Best Power Supply From . . . ?

[Buck]

What is the most reliable power supply from Enlight, Sparkle, Vantec, or Nspire? I normally don't need to sell power supplies, but there is a sudden need for one that will support a P4 system, with a GeForce ti4600 video card, other PCI cards and ATA drives. The customer isn't too concerned about cost as long as the power supply will last (his present one has failed - no, it didn't come frome me). The reason for limiting power supplies to the aforementioned companies is that they are the easiest for me to obtain. If there are clear winners above and beyond the group I've mentioned, I'll consider those too. Thanks for your help.

PS: The customer is in urgent need.

 

[Dïscfärm]

CAUTION: Cadillacs ahead!

Highly-rated, and rather expensive...

http://www.supermicro.com/PRODUCT/Accessories/Power_Supply.htm

 

[double bit CRC error]

I have to say that I would trust the Sparkle the most... never had one, but they seem to be recomended around the block...

I had an enlight 250 watt PSU for over a year.. I thought it had gone bad and through it out... the problem was probably actually the motherboard (abit with bad caps).. the PSU was decent, but short on molex power connectors (as most of the cheap ones usually are)...

I suppose the Vantec is probably a rebadged unit that has a Vantec stealth shoved on it... probably a middle of the road PSU...

and I never heard of NSpire.. your guess is better than mine :wink:

 

[Dïscfärm]

...from Pricewatch
Model: SP401-RA, which has dual-redundant cooling fans:

SuperMicro - Power Supply for Case
Info...

ONLINE ORDER ONLY -
PWS-0024 / SP401-RA, 400Watts, Power Supply. Ready for Pentium 4 Xeon motherboards. MUST MENTION PRICE WATCH --PWS-024 Supports upto Pentium-4 Xeon. Redundant Cooling ATX Power Supply. Supermicro Direct Distributor.
(Part - PROMOCODE-PW7BJJ)
Price: $ 129
MinOrder: 1

Ship 1 : $6.00 - 8.00 UPS Ground, Insured & Tracking #
Updated:2/28, 1:33 PM
$137.00 Wiredzone
Info...

888-343-1311
305-640-0300

FL
SuperMicro - Backup Power Supplies
Info...

SUPERMICRO PWS-0024 SP401-RA12V 400W POWER FOR P4 AND XEON W/PATENTED REDUNDANT COOLING FAN SUPERMICRO PWS-0024 SP401-RA12V 400W POWER FOR P4 AND XEON W/PATENTED REDUNDANT COOLING FAN
(Part - PWS-0024)
Price: $130
MinOrder: 1

Ship 1 : $6.47 - 7.93 UPS Ground,Insured,No Profit,Same Day 24
Updated:3/11, 5:15 PM
$137.93 Axion Technologies, LLC
Info...

888-AXION55
281-575-0007 -- School, Govt & Company P.O.'s accepted

 

[Handruin]

I have a sparkle in my current box which has been running almost 2 years practically non-stop. One power supply doesn't account the the masses of PS's on the market, so it's anyone's guess as to which is the best.

 

[Dïscfärm]

I have to say that I would trust the Sparkle the most... never had one, but they seem to be recomended around the block...

I've only known of one Sparkle to go bad, and that was after 2 years service. Otherwise, I've known of a few Enermax power supplies that have gone bad.

Tracking the failure rates of various brands of Taiwanese power supplies is not exactly my bailiwack -- or is that bailiwick.

 

[Mercutio]

I'd go with Sparkle. They're loud but they don't much.

 

[Buck]

Thanks for the power supply input thus far.

Supermicro would be nice, but I need to order these tomorrow and have them delivered overnight (without paying overnight shipping).

How loud are the Sparkle sparklers? This system sits on top of my customers desk.

 

[Mercutio]

They're loud. Loud in a "loud" sort of way. Loud enough that midrange SCSI disks aren't particularly annoying.

At least, the ones in my SuperMicro tower cases are.

 

[blakerwry]

Enlights aren't particularly quiet either... but I wouldn't call the 2 or 3 i've seen (250-300watt units) loud...

 

[blakerwry]

hmm.. where I used to work they bought enlight cases just like mine... probably 250-300 watt PSU's... they had about 20 of those for desktop use.. Now that I think about it, i kinda remember them being quiet..

However with Celery 466's, Quantum 5400rpm Fireballs, and integrated 810 graphics the PSU fan was probably the only noise maker...

 

[honold]

antec truepower, fortron, and fortron-based sparkles

 

[P5-133XL]

PC Power & Cooling, Antec True Power

 

[time]

How about Zalman?

 

[Mercutio]

I wouldn't go whining about HEC, either. They're not loud at all and reliability has been very good.

 

[JSF]

Place an order with PC Power & Cooling and have your customer zip down I5 to Carlsbad to pick it up. Their facility is visible from the freeway on the west side. Address: 5995 Avenida Encinas. A good breakfast is available at a restaurant on the east side of the freeway, across from the facility.

Joe.

 

[Buck]

antec truepower, fortron, and fortron-based sparkles

Are the Fortron-based Sparkles the ones that start the part number with the letter "F"?

