My Antec NeoPower 480W isn't cutting it... suggestions?

[moozh]

Every web tool I have used to calculate my system's wattage puts me at about 400W but I feel very strongly that my Antec NeoPower 480W is not enough.

The issues I am having with my system are the following:

- Sometimes when I am gaming and my video card changes resolution a lot (both my old card and my new card), my system would reboot after about a dozen resolution changes (normally going from desktop to ingame to desktop to ingame repeatedly). After rebooting, I would be stuck at the 1st BIOS screen and would have to manually reset the system in order for it to boot up.
- My PCI controller card sometimes is not detected when my system boots up and the hard drives connected are not accessible.
- Twice recently one of the hard drives in my system have been 'dropped' by Windows as if the drives were unplugged. Once I reboot the system, they appear again, and Windows tries to scandisk them.

Here are my system specs:

Intel Pentium 4 550 3.4GHz LGA775
Intel D915PBLL Mainboard i915P Chipset
2 x OCZ 1024MB PC2-4300 DDR2
1.44MB Floppy Drive
2 x Maxtor 6B080M0 80GB 7200RPM SATA (on ICH6)
2 x Maxtor 6L250S0 250GB 7200RPM SATA (RAID0 on ICH6)
2 x Maxtor 6Y160M0 160GB 7200RPM SATA (RAID1 on controller card)
LG GSA-4160B 16x DVD+/-RW
ASUS EN6800GT nVidia 6800GT 256MB PCI-E
Promise FastTrak S150 TX2plus PCI SATA RAID Controller
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 250 PCI TV Tuner
Antec P180 Case
Antec NeoPower 480W
4 x 120mm Case Fan
1 x 80mm Case Fan

I am thinking of upgrading to an Antec TruePower II 550W but looking at the specs there is only 1 more amp on each 12V+ rail and 2 more amps on the 5V+ and 3.3V+ rails.

I would like to get something extremely high end. Any suggestions?

 

[pengwin]

how many clams are u willing to spend?

 

[moozh]

Doesn't matter.

 

[zyzplasmaz]

Extremely high end:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817703003

 

[pengwin]

this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103941

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817711001

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153021 <--best deal

 

[BaronMatrix]

BUY AMD!!!

 

[moozh]

The Thermaltake PurePower 680W looks nice, but how much better is it?

It's rated at +5V 30A, +3.3V 28A, +12V 14A, 23A, 15A...

While my NeoPower is rated at +5V 38A, +3.3V 30A, +12V 18A, 15A.

Doesn't that make it worse in some ways?

 

[RichPLS]

Here is a very good PSU I am fixing to buy...
Fortron Source Epsilon 600 watt

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104014

 

[Rugger]

I don't think you could go wrong with either the TT 680W or the FSP Epsilon 600W.

 

[delanooch]

I have had great luck with my ULTRA 600 watt SLI certified PSU. It replaced my enermax 535w that kept failing after 2 weeks then the RMA'd unit died within 20 minutes. Before that I was running the Neopower but it didnt have the nuts to let me OC my benchmarks would lose focus. But you have 4 more hard drives than me

 

[delanooch]

also would like to add that 600 watt PSU can be found from 69$ to 99$ thought it was a nice price , I paid 99 then it went on sale a week later at FRY's just my luck lol.

 

[Rugger]

It replaced my enermax 535w that kept failing after 2 weeks then the RMA'd unit died within 20 minutes.

You must have some horrible luck! If that was the EG565P, then those are some awesome PSUs. Great efficiency, quiet and great mfr quality.

I've seen Ultra with more QA issues, overrated PSUs and PSUs not meeting specs.

 

[delanooch]

only with the enermax so far, notice the new Ultra's are not the crappy X-connect ones from the past, I agree they do have issues along with boasting false values. The new non-x-connect are great PSU's

Also they left out the 4pin proc power adapter on the replacement unit they sent me LOL , argh!! oh well the PSU didnt last long anyway. I will give them 1 more chance before I never buy on of thier PSU's again. I think that is fair.

 

[Rugger]

Haven't seen any hardcore reviews on the X-Finity series PSUs...I also haven't heard a lot of horror stories about them either. The jury's still out for them in my eyes. Based on your experiences with Enermax i'd say that you've given them a fair enough shot for you personally...

 

[hashv2f16]

The Thermaltake PurePower 680W looks nice, but how much better is it?

It's rated at +5V 30A, +3.3V 28A, +12V 14A, 23A, 15A...

While my NeoPower is rated at +5V 38A, +3.3V 30A, +12V 18A, 15A.

Doesn't that make it worse in some ways?

14A on the 12V? WTF mate?

 

[Rugger]

There are 4 rails and those rails are not completely independent. The max amperage limit is really an aggregate of the amps on all rails minus a little..like 2 amps. That TT 680W is a rock-solid PSU.

 

[hashv2f16]

I was thinking more the Enermax Liberty 620W. That's a nice PSU

 

[Rugger]

You're right - another really good PSU. Of course with the prices that we're throwing around we shouldn't leave out the Seasonic S12-600 for $145 right now.

 

[baracuda73]

PSU with best review from TOMS is the Enermax noisetaker 600w. I have the 485W Noisetaker and it is quiet and voltages stay on spec better than any other psu i have owned.

 

[Rugger]

If you read the most recent large-scale THG PSU test you will see that their two top recommendations are Seasonic S12 and the passively-cooled FSP 300W.

I agree that the Enermax Noisetakers are some of the best PSUs on the market...but the Seasonic S12 got the nod from THG.