Is this a good PSU brand?

[GyRo567]

I didn't see Coolmax listed in the sticky, so I'm curious whether it's a good decision or not. Also, if it's okay, which one of these should I get for my system?
GA-7N400 Pro2
Athlon XP 2700+ 333 Mhz
2x512 MB PC 2700 RAM
ATI Radeon 9600 XT (soon to be a BFG 6800 GT)
80 GB HDD & 200 GB HDD
CD-RW (soon to be a DVDRW/CDRW)
Tons of onboard stuff (yes, I'm saying I have 0 PCI cards)

400w:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=17-159-023&DEPA=0
450w:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=17-159-031&DEPA=0

I know the 400w is enough to cover my system, and what I'll be upgrading to soon, but I saw something yesterday about the voltages (couldn't find it again, so I'm asking) and I know at least the 12v rail on the 400w is the minimum I should even consider.
I am planning on overclocking some when I get a new heatsink, but nothing drastic. I think that's all I have to ask.

 

[GyRo567]

Or how about this wicked looking thing with "Titanium Coating" and some of the highest voltage ratings I've seen yet. ;P
(jk, unless this is actually a good choice... I just thought the term "titanium coating" was funny)

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-104-123&depa=0

 

[mozzartusm]

First thing, is 400W is fine but 450 or more would be better for more reasons than one. Im not familiar with the one you mentioned. Some good ones are Sparkle, Fortron source, Thermaltake, Antec, Enermax. The first two are very good and probably the cheaper ones. One thing that will help you guage how well a PSU will hold its rails is to look at the specs and see how many amps are supplied to each rail. Go to Newegg.com and compare some of the cheaper models to some of the ones that I mentioned and you will see that the higher quality PSU's ahve more amps per rail.

 

[GyRo567]

The problem is the voltage ratings on lower priced models from those companies is lower than the 450w and 500w ones I linked to. =)

I know 400w is plenty, but I'm worried about the voltage ratings on that one because of something I remember reading here. Due to the excessive voltage and wattage of that 3rd one, even being an off brand (at least I've never seen it mentioned here) would it be the best choice if I'm going to overclock some time soon? I mean the amps on each rail and the wattage would be excessive enough that even if it didn't do well at full load it would be fine a bit lower...? Or do I have that backwards?

Preferably I'd like to stick with the silent Coolmax 450w one, are these ratings good enough? Output: +3.3V@30A, +5V@45A, +12V@22A, -5V@0.5A, -12V@1A, +5VSB@2.5A <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by GyRo567 on 01/22/05 11:53 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[zepper]

Coolmax used to go by the name ATNG - decent PSUs but not of the top class. Fortron should always be looked at first if one is looking for a high value PSU. Silverstone (made by Enhance) are also very good.
.bh.


----------
Perhaps the only reason for your existence is to act as a warning to others...

 

[mozzartusm]

There are some Fortron Source PSU's on Newegg that are in the same price range. If I were you, I would look at the new Fortron Source that has the Split 12V Rails. The specs on that one are great. This is the newest design for PSU's and it has an adapter for either the 20 pin or 24 pin mobo's. Thermaltake even has one that has 3 split 12V rails, but it is a little more than what you probably are going to spend. One more thing about W's. 400W is probably enough, but the way you made some of the prior statements leads me to beleive that you may be underestimating the power drain that a system with all the components that you will be using can have on a PSU. Step it up and get one of those Fortron PSU's with the spilt 12V rails.

This is really not that complicated, but I will say it one more time! Im correct 99.0% of the time. The other 1% I just look damn good

 

[Crashman]

The problem is that ratings are useless unless you actually test and verify them. FSP power supplies are rated at 70% peak load.

<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>

 

[GyRo567]

Would this one work well? It's a bit cheaper than the Fortron Source Blue Storm.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-445&depa=0

The site doesn't list the other 12v rail for some reason, but the specs are in the second picture. I'm still learning about all the power supply stuff, so if you don't mind, could you explain the significance of the split 12v rail?

 

[mozzartusm]

Crashman is the leading authority on PSU's here. What he said is correct. You really cant go by the ratings alone. The problem with this line of hardware is that there is not a good standard or rating system for PSU's. There really isnt much regulation as far as the way that different companies come up with their numbers. The thing that I have learned with PSU's is that the first thing that you must do is choose from one of the brands that has a good reputation. There are at least 4 different brands that I personally would choose from. Then you begin to compare the numbers and cost differences between those. Tell me what your budget is. Give me a low and high number to work with and I will make some suggestions. The Fortron Source and Sparkle PSU's are probbly going to be your best all around choice.

To save us both time, assume I know EVERYTHING :tongue:

 

[mozzartusm]

This link will tell you about the split rails.
<A HREF="http://www6.tomshardware.com/howto/20041223/index.html" target="_new">http://www6.tomshardware.com/howto/20041223/index.html</A>

When you give a link, make it clickable so that it is easier on us. This is how you do it, but use a forward slash instead of a back slash. "your link [\url] To save us both time, assume I know EVERYTHING :tongue: