Please suggest power supply

If the recommendation is for 'more watts', then ignore that
response immediately. Any acceptable power supply of 350
watts is more than sufficient. Too many power supplies are
sold missing essential functions. They make themselves
obvious by providing no long list of numerical specs AND sell
for less than $65 retail. An example of what a minimally
acceptable power supply will provide as specs:
Specification compliance: ATX 2.03 & ATX12V v1.1
Short circuit protection on all outputs
Over voltage protection
Over power protection
100% hi-pot test
100% burn in, high temperature cycled on/off
PFC harmonics compliance: EN61000-3-2 + A1 + A2
EMI/RFI compliance: CE, CISPR22 & FCC part 15 class B
Safety compliance: VDE, TUV, D, N, S, Fi, UL, C-UL & CB
Hold up time, full load: 16ms. typical
Efficiency; 100-120VAC and full range: 65%
Dielectric withstand, input to frame/ground: 1800VAC, 1sec.
Dielectric withstand, input to output: 1800VAC, 1sec.
Ripple/noise: 1%
MTBF, full load @ 25°C amb.: 100k hrs

Notice this very abridge list has specs with numbers. That
is where you begin your search. Many of the important
features in this above list are routinely missing is $25 and
$40 power supplies. Instead they sell to naive hyping 400 and
550 watt power - which many do not even provide.

No numerical specs? How to dump inferior power supplies
into North America where too many computer assemblers don't
even know what the avoid numbers mean.

SinghaLvr wrote:
I need two power supplies. (Go figure ... two machines lost them
simultaneously!)

Specs:
- 2 hard disks
- AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Processor
- ASUS Mainboard / Gigabyte Mainboard (different boxes)
- ATI 9600XT / GeForce 4MX (different boxes)
- One box has a SCSI board and SCSI tape drive.

What RELIABLE power supply do I need that I won't have to replace in 18
months?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Correction:
even know what the *above* numbers mean.

w_tom wrote:
...
No numerical specs? How to dump inferior power supplies
into North America where too many computer assemblers don't
even know what the avoid numbers mean.

SinghaLvr:

What RELIABLE power supply do I need that I won't have to replace in 18
months?

Many people like Antec.

Here is all you need:
http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=93

--
Mac Cool

Take a look at some from Fortron.

"SinghaLvr" wrote in message
...
I need two power supplies. (Go figure ... two machines lost them
simultaneously!)

Specs:
- 2 hard disks
- AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Processor
- ASUS Mainboard / Gigabyte Mainboard (different boxes)
- ATI 9600XT / GeForce 4MX (different boxes)
- One box has a SCSI board and SCSI tape drive.


What RELIABLE power supply do I need that I won't have to replace in 18
months?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

seasonic super silencer if noise is at all a concern.
fortron if you want something less expensive but still very good.

"SinghaLvr" wrote in message
...
I need two power supplies. (Go figure ... two machines lost them
simultaneously!)

Specs:
- 2 hard disks
- AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Processor
- ASUS Mainboard / Gigabyte Mainboard (different boxes)
- ATI 9600XT / GeForce 4MX (different boxes)
- One box has a SCSI board and SCSI tape drive.


What RELIABLE power supply do I need that I won't have to replace in 18
months?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

SinghaLvr wrote:

I need two power supplies. (Go figure ... two machines lost them
simultaneously!)

Specs:
- 2 hard disks
- AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Processor
- ASUS Mainboard / Gigabyte Mainboard (different boxes)
- ATI 9600XT / GeForce 4MX (different boxes)
- One box has a SCSI board and SCSI tape drive.


What RELIABLE power supply do I need that I won't have to replace in
18
months?

http://takaman.jp has probably the best power estimator available, and
it gives not only the watts but also the amps at each voltage, but its
+3.3V amp estimates seem to be way too low and should be tripled. A
good 350W or a really good 300W PSU should be able to run everything
you have. Few PSU reviews are good, with some of the few exceptions
being at www.tomshardware.com , www.silentpcreview.com , and
www.xbitlabs.com.

