Which of these PSUs is better??

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

My friend needs a new PSU in their computer. The existing PSU works but the fan is starting to fail(it is made by FSP).

ATM,the PC has an E6320,4GB of DDR2,an HD4670 GDDR3 and a pair of hard disks.

The case however has no exhaust fan and requires the PSU do be the same system exhaust. Hence,I am looking for a replacement PSU which uses a ball bearing fan and can run fine at higher temperatures. Even if the system is fully upgraded again in the near future it will not be overclocked.

The budget is at most £50 including postage.

These are the PSUs I am looking at:

1.)Silverstone Tech. Strider SST-ST40F-ES 400W

2.)Silverpower Green Power SP-SS-400 400W Power Supply

This is made by Seasonic.

3.)OCZ StealthXStream II 500W

The 600W version looks good but there seems to be no review of this PSU which I can find.

4.)Antec High Current Gamer 400W

5.) OCZ StealthXStream 400W

It is a CWT unit which has got good reviews

6.)Thermaltake TR2 RX 550W Modular PSU

This is modular and rated at 40C.

7.)OCZ Fatal1ty 550w

This is modular but I don't know how good the capacitors are in this PSU.

8.)FSP Saga II 400W

The first five look the best contenders. Reliability,a decent quality PSU fan and high temperature operation are the most important features.

9.)OCZ ModXStream 700W

10.)OCZ StealthXStream 400W

[Blackmage]

OCZ StealthXStream 400 W

[Kumagoro]

If your mate signs up at AVforums he can get free scan postage straight away without the
posting rigmarole. I thought I read recently that you get the free postage immediately here now
but I may have imagined that.

Actually after being told and checking you do have to post a bit at AVforums now.
http://www.avforums.com/forums/scan_offer.php

[Blackmage]

OCZ StealthXStream 400W, I've got one myself and it works flawlessly. The review said it's peak output was 450w+. It even has 85% Eff when running at a certain wattage never dropping below 81% eff.

The only thing is that it comes with a 4pin CPU connector. I heard the 4 pins don't really matter but I'm unsure?

[Sputnik]

The only thing is that it comes with a 4pin CPU connector. I heard the 4 pins don't really matter but I'm unsure?

I spoke to one of the Tech guys at J&W about that and they didn't think it was a problem to use either. If you look on the reverse of the motherboard they appear to all be bridged on the back anyway.

[DavidM]

Kumagoro - unfortunately you are incorrect. Please check the information on the site.

[Biscuit]

Personally i would go for the Antec, pretty sure thats an S12 derivative. Although its a different series (true power 750W) i love mine, was great value and its extremely quiet!

[dirky]

Scan has a nice selection of PSU's on for todayonly
Tempted by the Antec 430w EarthWatts Green myself for my storage box

[Domestic_Ginger]

Scan has a nice selection of PSU's on for todayonly
Tempted by the Antec 430w EarthWatts Green myself for my storage box

650W Coolermaster RS650-ACAAE3-UK GX, 80 PLUS, 85% Eff', SLI/CrossFire, , EPS 12V, 120mm Fan £38.99 £46.79 looks quite good value to me. Its a seventeam PSU and lacks many reviews though. 650W may be overkill but it seems to have good efficiency.

[dirky]

Yea I have a 600W OCZ Stealth atm, but its not very stealth as the fan seems to be having issues. Figured it might downsize since its running only an underclocked X2 240, plus 4-5 green drives

[Pob255]

The original OCZ StealthXStream 400W is very good, the later stealthxstreamII is not as good.

I'd not go near the TT TR2 range, they are CWT, built to budget, same design as is being used in the new corsair CX range

Info on the saga II is thin on the ground, very odd that it's an aPCF psu but rated for AC 200-240v only not 110-240v
Leaving out the additional components required to make a low cost psu work at 114v is probably part of the reason it's so cheap (Teapo cap's and probably some OST caps, fsp rarely uses anything else)
If you want modular ebuyer still have the OCZ modXstreme 500w http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152009 or scan have the very nice the Silverstone ST50F-P 500w http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500w-...lus-bronze-psu (fully modular including the 20+4pin ATX and I think it's made by FSP)

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I cannot go over £50 as this the maximum I can spend.

One of my other mates is trying to persuade him to get the ModXStream 700W but TBH I do not trust many of the older OCZ PSUs. He also pointed out the Antec VP450P which got a bad review from a Chinese website and the Coolermaster 460W PSU and case combination which may do the job but the PSU is an old design AFAIK. The StealthXStream 400W and StealthXStream II 500W look OK though.

I am leaning towards the Silverpower unit as it is an S12 design and since I can use my Scan postage it comes to around £41.

There is the older version of the Silverpower 400W for around £32 which is a solid but basic unit. I wonder if this will do the job??

OTH.the OCZ 400W can be had for £43 and the Antec High Current Gamer 400W for a few quid more. AFAIK,the latter seems to be an S12 II design.

A ball bearing fan is important and many of the sub £50 400W+ designs seem to use sleeve bearings. Funnily enough the OCZ StealthXStream II range now uses ball bearings.

[silentvoice]

I am leaning towards the Silverpower unit as it is an S12 design and since I can use my Scan postage it comes to around £41.

How much can you get the Antec for? This PSU is supposed to be based on Seasonic's SII series and is manufactured by Seasonic. I'd sooner an Antec than Silverpower...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

How much can you get the Antec for? This PSU is supposed to be based on Seasonic's SII series and is manufactured by Seasonic. I'd sooner an Antec than Silverpower...

The newer Silverpower 400W is based on the Seasonic S12 design according to Anandtech so the Antec is based on a slightly newer design it seems.

The Antec is around £46 to £48 whereas the Silverpower is £41.

My mates would rather keep to £40 than £50 if possible.

It seems the Seasonic 330W S12II is now only £24 this weekend:

http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

I wonder if 330W would be enough??

There is also the 430W Antec EA-430 GB EarthWatts Green and 530W Be Quiet BN106 Pure Power L7 for around £40 this weekend. The 380W version of the Antec PSU is Seasonic I think and the Be Quiet FSP.

[Pob255]

The Antec HCG series is based on the S12II bronze, which is basically an S12II with a couple of higher rated components so as to increase the effeciency.

don't know about the Antec VP450P, other than it's a new part of the basiq ranger which historically wasn't that good.

The today only 530W Be Quiet BN106 Pure Power L7 for £40, it's a bit overkill but a great price, if there's no major overclocking going on or no major gpu upgrade in the near future then the seasonic12II 330w should be fine

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The CPU won't be overclocked at all. The most I could see is another 65W or 95W CPU and perhaps a 9800GT or another bus powered card.

It can supply 288W on the 12V line whereas the Silverpower and Antec can supply 360W.

However,the Silverpower costs £17 more and the Antec over £20 more.