A New PSU

[Steg]

It has come to the point where i need to get my self a new PSU - when i turn my CCFL lights off all my fans spin faster !
i currently have a generic 350w PSU - and seeing as im looking to get a nice shiny nvidia 5700 ultra and some more fans/lights im gonna need some more juice!

my budget is about £120 - but i dont really want to spend all of that - i want some left over to start on the grphix card.
Im looking at an antec 430w but thats about £80 when a generic 450w is £40......so what i need is some recommendations on a stable, QUIET 430w+ PSU that preferably wont break the bank

thanks

Steg

 

[Nic]

I noticed that you posted in '£' s. I guess that means you are based in the UK then? In that case try this PSU (I own one and the quality is excellent - for the price) ...

CWT 450W @ £36.43 - Scan International (UK

It has 20A on the +12v rail and will generally supply even more. I previously had a 300W version and I was running Athlon 1.3GHz, 2 CDROM drives, GeForce2 Ti, and 4 hard drives without any trouble. The 300w version only had 15A on the +12v rail.

 

[Steg]

Thanks Nic - ill look into it

wots it like for noise buy the way? My current one sounds like a hurricane

any more suggestions while im considering?

Steg

 

[Nic]

It is VERY quiet. The fan is thermally controlled and it runs at a low speed in my system. It also has overcurrent, overvoltage and short-circuit protection built-in, so your equipment should all be safe. Many cheap units do not have this type of protection, though high end units, such as Antec and Enermax, do. It is a very high quality unit, but is cheap because it is not a well known brand. The unit is also quite heavy, and not feather weight like other cheap units. Active PFC also means that most of its power is delivered to the load so it is more powerful than cheap, less efficient, 550w units.

Here is a link to the website, but at this time there is no info on their PSUs (the website is being updated) ...

Meridian Case

PS: There are other brand PSUs on that original website, so check them out also.

 

[acidosmosis]

I normally recommend the Enermax 350W or 365W PSU. It is very quiet, and is in the price range of about $50-55 right now. Enermax is also the best PSU you can get right now. 350W is enough unless maybe you plan on using RAID, 64-bit Athlon processor's, etc. I would think that would require a little bit more than 350w to be safe (though I'm not 100% sure).

 

[Nic]

A 350w Enermax will be fine, and it will cost around £40 at the link I posted. He doesn't really need 450w, but that is what he asked for.

 

[Steg]

will i really get by on a 350w PSU - the cheap generic 350w i have currently starts to spluter when i put any more fans/lights/drives/cards in - and im looking to buy a more powerful GPU (e.g. 5700 ultra) and maybe a few more HDDs - is this just becuase its cheap? ive never had alot of experiance with PSUs - ive always just used the cheap ones that come with cases

Steg

 

[Nic]

Cheap PSU's don't deliver the full rated output to the load. Some 300w PSUs only supply around 160w of real power (some manufacturers quote the power rating as power at input, not output power delivered to the load). Checking the quoted d.c. output current/voltages is the best way to determine real output power.

High quality PSUs have Active PFC (Power Factor Correction) circuits that ensure more power is available to drive your components. Most of these High quality PSU's are around 70% efficient, unlike cheap units that are often only around 50% efficient, so the 350w Enermax would be fine.

The CWT 450w unit is also 70% efficient, so that would certainly supply more power than the 350w Enermax. However, Enermax units cost more, and if you opened one up, you would notice higher quality components are used.

Generally, you get what you pay for, and both of these units are high quality, heavy, well made PSUs. Just don't buy cheap lightweight PSUs, such as Q-Tech, or other poorly specified brands.

 

[olefarte]

Originally posted by Steg
my budget is about £120 - but i dont really want to spend all of that - i want some left over to start on the grphix card.
Im looking at an antec 430w but thats about £80

This is what I plan on getting soon, the Antec True Power 430. At newegg.com, it's $70, (look about halfway down the page). I don't know if this in your price range or not, maybe it's the same one you mentioned. I think they make a couple of different 430 watt models. Not saying there is anything wrong with the others mentioned, this is just my choice.

 

[Nic]

Maybe TechSpot should make it a requirement to specify members location when they join. For those of us that live in the UK, newegg.com is not an option. We also pay more for hardware in the UK, but it's still cheaper than importing. Many UK manufactured goods cost less in the US than in the UK. You guys living in the US don't know how lucky you are.

 

[Steg]

Ok - after 'extensive' research it would appear that the toss up is now between the
350W Enermax EG365AX-G-FMA II PSU with Manual Fan Control/Temp Control 2Yr @ £38.78
or
450W CWT + SATA Quiet Dual Fan AMD/P4 App Active Fan Control Active PFC @ £36.43

both appear to have Active PFC circuits and variable fan contol - the difference im assuming is all in build quality. the question is can i get away with the 350w emermax PSU? To move up a notch a get a 430w emermax PSU is nearly £100 - just a bit too much really - i want to get a decnet fan controller and a couple of shiny LED fans out of that £120 aswell!
i would like the emermax because nothing beats the feeling of putting the very high quality compents in your computer - but if 350w wont be enough i drop back to the CWT.

opinions please

Steg

 

[Nic]

465w Enermax on same website is £63.45 (I bought a second one a couple of days ago). If you have the money, then go for that. The CWT unit is also very high quality, but not quite up to Enermax standards, though it will likely last just as long and the performance is equally good. The Enermax units have manual fan speed control and an ON/OFF switch at the rear, whereas the CWT unit is thermally controlled (i.e. automatic) and has no ON/OFF switch. Both are good units.

Scan PSU page

 

[Steg]

thats odd...the 465w unit is £65 yet the 433w unit is £100.....something fishy here
anyway - it looks like the 465w might be the new favoured unit
now all i have to do is find the cash....its around here somewhere.....

thanks

Steg