Are you near a Fry's Electronics? They often feature an Antec at a
really cheap price, after rebate, like the case SKL1600 case w/ 300W
for $5 a few weeks ago (was $15 last week) or the 350W PSU for $15 back
in Sept. I expect them to have another such special on Dec. 26. Antec
increased the +12V amp capacity of these, to 19A for the 300W and to
21A for the 350W, but they haven't updated their website for this. The
newer 300W has bigger high voltage MOSFETs than my old one, 9.0A verses
6.5A. In comparison, my 350W Enermax has just a single 9A MOSFET.

Fortron-Source makes PSUs that are at least as good as Antecs but
usually cheaper, like $25 for a 300W from www.newegg.com. They produce
several brands, including Sparkle, Hi-Q, PowerQ, Powerman, PowerTech,
Trend, Aopen, and sometimes CasEdge.

Brands used by big computer makers are really good, except those in
some E-machines. They include Lite-on, Delta, HEC/Heroichi/CompuCase,
Zippy-Emacs, NMB/Mineba, and Win-tact. Another one of these companies,
Channel Well Technology, the producer of most Antecs, is all over the
place on quality, but their good ones are labelled CWT-xxxAyy or
CWT-xxxByy, where xxx = watts and yy = AS, BS, AD, BD, ADP, or BDP.
Avoid their products labelled CWT-xxxATX, CWT-xxxISO, or CWT-xxx.

PC Power & Cooling is supposedly the best but also the most expensive.
The basic cores of their PSUs are by Zippy-Emacs, Fortron-Source, and
Win-tact.

It's OK to use Enermax (Casemart, Wavesonic, Cooler Giant) or Sirtec
(Thermaltake, High Power, several other brands).

Avoid Leadman (makes Robanton, Raidmax, and Powmax), Q-tec (not to be
confused with Q-technology, which are beefed-up Fortron-Source),
EZ-Media, Transworld, King Case, and anything by Deer (Austin, Allied,
Codegen, L&C, Logic, PowerUp, PowerStar, Duro, US-Can, Eagle, Foxlink,
Foxconn, Hyena, Qmax, Mercury).

w_tom wrote:

Any acceptable power supply of 350 watts is more than sufficient.
Too many power supplies are sold missing essential functions.
They make themselves obvious by providing no long list of
numerical specs AND sell for less than $65 retail. An example
of what a minimally acceptable power supply will provide as specs:
Specification compliance: ATX 2.03 & ATX12V v1.1
Short circuit protection on all outputs
Over voltage protection
Over power protection
100% hi-pot test
100% burn in, high temperature cycled on/off
PFC harmonics compliance: EN61000-3-2 + A1 + A2
EMI/RFI compliance: CE, CISPR22 & FCC part 15 class B
Safety compliance: VDE, TUV, D, N, S, Fi, UL, C-UL & CB
Hold up time, full load: 16ms. typical
Efficiency; 100-120VAC and full range: 65%
Dielectric withstand, input to frame/ground: 1800VAC, 1sec.
Dielectric withstand, input to output: 1800VAC, 1sec.
Ripple/noise: 1%
MTBF, full load @ 25=B0C amb.: 100k hrs

Notice this very abridge list has specs with numbers. That
is where you begin your search. Many of the important
features in this above list are routinely missing is $25 and
$40 power supplies. Instead they sell to naive hyping 400 and
550 watt power - which many do not even provide.

No numerical specs? How to dump inferior power supplies
into North America where too many computer assemblers don't
even know what the avoid numbers mean.

How can a regular consumer know if those claims are true? It's hard to
get answers from most manufacturers, even the best.

I had a 250W PSU with all those specs and features, but its +5V standby
supply circuit board was held on with only one screw and could swivel
to short high voltage against a heatsink, and its short protection
didn't protect the +3.3V output transistor. This brand was so bad that
PC Power & Cooling used the 300W version as an example of what a bad
PSU was like:
http://www.pcpowercooling.com/produc...s/insidestory/

I haven't paid more than $25 for a PSU in the past two years ($25 price
included the case), but I've never bought junk, except for a free case
& PSU. All the others were quality brands -- Antec, Forton/Sparkle,
and Enermax.

