Can You Guys/Girls Help Me Pick Between These Two Power Supplies?

I was supposed to buy a psu at the end of last year before I went on vacation but didn't have the chance to do so. Well I finally have time to complete this task after coming back from vacation and working through the first bit of this year. You see I had a built my own system about 2 years ago with the help of SRX600 and SAMM here at geekstogo.com. I decided to purchase a temporary cheap $20 psu by a no name brand called DEER while I was building my pc back than. Well as you know one thing leads to another and heck this darn psu is still in my pc. LOL

Anyways it's time for me to purchase a real psu by a major brand before this one decides to go down the toilet. Nothings wrong with it but I've had it for far too long. And I rather have my equipment powered by a professional psu. In the end I came to just two choices:

1. Enermax FMA II DXX EG465P-VE 460W V2.2 2Fan 20/24P 2x6P RoHS ATX PS

Store Info: http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?d...&cid=PS.808

Official Manufacturer Info: http://www.enermaxusa.com/catalog/product_...products_id=132

http://www.canadacomputers.com/ProductImages/013581/145.jpg

2. Enermax NT II DXX EG495P-VE 485W V2.2 2Fan 20/24P 2x6P RoHS ATX PS

Store Info: http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?d...&cid=PS.808

Official Manufacturer Info: http://www.enermaxusa.com/catalog/product_...products_id=132

http://www.canadacomputers.com/ProductImages/006322/342.jpg




I don't know which of the two I should get. This will be my first time buying a professional psu. You can see the list of hardware I use on my forum signature. I've got quite a bit of pricey hardware in my pc so I want to get what's best for me. The cheap no name DEER brand psu I'm currently using is 450watt.

I'd like to know three things:

1. Which of the two psu's is better for me to get for my current setup?

2. Does anyone know if the first one keeps the fans on for 2 minutes after you shutdown your pc like my second choice? I don't even know if that small time frame when the fans would keep spinning after shutdown would even matter. Check the product specs if you don't know the feature I'm talking about.

3. I currently have a lot of things plugged into my outlets surge bar. My pc is one of them... As I said I have a 450watt psu in my pc case. So I'm a bit iffy about buying one of the two psu's above because they are higher in wattage. I don't want to trip the breakers in my home because I use a higher wattage psu. But does switching my current 450watt psu for a higher wattage psu even matter? I mean psu's only use the amount of electricity the hardware inside a pc needs right? It doesn't necessarily mean that if I switch my 450 watt psu to a higher 460 or 485 watt psu, that it'll be drawing the max amount of wattage listed on the psu will it? I basically want to know if psu's run at the wattage amount of all the inside hardware connected to it in a pc, or the electricity always runs at the max wattage listed on the psu.



My Pc Equipment: [Internal & External]
HP Vectra VL400 Motherboard
Lin Lin FC-PGA To FC-PGA Socket 370 Adapter
Intel Pentium 3 Tualatin 1.4Ghz Processor (Socket 370)
512MB PC133 Infineon Sdram (2 x 256MB)
80GB Western Digital IDE Hard Drive
160GB Western Digital IDE Hard Drive
10GB Maxtor IDE Hard Drive
500GB Seagate Free Agent Pro External Usb/Esata Hard Drive
LG Dual Layer DVD-RAM +/-/R/RW (x2)
Windows Xp Home w/Service Pack 2
ATI Sapphire Radeon 9550 256MB 128Bit AGP4X V+D+T
M Audiophile 192 Professional Sound Card
Philips VOIP4331B Dect 6.0 Usb Msn/Standard Phone
HP Ultra VGA 1280 17'' CRT (Monitor #1)
LG 720p HDTV VGA 37LG30 37" LCD (Monitor #2)
VX-1000 Microsoft Lifecam Web Camera
IVT Bluetooth v2.0 Usb Dongle
Penguin Gear 5 Port Usb 2.0 Pci Card
Mad Catz Analog Joystick USB Pc Controller
Cooler Master Silent Led Light Fans (x3)
Shared Dvd Rom 40 Pin Ide Ribbon Cable (x1)
Shared HDD 80 Pin Ide Ribbon Cable (x1)
Deer 450 Watt PSU w/20/24 Pin Connector
Mutant Mods Acrylic Atx/Micro Atx Case

 

Switching power supplies vary their output based on system demand - well, linear PSUs can't force more into the sytem than it can use either, but they dump a lot more in waste heat (IOW they use much more input power than a switcher to produce the same output over most of the output range - one never hears about linear PSUs for PCs any more - too big and heavy and wasteful) . I'm thinking an Antec Earthwatts 430 or 500W unit will do at least as well and probably cost less than the ones you linked. I've sold a bunch of the EA-380s w/o one complaint. Neither of the units you linked appear to be 80 Plus certified as the Earthwatts are (OEM for Antec by Seasonic). you can often find deals on them on eBay, etc.

