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Power Supply Roundup: Part II

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  • Power Supplies
  • Round-Up
  • Product
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Anonymous
a b ) Power supply
November 7, 2008 7:30:16 AM

In Part I of our power supply roundup, we went through five mainstream PSUs rated at up to 700 W. Round two sees us tackle another seven mid-range units in an effort to determine which power supply deserves your attention.

Power Supply Roundup: Part II : Read more

More about : power supply roundup part

a b ) Power supply
November 7, 2008 7:46:05 AM

Nice review, I was hoping to see the Antec NeoPower series as well :( 
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3
November 7, 2008 9:04:16 AM

I use the Enermax Modu82+ 625W version (same design) and I can attest the 12v rails are rock solid, they just don't sag or dip under any load.

The fan is interesting, I am used to the variable control knob but I do not miss it as the fan is silent under all but the heaviest sustained load and then it is audible, but not loud. It is a 120MM fan (quieter) but it is clear (louder). The fans' RPM monitoring lead is a must for my system board monitoring program as I could adjust other fans and settings based on the PSU fan RPM if I wanted, but as I run a near silent system, I have no need.

I wish it was $50 cheaper, but you get your money's worth, no mistaking that.

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Anonymous
a b ) Power supply
November 7, 2008 9:22:55 AM

will the hx520 can hold uo with a 4870X2 or 280GTX with a high end overclocked pc?
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November 7, 2008 11:05:29 AM

Hi,
I sill miss some bits.
I would like to see how overcurrent and overheat protection works, whether mains spikes can damage the power supply.
Whether joining +5V with +12V rail (as may happen when e.g. CDROM fails) will burn the other components.
And noise/heat level.
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November 7, 2008 12:26:52 PM

Yep just about as informative as the first part, IE. not very.
Unless you put the thing under load and oscilloscope the outputs for ripple and open it up to see the type of parts used and the construction quality. reviews of this type are next to meaningless.
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1
November 7, 2008 12:45:35 PM

Love my 22 month old Antec NeoPower HE 550.
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November 7, 2008 1:19:37 PM

"But there is no 82Plus standard."

Clearly these folks don't know about the different colors of the 80+
program. The enermax is rated at the bronze level which must be 82% efficient. There is also the silver and gold level rating.

google is your friend.
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1
November 7, 2008 1:25:47 PM

"For what it’s worth, that’s good enough to qualify the supply for the 80Plus Bronze certification, if Enermax pursued it."

Not only did enermax pursue it, but if you go to 80plus.org, you will
see that they are already certified at the bronze level. (80plus.org is
down right now, or I would provide a url showing it.)
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1
November 7, 2008 1:29:13 PM

If you go to enermax's site, http://www.enermaxusa.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=21_56
they have a big honking picture of the 80+ bronze certificate and the 6 power supplies it applies to. I fear tomshardware has not done their homework.

Other than owning a 5 year old Enermax, I have nothing to do with the
company. I have 5 antec earthwatts powersupplies, and a seasonic power supply in my 80+ collection.
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November 7, 2008 1:33:33 PM

Listing "Confusing “82+” specification in the product name" as a negative, clearly shows where the confusion lies, and it isn't with enermax.

The 80+ standard is several years old. The newer colored standards of bronze, silver, and gold are newer, but that is the wonder of technology.
For a technology web site, keeping up with newer things such as standards is necessary.
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November 7, 2008 2:05:52 PM

My pc power 610 is quiet any any load.
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November 7, 2008 2:25:17 PM

I never understood the intelligence of a fan-control knob for the power supply. Say you're typing up a report, not a lot of power is needed, both your CPU and GPU are throttled down. The power supply fan noise is annoying, so you turn down the fan. Once done with the report, you decide to treat yourself to an 8-hour gaming session maxing out both your CPU and GPU. You forget to turn-up the fan, wouldn't this burn-out the PSU?

I also partially agree with bobbknight in that reliability is an over-looked factor here. I know Tom's probably can't open-up a review sample to look at the parts, nor run these 24/7 for 6months to give an indication to their reliability, but a stable 12V won't mean much if the fan dies or a capacitor blows. Ripple on the DC lines is less of a concern to me. I'm sure my computer components can handle it, considering how much deviance is allowed in the specification. A 10mv ripple won't mean much if the voltage is already 10mv off base.
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November 7, 2008 3:00:15 PM

You guys should take price into consideration. I didn't see any chart showing price. As far as I could tell these were all $100+ supplies. I think you used a 60$ power supply in your budget gamming rig. I know this is an enthusiast site, but there are more average people than rich people, especially right now. I'd like to see a bang for buck power supply shootout. Is there a sub $100 power supply that can handle a midrange SLI setup? Maybe dual 8800GT's or something... maybe start low and see at which point things start crashing... can it ramp up to OC'd with 260's or?
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November 7, 2008 3:10:08 PM

