Zap (or anyone):

Check out my system in my signature. It's running on a five year old 350W Antec Basiq PSU.

Think it's worth the $30 to upgrade to this Antec (or would the Corsair 500W you have in the other thread be a better deal)?

When I built my system I had people tell me 350W wasn't enough to run it, but the mobo is pretty efficient, the primary HD is an SSD, so the big power user is the 5750 VC.

I've had no problems (going on 1.5 years now) but I've always wondered if I'm sitting on a timebomb.

Thanks!

 

[TwiceOver]

I like the Earthwatts series. I have a 430 powering a dual dual core opteron setup. Works great.

Can't recommend a Basiq though. The only one I had went tits up after 6 months.

 

[Zap]

Think it's worth the $30 to upgrade to this Antec (or would the Corsair 500W you have in the other thread be a better deal)?

Tough call. You wouldn't make up the cost through efficiency (well, maybe after another 5 years) but "timebomb..." You may want to open up your PSU (it's out of warranty by now anyways) to inspect for bulging/leaking capacitors. If none, then it should be fine.

Can't recommend a Basiq though. The only one I had went tits up after 6 months.

It should be under warranty still at 6 months. Any brand/model PSU can die prematurely.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I just replaced a Basiq 500W that has been running for a while. Actual, it's my second Basiq 500W in that machine, because the sleeve-bearing fan went on the first one after about a year. This one has been running fine though, I only replaced it because I upgraded from an E2140 @ 2.8 w/X1950GT to a Q9300 @ 3.0 w/GTX460 1GB.

I put in an EarthWatts 650W.

I was running a Q6600 @ 3.6 with TWO GTX460s on an EarthWatts 650W all of Dec for the F@H Holiday Race. So it's a pretty beefy PSU.

I just wasn't sure if a Basiq 500W would be safe to power a GTX460 @ 820, because it takes two power connectors, and the PSU only has one. The 650W has two.

 

[rivethead]

Tough call. You wouldn't make up the cost through efficiency (well, maybe after another 5 years) but "timebomb..." You may want to open up your PSU (it's out of warranty by now anyways) to inspect for bulging/leaking capacitors. If none, then it should be fine.

I appreciate the input. The one thing about my old 350 Basiq.....besides being old, it's pretty loud. While getting a new PSU may not necessarily be worth it from an efficiency standpoint, I think the (hopefully) added quietness plus the piece of mind may be enough......gonna go compare the Antec and the Corsair more closely now.

 

[Macgyversite]

Please put After rebate etc etc in the title.

 

[Zap]

I just wasn't sure if a Basiq 500W would be safe to power a GTX460 @ 820, because it takes two power connectors, and the PSU only has one. The 650W has two.

I'd normally go by how many PCIe connectors the PSU has, without running adapters.

The one thing about my old 350 Basiq.....besides being old, it's pretty loud. While getting a new PSU may not necessarily be worth it from an efficiency standpoint, I think the (hopefully) added quietness plus the piece of mind may be enough......

Ahhh yes, quietness. I once got rid of an Antec Quattro 850W because it was noisy as all heck (back in my "quiet" phase). Replaced it with a Seasonic built EarthWatts EA-500 and it was sooooo much quieter.

I would hope that these Delta built units are as quiet as the Seasonic built ones, but I don't have personal experience running the Deltas.

Please put After rebate etc etc in the title.

Wow, Hot Deals police are out in force tonight.

For clarity I'll try to remember to put all that stuff in the title going forward.

AR AC FS

Anything I miss?

 

[Modular]

I have the 380 in my HTPC, the 430 in a PC I built for my mom, and the 500 in my gaming computer. They are fantastic PSU's especially for this price.

 

[ElFenix]

Ahhh yes, quietness. I once got rid of an Antec Quattro 850W because it was noisy as all heck (back in my "quiet" phase). Replaced it with a Seasonic built EarthWatts EA-500 and it was sooooo much quieter.

I would hope that these Delta built units are as quiet as the Seasonic built ones, but I don't have personal experience running the Deltas.

these are pretty darn quiet. as it happens i've got this running a computer out of the case sitting about 4 feet from me and the only noise i hear is the seagate drive spinning around. and the drive isn't loud.

 

[Thump553]

Excellent deal. I was going to hop on this for a backup and just noticed an Earthwatts 430 in my basement I probably bought 3-4 years ago, unopened.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I've still got two unopened EA380s, not sure if one is a Delta or not, the boxes are different, but both say "EA380" and not "EA380D" on the label on the box.

