Good >500 Watt PSU

[russki]

I figured this topic warrants a separate discussion since

1) [well, to be honest, first and foremost because I'm looking for one]
2) Also, though, because every highly recommended brand - Enermax, Thermaltak, even PC P&C has at least 20% of responders on newegg say that their supply was DOA. I think about another 10% say it dies after a short time (several months - certainly unacceptable for a quality PSU).

Is there something about the high wattage requirements that makes these units difficult to make? At least my Thermaltake died quietly - as opposed to blowing up like a lot of people reported for the Enermax offerings, and taking some components along with it. That would certainly be a feature I would prefer (i.e. quiet death).

PS. I know newegg is hardly an endless vault of knowledge, but it doesn't take a genius to know when a supply is dead.

Thanks in advance.

 

[waylander]

Take a look at the silverstone and seasonic offerings.

 

[waylander]

One thing to keep in mind as well... everyone will have a bad product now and then but you're probably more likely to write a review about something bad that happens then something that just works. And you might be more prone to write that bad review if you were expecting something great to begin with.

most ppl only complain when they're really pissed off.

 

[sviola]

I figured this topic warrants a separate discussion since

1) [well, to be honest, first and foremost because I'm looking for one]
2) Also, though, because every highly recommended brand - Enermax, Thermaltak, even PC P&C has at least 20% of responders on newegg say that their supply was DOA. I think about another 10% say it dies after a short time (several months - certainly unacceptable for a quality PSU).

Is there something about the high wattage requirements that makes these units difficult to make? At least my Thermaltake died quietly - as opposed to blowing up like a lot of people reported for the Enermax offerings, and taking some components along with it. That would certainly be a feature I would prefer (i.e. quiet death).

PS. I know newegg is hardly an endless vault of knowledge, but it doesn't take a genius to know when a supply is dead.

Thanks in advance.

Well, I have an OCZ, I bought in February 2005 (A Modstream 450W) and I have to say, it's a great PSU. I would recommend getting it's 520 W ModStream or it's 650 XtremeGamer PSUs.

On the other brands you posted here, they're excellent PSUs, but like any other item is subject for failures, but that should be the exception (at least for DOA cases - on daily usage they might fail due to extreme usage, which could causa a component to fail).

 

[russki]

Good points, all, but I would like to point out that I run a stock X2 with one 7800GTX, 2 HDs and 2 optical drives (and a floppy, but who's counting). So I don't think it should have unduly exerted the Thermaltake I had. That's abit of an issue, methinks.

It's funny to me, though, every review you read (now I'm talking hardware review sites) is all about voltage stability over a short term. Toms did do a stress test, but those were some weird PSUs, IIRC. Still, it's almost like luck not having your PSU fail after a short while.

Finally, just a sidenote, I was REALLY disappointed with feedback on the Enermax's Liberty... Hope the case is really heightened expectations vs. the crappy product.

 

[redman2025]

One thing to keep in mind as well... everyone will have a bad product now and then but you're probably more likely to write a review about something bad that happens then something that just works. And you might be more prone to write that bad review if you were expecting something great to begin with.

most ppl only complain when they're really pissed off.

I think your right about that.
Also the more that a product is bought the more likely it is to have complaints.

 

[sviola]

Good points, all, but I would like to point out that I run a stock X2 with one 7800GTX, 2 HDs and 2 optical drives (and a floppy, but who's counting). So I don't think it should have unduly exerted the Thermaltake I had. That's abit of an issue, methinks.

It's funny to me, though, every review you read (now I'm talking hardware review sites) is all about voltage stability over a short term. Toms did do a stress test, but those were some weird PSUs, IIRC. Still, it's almost like luck not having your PSU fail after a short while.

Finally, just a sidenote, I was REALLY disappointed with feedback on the Enermax's Liberty... Hope the case is really heightened expectations vs. the crappy product.

I get what you mean. But most of these "high profile" PSU use sophisticated manufacturing processes to ensure quality, but that doensn't take the possibility of a failure (afterall, even spacecrafts, which cost billions, do fail sometimes). And there are many reasons for failure:

Overheat
Extreme usage
Noise in the electrical system (many mechanical devices attached to the eletrical system do this, like refrigerators, washing machines, etc - it's nice to have a separate wiring for these and electronic equipment)
Power Outbursts

And there's always the bad parts that might go into the PSU.

 

[russki]

Received a Silverstone modular 600w PSU and installed it - pleasure to work with. So far, so good.

Love the modular cabling and like the sleeving (although I do prefer Thermaltake's color coding, but mine was not modular and lasted shorter than I expected). I also prefered Thermaltakes two 8 cm fan design for the purpose of maintaining airflow in my V1200's lower chamber (I think that's the Lian Li model number).

But who's counting. It works and it has very good responses. Thanks for the advice.