which enermax PSU, the one w/ 12V/33A or the one with separate 12v rails ?

[flexy]

the first one:
newegg link
+3.3V@32A; +5V@36A; +12V@15A; -12V@0.8A; +5VSB@2.5A

the second one:
Newegg link 2
+3.3V@35A, +5V@35A, +12V@33A, -5V@1A, -12V@1A, +5VSB@2.2A

they're both about the same $$$, i am wondering which one would be 'better'...the first one has seperate 12V but only 15A on one rail - the second one 33A.

I am planning to get an A64 3400 and moderately overclock it together with a 6800Gt or X800.

Edit: Noise plays a role too

 

[TwoBills]

If your ever going to need 33amps then go for the 460 whisper 2 (I'm guessin' it'll be compatable w/a 64 bit board). If your never going to need that much juice (most likely) then why pay for it. The 420 seems way overpriced. I'd think about an Enermax 350w (32-32-26) for $59.

There might be something I'm missing here, as far as compatability goes, so come on guys, straighten me out.

 

[Arcanedeath]

Dual 12V rails is somewhat better unless you really overload one of the rails. it's also part of the spec for BTX and ATX 2.X....

 

[BW86]

I'd go for the WhisperII

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

MSI recommends 25 amps on the 12 V for their a64 mobos.

 

[BW86]

lol most people dont even have 25amps on their 12v line

 

[TwoBills]

Originally posted by: BW86
lol most people dont even have 25amps on their 12v line

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's a fact. My 200w Fortron only has 10 and I figure that more than enough (1 160g hdd and a cd/rw).

I was feeling a little wattless, after hanging around here for a while, and sprang for a new Chenbro mATX case (same as I have now) that has the new 270w unit in it. 16amps/12v. Don't know what I'm going to do w/all those amps. I do plan on throwing in a video capture card and hooking up (4) color cctv cameras, but that's only going to use up 3 or 4 amps.

Maybe with all the amps in the new case I'll add a ptz w/ir. Gotta see if I can scrounge up one of those.

 

[flexy]

someone in another thread posted a link http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/ where you can place a checkmark on all the devices you have in your system and it calculates the total recommended PSU wattage. Of course it assumes that all devices/drives are on/utilized 100% the same time, which is not a real world situation.

However...

For my system:


A64 3400+
2 Dimms
2 optical drives
2 HD
1 geforce 6800GT
bunch of fans
USB webcam
couple pci cards, NIC, floppy etc..etc..it calculated about 380W total in this situation.

Someone posted the formula

(TOTAL watt usage) / (0.7 PSU efficiency) * 0.9 comes to roughly 460Watts

the A64 alone is listed to use 89Watts..the gfx card said to use 105W

Now i also plan to moderately overclock.

Please dont tell me i can run this off a 250W supply I dont like to spend unnecessary money on a PSU...but it looks i *need* a ,say, at least 420W good brand one ?!
I am also kinda hesitant to go with the two seperate rails since each rail has 'only' 15A or 14A..thje whisper II looks indeed good....hmmmm

Edit: now for some noobish question, in fact i am just to lazy to google around right now..
What actually *IS* on the 12V rails, and what is on the 5V rails ? Are'nt HDs on the 5V rail ? If a PSU is dual 12V, so what does it split up to ? One rail for motherboard/cpu, the other for graphics card ?

 

[TwoBills]

Basically, 3.3 is cpu pwr, 5v is mobo electronics/disk logic, 12v is disk motors and fans.

I would think that you need to keep your 12v rails strong. Seems to me if you load them up, past an optimal point, then the 3.3 and 5v rails are going to drop, effecting your logic and cpu circuits.

As for the duel rails, I think that's mostly a noise isolation thing. You don't need much in the way of 12v on the motherboard, except to buss some power to the fan headers. Graphics card? 12v? Anybody?

 

[k3nt]

Originally posted by: AyashiKaibutsu
MSI recommends 25 amps on the 12 V for their a64 mobos.

Tell me about it....lol I have an MSI K8N Platinum and an Antec True Power 480, 12V = 22A. Ever since I got my 6800GT I've been having all sorts of system lock ups. You'd think the PSU I have is enough....

Anyway, my whisper II is arriving tomorrow mornin. Hopefully it will get the job done. If it doesn't, new mobo time. Perhaps the new DFI a64 board

Stupid MSI board....

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Originally posted by: k3nt

Originally posted by: AyashiKaibutsu
MSI recommends 25 amps on the 12 V for their a64 mobos.

