PC Power Supplies

[hemyd]

Hi.

I'd appreciate if anyone could explain to me how to tell the difference
between a high quality and an "el-cheapo" PC power supply, given that the
wattage (let's say, 350 watts) is the same. What are the differences in
construction? Do the more expensive supplies offer better protection for PC
circuits - if so, how? Is there any reliable way of identifying a better
quality type? Can a high quality 250 watt be better than a 350 watt "el
cheapo"?

Thank you very much in advance,

Henry Mydlarz
Melbourne, Australia

 

[techforce]

Basicly cost. The $59 350Watt ATX will prove more reliable than a $21 model
of the same wattage. Also , the better ones seem to weigh more, and have
more advanced protection circuitry.


"hemyd" <henspammyd@iinet.net.au> wrote in message
news:407ce966$0$16589$5a62ac22@freenews.iinet.net.au...
| Hi.
|
| I'd appreciate if anyone could explain to me how to tell the difference
| between a high quality and an "el-cheapo" PC power supply, given that the
| wattage (let's say, 350 watts) is the same. What are the differences in
| construction? Do the more expensive supplies offer better protection for
PC
| circuits - if so, how? Is there any reliable way of identifying a better
| quality type? Can a high quality 250 watt be better than a 350 watt "el
| cheapo"?
|
| Thank you very much in advance,
|
| Henry Mydlarz
| Melbourne, Australia
|
|

 

[Jerry G.]

The more expensive supplies have better protection, and better design for
reliability. They also have better noise reduction, and stability. You
basically get what you pay for!

--

Greetings,

Jerry Greenberg GLG Technologies GLG
=========================================
WebPage http://www.zoom-one.com
Electronics http://www.zoom-one.com/electron.htm
=========================================


"hemyd" <henspammyd@iinet.net.au> wrote in message
news:407ce966$0$16589$5a62ac22@freenews.iinet.net.au...
Hi.

I'd appreciate if anyone could explain to me how to tell the difference
between a high quality and an "el-cheapo" PC power supply, given that the
wattage (let's say, 350 watts) is the same. What are the differences in
construction? Do the more expensive supplies offer better protection for PC
circuits - if so, how? Is there any reliable way of identifying a better
quality type? Can a high quality 250 watt be better than a 350 watt "el
cheapo"?

Thank you very much in advance,

Henry Mydlarz
Melbourne, Australia

 

[w_tom]

A cheapo power supply sells at profit by forgetting to
include essential functions. To include those functions, a
power supply typically retail lists for maybe $70. That does
not mean all $70 supplies are better.

Benchmark for an acceptable supply is that manufacturer
provides basic specifications in writing. Cheapo supplies
conveniently forget to include specs. But cheapo supplies are
only selling to those who 'feel' they are experts; never
learned electrical basics. No sense admitting to missing
functions to people with technical training.

Further details posted previously in
alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt entitled "GOOD powersupply for
under $40?" starting 20 Jan 2004 or at
http://tinyurl.com/3h6wa

If someone is equating wattage with quality, then run for
the hills. Often 500+ watts supplies have some of the worst
quality. Wattage is associated with quality because too many
computer assemblers never bothered to even ask for specs - let
alone learn what those specifications mean.

hemyd wrote:

I'd appreciate if anyone could explain to me how to tell the
difference between a high quality and an "el-cheapo" PC power
supply, given that the wattage (let's say, 350 watts) is the
same. What are the differences in construction? Do the more
expensive supplies offer better protection for PC circuits - if
so, how? Is there any reliable way of identifying a better
quality type? Can a high quality 250 watt be better than a 350
watt "el cheapo"?

 

[John Del]

Subject: PC Power Supplies
From: "hemyd" henspammyd@iinet.net.au
Date: 4/14/2004 3:33 AM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id: <407ce966$0$16589$5a62ac22@freenews.iinet.net.au

Hi.

I'd appreciate if anyone could explain to me how to tell the difference
between a high quality and an "el-cheapo" PC power supply, given that the
wattage (let's say, 350 watts) is the same.

I did just a search when I built a new PC a couple of months ago.

From doing newsgroup searches, and hardware review sites, I learned that
supplies from Antec, Vantec, Enermax, and PC Power and Cooling were all highly
regarded.

I ended up with a Vantec Stealth 520. (About $110 US). This offers a very
stout 12V source required by the P4, plus SATA connectors which my HD uses. All
the supplies I considered had not only overcurrent shutdown, but overvoltage as
well. Cheap supplies don't.



John Del
Wolcott, CT

"I'm just trying to get into heaven, I'm not running for Jesus!"
Homer Simpson

(remove S for email reply)

 

[BeefJerky]

I'm gonna put in a vote for Antec. I've got an Antec 300w in my system,
which definitely is a good quality supply with protection. I've
unintentionally shorted the 12v and 5v to ground more than a few times
accidentally while plugging and unplugging things while powered on
(namely due to a bad hard drive I was trying to get to spin up to get
the data off of). It simply turned itself off (ie NO smoke ) After I
unplugged and plugged it in again, it worked fine again. This PSU has
been serving me faithfully for about 3 years now. Never a hiccup.

John Del wrote:

Subject: PC Power Supplies
From: "hemyd" henspammyd@iinet.net.au
Date: 4/14/2004 3:33 AM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id: <407ce966$0$16589$5a62ac22@freenews.iinet.net.au

Hi.

