TheMaverick

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I have no idea what a good Power supply would be I want to go to a 400W that way I wont have to worry about a PS for quite awhile. Which would be the best brand to buy and further more what would be the best brand for the best price I dont want to spend 100 on a PS unless I have to lol

AMD XP 1900+
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lhgpoobaa

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enermax 430W whisper
toptower 420W

both are exceedingly good quality brands. for either amd or intel CPU's.

My Next Performance System!!! - P4 Celleron, 128k cache, SDRAM, Integrated graphics, 5400rpm HDD!
 
A good power supply is worth the extra money it costs. SPI or Sparkle is what I have now. After replacing the generic p/s i was able to push my system from 154fsb to 166 fsb. A nice improvement from just replacing the power supply.

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TheMaverick

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Ok thanks for the info I have a Antec 300W now I will look at the 400's you guys recommended thanks

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siliconjon

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With a 400W'er, you won't be free and clear of an upgrade for a while...this is the computer field we're talking about...we're now raising the roof nearly a GHz at a time (heh, I remember a little BBS running on a 15Mhz...), and HD's around 33MB/s & 20gig per round, soon to be 66 & 60, memory at 133 leaps...

With that kind of exponential progress, I don't think much of anything you buy will be good for too horribly long...but so long as you keep it running, she'll always be good for a little something! If nothing else, nude celebrity photos and Atari emulation.

While I wore syran wrap undies, my psychiatrist said "Well, I can clearly see yer nuts."
 

TheMaverick

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Suppose you are right guess that was kind of a stretch to say I would be free of an upgrade for awhile lol

But I should be able to get by on a 400 for awhile right or should I got and get like a 500?

I have been using my 300 for quite some time I was hoping to do the same with my next power supply

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thelastguardian

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... i thought this the the cpu forum -_-;;
anyhow i got a lot of horror stories of what can a bad SP can do to you. Once i heard from a guy that the PS fried everything in his comp, another got his mobo gone up in smoke (amen). And once i read the acticle that the comp-case maker are trying to cut cost so they use the cheapest SP possible. So beware...recommandation: buy SP that have more stamp( SP, IC, etc)
 

bdaley

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I was in the same boat as you. I had a 300W that wasn't cutting it and I couldn't decide if I should get a 400W or something more powerful. So I spent a little more and got an Enermax 430W. Hopefully that extra 30 watts will give the PS a little longer useable lifespan.

It's a great PS and I haven't regretted buying it.



"There's no such thing as gravity, the Earth just sucks."
 

lhgpoobaa

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OH NO!
not codegen!

my friend unfortunately had one.
1 month of freezes & crashes then poof! smoke out the back and it was dead.

very light & cheap construction :(

My Next Performance System!!! - P4 Celleron, 128k cache, SDRAM, Integrated graphics, 5400rpm HDD!
 

siliconjon

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I would say the 400, so long as it's a great one, will suffice you for some time. You could run about a 2200 cpu, ti4400, 1.5G Ram, 2 Atapi, 4HD, Live drive, USB2.0, 10/100nic, scsi, raid,...and who knows what else. But if yer gonna make it a high end duelie (2X2.0+), and keep all the extras, then a 500 would be advisable.


While wearing syran-wrap speedos, my shrink had the nerve to tell me "I can cleary see yer nuts!"
 

TheMaverick

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Well hell I am close to running everything you mentioned in example one... Perhaps a 430? or 450?

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tlaughrey

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I kept hearing how great Enermax PSU's were, so I bought an Enermax 431W Whisper to replace my generic 300W. Unfortunately, my system wouldn't boot with it, so I had to use my old one for a while longer. I ended up getting an Antec 480W TruePower, which is working really well.

It turns out that Enermax PSU's don't work well with Shuttle motherboards. Something to do with the 5V line in the Enermax not supplying enough amps or something. The Shuttle website had a section listing PSU's that don't work well with their motherboards. I guess I'm being a little long winded, but my point is that don't assume that Enermax or any other brand is the best just because people keep repeating it. Do a little research before you buy to make sure that what you're going to buy will work okay with your system.

<i>Money talks. Mine always likes to say "goodbye." :smile: </i><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by tlaughrey on 05/22/02 10:52 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 

Copenhagen

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<blockquote><font size=1>Svar på:</font><hr><p>It turns out that Enermax PSU's don't work well with Shuttle motherboards. Something to do with the 5V line in the Enermax not supplying enough voltage or something.<p><hr></blockquote><p>I've heard the same stuff about the <b>NEW</b> Enermax series such as the 433W EG465AX-VE(G)-FMA. The problem seems to be that the new series focuses too much on the 12V rail (33A!) at the expense on the 3.3V and 5V which only gets a maximum of 220W shared. Most other standard 300W-400W powersupplys only offers 15A-20A on the 12V rail. However I've also heard that Enermax should have made a new revision which fixes the 5V voltage drop issue under extreme load. I don't know what revision, though.

