[DEAD] LiteOn 300W PSU $19 @ Directron

[linuxthinker]

Hey... how would you guys compare this PSU to an Antec TruePower 480? I just ordered one for $65 from Amazon. I'm going to be driving a P3 rig with a ton of PCI cards (4 ethernet interfaces, TV card, IDE card, SCSI card), and 8 hard drives. Should I stick with the antec or cancel and pick up one of these?

 

[KiltedFool]

Hypothesis:
This PSU is the best bulletproof budget choice for a comp I'm building for my dad, including:
Asus A7N266-VM w/ either an XP 1700 or a Duron 900 I have lying around
1-2 HDs
CD-Rom
Burner

Need to get a cheap arse case to put it in, most of the rest I have lying around.

Is my hypothesis reasonably sound? It's a Word, Excel, email, surfing comp.

KF

 

[mindless1]

KiltedFool, this PSU should be great for you.

linuxthinker, go with the Antec, 8 HDD might be too much considering the the Liteon's lower 12V rating. The Liteon's strongest point is it's 5V/3V, not it's 12V. Pretty soon I'll be trying 4 HDD in a system with one of Liteons but I wouldn't risk (all the data on) 8 HDD.

 

[linuxthinker]

Thanks for the update. Here's for hoping amazon ships my order soon

 

[htne]

Originally posted by: linuxthinker
Hey... how would you guys compare this PSU to an Antec TruePower 480? I just ordered one for $65 from Amazon. I'm going to be driving a P3 rig with a ton of PCI cards (4 ethernet interfaces, TV card, IDE card, SCSI card), and 8 hard drives. Should I stick with the antec or cancel and pick up one of these?

Would you mind telling us how you got an Antec TruePower 480 for $65 from Amazon? I just checked, and they are asking $90.99 for that model.

 

[linuxthinker]

Originally posted by: htne

Originally posted by: linuxthinker
Hey... how would you guys compare this PSU to an Antec TruePower 480? I just ordered one for $65 from Amazon. I'm going to be driving a P3 rig with a ton of PCI cards (4 ethernet interfaces, TV card, IDE card, SCSI card), and 8 hard drives. Should I stick with the antec or cancel and pick up one of these?

Would you mind telling us how you got an Antec TruePower 480 for $65 from Amazon? I just checked, and they are asking $90.99 for that model.

*checks his order*
Sorry, it was a 430, not a 480! That being said, you think I'm better off with the 430 Antec over the 300 Lite-On?

 

[Lizardman]

Either power supply should be fine. I would just stick the antec in what ever computer you will be using since its much quieter (I have not heard the lite-on in person).

 

[GregANDTCH]

I bought two of the Lite-on's & they seem pretty quiet.
Haven't installed them in a case yet, but with a PS tester the fan is hard to hear.
I think the fan changes speed as the PS heats up though.

 

[mindless1]

Bump

I just put one of these in a system with 4 HDD and a highly o'c GF4... runs great
These PSU really are a deal if you don't need ATX12V.

 

[GeminiZi]

will this baby be capable of overclocking a xp 2100 on a 8rda+?

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

Replaced my old and dying psu with this one and now my systems running nice and stable again
Thanks!

 

[Archaicknite]

Comments about the noise have been inconclusive... How does it compare with the 420w turbolink/channel well psu's... I'm trying to replace it without spending too much money. Anyone have experience with both?

 

[Vivi]

Originally posted by: Archaicknite
Comments about the noise have been inconclusive... How does it compare with the 420w turbolink/channel well psu's... I'm trying to replace it without spending too much money. Anyone have experience with both?

yes I have both got with the liteon one, it's a lot more quiet compared to the turbolink one w/ two fans. I notice the voltages are also less erratic on the liteon one compared to the turbolink one.

 

[SSSS]

Some of you might have good luck with it, but I did not.

