PSU upgrade... feel the difference!

[lhgpoobaa]

Recently i upgraded my psu to something just a teensy weensy bit more beefy.
what i had: 300W generic PSU (brand name: Omni)
what ive got: 550W enermax PSU

for now ill ignore the wattage and current differences as it would be like comparing a ferrari to a skoda

differences noted:
1. product weight. the enermax unit is almost 3 times the apparent weight of the very light and flimsy omsi unit.
2. the enermax unit has 2 fans, rear and bottom.
3. fans are covered in nice looking gold coloured grills
4. many more (and much longer) connectors. the enermax unit also has 12V lines for the P4.
the old omni unit had 4 molex connectors and one fdd connector, so even if i wanted to add another drive i couldnt without a spare connector.

operational differences
1. fewer bootup crashes which seemed to be plaguing me. but they still occur unfortunately, final conformation that ive fried my mobo due to overclocking.
2. +3.3V line ,5V line & 12V are much closer to what they should be.
3. the voltages DONT drop as i overclock
4. the pitch change & rpm drop of the HSF fan is gone now. before if i went from idle to full load i could actually hear the whir/whine drop a note.
5. the 5V line doesnt drop either. a steady 4.92V, instead of 4.76 idle, 4.72 full load.
6. casefan speeds have increased some +50rpm.
7. HSF fan is now doing 4500rpm exactly, up from 4350rpm.
8. CPU temp is also a degree lower on average, probably due to the extra psu fan.

what i found most pleasantly suprising was:
9. noise of the PSU fans are impossible to detect, even with my ear up against the rear.. they are inaudible over the casefans & HFS fan.
and
10. despite the powersupply rating almost doubling, the expected heat output increase wasnt there... infact after a 4 hour stint at full load the PSU's heat output is far lower than the old unit. EXCELLENT for my conditions.
11. fan speed of the bottom psu fan also is monitorable via a independent 3 pin line, and at rare occasions it approaches 2000rpm. usual is 1700rpm. think my mobo needs another fan line


in conclusion i love this unit... and will keep it for years to come. course i could have probably lived with a 420 or even 350W version... but i needed the ego boost. and besides, with the way im going i can see myself with a watercooled unit and a peltier in a years time *grins*


Religious wars are 2 groups of people fighting over who has the best imaginary friend.

 

[Crashman]

Yes, the power supply adding heat to a system is a MYTH. I've argued about it's falsity only to be ridiculed. The power supply REMOVES heat from the system because it adds to air circulation-it pulls cool air into the case and exaust it's own heat along with system heat. Larger PS may generate more heat, but usually also have better exhaust. So adding a larger power supply can actually <i>REDUCE</i> heat in the system as it pulls more cool air into the case than the smaller supply, do to its better fans. Of course it also creates more heat <i>outside</i> the system.

Back to you Tom...

 

[lhgpoobaa]

yep.... but also have to consider "pulling power"

while i was running Overclocked and full load, i reckon i was running pretty much at the limit of what the 300W psu could provide, and a fter a while it was putting out a considerable amount of heat.
with the new one however, its probably barely doing anything, and thus the heat output is nominal due to the light load...

kinda like comparing a 2L 4 cylynder engine to a 5.7L V8 when cruzing down the freeway at 100.


and while my system had quite adequate cooling thanx to the thermaltake 80mm casefans and my "mods" the added 90mm psu fan is a very nice bonus ontop

Religious wars are 2 groups of people fighting over who has the best imaginary friend.

 

[AMD_Man]

You're fan is slow. My bottom fan on the PSU runs at 2570 RPM. I have an Enermax Whisper 430W and a places the thermal probe right beside my heatsink so the fan would always be spinning it's fastest. Does yours come with a thermal probe? BTW, the PSUs fans and cables aren't just gold coloured, they're gold plated. Yes, that is a thin layer of gold they put on.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[lhgpoobaa]

slow you reckon???
maybe...
couple of points...

the 550W comes equipped with a 90mm fan, not an 80mm.
would prefer slow to fast. quiet.
with my two 37cfm 80mm casefans with holes hacked out, my internal case temp barely gets a few degrees above external ambient. e.g.
outside temp: 18.5
internal at bottom = 20
mobo reported temp = 25
cpu temp (full load) = 50
psu fan 1767rpm.
heat output from PSU = EXTREEMLY minimal and slow
so for me its not of much issue... core cooling is not vital for the psu... the core and mobo temps were only a degree warmer using the old psu.
and no... i dont think the 550 has a temp probe, just the 3 pin fan monitoring line

Religious wars are 2 groups of people fighting over who has the best imaginary friend.

 

[AMD_Man]

not slow..slow, but relatively slower than my Enermax Whisper. My Whisper seems to make no noise whatsoever but it spins at nearly 3000RPM right now.

Seriously, what do you plan on doing with a 530W PSU? I'd save up money for a Vapochill, .

