Psu

Has anyone bought a PSU unit with 25amps or more on the 12v rail, i just installed an extra couple of fans and the unit i have can't handle 8. Most seem to be twin 12v rails with a reduced amperage of 14a/15a. Temperature control must be fan, and PSU must be within the ATX specs, and be a 24 pin job.

Stay away from Luxurae, made by Silent x, the 5v rail goes down to 4.58 under mild load. The 3.3v rail craps out at 3.12 as well. That's well outside the ATX specs, so i returned it.

As a replacement i was sent the Stealth 420w made by Vantec. That was returned because the 5v rail gave a reading of 4.51, and could cause problems coming out of standby.

As a replacement i was sent a unit made by Akasa, called the Paxpower. That went back when i found the 5v rail was only 4.74.

Has anyone bought a PSU that's inside the ATX spcifications.

 

I've had PSUs with similar readings and never seen a problem in the last 5 years with various systems.

The best I've come up with has been Antec, though.

Current readings from Core Center:

vcore: 1.46
3.3v: 3.23
5v: 4.92
12v: 11.54

Thats with an Antec Neopower 480w PSU.

 

I just got a antec truepower 430 watt psu it does 26Amps on the 12v rail.
but it was kindof pricey. Antec makes some nice quality parts tho'
here's the link to the one I got, just look under specifications for more details:

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=20430

good luck in your search

 

Thanks a million guys, i owe you a beer.

What i find amazing is most of the big boys claim to be within ATX specs, and are a little economical with the truth.

 

ATX specifications.... Anything outside the range is not ATX.

RAIL

Variance / Minimum / Maximum​

3.5v

5% /3.14v / 3.47v​

5v

5% /4.75v/ 5.25v​

12v

5% /11.4v / 12.6v​

5v standby

5% / 4.74v / 5.25v​

-12v

10% / -10.8v / -13.2v​

They calculate the claimed wattage by adding all the rails up, and come up with the figure. The most amusing thing is, there is not one PSU on this planet that can supply the maximum wattage from all rails, at the same time. If you tried, the thing would probably go poof and die. So not one person has the power output that they paid for, me included.

 

Number of failures based on a PSU that I've had in past 12yrs with about 10 different PCs: 2.

1) The fan died on an Antec - which didn't cause any problems but whatever, and
2) Enermax Imploded crapping out a memory stick and itself.

as long as your not buying generic and your over the minimum you need, last part I would give a shat about.

 

No prob, but I didnt post that http://forums.majorgeeks.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

 

I have never had a psu within atx spec,or never had a bios or program that read them within atx spec,the only way to test properly is to hook a testmeter up to the lines while the psu is running at full load inside a comp.If you read any reliable reviews this is the method they use and mostly the voltages are awsomely stable.

If you think about how can the readings be accurate when the testmeter your using "mobo" is being powered by the very same power supply and power your testing.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article28-page3.html

nice little read,pretty trustworthy site.

 

I've had 2 Antec True 430's die on me.

First one fan went out. RMA'd & fixed no prob.
The replacement took the MB & CPU with it. No more Antec's for me. lol

Not saying they are bad, just bad for me it seems.

 

Agreed, you can't really trust a motherboard to be 100% accurate. I'm not worried about it anyway, if my PC is stable it matters little to me.

 

I was bored so I did a little experiment for you,not under load,but speedfan and bios were both rediculously out showing rages between 11.5 and 12.5,5v was solid,3,3 was at 2.8 in speedfan that was while idle,3.3v,5v and 12,all are solid,when my computers up and running I'll do it again I havnt tried it yet with this psu but will give you the honest results under full load while running 3d or pc mark,I could eat my words,speedfan and bios could be right.

 

pic 3!

BTW its a coolermaster realpower 450 not the best in the world but seems solid!