GV2NIX Posted April 4, 2006 Posted April 4, 2006 Hello everyone. I just got an Expet a little while ago, and like many others it seems, I'm having trouble getting it to work. I am getting many of the failures that others are experiencing and I'm convinced that my Expert is not working with my PSU. I have an Enermax Noisetaker (EG701AX-VE) 600W PSU. I ordered a new Fortron FX700-GLN 700W PSU and it should be here today. Hopefully it will work. If not, I will have to keep experimenting. I will post my results in this thread. I want this thread to be a resource for those trying to match their Experts with PSUs with the best chance of success. If you have a functioning Expert/PSU combination, please post the specs and a few comments about stability and overclocking performance and any hitches (if any) you experienced while setting up your system. I would prefer it if you test your PSU idle/load with a DMM before posting. That way, your results will be more convincing. Thank you all in advance! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limnos Posted April 4, 2006 Posted April 4, 2006 The Fortron should work well...mine certainly does. I started with the Expert and an Enermax Liberty. All the rails tested fine (DMM) on the Liberty and it would boot the board sometimes, but most of the time I would get the typical 'cold-boot' symptoms (flash of activity then nothing). However, I would need to let mine sit for some indeterminate amount of time before it would boot the board (i.e. the rocker switch off/on solution did not work). Tested my Liberty with one of these http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=77203 and discovered that my Liberty had a bad PWR OK (or Power Good) signal (not something you automatically check for). Used the DMM to test the PWR OK wire (grey #8 I think) and found it was putting out 1.25v as opposed to 5v. Interesting thing is that the PSU powered up a couple of non-DFI boards in the local shop just fine, but it was definitely not right. Got the Epsilon 600 and it has been smooth sailing ever since. p.s. waiting on eVGA 7900gtx via step-up but can post some DMM numbers when it gets here. I think I also had some written down somewhere. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
function8 Posted April 4, 2006 Posted April 4, 2006 im convinced mine with 2 vga cards in sli is rock solid...i'd like a bigger wattage one from the same company just for bragging rights Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GV2NIX Posted April 4, 2006 Posted April 4, 2006 I started with the Expert and an Enermax Liberty. All the rails worked fine on the Liberty and it would boot the board sometimes, but most of the time I would get the typical 'cold-boot' symptoms (flash of activity then nothing). However, I would need to let mine sit for some indeterminate amound of time before it would boot the board (i.e. the rocker switch off/on solution did not work). I see. Glad the Fortron is working for you. Below are the failures I have experienced: 1. System hangs during the very beginning of the DOS-mode Windows XP installation 2. BSOD while the DOS-mode Windows installation is transferring files. Restart has to be performed manually. 3. Cold-boot problem. 4. CMOS Checksum error upon boot then system hang. I need to leave everything off with the battery out and clear CMOS jumper switched for a while before I can use it again. 5. Flashing diagnostic LEDs upon boot then system hang. I have an older PSU tester, so I haven't been able to use it. Maybe I should try the new one from Antec. Thanks for the info! function8, how old is your PSU? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
function8 Posted April 4, 2006 Posted April 4, 2006 shiny new..no dust..about 3 weeks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanzoRazor Posted April 4, 2006 Posted April 4, 2006 The Fortron 700W PSU has less amperage on the 12V rails than my 550W antec PSU. Thats not enough for SLI with most cards.... If it does work with the motherboard I would guess it's because the build quality is low. It seems that higher wattage + amperage PSU's from quality companies have the cold boot issue with these DFI motherboards. I am in the same boat. I am stuck with this Antec 550W psu and need to know what will work. From what I gather the DFI mods will steer you into buying something under 600W or from a no name company that doesn't have line regulation like the newer high wattage PSU's. It seems all the big companies, Seasonic, Silverstone, Enermax, OCZ etc all have this issue with the motherboard. Just do a simple search on the forums to see. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GV2NIX Posted April 4, 2006 Posted April 4, 2006 The Fortron 700W PSU has less amperage on the 12V rails than my 550W antec PSU. Thats not enough for SLI with most cards.... I'm looking at the specs for your PSU right now. It has 19A on each of the two 12V rails. My Enermax has 22A for each of the two 12V rails, and the Fortron has 15A on each of the four 12V rails. Since the combined amperage of the 12V rails for both the Enermax and Fortron exceed that of the Antec, and your system works with the Antec, I don't see how that would be a source of trouble. If anything, I should be able to better distribute the load across the four rails on the Fortron. Unless an X1900XT draws more than 15A by itself, which I don't think it does, there shouldn't be a problem, know what I mean? It's true that people seem to be having better luck with no-names, but I guess I'm a little nervous about making the switch to no-names. I have never had any trouble with big brands before, so I would like to exhaust all options before moving onto to something else. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanzoRazor Posted April 4, 2006 Posted April 4, 2006 Ah I didn't see it had 4 lines. My mistake. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GV2NIX Posted April 4, 2006 Posted April 4, 2006 No problem, thanks for the suggestion! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
function8 Posted April 4, 2006 Posted April 4, 2006 i made mine have a coldboot twice. once i plugged the monitor in with power on the board...another, one video card wasnt seated good..the power supply/mobo does seem to be very sensitive to things like opens/shorts/maybe even plugging somthing like a fan in with power on the board...possibly an electrically noisy fan? i'm swinging at air here...i havent had any problems once i figured out what not to do....and i'm sure some powersupplies do cause problems as thats one of the first things i read when i came to this site deciding what to buy for parts...and i seriously doubt that most systems could demand more than a quality 500w psu can put out. i'd put a 50 spot that i could run 2 7900gtxs' and 8 hds' without a hiccup with my puny psu Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GV2NIX Posted April 4, 2006 Posted April 4, 2006 Oops, got moved here. I figured it was more of a technical discussion than a buying recommendation, but I guess it's both. Sorry mods! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimTjik Posted April 4, 2006 Posted April 4, 2006 Fortron has 15A on each of the four 12V rails I hope the information I received is correct: the Epsilon 700W have now higher amperage specification than it did when released. If I remember right it's now 18A on each 12V rail. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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