brian wrote:
Does anyone have any experiences with either the Antec TPII 550EPS12V
or the Cooler Master Real Power 550 power supplies?

They both are rated at 550 watts, with ATX 12V 2.01 and EPS 12V 2.1.
The Cooler Master has a power output meter and a blue fan, so I am
kind of leaning towards it.

Depends whether you want power/known-good or style

The first thing to note is that the Antec has one huge 12V rail, and the
CoolerMaster has a 3-way split. This is due to EPS12V 2.1 spec requiring
that all PSUs comply with IEC 60950-1, which essentially stipulates that
there should be no lines capable of supplying more than ~220W. This limits
the 12V rails to 18A each. The CoolerMaster only does 30A on the 12V, so
should (IMO) have gone with an 18A/12A split. Instead they went with a
12A/12A/6A 3-way split. Given that even a 2-way split causes problems with
some dual-processor boards, I'd be very cautious about using the
CoolerMaster in such a situation. The Antec shows complete disregard for the
safety regulations and will happily pump out 36A from a single 12V rail.
This can be a bad thing if something gets close to shorting out (400W of
energy being pumped into anything is generally bad), but also provides
marginally better rail stability.

As far as the actual power outputs go, the Antec has a slight lead on the
CoolerMaster. Additionally, it's known to be an incredible power supply,
capable of running pretty much anything (dual overclocked Xeons? No problem.
SLI? Doesn't even notice). I'm using one at the moment to power a dual Duron
system; a complete waste of the power but I'm intending to keep it for my
next major system upgrade (whenever that occurs). The Cooler Master has less
of a track record, having only come out last month, but certainly looks a
lot nicer and is quiter than the Antec.

However, unless you're building something that actually needs such immense
amounts of power (or reliability; I'd definately choose the Antec over the
Cooler Master for a server), either PSU will do the job fine. At which point
it comes down to which one suits you better and the prices involved.

[...]

--
Michael Brown
www.emboss.co.nz : OOS/RSI software and more
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