On 21-Dec-2004, "larry moe 'n curly" wrote:

w_tom wrote:

Any acceptable power supply of 350 watts is more than sufficient.
Too many power supplies are sold missing essential functions.
They make themselves obvious by providing no long list of
numerical specs AND sell for less than $65 retail. An example
of what a minimally acceptable power supply will provide as specs:
Specification compliance: ATX 2.03 & ATX12V v1.1
Short circuit protection on all outputs
Over voltage protection
Over power protection
100% hi-pot test
100% burn in, high temperature cycled on/off
PFC harmonics compliance: EN61000-3-2 + A1 + A2
EMI/RFI compliance: CE, CISPR22 & FCC part 15 class B
Safety compliance: VDE, TUV, D, N, S, Fi, UL, C-UL & CB
Hold up time, full load: 16ms. typical
Efficiency; 100-120VAC and full range: 65%
Dielectric withstand, input to frame/ground: 1800VAC, 1sec.
Dielectric withstand, input to output: 1800VAC, 1sec.
Ripple/noise: 1%
MTBF, full load @ 25°C amb.: 100k hrs

Notice this very abridge list has specs with numbers. That
is where you begin your search. Many of the important
features in this above list are routinely missing is $25 and
$40 power supplies. Instead they sell to naive hyping 400 and
550 watt power - which many do not even provide.

No numerical specs? How to dump inferior power supplies
into North America where too many computer assemblers don't
even know what the avoid numbers mean.

How can a regular consumer know if those claims are true? It's hard to
get answers from most manufacturers, even the best.

I had a 250W PSU with all those specs and features, but its +5V standby
supply circuit board was held on with only one screw and could swivel
to short high voltage against a heatsink, and its short protection
didn't protect the +3.3V output transistor. This brand was so bad that
PC Power & Cooling used the 300W version as an example of what a bad
PSU was like:
http://www.pcpowercooling.com/produc...s/insidestory/

I haven't paid more than $25 for a PSU in the past two years ($25 price
included the case), but I've never bought junk, except for a free case
& PSU. All the others were quality brands -- Antec, Forton/Sparkle,
and Enermax.

On the subject of "PC Power & Cooling", I'm currently using an Enermax,
550W, EG651P-VE:
http://www.maxpoint.com/products/pow...124p/index.htm

The Enermax, 550W, EG651P-VE is the "so called 550" power unit that "PC
Power & Cooling" is referring to he
http://www.pcpowercooling.com/pdf/Turbo-Cool_510_vs.pdf

I'm currently using my "550" to power a 3Ghz Pentium Prescott LGA775
processor. However, before I upgraded my system to a Pentium 4, I used it to
power a 500Mhz Pentium 3. Now I've had this PSU for over 2 years. For the
last year it has been left on continually powering the P3!. So the question
is: Is this PSU as bad as "PC Power & Cooling" make it out to be?. It worked
OK when I was using a P3. It still works OK with my new P4 system, and it's
now over 2 years old!.

Oh, and as for it's supposed lack of PFC (Power Factor Correction). I really
do wonder how necessary Active PFC really is?, and is including it in a PSU
design just an excuse to inflate the price of the manufactures PSU's?.

Enermax were obviously so stung by this criticism that they now produce
their own range of Active PFC PSU's:
http://www.maxpoint.com/products/pow...erAX/index.htm

At the end of the day it all boils down to this. How many watts do you need,
and how much are you willing to pay. Because as the old saying goes, "you
get what you pay for".

PC Power & Cooling is supposedly the best but also the most expensive.
The basic cores of their PSUs are by Zippy-Emacs, Fortron-Source, and
Win-tact.


I'd be interested to know how you came by this information....

wrote:

PC Power & Cooling is supposedly the best but also the most
expensive.
The basic cores of their PSUs are by Zippy-Emacs, Fortron-Source,
and
Win-tact.


I'd be interested to know how you came by this information....

Several people have mentioned that the lower powered ones are based on
Fortron-Source (they look like it, except for the heatsinks) and the
higher powered ones on Zippy-Emacs designs I read the Win-tact - PCP&C
connection while trying to find out who made CompUSA PSUs (varies by
the week), but I can't confirm it. I even saw a picture of a PCP&C
where the transformer had either the Seasonic or Nazi SS logo on it,
but I don't know if that means they made the whole PC board or just the
transformer.