Recommended Power Supplies List

[jammin]

The single rail vs. multi rail debate has been discussed at length in several places I believe.

 

It is my personal opinion that in a lot of cases the argument is moot. Performance between the two is often indistinguishable.

How it is implemented on a PSU by PSU basis also comes into it.

[kingdingeling]

I'm with Jammin on the HX vs. TX debate, mainly for the sake of noise (as I believe that that's his main concern)

[Ste]

Noise, I love Noise. But of course I realize most people go for aesthetics..

[Silverfox]

Noise, I love Noise. But of course I realize most people go for aesthetics..

 

Aesthetics on a PSU? I doubt most people go for that first. Only perhaps in terms of the modular aspect, but you can't even see the darned thing!

 

However, noise only inevitably ends up getting progressively worse over time. For me, noise can ruin a potentially amazing system, especially seeing as *most* PSUs don't have effective fan adjustments or load adjustments (you know, more load = faster fan etc) for the fans used. Shame really.

[Ste]

I don't know, it seems the vast majority of people look for a power supply based on it's looks first and only then look for ones on the performence or quality aspect.

I don't do that, I just think most do. I know that the elite computer builders such as ourselves care more about performance and quality than looks.

 

Clear cases or at least clear side panels are more popular than ever, and it will only grow, people love to see the insides of their computer, so I do think this is why many companies attempt to make thier power supplies look "cool" and "flashy" and modularity has only added to that.

 

Of course it is all up to individual preference..

 

As for the noise, I know I am the extreme minority here when I say that I like noise. But that is to say, I like the white noise, when I sleep it is very pleasant. I know that most don't sleep with their computers on so they may perfer less noise.

 

But yea, once again, it is all personal perference.

[jammin]

Added Enermax Modu82+ 625W - Review data Here and Here.

 

Note that it is likely the 425W and 525W versions will provide very similar performance, as well as the non-modular Pro82+ versions.

Waiting for more review data for those, but you can pretty much consider them added.

 

Also note the Modu82+ is now the quietest PSU on the list.

Edited April 16, 2008 by jammin

[jammin]

Added Corsair HX1000 - Review data Here.

 

Note: This PSU is built on the same CWT platform as the similarly rated Thermaltake Toughpower series units, though it appears to have improved build quality and component selection.

[Bradock]

Hope this is the right place to ask this:

I have a Raidmax Volcano 630W Power supply. I have used the program HWMonitor but I cannot see how to paste the results on the post. At any rate, the concern I have is the Voltages:

+12v: +3.97 to +7.42

-12v: -1.73 to -1.73

-5v: -1.92 to -0.77

Not sure if HW Monitor is the best program to use but it does seem to be activly tracking the voltages.

 

Any thoughts on a replacement power supply (if this one is truely bad).

Possibly: Gigabyte ODIN Pro 800W(GE-M800A-D1) At least that is what Gigabyte responded back to me in an E-mail request as to the recommended power supply for the set-up I have.

 

GA-EX38-DQ6, 8800GT OC 512mb, Patriot Ram, Seagate 500GB SATA, DVD/RW, CD/RW, Audigy Z2, Q6600 CPU and I also have an exteranl Firewire Vantec HDD, Cannon P6000D, Mustek Scanner, Samsung 226BW 22" and 3 each case fans.

 

Thoughts suggestions?? Hope some of you seasoned pros out there can help!

(As with most - I do not have "bottomless pocket" for the purchase of the power supply).

[jammin]

Firstly, most software isn't going to give you useful data unless it's tied to the right kind of hardware (the kind that costs more than is worth your while unless you test a lot of Power Supplies).

 

I don't know where HW Monitor is reading those voltages from, but they look far enough off to be completely unreliable.

 

 

As for recommendations for a replacement, firstly a company that sells something is obviously going to have a slight(!) conflict of interest when giving out advice.

Your system certainly doesn't need as much as 800W. It'd be hard pushed to peak at even close to half that total.

 

Are you having any problems with your system apart from being concerned about software readings?

If not then you could well get by on your current PSU, despite it's dubious quality. The fact that it isn't completely bargain basement (at least on price), means that hopefully there are some half decent components inside it. It does appear to be an old design based on the specs though (huge amp values on the 3.3v and 5v lines, which nothing really taxes nowadays).

 

 

So you probably could just keep your current PSU and be just fine.

If you feel you want to replace it with something of better quality then something like Corsair VX450 would power your system just fine. If you have plans of high end multi graphics card set ups in the future than you could probably bump that up a bit for piece of mind.

[Ste]

Far as I am concerned the only good raidmaxs power supplies are the Topower/Tagan models.....

[Bradock]

Thanks for the reply. I'm a little surprised that 450W is enough for this set-up. I did buy the MB so I could upgrade in the future as needed. So I will most likely "bump-up" the capacity a bit to compensate future expansion. The next up from the 450 is HX620? Which I am guessing is the next best choice. I would also guess my system would not run at the "read" voltages by HWMonitor and that they are totally off. With a different power supply Corsair or the Gigabyte ODIN (which is not referenced on your reviews), will the readings change to the appropriate values? As with anyone, I would feel more comfortable if I knew the voltages were correct and I had the capacity to OC with a good stable power supply. Thanks again for your input.

 

 

Firstly, most software isn't going to give you useful data unless it's tied to the right kind of hardware (the kind that costs more than is worth your while unless you test a lot of Power Supplies).

 

I don't know where HW Monitor is reading those voltages from, but they look far enough off to be completely unreliable.

 

 

As for recommendations for a replacement, firstly a company that sells something is obviously going to have a slight(!) conflict of interest when giving out advice.

Your system certainly doesn't need as much as 800W. It'd be hard pushed to peak at even close to half that total.

 

Are you having any problems with your system apart from being concerned about software readings?

If not then you could well get by on your current PSU, despite it's dubious quality. The fact that it isn't completely bargain basement (at least on price), means that hopefully there are some half decent components inside it. It does appear to be an old design based on the specs though (huge amp values on the 3.3v and 5v lines, which nothing really taxes nowadays).

 

 

So you probably could just keep your current PSU and be just fine.

If you feel you want to replace it with something of better quality then something like Corsair VX450 would power your system just fine. If you have plans of high end multi graphics card set ups in the future than you could probably bump that up a bit for piece of mind.

Edited April 28, 2008 by Bradock

[jammin]

Software readings really aren't relevant, so I just wouldn't worry about them.

Even readings taken with a multimeter aren't that useful.

 

The next PSU up, at least in the Corsair line up is the VX550.

Of course that isn't the only option, and there are plenty of other PSUs on the first page of this thread that would be suitable.

It just depends what qualities are more important to you (price, noise, output tolerances, modular cables etc.) I merely picked the VX450 as a good competitively priced example.

If you want to be a bit more specific with your requirements we could likely narrow down your choices further (I would suggest starting a new thread for that if you do).

 

 

 

 

As a side note - The Gigabyte ODIN 800W should actually be a pretty good PSU if it exhibits similar qualities to the 550W version, which should maybe be on the list already. In fact, versions of the ODIN with the software PSU control are probably the most suitable if you want to monitor what your power supply (and system) is doing, but as is pointed out in the jonny guru review this really isn't that useful for the average user (think testing power requirements of components etc.)