Sub-$75 Mainstream Power Supply Roundup

[f-14]

fan wire made contact with the psu electrical components some where inside judging from the video. ATX cases were designed for the psu to be at the top with this type of psu having the fan facing down. gravity and or the fan made the extra length in the fan wire contact the heat sink and melted the plastic off the wires. the plastic model fuel lines used to sheild the wires is loose enough for 4 wires before being snug, i bet this either melted or slid down out of place being the fan is on top and allowed the fan wires to make contact with the electrical components and the fan clearly aided this judging from all the sparks before the fan finally died due to the wire breaking and the fan powerlead resting on the electrical components some where on the board still drawing power and then you see the psu pop and smoke as the fan grinds to a halt and the monitor shows the flat line at 13 seconds roughly.

 

[alphaa10]

Good general review, but here are two vital factors overlooked--

(1) deviation from standard voltage, after a 48-hour break-in period. You would be surprised how many mail-order PSUs wander outside the maximum five-percent deviation from stated voltage. A "bargain" PSU 5V connector may give 5.9V after 48 hours of break-in. This 18 percent can mean disastrous stress and shorter life for all components downstream.

(2) warranty and reliability. It goes almost without mention no OEM will offer a long warranty for a product likely to be returned in the warranty period. Therefore, including length of product warranty (and warranty terms, if noticeably better, or worse) would give prospective buyers a measure of the OEM's true confidence in its product.

As you point out, buyers demand the most for their money, but that search for value always means an extremely reliable product. The AXP exploding PSU is not only spectacular, but horrific when we realize valuable components are downstream as the unit self-destructs.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

if your not going to review power supplies properly, then just dont bother reviewing them. Thanks toms efficiency guide.

 

[arkadi]

It was interesting to see Huntkey PSU in the article. It is the main PSU i use in my organization for over a year. So far i had no problems at all(i have more than 50 units). They are silent, stable and really cheap here, what more can i ask?

 

[kenyee]

mo modular cords in the winners? I guess the connectors eat efficiency...

 

[GearUp]

My efficiency measurement is heat generated at idle. An OCZ 87 rated supply was no where as cool as lower rated Antec and Enermax supplies.

 

[liquidsnake718]

No Coolmaster realpower PSU's? They are around $60-99 by now(400-550w)

 

[BulkZerker]

Toms areebyou sure that antec you got want just a bad example of their assembly? Having built a few computers with thateexact psu I can tell you it does come with a power cord, and the fan does indeed exhaust air. Also its included fan is very quiet even when ran under load.

@ altoidman85
You made the poor choice of not buying passive psu's for that application. Hospitals are one of the places where a fanless computer is the only real option as those computers WILL be neglected in terms of cleaning so removing the fans. Removes the chance of overheating (if of course you compensate by using larger heatsinks) because of fan failure or dust clogging the insides.

 

[fausto]

wonder why no antec true power psu made it. routinely found for less than 75 bucks

 

[Guest]

I wish you guys made ripple and noise measurements.

 

[Onus]

Coolermaster probably didn't submit any of their cheaper models (e.g. the PCAR line) because they knew that tests would find them to be inefficient, overrated failures.
Arkadi, you may have lucked out on your choice of model. HardwareSecrets has reviewed several Huntkey models, and most (but not all) respond like the AXP when loaded. One or two others passed testing though, so that's probably what you have.
Bulkzerker, the Antec Earthwatts models used to include power cords, but the newer "D" models (they're built by Delta) do not.

 

[zoridon]

I'd like to see a review of Micro ATX or Mini ITX power supplies. A great deal of us put together HTPC's and want both reliability, good power output and near silent operation.

 

[zoridon]

How about a review of micro and mini ITX power supplies for us mobile computer builders or HTPC nerds?

 

[Dougie Fresh]

I'd love to see some sub-400W, modular, 80+ PSUs start coming out from manufacturers. I'd pay the extra money.

 

[alexcage]

Better choice would be SeaSonic 430W 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply and get a 5 year manufacturer direct warranty or SeaSonic 620W 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified

 

[someguynamedmatt]

[citation][nom]jupiter optimus maximus[/nom]That was scary seeing the AXP PSU blow up...[/citation]
Yup. Would NOT want to hear or see that coming out of my case.

I agree on the Earthwatts. That's an amazing deal for the price, but as they said, it just isn't comparable to more expensive $100 PSUs. If I ever need a quick replacement or something for an HTPC, though, I'd probably pick it up from the Egg.[citation][nom]tipoo[/nom]Still too big, IMHO. A mainstream user generally would not use more than 250 watts, these are more for low-mid end gamers or high performance users.[/citation]
I'm assuming that for OCers, though, you'd need something a little better. I agree completely with you, but I for one enjoy the peace of mind of having an extra 300w from my OCZ 600w ModXStream (which really isn't very efficient).

 

[Onus]

I agree with tipoo also, as far as initial requirements go, but when you factor in the derating that occurs as they fill with dust and heat up, some extra cushion never hurts. A typical user may never clean out his PC until it dies. Even if his kid has convinced him to add a video card, if he's doing it at the dining room table, he knows his wife will kill him if all that dust ends up all over the room. He may not blow it out even then.

 

[tiga2001]

I also find it strange that Seasonic is not available on this article. They're widely available on Newegg, or is that not considered a legitimate channel?

 

[Guest]

I found the Xigmatek unit on newegg. Not only is it only 40 bucks, it has a lifetime warranty. If it really puts out around 600 watts, like this review said, then in my opinion -- this unit is the best of the bunch.

 

[xibbe]

trustable datas ????????
I read for 20% load the efficiency is 84%. And for 85W it's 86% ... BUT 20% of 425W=85W !!!!! so why a "such" difference ....

 

[xibbe]

I forgot ... I was speaking about the enermax