I've also got a PCP&C 750W Silencer (in Red!), a Xion 800W (with four PCI-E plugs), a reconditioned OCZ something-X-treme, 850W, with only two PCI-E plugs (what's up with that? 850W and only two plugs, for a PSU with four rails?), a TerribleTake 500W (single PCI-E), a BFG 450W, and an ABS 1050W modular 80plus Silver PSU.

I had a spare Antec Basiq 500W that was 1yr old, gave that to a friend.

Oh yeah, I still have three of those Enhance 500W PSUs in a box somewhere too.

 

[jrichrds]

Ahhh yes, quietness. I once got rid of an Antec Quattro 850W because it was noisy as all heck (back in my "quiet" phase). Replaced it with a Seasonic built EarthWatts EA-500 and it was sooooo much quieter.

I would hope that these Delta built units are as quiet as the Seasonic built ones, but I don't have personal experience running the Deltas.

I've used multiple Seasonic and Delta-made Earthwatts 380w and 430w, and they're about the same in terms of noise level. Not quiet enough for the Quiet PC enthusiast in me (swapped out the fans in mine), but should be quiet for the majority of people.

The Seasonic-made Antec Truepower Trio 430w is the quietest of the Antec PSUs I've tried. 120mm fan spinning at ~750rpm. Didn't have to touch the fan on that one.

 

[jrichrds]

I've still got two unopened EA380s, not sure if one is a Delta or not, the boxes are different, but both say "EA380" and not "EA380D" on the label on the box.

I don't recall if they ever did specify the D on the 380w boxes as they did on the 430 and 500 for some time. There's multiple ways to tell if it's a Delta unit though (besides that anything made in the past 2+ years has been Delta). If it's 80+ bronze rated and doesn't come with a power cable, it's a Delta unit. And the box color is different too...IIRC the Delta one is green.

 

[mindless1]

Zap (or anyone):

Check out my system in my signature. It's running on a five year old 350W Antec Basiq PSU.

Think it's worth the $30 to upgrade to this Antec (or would the Corsair 500W you have in the other thread be a better deal)?

When I built my system I had people tell me 350W wasn't enough to run it, but the mobo is pretty efficient, the primary HD is an SSD, so the big power user is the 5750 VC.

I've had no problems (going on 1.5 years now) but I've always wondered if I'm sitting on a timebomb.

Thanks!

Worth it to upgrade no, but all PSU are "time bombs" if not very high quality for the build, or running further below their peak capacity than yours is. That doesn't necessarily mean it won't last until you want to upgrade more parts.

I'd pick up whatever you want and keep it as a spare if this is your primary/must-use system, not changing the PSU until necessary. If the Basiq has a sleeve bearing fan it would be good to relube it at this point, clear the dust out, and as someone already mentioned if the capacitors are bulging or vented then swap it out while you consider if it is worth $5 to put new capacitors in (probably so if you're adept at soldering).

 

[mindless1]

I'm sure it has been said before but if you have a PSU that is too loud, at the risk of it running hotter (= shorter lifespan, but the same is true of same design and fan size PSU that starts out with a lower RPM fan response) you can simply solder a 10 cent resistor in series with the (positive, but really either lead would work) positive fan lead.

Typical values for such a resistor would be 1W or higher, ohmage depends on the fan and circuit but generally between 33 ohms and 100 ohms (get one of each value, you can use the others another time). The higher the fan's own current rating the lower in that range the resistor ohms should be, generally speaking.

Of course this voids the warranty...

 

[Whipped]

This is a great PSU. I bought mine on clearance from Staples for $12. It's now running my i7 and ATI 5770.

 

[chinkgai]

hmm...this one or that other corsair 500w one that you posted? how do the two compare OP?

 

[jjmIII]

hmm...this one or that other corsair 500w one that you posted? how do the two compare OP?

While both are good, quality units, from good brands.....i'd grab the beefier Corsair. I like that it has a single 12v rail (instead of 2 on the Antec), and it weights more (4.44lbs vs. 3.6). Goofy, but my opinion.

 

[Zargon]

plus that antec deal should be dead as it was part of a 72 hour sale

 

[rivethead]

The Corsair deal is deal too (well the original $20 rebate is now a new $10 rebate).

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

FYI there is a Zalman 500 watt as shell shocker for $40-10 MIR shipped.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817379012

Noise/ripple and connectors are not ideal, but none the less a good PSU (100% load looks to be more of a 550/600 watt PSU).