Which PSU is right for me?

[pddaum]

Some criteria of my own are high quality and adequate power. It sounds like fortron source and enermax are among the best. I have heard that some or all fortrons are capable of more power than advertised. I am wondering what features are important or useful. I noticed that some enermax PSUs have fans that continue operating for a while after you shut it off. Also I am wondering what exactly an Active PFC does or if it is important. I know I need an ATX12V for my P4, but what is different in ATX12V 1.3? Anyway can someone please help me choose the right PSU for the following system...

Pentium 4 2.80c @ 3.5 (hopefully)
Abit IC7 Max3
2x512mb DDR 500
2xSerial ATA Hard Disk Drives
ATI Radeon X800XT

 

[gothitbycar]

I don't exactly remember what active PFC is but it does something to help run the PSU efficiently. The other type is passive PFC and no PFC, active being the best of the bunch. I'd get at least a high quality 350w psu for that preferring a 400w psu. High quality PSU are important in overclocking so you can get percise voltages. A voltage spike at an already high voltage can be devastating. I personally use Antec powersupplies because they haven't let me down yet. I have heard good things of Fortron because they rate them lower than what they really are plus they are much cheaper.

-----------------------
[mind went blank]

 

[pddaum]

Do you think I should go with a Fortron 400w with active PFC or the Fortron 530w with no PFC for $3 more. If 400w is adequate for my system (and I think the Fortron can actually handle more) then should I maybe even just go with a cheaper Fortron 400w model with no PFC or is active PFC worth an extra $10? Does the extra power of the 530w outweigh benefits of active PFC?

 

[gothitbycar]

The 400w with PFC should suit you fine. A problem I've heard with the Fortron PSU is it is loud. I'm not sure if the extra power outweighs PFC but a 530w is going to run hotter than the 400w so in turn it requires more cooling.

Searching through the web I found out England requires PFC in all power supplies. The benifits of PFC are improved voltage and larger system capacity. Also they consume energy more efficiently.

-----------------------
[mind went blank]

 

[pddaum]

Thanks. Noise level isn't a primary concern of mine usually unless it's ubsurdly loud. I understand PFC a little better now, but I'm not quite sure what it's benefits are, if any, to the power it outputs to my components. Maybe it is just more efficient which is good too so I'll probably go with that. Thanks again.

 

[Crashman]

I doubt the 530W would output a noticeable amount of heat increase compared to a 350W. After all, it's only converting as much voltage as the system uses. Also the larger parts should heat up more slowly, so having a smart fan...the fan should spin up less frequently.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Crashman]

BTW, the FSP-350 Tom's tested isn't loud, I've owned them. Tom's must have screwed up the review!

The deal is, the power supply CAN be loud, nearly silent, or somewhere in between. When the power supply gets hot, the fan kicks up to full speed, which is VERY loud. But the manual controll allows you to play with fan speed until you find a speed that keeps the supply cool enough that it never spins up to full speed except for a couple seconds when you turn it on!

My testing showed that setting the manual control at around 50% provides enough cooling to prevent the full-speed-override on most high end systems. And noise level at 50% control is fairly low.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>