Sparkle 400W Platinum PSU = $24.99

[RaistlinZ]

I'm not that familiar with Sparkle, but at this price you really can't go wrong.

Keep in mind it has two 12v rails instead of one.

$44.99 - $20.00 instant (1101NPOWER05) = $24.99 out the door price.

 

[luv2save]

EDIT: It was posted by RaistlinZ earlier and for some reason did not see it... here is the link to original post: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2453104


@ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103083

$44.99 - $20 coupon "1101NPOWER05" = $24.99 + Free Shipping

Compare: Walmart.com ($82.43) | Amazon.com ($82.61) | Staples.com ($90.39) | pcRUSH.com ($94.95)

 

[Yuriman]

I'm in for two. Don't even need them, but I can flip my Sparkle units into family computers, and the platinum rating will definitely cut down on heat and noise.

 

[mazeroth]

Snagged two to replace some aging power supplies. Thanks!

 

[loafbred]

In '94, Sparkle Power International merged with Fortron Source to form FSP group. Since then, various FSP models have been marketed as Sparkle Power. At some point, some PC Power and Cooling models were identical to FSP models. The only negative I've heard about FSP was regarding one or more models which used six 12v rails, which required very careful selection of cables when setting up, and problems with some especially power hungry video cards. I've seen some current FSP and Sparkle Power units which still use four 12v rails.

Be aware that there is a Taiwanese company named "Sparkle Computer Co., Ltd" which makes graphics cards and, as far as I can tell, is not affiliated with the "Sparkle Power" arm of FSP Group (Chinese). I believe they also made some power supplies branded "Sparkle Computer".

I've owned a very basic 400 watt, and two "Blue Storm" 500 watt models from FSP, which are still running without a problem after many years of heavy use.

 

[mvbighead]

Went ahead and snagged two just because. Thanks Op.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Wow, phenomenal price! Too bad I just dropped $65 on an EVGA 600B PSU the other night. Ah well, I needed something with dual PCI-E power connectors. This Sparkle only has one.

 

[isekii]

550 watt xfx bronze or this?

 

[mdram]

coming up as 69.99

 

[cbn]

550 watt xfx bronze or this?

The XFX is more powerful and has more connectors.


One example would be the number of PCIe power connectors.

XFX TS 550W = one 8 pin PCIe and one 6 pin PCIe.

Sparkle 400W = one 8 pin PCIe.


The other example would be the SATA and molex:

XFX TS 550W = 9 SATA and six molex

Sparkle 400W = 4 SATA and two molex


Of course, the efficiency is higher on the Sparkle.

 

[DigDog]

and it's gone.

 

[MongGrel]

I'd still use an XFX over one personally.

Have never used a Sparkle myself, probably never will I imagine.

Just from things I have read in the past. For all I know they might be decent.

 

[Yuriman]

I'd still use an XFX over one personally.

Have never used a Sparkle myself, probably never will I imagine.

Just from things I have read in the past. For all I know they might be decent.

I used a Fortron (Sparkle) 250w PSU from 1996 to 2009, when I retired that particular PC. It was still providing clean power.

I purchased a Fortron Blue Storm 500w in 2005, and used it until 2013 in several (re)builds. I replaced it with a more efficient unit, but it was still providing clean power. For all I know, the friend I gave it to is still using it.

My experience with Fortron/Sparkle units has been overwhelming positive, especially considering their price points.

 

[daveybrat]

I ordered 3 (which was the max limit) of these Sparkle units. Just got them in the store yesterday from UPS.

Wow, huge boxes they came in and extremely heavy units. Seem to be very high quality. This was a phenomenal deal on a solid power supply.

 

[MongGrel]

More power to ya.

Pardon the pun

 

[MongGrel]

I ordered 3 (which was the max limit) of these Sparkle units. Just got them in the store yesterday from UPS.

Wow, huge boxes they came in and extremely heavy units. Seem to be very high quality. This was a phenomenal deal on a solid power supply.

It's not heavy until it tries to run over you.

()

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=142

J/K a bit, but have used one of those in the main a long time now.

 

[john3850]

My first Blue Storm 500 watt died the 2nd day when I plugged a new ati xtpe in.
My second Storm has habit of shutting off if a good video card was used with it.
Two months latter I replaced the Blue Storm with a OCZ Power Stream with adj rails and never had any more problems.
Bought 3 different cases with Sparkle ps 2 out of 3 smoked up when I turned on the power.

 

[Yuriman]

Swapped out my Antec Earthwatts 430w Green (80+ Bronze rated) for this Sparkle unit.

Antec 430w:
+3.3V@20A
+5V@20A
+12V1@17A
+12V2@16A
-12V@0.8A
+5VSB@2.5A

Sparkle 400w:
+3.3V@16A
+5V@16A
+12V1@18A
+12V2@18A
-12V@0.3A
+5VSB@3A

~

Power figures, measured at the wall:

Vampire power
Antec - 1.6w
Sparkle - 0.9-1.1w

Idle (at windows desktop)
A - 39.4w
S - 37.4w

CPU AVX loaded
A - 101w
S - 98w

CPU AVX + VGA Furmark loaded, measured after 15 seconds
A - 215w
S - 201w

CPU AVX + VGA Furmark, measured after 15 minutes with the case side off
A - 235w
S - 223w

CPU AVX + VGA Furmark, measured after 45 minutes with the side on
A - 244w
S - 223w



12v rail measurements:

Idle
A - 12.02v
S - 12.12v

CPU + GPU load
A - 11.81v
S - 11.94v

CPU + GPU, measured after 15 minutes with the case side off
A - 11.76v
S - 11.92v

CPU + GPU, measured after 45 minutes with the case side on
A - 11.72v
S - 11.92v


In my case, the power supply is the only exhaust, and frankly, the 80mm fan in the Antec unit was not up to the task under extreme (and very uncommon) loads, because temperatures would continue to climb inside the case over a period of 30-40 minutes. As intake temperature climbed, the power supply would warm up, rails would droop, and efficiency would go down. The Sparkle's 120mm fan and greater efficiency fare much better here, with case temperatures now being barely above ambient with Prime + Furmark.

400w is probably overkill for my uses. Even under power-virus loads on both VGA and CPU, I'm still only around 50% of its rated power, which hurts efficiency. At idle I'm somewhere in the range of 5-8% of its rated power. Under typical gaming loads, I expect it's somewhere close to 33%.

One downside to the new unit, though, is that due to the airflow layout of my case, my video card gets nearly 10c warmer now than it did before, which is encouraging me to install a fan in the side panel to keel it cool. The Antec unit drew in air from the back of the unit (top of the case) while the Sparkle draws it from the side.

If we assume a 2w savings approximately 22 hours per day, and 15w saved 2 hours per day, this power supply will pay for itself in power savings in approximately 6 years.

 

[Samus]

Sparkle makes some of the best PSU's, hands down. Antec is very good, but Sparkle is one of the gold standards. SPI is OEM in a LOT of servers...

 

[VirtualLarry]

Sparkle makes some of the best PSU's, hands down. Antec is very good, but Sparkle is one of the gold standards. SPI is OEM in a LOT of servers...

Hrm. So is Delta, and Delta is one of the OEMs for Antec PSUs.

 

[Yuriman]

Hrm. So is Delta, and Delta is one of the OEMs for Antec PSUs.

Sparkle/Fortron makes Antec's Earthwatts Platinum series, as far as I can tell.