Which PSU do you recommend?

[hasu]

Which one do you recommend?

Enermax EG465AX-VE (W)FMA
or
Antec TrueBlue480 ?

Enermax has Active PFC. Which should make the unit more energy efficient, I guess.

AT review says the above Enermax is 460W. But Newegg's description says it is 433W!
AT Review
Newegg's Enermax decription

Any comments on how their acoustic noise compare?

Thanks

 

[P4spooky]

Antec all the way. Comes with a 3 year warranty that you can actually use

 

[Bonesdad]

Well, I'd get a Fortron, but between those two, definately the Antec.

 

[fredtam]

Antec

 

[FPSguy]

I have an Antec TrueBlue 480. It's awesome. I don't think you can go wrong with it. I have never owned an Enermax so I won't comment on that.

 

[Slogun]

I have recently purchased both Enermax and Antec PSUs and my preference is Enermax.

The only two differences that I have found and which do matter to me are:

1) Enermax installs their fan grilles flush to the body of the unit making sliding it into the case mucheasier.

2) Enermax PSU has the wires exiting the unit on the mobo side of the unit making cable management neater.

I did, however, make the mistake of buying the model PSU with copper shielding on the main power cable making it somewhat shorter and much less flexible.

 

[IBDoomed]

Depends on your power requirements. Watch the +12 rail, antec's have pathetic output.

EDIT: To clarify, using the 80% rule, Antec doesn't appear make a single PS that would satisfy the 25A requirements of my pc.

 

[hasu]

Originally posted by: IBDoomed
Depends on your power requirements. Watch the +12 rail, antec's have pathetic output.

Well, I am bit confused when it comes to calculating the ampere requirement of each rail. This AMD Doc consider all the CPU power requirement to be on +12v rail! But some of the AT articles say that it would be on 3.3v.

I was considering Enermax EG465AX-VE (W)FMA, because of two reasons

1. Active PFC, which should make it more efficient. The spec sheets of Enermax and Antec claim the efficiencies to be at least 70% and 67% respectively

2. In the recent AT review of power supplies, Enermax was found to cause less interference. Since they have used the same test setup with all the power supplies and for all the trials, I tend to accept the results.

BTW, we have been discussing about the power requirements of my new upgrade in another thred. if you are interested please go here. You will also find some very useful info there

 

[JasonandBecky]

Holy crap, No wonder I cant run my FX5900 without getting a new power supply! A 300 watt unit just does not cut the mustard anymore >< I love that power supply wattage calculator site. Tells me I need to pick up a 480 watt PS. I had no idea just how much new stuff draws power now days.

 

[hasu]

Originally posted by: JasonandBecky
Holy crap, No wonder I cant run my FX5900 without getting a new power supply! A 300 watt unit just does not cut the mustard anymore >< I love that power supply wattage calculator site. Tells me I need to pick up a 480 watt PS. I had no idea just how much new stuff draws power now days.

That's right.

But an interesting thing is that, I just completed upgrading an emachine for a friend of mine. The new configuration is ASRocks K7-VM2, AMD 1800+XP DLT3C@1.5v and FSB:133MHz, Modem raiser card, 2x256MB DDR, Segate 120GB, DVD Drive, CDWriter, Floppy drive. All these works just fine with the stock PSU, which is rated at 120W !!

edit1: formatting
edit2: Added CPU info

 

[IBDoomed]

Generally Athlon XP's use 7-9 amps, faster P4's use 8-10 amps. I usually just allocate 10amps for the cpu, using the 80% rule that means you need 12.5 amps for the cpu/mb.
HD's usually require 2-3 amps.
CD/DVD(RW) drives around 2 amps.
In my system I have p4 3.0, 2 HD's, 2 CD/DVD's, adding up to 20 amps, and thus I need 25A using the 80% rule. I did not look at *every* Antec PS on their site but the big $130 (~newegg price) PS is only 24A. I emailed Antec once to ask what they were thinking since none of their PS's will power a system with ~6 drives and all they had to say was that they were building per atx 1.2 (i think it was 1.2) spec. I've not actually looked but I think atx spec was designed before the CPU switch from 5v to 12v and there lies the problem.

 

[render]

numbers on rails of enermax ps is not totally believable.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/howto/20021021/powersupplies-12.html

EG365AX-VE
max. Performance(Manufacturer-claimed/Measurement): 350/389 W
+3.3 V/+5 V/+12 V(Manufacturer-claimed): 32/32/26 A

Do you really believe that the enermax EG365AX-VE can output 26A on 12V (while its total output is only 389w) ?

Check out Antec True 380P

max. Performance(Manufacturer-claimed/Measurement): 380/471 W

+3.3 V/+5 V/+12 V(Manufacturer-claimed): 35/28/18 A

 

[FPSguy]

I was under the impression that the 80% rule did not apply to Antec "True" power supplies because of the dedicated circuitry for each voltage level and the voltage feedback technology.

 

[hasu]

Originally posted by: render
numbers on rails of enermax ps is not totally believable.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/howto/20021021/powersupplies-12.html

Check out Antec True 380P

max. Performance(Manufacturer-claimed/Measurement): 380/471 W

+3.3 V/+5 V/+12 V(Manufacturer-claimed): 35/28/18 A

Actually I am considering Tru480 with Blue LED.
I had enermax whisper quiet (which was also xx365xx). I messed up with and ruined it and later bought Antec True330, which proved to be quieter! I am very happy with my True330, except that it cannot support all my new additions to my rig.

There are only two reasons for me to consider Enemax. 1) AT's recent review (lower electrical interference) and 2) Active PFC.

Even Antec has active PFC, but only in the models they sell in Europe!

 

[stevennoland]

Spend a little more and get yourself a Vantec 'Stealth' . I love mine. Get the 520Watt. The y come with SATA power connector adapters. Their manual (yes manual) is very informatve. Total junk food for nerds!

 

[Slogun]

I'm sure that vantec is nice, but my $49 Enermax ATXEG365P-VE(FC) also came with sata connectors and a manual.

 

[jarsoffart]

Originally posted by: Bonesdad
Well, I'd get a Fortron, but between those two, definately the Antec.

Same here. The Fortron 400w unit is excellent and it has super large heatsinks inside. A lot larger than Antec's. As a result, it is very good if you desire silent computing because you can replace it with a much slower fan without significant adverse effects. The Fortron 400w can definitely stand up to the Antec and Enermax and I imagine it is cheaper (60 at NewEgg). Among those two, I don't really know. The Fortron, Antec, and Enermax should all provide adequate power though.

 

[slicksilver]

fortron, fortron and only fortron

 

[Corporate Thug]

antec
enermax
fortron
pc power and cooling

 

[babutiger]

How does the Fortron ATX350GU 350W ($20, newegg) stack up against the Fortron FSP350-60PN 350W (36$, newegg)? They have the same input range specs (115/230VAC).