I ordered two of them. Both came defective as the connectors were damaged when they were pulled from the servers (they were apparently recycled PSUs). A week after submitting RMA to Directron, I got no response. I am planning just to send them back without RMA, and dispute the credit card charge.

 

[mindless1]

SSSS, Directron has an automated RMA service, where you go to their website and fill in the form. It's been painless and fast for me... is that where you requested the RMA?

These could be considered "recycled" I suppose, but they're new pulls, no dirt or other signs of use on those I've received. To have BOTH arrive with damaged connectors seems odd, makes we wonder if Directron is almost sold out. When did you order? Has anyone else ordered AFTER you and received undamaged PSU?

 

[SSSS]

I did send RAM throught the web (very confusing to navigate may I add). But I got no RMA number back.

You are correct that the PSUs appear to be new pulls. But the connectors were damaged as the result of very unskilled work.

 

[Vivi]

Has anyone played around with the other two pots yet and see what they do?

Thanx

 

[Codeloss]

Is 5 hard drives too much for this power supply? 4 IDE, 1 10k SCSI (if it makes a difference)

I noticed mindless1 said he was having no trouble with 4. Is there any way to calculate what the safe amount of drives would be in relation to the output of the 12v?

 

[mindless1]

Originally posted by: Codeloss
Is 5 hard drives too much for this power supply? 4 IDE, 1 10k SCSI (if it makes a difference)

I noticed mindless1 said he was having no trouble with 4. Is there any way to calculate what the safe amount of drives would be in relation to the output of the 12v?

Codeloss, your drives and other 12V components probably have their power requirements listed on the parts' labels. You can simply add those to obtain a rough total but the HDDs will consume more at spin-up. I generally use a crude approximation-calculation that allows each HDD 2A on 12V rail.

On the system here with 4 HDDs and (6 fans, ~1A) in it, I did a test, attached 2 power resistors to the 12V rail, (~1.4Ohm measured total R), which is an ADDITIONAL 8.5A load. The goal was to put the PSU at closer to the 12A consumption it's spec'd to be able to provide.

The system powered up, ran fine with no voltage drop, but then I aborted the test because the power resistors' ceramic encasement started cracking pretty badly... they were 'sinked and fan cooled but since each was shedding over 40W of heat (over double their W rating, I had no larger W value resistors here) those poor lil resistors just couldn't cope with the heat.

In other words, this PSU keeps pleasantly surprising me. I think it will be able to power at least 6 HDD (probably more but above I mentioned my personal preference of allowing ~2A per HDD. Of course this is done at your own risk, personally I'd use a PSU rated higher on 12V rail for a system with half a dozen or more HDD.

 

[Bad Dude]

Does anyone knows if I can get one with this kind of quality that will run with a higher 12V lead? I need one to use with my Radeon 9700 Pro.
Thanks.

 

[mindless1]

Bad_Dude, to get a higher rating in the same quality you're looking for a ~$200+ server power supply, and many of those are larger form-factors. Next best might be PCPower&Cooling's largest "PC" models, but realistically you should be fine with most better name-brands in the higher W models.

You'll need to do like Codeloss, add up the power requirements of the system. I seriously doubt that your Radeon uses more than 4-6A on the 12V rail, probably significantly less. Is it even using 12V for core, memory, or just the fan?
Out of curiosity, do you know of data detailing that card's power requirements? I was going to look into that but 'so much to do, so little time'.

If I were a gambling person I'd bet this PSU will work fine, providing your system meets the other criteria throughout this thread, like using 5V for CPU instead of 12V.

 

[m1ke101]

How does this drive compare to antec, and enermaxs?

 

[Vivi]

Originally posted by: m1ke101
How does this drive compare to antec, and enermaxs?

uhhhhh... drive?

 

[weepul]

never knew that LiteOn also made PSUs. wow! very educational.

//krunk (^_^x)

 

[m1ke101]

Originally posted by: Vivi

Originally posted by: m1ke101 How does this drive compare to antec, and enermaxs?

uhhhhh... drive?

whoops brain fart lol