Tell me about it....lol I have an MSI K8N Platinum and an Antec True Power 480, 12V = 22A. Ever since I got my 6800GT I've been having all sorts of system lock ups. You'd think the PSU I have is enough....

Anyway, my whisper II is arriving tomorrow mornin. Hopefully it will get the job done. If it doesn't, new mobo time. Perhaps the new DFI a64 board

Stupid MSI board....

I got 35 amps all all my rails :Q
MSI Power requirements = pwned.

 

[BentValve]

bump, I am looking at these 2 PSUs as welll.

 

[Goi]

I've owned both before(a whisperquiet 431W and currently a noisetake 470W) and neither has given me any problems.

 

[Zebo]

two rails suck. neither is powerful enough unless using the peripherials rail (i.e. the one driving your HD's and cd's and fans) to drive your video card. Which sorta defeats the purpose of having isolated rails.



get the 350 enermax the 465 is too loud and more than you need.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: flexy
someone in another thread posted a link http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/ where you can place a checkmark on all the devices you have in your system and it calculates the total recommended PSU wattage. Of course it assumes that all devices/drives are on/utilized 100% the same time, which is not a real world situation.

However...

For my system:


A64 3400+
2 Dimms
2 optical drives
2 HD
1 geforce 6800GT
bunch of fans
USB webcam
couple pci cards, NIC, floppy etc..etc..it calculated about 380W total in this situation.

Someone posted the formula

(TOTAL watt usage) / (0.7 PSU efficiency) * 0.9 comes to roughly 460Watts

the A64 alone is listed to use 89Watts..the gfx card said to use 105W

Now i also plan to moderately overclock.

Please dont tell me i can run this off a 250W supply I dont like to spend unnecessary money on a PSU...but it looks i *need* a ,say, at least 420W good brand one ?!
I am also kinda hesitant to go with the two seperate rails since each rail has 'only' 15A or 14A..thje whisper II looks indeed good....hmmmm

Edit: now for some noobish question, in fact i am just to lazy to google around right now..
What actually *IS* on the 12V rails, and what is on the 5V rails ? Are'nt HDs on the 5V rail ? If a PSU is dual 12V, so what does it split up to ? One rail for motherboard/cpu, the other for graphics card ?

Almost everything but mem derives it's power for the 12V rail. fireing squad and toms have both had articles on this. in the past 5V was very common, not any more.

HD, Fans, CD, videocard both AGP and Molex, processor are all 12 the only thing signifigant is mem which is either 5 or 3.3 depending on mobo.

Just processor and vid card can use 200W/12 = 17A alone in a highly OCed system.

That's why the best of the best have only +3.3V@30A, +5V@35A while pumping a massive +12V@45A
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=17-103-714&depa=0

 

[WAZ]

I also have an MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum on the way and was comparing these same two PSU's.

If the MSI requires 25A (anyone have a link to this info?), it looks like I'll need the EG465 Whisper II with 33A on the +12V. Even the Antec Truepower 430 and 480 only have 20A and 22A, respectively... Plus if I'll be adding a 6600 GT, it looks like the Antec Truepowers just don't have enough juice?

Apparently the EG475 Noisetaker does have 31A, but since it's split into two rails, they aren't actually combined? So I'd really only have 15A TOTAL for the MSI motherboard, with the other 16A for all my drives, etc? That does sound self-defeating....

 

[BentValve]

I went with the 480 watt Coolergiant , based on this review...

http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q4/psus/index.x?pg=1


http://www.newegg.com/app/view...=17-103-495&depa=0



BTW its only $105 @ Monarch computers ..or at least it was yesterday when I bought mine.

 

[WAZ]

Is there a reason the EG465 Whisper II isn't considered the greatest power supply ever? I mean it's 460W, has 33A on the +12V, and it's the same price (about $75) as most PSU's with much less -- i.e. the Antecs with 20A. Other PSU's with that much amperage are almost twice as expensive.

There's no lack of amps to worry about, like not having the 25A to run an MSI board, or not being sure if having two 15A rails is enough for anything. Just 33A, good clean Enermax. Am I missing something?

 

[Goi]

I've been wondering the same thing, and I've always thought that Enermax was better than Antec. They were the first "good" PSUs that I knew of before Antec made it big almost a decade ago, and their specs have consistently been at least as good as Antecs, with a relatively lower price. That's why my last 2 PSUs have been Enermaxes, and I've never owned an Antec before

 

[AnotherGuy]

Originally posted by: TwoBills
Basically, 3.3 is cpu pwr, 5v is mobo electronics/disk logic, 12v is disk motors and fans.