On the other hand, I must say that the Antec TruePower series looks like a better (or at least more safe) choise at the moment. I'm thinking of getting myself a TruePower 430. Antec also makes a 480 and 550 version, but that's probably overkill for my configuration. The Enermax and Antec TruePower looks almost identical, both with dual-fans, and cost about the same, that is, expensive!


<i>/Copenhagen - Clockspeed will make the difference... in the end</i> :cool:
 

tlaughrey

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The problem seems to be that the new series focuses too much on the 12V rail (33A!) at the expense on the 3.3V and 5V which only gets a maximum of 220W shared. Most other standard 300W-400W powersupplys only offers 15A-20A on the 12V rail.
I checked the specs for the Antec 480W TruePower, which is the one I have. The 12V rail has a max load of 22A, the 5V rail has a max load of 38A, and the 3.3V line has a max load of 30A, with a total max output of 460W. According to specs at the Directron website, the Enermax 431W Whisper has specs of 12V/20A, 5V/44A, and 3.3V/38A, with a total max output of 431W. So if you go by the specs, then the Enermax is apparently the better PSU. But it doesn't work with my system, whereas the Antec does. So I obviously have more to learn about how PSUs work.

<i>Money talks. Mine always likes to say "goodbye." :smile: </i>
 

Copenhagen

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<blockquote><font size=1>Svar på:</font><hr><p>So if you go by the specs, then the Enermax is apparently the better PSU.<p><hr></blockquote><p>Not necessarily. According to spec. the 431W Enermax can only deliver 220W on the 3.3V and 5V combined. The listed max ratings on 3.3V is 38A and 5V is 44A. In theory this means that should it ever draw 44A on the 5V there will be nothing left for the 3.3V. Also if it draws the max 38A of the 3.3V there's only approx. 19A left for the 5V, nowhere near the 44A mark. So one has to be carefull when interpretating the specs.

Antec TruePower however gives you exactly the listed ratings until the total capacity of the powersupply is reached. So even if the max. ratings on TruePower is lower than the Enermax, in reality they are close. Furthermore the TruePower has dedicated output circuitry for each voltage output, so a sudden draw on the 5V rail does not affect the 3.3V rail, which is good for stability under extreme conditions (overclocking).


<i>/Copenhagen - Clockspeed will make the difference... in the end</i> :cool:
 

siliconjon

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Yes, if you all have all that gear, and you want to keep that as your psu for a while, then maybe you should go for over 450W...A lot of IDE, RAID, and SCSI devices will do some serious drainage on your power. So if you don't have a ton of those or any other psu power dependent peripherals (such as USB powered devices), then the 400W may just do you fine.

Though, if I were you, and that was my current system, I would probably go for a 450+ just to give me plenty of ceiling. Especially since power supplies are one of the items in the PC that doesn't follow the pricing rules of most other computer parts. They tend to steadily rise in price. Go for a biggen'.


While wearing syran-wrap speedos, my shrink had the nerve to tell me "I can cleary see yer nuts!"
 

tlaughrey

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Not necessarily. According to spec. the 431W Enermax can only deliver 220W on the 3.3V and 5V combined. The listed max ratings on 3.3V is 38A and 5V is 44A. In theory this means that should it ever draw 44A on the 5V there will be nothing left for the 3.3V. Also if it draws the max 38A of the 3.3V there's only approx. 19A left for the 5V, nowhere near the 44A mark. So one has to be carefull when interpretating the specs.

Antec TruePower however gives you exactly the listed ratings until the total capacity of the powersupply is reached. So even if the max. ratings on TruePower is lower than the Enermax, in reality they are close. Furthermore the TruePower has dedicated output circuitry for each voltage output, so a sudden draw on the 5V rail does not affect the 3.3V rail, which is good for stability under extreme conditions (overclocking).
See, I knew there were hidden specs that I needed to learn about. Actually, I did read somewhere about the TruePower having dedicated circuitry for each rail, but I couldn't remember it well enough to put it down in words. I guess that's why the Enermax wouldn't work with my board. Thanks for the lesson.

<i>Money talks. Mine always likes to say "goodbye." :smile: </i>