Best Power Supplies out there?

[Viper27]

Several different power supplies out on the market seem to be identical to each other.
Most of the PSUs have consistent amps (+12V@around 18-20A).
The PC Power & Cooling 510 SLI-PFC has its +12V rated at 34/38A, but costs $50+ more.
Is the difference in amperage very critical to performance and reliability?
What are the best PSUs for running a AMD X2, 2DVDs, 2GB ram, 2+ HDDs, and SLI?
Thanks.

 

[daniel1113]

PC P&C is, for the most part, unanimously selected as the best PS manufacturer.

 

[drifter106]

Have a pcp&c 510 deluxe in this computer... am building another and it will have a ocz powerstream 520

antec makes good psu's also....

good rule of thumb to follow on psu's...anything less than $80 to $90 is gonna be crimping on quality

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: Viper27
Several different power supplies out on the market seem to be identical to each other.
Most of the PSUs have consistent amps (+12V@around 18-20A).
The PC Power & Cooling 510 SLI-PFC has its +12V rated at 34/38A, but costs $50+ more.
Is the difference in amperage very critical to performance and reliability?
What are the best PSUs for running a AMD X2, 2DVDs, 2GB ram, 2+ HDDs, and SLI?
Thanks.

PC P&C is probably the best, but there are other brands that are so close that the PC P&C might only have advantages in extreme situations which will be negliable.

While specs on different PSU might seem the same the build quality of different brands of PSU's differs very much. That's the reason to invest in a good PSU, it's less likely to burn out and take some components with it, even after years of use. Also the different rails on the PSU are more stable on good PSU, making the system more stable overall, and specially in overclocking systems.

Personally I like Seasonic because of low noise, high efficiency and very stable rails.

Besides PC P&C and Seasonic brands like Enermax and Fortron seems to have a good reputation.

 

[mjrpes3]

I've found the articles at www.silentpcreview.com to be helpful. Especially their article on recommended PSU's:

http://silentpcreview.com/article28-page1.html

If you're going for quiet and efficient, seasonic seems to be the way to go.

 

[kickerf1]

Antec is one of the best! maybe the best one but they come pricey. I've been having mine for at least 3 years now and no problems.

 

[Deathcharge]

I like enermax they are very good and reasonably priced. Seasonic for quietness OCZ are worth considering too

 

[HO]

"Antec is one of the best!"

Seems like there has been a high incidence of Antec failures over the last few months. Just judging from posts in several different forums...

 

[CrispyFried]

as psu temps go up, amps go down (to simplify it a bit..), so the cheapo manufactures give amp ratings at optimum conditions (full voltage from wall outlet, low ambient and PSU temps) whereas reputable manufactures give more typical or worst case ratings. you get the rated output all the time instead of just "perfect" conditions.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Read me, the full text. Even if you are not intrested in any of the reviewed PSUs, he goes into some detail about how PSUs are rated and what is to be considered when making this long term use purchase.
I need to reread it myself.
There is no industry standard on wattage ratings of PSUs. So many are marketed under false ratings.
The Seasonic S 12 shines in his testing for stable voltage output, locks in at 1%variation.
I use a Fortron and the next build is to have a Zippy/Emacs(it's a tank).

At this point in time i would not even consider modular,acyilic cased PSU, twinkling cooling fans or external knobs for voltage adjustment.

The PSU is the single most important piece of hardware in anyones rig.

This is not an attack on any brand.
OP, Google is your friend. Search leaking caps. Insert the brand name of your selected PSU and see what comes up. Be ready for a few suprises.


Galvanized

 

[KingofFah]

Anyone checkout the Sunbeamtech NUUO 550W PSU?
From the reviews I've read so far its usually 1-2% from nominal voltages on 3.3 5 and 12v's. Under normal load and overclocked load it barely moves. The way it keeps regulates voltage is similar to PPC and the Seasonic S12. SLI cert'd of course. I'm looking for a price now; I think the MSRP is 80 (nice). Amazing first shot at the PSU market from sunbeamtech.

 

[Pabster]

PC Power And Cooling.

</end thread>

 

[jondl]

My Antec TruPower 460 or w/e that i had about a year ago failed on me after about 1.5 years of use on my p4 overclocked system. After that, i went to a S12 430w and havent had any problems and just recently upgraded to the 600w s12 version. You may call me a Seasonic fanboy but they have A LOT of them for a reason =p

nice prices
stable
reliable
from what i've heard, GREAT customer support.

 

[smthmlk]

i've been very happy with my seasonic s12-500 as well. I would recommend the S12-600 version for the rig the OP mentioned . Don't skimp on the PSU, especially when you're going SLI

 

[Corporate Thug]

enermax liberty

 

[Zebo]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103714