Hey jammin, I have a question for you as one of the PSU gurus on here I bought some parts off ccokeman for a 'new' build (E6600, IP35-Pro, 2GB Mushkin, 8800GT 512MB and the usual yada yada) but I was short an HDD, DVD drive, case and PSU. Solved the HDD today, got a 250GB Samsung for 40€ but I am still short a PSU. I recently found a deal on the Silverstone Zeus ST65ZF 650W for an amazingly low 60€. Now I was gonna go all low-wattage on this build, was thinking of getting something like an Enermax MODU82+ 425W (64€), PCP&C Silencer 370W/420W (40/46€ respectively) or Corsair VX450W (54€), but the deal just doesn't leave my mind. I mean, all the other retailers are selling them for 100€ or above, and then there's this one shop who's got 'em for 60€!!!

What would you recommend for that rig? To be perfectly honest, I would even spend a little more for a lower wattage model, as this rig will probably spend most of it's time folding whilst I'm back in Australia, so maybe that'll save some electricity. On the other hand, does a 600W PSU that's only 350W loaded use more electricity than a 350W PSU at full load?

The MODU82+ is the only one that is 80+ Bronze rated from the ones you mentioned (AFAIK).
I would imagine with the specs of that rig, that folding might well be getting towards the peak efficiency range of that PSU as well (80+ test report (.pdf)).
I would also expect it to be pretty quiet.

I'm not sure if the Zeus has been submitted for testing, but Silverstone has some good results for other models.
It's definitely a decent PSU.

None that you listed would be bad decisions obviously.

A quality 600W power supply loaded to 350W will use less electricity. This loading is midway were the efficiency will be near its peak at around 80-85%. A 350W power supply fully loaded will be running at its limit with I would expect an efficiency in the order of 75-80%. The cost saving won't be enormous but it's a cost saving nonetheless.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Paul

Scratch that, the one that's so cheap is the Zeus ST65F, not ST65ZF. The F is not as good as per the XS PSU list. For the sake of quietness, modularness (word? ) and efficiency, I am leaning towards the 425W MODU82+ at this point though...

I got time to think about it though, so no stress.

Hey Jammin what do you think of this:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=...y4&reid=110

It's Antec's newest Earthwatts unit, from Delta. From the review, they say this unit from Delta performs better in general terms then previous Earthwatts units.
Another good thing is from the tests, the efficiency seems to stay the same or even raise in higher temperatures.

Just my two cents

Good that these Delta Earthwatt units perform just as well as the Seasonic ones, I have a 380W Earthwatt sitting on my desk just waiting for the hardware in my sig

Added Antec EarthWatts 650W - review data here

Added Topower Powerbird 900W - review data here

Added Seasonic M12D 850W - review data here

Added Corsair TX850 - review data here and here

Added Enermax Revolution 85+ 1050W - review data here


I'll be going through the list sometime soon to check availability of the older units, which may see some withdrawn.