I would think that you need to keep your 12v rails strong. Seems to me if you load them up, past an optimal point, then the 3.3 and 5v rails are going to drop, effecting your logic and cpu circuits.

As for the duel rails, I think that's mostly a noise isolation thing. You don't need much in the way of 12v on the motherboard, except to buss some power to the fan headers. Graphics card? 12v? Anybody?

I think ur wrong...

12v is for cpu, mobo and graphics card. (correct me if im wrong here... maybe that fact is only for a64s)

I have an MSI Neo2 plat overclocking my 3000+ to 2340mhz... and system is running fine so far with my Thermaltake 420w with only 12v@18A... BUT everyone on MSI forums recommends Enermax power supplies with lots of juice on the 12v rail... specially those with 6800gt cards

So id definitly suggest u get the one with 33A on the 12v.

 

[WAZ]

Originally posted by: Goi
I've been wondering the same thing, and I've always thought that Enermax was better than Antec. They were the first "good" PSUs that I knew of before Antec made it big almost a decade ago, and their specs have consistently been at least as good as Antecs, with a relatively lower price. That's why my last 2 PSUs have been Enermaxes, and I've never owned an Antec before

Exactly. I've heard great things about the Antecs and great things about Enermax's own Noisetakers. But why are these getting all the good press when they have, respectively, only 20A (or 22 or 26), or they have dual rails which very well may or may not be able to handle new mobos and video cards (i.e. only 15A on one Noisetaker rail to cover the mobo).... while the Enermax Whisper II is sitting quietly in a corner with 33A on its +12V, and a comparable or cheaper price?

I can't even find a review for an Enermax EG465P-VE FMA 1.3.... yet by looking at the brand, amperage, specs, and price, it looks like the greatest PSU ever.

 

[BentValve]

Id rather have 2 idepentdent 12V rails, one just for my 6800GT .

The Coolergiant has a 16A and a 15A 12V rails.

 

[Goi]

Actually I think dual rail is part of the new ATX/BTX standard, and it's not so much of a bad thing. The idea is to provide a more dedicated/cleaner power supply to the CPU. It does limit flexibility, but even with a single +12V rail you're not getting the full 33A when your other rails are loaded, that sorta offsets the Antec's lower +12V rating a bit since the TruePowers have independent rails, but I don't think by a full 10A. In any case, a 15A dedicated rail to the CPU should do the job for the foreseeable future - that's 180W right there! The other rail could be used for a high-powered graphics card and everything else.

 

[WAZ]

Ah, so is this more of an MSI issue needing more power? What about for this MSI motherboard that recommends 25A?

Unless I totally don't grasp this (which I very much may not ), the dual rails would leave me with one 15A line for, say, a high-end video card and my drives... and a 16A for a motherboard which needs 25A, along with the CPU.

I think I've made up my own mind and am probably going with the 460W Whisper II. But now my confusion over why everyone else in the world doesn't want this PSU is really bothering me. Maybe as long as you don't have this MSI motherboard you're great with the lower-amp Antec or the lower-individual-amp dual-rail Noisetaker..... but MSI + video card = needs more juice than those can provide.

Maybe I'll sleep tonight afterall....

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: WAZ

Originally posted by: Goi
I've been wondering the same thing, and I've always thought that Enermax was better than Antec. They were the first "good" PSUs that I knew of before Antec made it big almost a decade ago, and their specs have consistently been at least as good as Antecs, with a relatively lower price. That's why my last 2 PSUs have been Enermaxes, and I've never owned an Antec before

Exactly. I've heard great things about the Antecs and great things about Enermax's own Noisetakers. But why are these getting all the good press when they have, respectively, only 20A (or 22 or 26), or they have dual rails which very well may or may not be able to handle new mobos and video cards (i.e. only 15A on one Noisetaker rail to cover the mobo).... while the Enermax Whisper II is sitting quietly in a corner with 33A on its +12V, and a comparable or cheaper price?

I can't even find a review for an Enermax EG465P-VE FMA 1.3.... yet by looking at the brand, amperage, specs, and price, it looks like the greatest PSU ever.

Are you not a fan of anandtech or what?

http://www.anandtech.com/casec...ng/showdoc.aspx?i=1774

It's good but not the best. Zippy/PCP&C makes the best... then OCZ/tagan/seasonic/enermax are second tier. Antec is third tier as far as I'm concerned. Thier strong reputation is A) advertising b) market saturation with PSU's that came in their wonderful cases. Which prompted users to continue to use Antec.