 

[CityK]

yes...FSPxxxxx-xxx

I've never used a fortron/sparkle, but people do seem to have good things to say about them. Apparently, one of the versions of the 350W supply has a variable speed fan (temperature and load controlled), and is not that loud - have heard that Directron sells that version, whereas Newegg has the noisy variety.

Outside of your list .... get an Antec TP. Although good quality (made for them by Fortron?), PCP&C is insanely expensive and offers nothing that you can't get in the MUCh cheaper Fortron/Sparkle or Antecs.

CK

 

[mubs]

Or, you could zip up to Fry's in Fountain Valley (up the 405) or to the one in Anaheim (near the 91 & 57 Fwy junction) and get one of the Antecs. A guy I know used to be in the business of selling power supplies (to Intel for their server cases, to Cisco for their gear, etc.). Whenever we chatted about PC power supplies, he would always tell me to "shut up and get an Antec". He never worked for them, though.

 

[NRG = mc²]

I like the Antecs. Pretty quiet and good quality.

As I've become a reseller for quiet stuff, I've had the chance to test the Zalman 400W PSUs... they're extremely well built, weigh a ton, and are very quiet. I mean really quiet, even under load. They look infinitely cool as well with that black casing and NMB fan.

 

[time]

I'll second the vote of confidence in HEC.

 

[Dïscfärm]

Well, it's not like I have it in specifically for PC Power & Cooling, but, every product sample I've had from them (cases and power supplies) over the years never impressed me, especially after I learned their retail prices.

PCP&C products seem to have high prices for no perceivable return in value. I especially did not like the cases they offered in the past -- expensive and needlessly complex designs that weren't going to be capable of taking much in the form of punishment.

 

[honold]

pcp&c seems to have rabid fans that date back to the days when pc magazine actually meant something to people. they bought something, it worked, and they've been rabid ever since. i don't get it really

 

[Howell]

pcp&c seems to have rabid fans that date back to the days when pc magazine actually meant something to people. they bought something, it worked, and they've been rabid ever since. i don't get it really

Maybe its because we still have the power supplies "that date back to the days when pc magazine actually meant something to people". They just keep running, fans and all. That's not to say they are not overpriced. Antec TP PSs came with my Antec cases I bought. They got louder quicker. Nothing a couple $10 fans won't fix though.

 

[P5-133XL]

PC Power & Cooling has three claims to fame. They last, have very good voltage regulation, and they will create custom PS for special uses at a reasonable price. Especially their top end products. They are not known for their quiet fans. Their fans tend to be average for noise.

I've never been impressed with their cases.

 

[Fushigi]

Maybe its because we still have the power supplies "that date back to the days when pc magazine actually meant something to people". They just keep running, fans and all. That's not to say they are not overpriced. Antec TP PSs came with my Antec cases I bought. They got louder quicker. Nothing a couple $10 fans won't fix though.

I bought a PCP&C TurboCool 350 about 4 or 5 years ago (I've lost track). Between SETI & F@H it's been running nearly 24x7 ever since. For maintenance I've blown the accumulated dust out a few times; that's all. It's powered anywhere up to 5 SCSI drives + a slot-based and now a socket-based Athlon.

It just works, and that's exactly what I want.

- Fushigi

 

[zx]

If you want low noise, Antec PSU's are a good choice. They seem to have a very good quality too.

 

[Jake the Dog]

I just purchased an Antec TruePower 480W today. I chose the Antec based on about 3 hours web research. of all the reviews and usenet articles I read on Antec, Enermax, Vantec, Sparkle (Topower), ThermalTake, Codegen, Leadman & JustCooler, the Antec TruePower line of PSU's consistently got good review ratings from reviews, testers and users alike. Enermax also rated well but overall Antec seemed to privide the best voltage stability under load and as well, the best overall build quality.

in case you're interested, this was oine of the better articles: http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1774&p=1

 

[Jake the Dog]

btw, for a budget PSU I've found the Codegens available locally are quite acceptable, in fact, I'm very impressed them. before having used them, I didn't think that much of them other then they were a nicely priced for a 'value' PSU. a 450Watter can be had for as cheap as AU$65. I had a 450W unit powering a dual XP1700+'s system that had two CD devices, two HDD's and an overclocked Ti4600. the 5V rail on this system presented the PSU with the biggest drain (peaking at 32A!) and the Codegen 450Watter managed to keep it's 5V at 4.69V. whilst this isn't fantastic it's not that bad considering that the 550W Enhance I replaced it with could do a best of 4.71V. for an additional AU$300 I would expected more than 0.02V!

since then I've used 2 other Codegen PSU and they have been fine and powered some of the most stable overclocked systems I've had.

Still, I went with the Antec 'cause I wanted a premium quality unit. whilst the Codegens seems to perform well, I would label them premium.

 

[Buck]

Thanks for all of your input regarding power supplies. After getting a replacement power supply, I find out that the customer's motherboard is bad too.

 

[Jake the Dog]

whilst the Codegens seems to perform well, I would label them premium.

... I wouldn't label them premium