With the emergence of Atom, a roundup of power supplies rated between 50 and 120 watts would be interesting to increasing numbers of readers. The 945G chipset is an energy pig (well over 30 watts). In due course, some SCH chipset such as the US15W will be available and the chipset draws under 3 watts. I think that will make the article's "low power" setting more like maximum load and the system will idle around 10 watts.
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November 7, 2008 4:53:44 PM

no noise comparision charts, no heat comparison charts, no discussion of the different types of protections...
This article is lacking a bit in depth :( 
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November 7, 2008 5:11:18 PM

I'm glad Tom's is still reviewing PSU's, but why don't they review any Seasonics? I remember a long time ago, they put 50 or so PSU's at max load for 24 hours and all of them failed except the Seasonic and the bargain bin PSU. I'd like to see that test again on these guys.
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November 7, 2008 6:06:43 PM

I'm pretty confused about PSUs but I know the one I have currently is crap! Would the Hiper be good to use with a Nvidia GT260 gpu?
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November 7, 2008 7:41:11 PM

Like the first commenter said, I'm very surprised that the Antec NeoPower series isn't in here. I have a 550w model and it runs my Q6600 and 2x 9600GT's in SLI without a hiccup.
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November 7, 2008 7:55:55 PM

hellwigI never understood the intelligence of a fan-control knob for the power supply. Say you're typing up a report, not a lot of power is needed, both your CPU and GPU are throttled down. The power supply fan noise is annoying, so you turn down the fan. Once done with the report, you decide to treat yourself to an 8-hour gaming session maxing out both your CPU and GPU. You forget to turn-up the fan, wouldn't this burn-out the PSU?


No it would not, as the internal temperature of the PSU overrides any user setting of the external fan speed knob.

The better unasked question is: Why would you keep the external knob at any setting other than the lowest, knowing that if the temp rises in the PSU, it will increase fan speed? One answer is that you might wish to keep the temps stable and not have to engage a faster speed than what is required. There are other reasons.
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November 7, 2008 8:42:23 PM

My first post! lol
as for the comment about seasonic, i think the corsair is a rebranded seasonic, and for under $100 power supplies, i'd say a corsair 450vx is a good choice, have one of them myself and its dead quiet with a single 33A 12v rail
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November 7, 2008 10:24:49 PM

where is the ULTRA 600w power supply?
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-2
November 7, 2008 11:50:20 PM

ultra? anythin made after 04 is crap..some of their rly high end is okay tho
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November 8, 2008 5:15:22 AM

I have the Corsair 520HX's bigger brother the 620HX, I run that with a Q6600 over clocked to 3.2GHz, two highly overclocked 8800GTS 640's (675/1000/1620 core mem shader), 3 HDDs, 4 sticks of DDR2 and the voltages didn't even budge - while being silent! Corsair's 620HX is probably the best power supply I've had.
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November 8, 2008 6:36:12 AM

Nothing said about PC Power&Cooling's variable fan speed,49amp single rail, or the fact that it's the only ps tested to blow air out the back not down onto your motherboard cpuor up to your grapics card(s) PS:Quietest fan in my case (Zalman 9700-1400 rpms/3 Antecs 1x120 2x80 all turning 1100 rpms 67 bones at the egg
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November 8, 2008 4:53:09 PM

Not 100% sure if I have the same model PSU...mine is the PC P&C S61EPS 610W and looks identical with the same specs as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817703005

With this in the description: The Silencer 610 EPS12V provides 610 W of continuous power supply and a peak supply of 670 W. It incorporates a unique ultra-quiet cooling design, with no obstruction at the fan inlet and a noise suppression air gap. Dunno if it's the same as the 'silencer' or not. Either way I can say I never hear my psu over my case and cpu fans (all 120mm Scythe Slipstreams). I'm a bit let down that the internal components and build quality weren't taken into account. No matter, I'm very content nonetheless. I bought mine from newegg about a month ago for $68 after 20% off promo code from an email and a MIR as well...that plus free shipping to boot, it was an easy decision. On a side note I could really care less about a few % difference in efficiency, I'm more interested in internal build quality and long term reliability. ;) 
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November 9, 2008 2:11:46 AM

90% of computer time is spent at idle/standby or low power and yet they recommend all PwrSpply that all get horrid efficiency. What a BS review. As if not having an extra cable in your computer helps in any way. Modular cables, are real cute... you get a pretty award... Yea, girls lets go play dolls now.
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-4
November 10, 2008 11:06:06 AM

Why so big on efficiency? You never notice the effect of a drop of 4 or 5% power efficiency from a single appliance in your home on your electric. I'm more interested in my system having a solid, dependable PSU delivering clean power to all my components. I'll pay the extra .10 a month on the elec bill...lol
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1
a b ) Power supply
November 10, 2008 12:29:59 PM

This series of articles was as good as it gets for the type. Sadly, it's just not good enough. Seems there are only a few people with the knowledge and equipment to test these power supplies correctly.

