PSU's

[N4PALM]

Well seeing as I went and revived this thread, can I get some help please?.....

I cant seem to decide just how much power my system is gonna draw... I rekon around 400w but I'm not really sure if that'll account for startup surge and degrade of the psu over time. But then alot of the psu's I've been looking at seem very similar depite ranging from 400w to 600w.

I'm gonna be running:

Athlon 64 X2 3800+
2x512 DDR2 (soon to be upgraded)
160gig SATA
160gig IDE
SB Audigy w/live drive
PCIe ATI X1600Pro (or similar)
PCI NIC
Internal Card reader
a Couple o fans
Up to 6 USB devices


I've narrowed my PSU selection to:

Enermax Liberty 400w
Coolermaster eXtreme power 500w
Hiper Type-R 530w

These are all in the £50 region which is about where my budget ends.

Any advice out there pls?

[moogle]

It's between the Coolermaster and Enermax, Coolermaster has good efficiencies and so does the Enermax, so it's just down to you to choose which one offers more and which one looks better or one that you like.

[N4PALM]

The thing is it doesnt seem to be all that simple.... I know that the overall wattage isnt as important as the power supplied to each rail and its stability. The trouble is I dont really know what my requirements are for each rail. I can only make a guess and my guesses when it comes to PSU's are a little wild.

Coolermaster eXtreme power 500w

+3.3 = 20A
+5 = 20A
+12 1= 16A
+12 2= 16A
-5 = 0.8A
-12 = 0.8A
5vsb = 2.0A

Efficiency = 70%



Enermax Liberty 400w

+3.3 = 26A
+5 = 26A
+12 1= 20A
+12 2= 20A
-5 = ?A
-12 = 0.6A
5vsb = 3A

Efficiency = 80%




Hiper Type-R 530W

+3.3 = 28A
+5 = 34A
+12 1= 20A
+12 2= 17A
-5 = ?A
-12 = 0.8A
5vsb = 2.5A

Efficiency = 76%



When you compare those charts the Hiper looks best to me... But then people say Hiper arent that good. Exactly what is wrong with hiper psu's? The last thing I need is another incident like what happend with that damn explosive QTEC.

[moogle]

dunno how you got those efficiencies, I check this site for reviews on most of the psu's
[url]http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/reviews/cases/Cooler_Master_iGreen_600W_6.html[/url]
and
[url]http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/reviews/cases/Enermax_ELT620AWT_6.html[/url]

I know it might not be the same versions of the PSU's but in general the Enermax and Coolermasters have better efficiencies, and the Voltages dont stray as far as the Hipers do.

[dave87]

[QUOTE=Blitzen;1002962]Haha...didnt notice that.

Tbph though, they have never been a 'refreshing' alternative to the good brand makes.
They were another 'bling' alternative to Ultra X-Connects...thats all.[/QUOTE]

The Type-R - pre modular was a very good PSU - has the reviews to prove it. I had one, and second to the seasonic I've got now, one of the most stable I've ever used.

[N4PALM]

So what went wrong with Hiper then? I mean with the specs of the one I posted it looks fine! So is it random crashes? Explosive? Have people had it take out their whole rig? Reliability?

[moogle]

[QUOTE=N4PALM;1005623]So what went wrong with Hiper then? I mean with the specs of the one I posted it looks fine! So is it random crashes? Explosive? Have people had it take out their whole rig? Reliability?[/QUOTE]

I've heard many people who had hipers say they blew out, and in some cases took other components with it.

take a look at [url]http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/articles/guides/Power_Supply_Testing_5.html[/url] and compare each power supply, if hiper is still your choice then go for it. The Seasonic, OCZ, Akasa, Enermax Silverstone are high efficiency ones that I'd go for.

[N4PALM]

Sounds just like the qtec I had that took out my last system....

I've been doing lost of homework about PSU's, I've been drowing in data.

I think I've made up my mind anyway... The enermax liberty 400W

The only issue is will 400w be enough, I'm sure it will but under the highest load and maybe after future upgrades (especially with the growing trend in increasing GPU power consumption) it might be pushing its limits to the edge.

Ive heard that enermax are rock solid and with 2 x 20A +12v (combined 30a) and 26A each for 5v and 3.3v it looks like the best for the money available IMO.

The only issue I've seen so far is according to some people enermax PSU's dont like being pushed close to 100% and they often fail quicker than others under that stress but at normal use they stay rock solid.

Anyway at £46.94 including vat its a steal!

[Blitzen]

[QUOTE=N4PALM;1003702]Well seeing as I went and revived this thread, can I get some help please?.....

I cant seem to decide just how much power my system is gonna draw... I rekon around 400w but I'm not really sure if that'll account for startup surge and degrade of the psu over time. But then alot of the psu's I've been looking at seem very similar depite ranging from 400w to 600w.

I'm gonna be running:

Athlon 64 X2 3800+
2x512 DDR2 (soon to be upgraded)
160gig SATA
160gig IDE
SB Audigy w/live drive
PCIe ATI X1600Pro (or similar)
PCI NIC
Internal Card reader
a Couple o fans
Up to 6 USB devices


I've narrowed my PSU selection to:

Enermax Liberty 400w
Coolermaster eXtreme power 500w
Hiper Type-R 530w

These are all in the £50 region which is about where my budget ends.

Any advice out there pls?[/QUOTE]

Out of those 3.......DEFINITELY the Liberty. Would definitely be worth the extra tenner and get the 500W version though.

[Sprite]

[QUOTE=moogle;1005769]I've heard many people who had hipers say they blew out, and in some cases took other components with it.

take a look at [url]http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/articles/guides/Power_Supply_Testing_5.html[/url] and compare each power supply, if hiper is still your choice then go for it. The Seasonic, OCZ, Akasa, Enermax Silverstone are high efficiency ones that I'd go for.[/QUOTE]

Yeah my Hiper Type R 580w blew up about a month back now, still waiting for a bloody RMA from Novatech.

On a second note I bought a Point of View 500w PSU from Komplett a few weeks back, initially impressed as the thing looks well built, feels pretty solid and looks quality.

No idea how to test volts and that but it powers my rig (AMD X2 3800 OCed, 7800GT, 2 250GB HDDs, 2 Optical Drives, 2GB RAM etc) very well :)

[Blitzen]

[QUOTE=daniel.phillips;1011959]Yeah my Hiper Type R 580w blew up about a month back now, still waiting for a bloody RMA from Novatech.

On a second note I bought a Point of View 500w PSU from Komplett a few weeks back, initially impressed as the thing looks well built, feels pretty solid and looks quality.

No idea how to test volts and that but it powers my rig (AMD X2 3800 OCed, 7800GT, 2 250GB HDDs, 2 Optical Drives, 2GB RAM etc) very well :)[/QUOTE]

Just as a pointer. How can you be sure its doing a good job if you dont know/havent tested it.

What the voltage ratings on the side? Unless its >28A on the 12V you could have a kipper there aswell. Thats the BARE BARE minimum.

[dave87]

My Hiper TypeR I blew up (something with a disagreement with a screwdriver if I remember correctly). Luckily it was an insulated one, so it didn't hurt me. Protected my rig aswell :)