.bh.

 

Whoa what does that mean?

So your saying the two choices I made are bad? Sorry but I didn't understand much of what you said. I'm new to this whole psu thing... -D

 

80 plus certified means that a PSU has been certified has being at least 80 percent efficient 100% of the time, even when the load is at or near 100%. If the PSU is not 80+ certified, chances are it runs at 60% to 75% efficiency at the most. There are some good PSUs that aren't certified however. The one I'm running is 87% percent efficient at a 25% load (which is where the PSU is going to be most of the time), and the efficiency slowly drops as the power draw increases. At 95% load (just under the maximum the PSU can pump out) I'm still at 76% which is pretty freakin' good when compared to some PSUs. But mine isn't 80+ certified. And, no, your selections weren't bad, but there's better choices available for about the same price. For more info about 80+ visit this link http://80plus.org/index.htm

Here's a quote from the Enermax web site (it was at one of the links provided above) :

Apparently, Enermax says both the PSUs linked to above have efficiency ratings > 80%, but that is their rating, not a neutral outsiders rating, but an internal 'biased' rating. It's probably close to accurate, but the lack of the "official" 80+ cert IMO means that the PSUs may not run at over 80% all of the time. They can advertise "> 80% efficiency" if they achieve that at some point during the PCs power-on cycle, they don't necessarily have to be over 80% all the time like they would if they had the 80+ cert.

 

Well from what I understand off that url is that 80% certified means less heat in your system and less energy used. Well I forgot something... My second choice had a link to the manufacturers website for more specs and I put the wrong link. I'll post it here:

http://www.enermaxusa.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_46&products_id=110

This one says 80% energy efficient too... Well I don't see how this would be a problem even if it's not certified and only an internal opinion by the company. My pc doesn't get too hot anyways... I'm using a Pentium 3 remember? I have 3 cooling fans too, so the air is always cool.

 

Enermax's 80% means it hits at least a MAXIMUM 80% efficiency somewhere in the output range while 80 Plus certified (see http://www.80Plus.org) units must hit a MINIMUM of 80% efficiency over the 20 to 90% of output range (no PSU I'm aware of hits at least 80% across 100% of the output range). Some of the best hit near 90% efficient at some points in that 20 to 90% range (several of the good PSU reviewers confirm the 80 Plus ratings - see www.jonnyguru.com, hardwaresecrets.com and silentpcreview.com. So with an 80 Plus unit, you should save some electricity money over a year's usage over an equivalent, uncertified unit. IAC, Seasonic has been considered superior to Enermax for some time now. Besides most current Antec models, Seasonic also makes Corsair, some OCZ and several other CPU brands. Most of the Seasonic line and OEM brands that they make are 80 Plus certified which have little noise in the output and stable voltages. Many Enermax models are still fine, but just not up to the Seasonic standard. Seasonic is considered a top tier PSU maker, while Enermax has slipped to second tier and most of their PSUs are now OEMed from others like Topower, etc. Not sure if they actually manufacture any of their own models any more.

.bh.

 

Wow and I just bought the first choice I made:

Enermax FMA II DXX EG465P-VE 460W V2.2 2Fan 20/24P 2x6P RoHS ATX PS

Store Info: http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?d...&cid=PS.808

Official Manufacturer Info: http://www.canadacomputers.com/ProductImages/013581/145.jpg


I did it because they had just one left at the local store and it's Saturday so they sell units quick. So did I make a bad choice? I really just want this psu to last me a few years. I hope I didn't make a bad decision by rushing this. It's just that Seasonic is a bit more pricey than what I can afford. Well in the end I guess anything is better than my 450 WATT no name brand "DEER" psu right?

 

Quite true, Deer and its many siblings are considered bottom-feeders - down there below 3rd tier. Enermax are still very good. I had a Liberty model here for a while which looked sharp and worked well.

.b.h.

 

Don't get me wrong the new enermax psu I bought works well and everything. But for some odd reason I hear a very very very faint pulsating noise coming from inside my pc case now. I can't pinpoint exactly where but I'd have to say it's got to be the psu because the sound was not present before. I'm a sound engineer so I can hear the smallest and faintest sounds. I have a "good" ear for these things. It sounds like electricity running through water like they do in the movies. That electrical "pulsating" type noise that you'd see in many films. It's faint though, almost to the point that it sounds muted. Should this be present or am I just losing my mind? Maybe it's the fact that there's two fans on the psu instead of one like my last psu. & I guess it's probably making the noises as one of them turns? Or could this faint pulsing sound be the psu cleaning the energy coming into my pc? No one else seems to hear it but me... Am I losing my marbles? :major