The author did everything in his power to produce good reviews, and I applaud that. It would be better for us all however, if these reviews were left to the experts.
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November 11, 2008 3:00:02 AM

The problem I find with most PSU reviews is that they only test one unit. Ideally, you'd test at least ten of the same exact PSU to see how good it really is. Every individual PSU could potentially be a bit different.
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November 11, 2008 4:27:19 AM

JonnyDoughThe problem I find with most PSU reviews is that they only test one unit. Ideally, you'd test at least ten of the same exact PSU to see how good it really is. Every individual PSU could potentially be a bit different.

Blame the manufacturer for not sending more units. Stingy lot they are ;) 
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November 12, 2008 7:52:32 PM

The reviewed psus should have at least been opened up to see the quality of the workmanship inside...esp the capacitor quality and layout. 'RoundUp' type reviews should really only be used as a starting point when your in the market for a new component...it's also good to see what peeps are recommending on the o/cing forums too. Then it's time to find a good thorough review on the specific model in mind. Heh...believe it or not, after years of buying thru NeggEgg, I found that their egg rating system can be a good barometer..esp items that have won the customer choice award one or twice, you can also read customer reviews/feedback if you have the patience..lol
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November 12, 2008 9:42:03 PM

again nothing from ULTRA, wtf? i am beginning get the impression that tom's does not ULTRA products :( 
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November 12, 2008 9:43:18 PM

again nothing from ULTRA, wtf? i am begining to think that tom's does not like Ultra products :( 
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November 12, 2008 9:44:18 PM

again nothing from ULTRA, wtf? i am beginning to think that tom's does not like Ultra products :( 
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November 12, 2008 11:13:15 PM

randomizerBlame the manufacturer for not sending more units. Stingy lot they are


Funny thing too is how many manufacturers "pretest" units to make sure they're working correctly before shipping them off for review. I mean, how fair is that to us actual consumers? It isn't really representative at all, which kind of defeats the purpose of said reviews.
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November 13, 2008 11:29:00 PM

I don't mean to bash the author but efficiency is not everything. For the average user, wattage, price, and efficiency is probably adequate (just buy a cheap & reliable PS).

However, being an electrical engineer, I think it's very important to view things from the perspective of an overclocker/enthusiast. A quick google search will lead to some decent guides (try techrepublic).

Some important parameters for stability and load issues (besides manufacturer reputation for reliability and quality and features such as many connectors) are:

Full load rating at a specific temperature.
Load regulation.
Voltage ripple.
Single vs. multi voltage rail (depends on your power needs, SLI? safety?).
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November 14, 2008 8:18:31 AM

I'd probably critisize the reveiw if I didn't agree with the results, but they came to the same conclusion that I did. Corsair is the best bang for the buck PSU on the market today, bar none. We've used VX450, HX520, and have HX620 in our own systems.

Silent, easy to set up, great warranty, and still haven't seen 1 fail under the worst of conditions.

I can't say the same for any series of Antec. I've kept 1 failed Neo, 1 True Power, and 1 True Control as paper weights and reminders that Antec is no more dependable than any other brand of PSU. They sit right beside the ToughPower 600 which wasn't so tough, and the broken Enermax Modu82+ 525. :) 
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November 26, 2008 2:53:54 PM

The voltagle and efficiency are included in this roudup. However, it would be better if the author include other metrics such as acostic comparison. Most users want a silent PSU when they are working or playing a game. It matters more.
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January 3, 2009 10:17:53 AM

bobbknightYep just about as informative as the first part, IE. not very.Unless you put the thing under load and oscilloscope the outputs for ripple and open it up to see the type of parts used and the construction quality. reviews of this type are next to meaningless.

Ditto...sorry tom but this review blows you out of the water.
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/503/1
this team actually pushed 720 watts/118% load/82% efficiency out of this PSU...The power supply, however, couldn’t work constantly at these specs...which is why its call max load specs.

i have this PSU and ive had no probs with it. it has 5year warrany. and instead of just frying...it shuts off when it get to a certain temp.
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!