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by AMD_Man on 10/08/01 08:50 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[CALV]

odd, mine only goes at around 1700


Next time you wave - use all your fingers

 

[AMD_Man]

Do you have an Enermax Whisper. BTW, I've placed my thermal probe near the CPU so it will always be getting high temps, forcing the fan to always work at top speeds.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[AMD_Man]

Do you have an Enermax Whisper? BTW, I've placed my thermal probe near the CPU so it will always be getting high temps, forcing the fan to always work at top speeds.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[lhgpoobaa]

whY? cauz its better! and ill need it for my swiftech mc-462A when they get some in stock.

its also an investment for the future, and the vicious hot summers we have.
and running at such low rpms means the fans will last even longer.
besides i may just do peltiers and watercooling someday in the future.

and whats this temperature probe u are talking about? describe it or provide a link please.
i believe the 550 just detects the air temp AT the 90mm fan, so with the rear casefan removing most the heat i assume the psu fan will only really kick in when things get nasty.

but to satisfy all, tonite ill run my pc till its warm, quickly open it up and dissconnect both casefans, then close it up again.
i know from when i first got my pc that it gets downright nasty inside without casefans, and it will be interesting to watch the actions and performance of the psu fan.

Religious wars are 2 groups of people fighting over who has the best imaginary friend.

 

[Kelledin]

Power supplies do generate heat; that's no myth. The conversion from AC->DC wastes a disgusting amount of power--there's a reason power supplies have great big heatsinks inside.

On a good PSU like the Enermax, the circulation thing does work. On a cheesy PSU with poor circulation or poor efficiency (*cough*Antec*cough*ahem*), though, it puts more heat into the system. I've seen such cheesy power supplies gather enough heat in the their casing that any tie anchors you have attached get the adhesive softened to the point that they just fall off.

Kelledin

"/join #hackerz. See the Web. DoS interesting people."

 

[lhgpoobaa]

or how about my now retired *caugh*omni*caugh*

what a POS it was...
pumpking outtwice the heat that my enermax is doing, all with the amazing
4 molex connectors, 1fdd & the atx mobo connection.
and thats it!
couldnt have added another drive if i wanted too
talk about cheap and nasty!

Religious wars are 2 groups of people fighting over who has the best imaginary friend.

 

[Crashman]

I have NEVER seen a power supply that did not REMOVE heat from the case faster than it added it. It adds heat to the case through convection. It removes hot air through current. Through a hot log in a stream sometime and tell me how much heat you feel traveling upstream. You would have to have an extememly week fan or extrememly small intake holes for this not to be true. OR a lot of dust to plug the holes.
Better power supplies do not add less heat, they remove more heat, because they have better fans.

But I will conceed that it would be possible to design a power supply with such week air "pull" that it actually adds heat. Since such a phenomena would be difficult to accomplish by acccident, I will go as far as to say that one would have to purposely design the power supply to be that bad. Or, as I said, the holes could be plugged with dust.

Back to you Tom...

 

[Crashman]

Oh, the myth part-it's no myth that power supplies generate heat, the myth is that by doing so they add heat to the system. Every system I've worked on has used the power supply to remove heat, most by pulling cool air in, but some by blowing in warm air that is cooler than the hot air already inside.

Back to you Tom...

 

[lhgpoobaa]

lol
well im talking about adding heat to the larger system. i.e. the room!



Religious wars are 2 groups of people fighting over who has the best imaginary friend.

 

[Crashman]

The room is an entirely different "system"! I have air conditioning!

Back to you Tom...

 

[lhgpoobaa]

well i a big tough man and dont have air con.
so therefore with my system putting out considerably less heat overall is very good for operator comfort.


Religious wars are 2 groups of people fighting over who has the best imaginary friend.

 

[Crashman]

I have to leave my windows cracked open in the winter.

Back to you Tom...

 

[AMD_Man]

<A HREF="http://www.enermax.com.tw/products/eg-365p-vefc.htm" target="_new">Enermax Whisper</A>

Scroll over to the bottom where you can see a picture of the probe/sensor.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[lhgpoobaa]

ahhh right.
no the 550W doesnt have that.
as for fan temps...
i ran my system without the casfans on, heres what i got, 3 temps listed: 1.room, 2.mobo, 3.cpu, 4. psu fanspeed

Standard with casefans:
19,25,51,1721
unplugging casefans gave me the folloing over 30minutes:
19,26,52,1776
19,27,54,1928
19,28,55,2033
19,29,56,2149
19,29,57,2235
19,30,58,2327
19,32,59,2500

so without casefans the internals of my beast gets pretty hot, and the psu fan speed DOES remove a fair bit of heat, and is definately better than nothing at all
(with the old PSU & no casefans i was running at at least 35,62, sometimes the mobo was hitting 40C!)
but it shows the effect of 2 37cfm 80mm thermaltakes... dont start up without em




Religious wars are 2 groups of people fighting over who has the best imaginary friend.