I'd appreciate if anyone could explain to me how to tell the difference
between a high quality and an "el-cheapo" PC power supply, given that the
wattage (let's say, 350 watts) is the same.


I did just a search when I built a new PC a couple of months ago.

From doing newsgroup searches, and hardware review sites, I learned that
supplies from Antec, Vantec, Enermax, and PC Power and Cooling were all highly
regarded.

I ended up with a Vantec Stealth 520. (About $110 US). This offers a very
stout 12V source required by the P4, plus SATA connectors which my HD uses. All
the supplies I considered had not only overcurrent shutdown, but overvoltage as
well. Cheap supplies don't.



John Del
Wolcott, CT

"I'm just trying to get into heaven, I'm not running for Jesus!"
Homer Simpson

(remove S for email reply)

 

[k_teppo]

"hemyd" <henspammyd@iinet.net.au> wrote in message news:<407ce966$0$16589$5a62ac22@freenews.iinet.net.au>...

Hi.

I'd appreciate if anyone could explain to me how to tell the difference
between a high quality and an "el-cheapo" PC power supply, given that the
wattage (let's say, 350 watts) is the same. What are the differences in
construction? Do the more expensive supplies offer better protection for PC
circuits - if so, how? Is there any reliable way of identifying a better
quality type? Can a high quality 250 watt be better than a 350 watt "el
cheapo"?

Thank you very much in advance,

Henry Mydlarz
Melbourne, Australia

As everyone has mentioned here, cost is usually a telltale sign of
what quality you're buying. Heavier supplies (physical weight) are
usually better built (more material = more cost though). DISCLAIMER:
This is a totally unscientific approach to determine power supply
quality. My experiences with Enermax power supplies have all been very
good (yes, they're heavy -- big heatsinks). They have a good lineup of
supplies starting from about $50 CDN. Hope this info helps.

-k

 

[larrymoencurly]

"hemyd" <henspammyd@iinet.net.au> wrote in message news:<407ce966$0$16589$5a62ac22@freenews.iinet.net.au>...

I'd appreciate if anyone could explain to me how to tell
the difference between a high quality and an "el-cheapo"
PC power supply, given that the wattage (let's say, 350
watts) is the same. What are the differences in construction?
Do the more expensive supplies offer better protection for PC
circuits - if so, how? Is there any reliable way of
identifying a better quality type? Can a high quality 250 watt
be better than a 350 watt "el cheapo"?

Try to find a good brand, like:

Fortron-Source (Sparkle, Aopen, Trend, Hi-Q, PowerQ, Powerman,
Powertech -- but be careful about the latter because many are Powertek
but with the name misspelled)

Zippy-Emacs
HEC (Heroichi, CompuCase)
Delta (Acer, maybe Giant Power)

Antec (or Channel Well, but only those with an "A" or "B" in the last
part of the model, i.e., CWT-350BD, CWT-430ADP, unless the "A" is part
of "ATX")

Lite-On
NMB (Mineba)
Astec
Win-tact

or even:

Sirtec (HighPower, Vantec, Thermaltake, some others)
Enermax (Wavesonic, CaseMart, maybe HiPro)
Some to avoid:

Deer (Eagle, Hyena, Mustang, Foxlink, Foxconn, L&C, Codegen, Allied,
Logic, Hercules, Austin, Qmax, Duro, Mercury)

Leadman (Powmax, Raidmax, Robanton)
Q-tec (not to be confused with Q-technology, which is great)

If you can't find them, take a look at all the internal pictures at:

http://terasan.okiraku-pc.net/dengen

and get a feel of how the better brands compare with the worse ones.
Generally, low quality PSUs look less crowded when you peer through
the vent holes and fan, the heatsinks may be smaller (but not always,
and PSUs with a single 120mm fan on top apparently don't need such
large heatsinks), the largest of the 2-3 transformers between the
heatsinks will be larger than those in cheaper PSUs (the one in a 300W
Fortron/Sparkle may be larger than some in cheap 500W PSUs), and there
won't be so many empty spaces where components should normally go,
typically the AC EMI filter coils and boxy or blue disk capacitors.

Here's a what a cheap 550W Q-tec looks like:

www.bit-tech.net/images/review/123/7.jpg

Compare it to this very good 400W Zalman, made by Fortron-Source:

www.silentpcreview.com/article153-page2.html

Unfortunately appearance isn't everything:

www.techimo.com/images/img2/raidmax400/raidmax400-internal1.jpg
www.techimo.com/images/img2/raidmax400/raidmax400-internal4.jpg

That 400W Raidmax looks decent, but Leadman/Raidmax has a reputation
for building PSUs that can't meet their power specs, and
www.tomshardware.com found that one 500W Leadman could manage only
426W, or 28W less than a Fortron-made 350W.

Here's a 350W Codgen that's one of the worst Deer models:

www.mikhailtech.com/articles/psu/codegen350/codegen350-06.jpg
www.mikhailtech.com/articles/psu/codegen350/codegen350-07.jpg

Notice that in the second picture, on the left, component TR1 is
missing and replaced with a jumper wire. TR1 is a thermistor to help
limit the current surge when the PSU is turned to prevent damage to
it.