Need a new PSU

Jayson113 · 12-09-2006, 07:19 AM

Hi,

I need a new PSU because my current one seems to freeze/crash my computer when gaming. Topic
HERE

Specs:
AMD Athlon 3800
1 Gb RAM
ATI Radeon X800Pro
NVIDIA nForce3 K8N Neo2

Current Power Supply:
Brand:Turbolink
Model:450ATX
Watts:450

I've read the PSU selection topic and have decided on these 3. I was going to get a ENERMAX Whisper II 535W Power Supply, but Newegg doesn't carry it anymore.

ENERMAX EG651P-VE FM(24P) ATX 550W Power Supply

THERMALTAKE TR2 500W Power Supply

SILVERSTONE Zeus SST-ST52F EPS12V 520W Power Supply

Any other suggestions are welcomed and I'm trying to not spend more than around $110 on a PSU.

Thanks in advance.

dai · 12-09-2006, 12:30 PM

go for this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817163108

**linderman** · 12-09-2006, 12:56 PM

I 2nd Dai's choice big time!

thermaltake units are junk

**Kalim** · 12-09-2006, 04:17 PM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341001

Tumbleweed36 · 12-09-2006, 04:23 PM

Hi,

You can't go wrong with dai's recommendation and that is a SUPER price for that unit. The OCZ is a pretty nice unit also, but I would not take it over the one dai recommended. Yes, forget the Thermaltake.

**blackduck30** · 12-09-2006, 04:52 PM

I will also put my recommendation with the 650W silverstone as well

**linderman** · 12-09-2006, 05:49 PM

you guys cant go wrong with any of the units reccomended here! They are all top shelf

The OCZ, Seasonic, Silverstone & most Enermax units (although you must research alittle more which enermax unit you buy, they are not all high quality; they sell many 70% efficient units)

malonn · 12-09-2006, 06:52 PM

OCZ, PC Power and Cooling, and Antec are recommended.

Tumbleweed36 · 12-09-2006, 07:12 PM

Hi malonn,

Yes, the ones you have listed are recommended as well as Silverstone, Enermax, Fortron Source, and Seasonic (who also manufacturers some of the better PC Power and Cooling and Antec supplies).

If you get a chance, read the power supply information listed under my signature area. I think you would enjoy the read.

**TheMatt** · 12-09-2006, 08:41 PM

dai's pick is an excellent unit and it is a great value, I would pick that one.

**Kalim** · 12-10-2006, 12:27 AM

Thermaltake used to be a crappy PSU manu. but is changing. Many gamers/testers/overlockers are testing and using their new PSU's as they have the same OEM supplier for the newer builds: Channel Well Technology as Antec aka Seasonic. But it depends on the model, like Enermax. A PSU tester friend of mine from FL recommends the ToughPower 680W by them most definitely, as IIRC one of the best gamers (no idea who - don't play games) is running that perfectly with Quad SLI. But nothing else for Thermaltake has been recommended to me yet.

**linderman** · 12-10-2006, 05:07 AM

Yes Kalim

you are correct; you are a knowledgeable researcher! Thats why we dont reccomend units from companies that have such a limited selection of high quality units on the market.

For all the units that Thermaltake make; they have one good sereis to choose from; and the price of those good units is neck and neck with a known top notch maker like Seasonic.

**Kalim** · 12-10-2006, 06:24 AM

I think this
Antec TruePower 650W tri 12V rail being 19A each with upto 85% efficiency is a good deal @ $100 after rebate

A lil heads up for you guys, so I thought I should post it

Thanks linderman. I have good friends and advisories aka you more than ever generously nice people and some others, you see. The cousin of close friend of mine whose related closely to someone name John from FL in States, I've heard carries out PSU testing so she drops me some info whenever she decides to have a chat

Tumbleweed36 · 12-10-2006, 07:52 AM

[quote=Kalim;725271]I think this
Antec TruePower 650W tri 12V rail being 19A each with upto 85% efficiency is a good deal @ $100 after rebate

A lil heads up for you guys, so I thought I should post it

Hi Kalim,

I have been watching this power supply and from what I am told, it is really a nice unit. A friend told me this particular one is manufactured by Seasonic, and we all know they are top-of-the-line supplies since they even manufacture some for PC Power & Cooling. I don't know that this one is by Seasonic for a fact, but that is the information I was given.

If the reviews hold up on this baby, then linderman and I need to take a look at including it in our power supply information thread as a recommended supply when we revise to keep up-to-date with the sticky..

Keep us posted if you hear any more about it whether it might be good or bad reviews, because..........Inquiring minds want to know.

Thanks for your good information...have a great day.

**Kalim** · 12-10-2006, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tumbleweed36

Hi Kalim,

I have been watching this power supply and from what I am told, it is really a nice unit. A friend told me this particular one is manufactured by Seasonic, and we all know they are top-of-the-line supplies since they even manufacture some for PC Power & Cooling. I don't know that this one is by Seasonic for a fact, but that is the information I was given.

If the reviews hold up on this baby, then linderman and I need to take a look at including it in our power supply information thread as a recommended supply when we revise to keep up-to-date with the sticky..

Keep us posted if you hear any more about it whether it might be good or bad reviews, because..........Inquiring minds want to know.

Thanks for your good information...have a great day.

It is rated top class, I mean top 3, as far as I've seen! The TruePower Trio series is very well developed and a recommendation for Oc'rs.
Its by Seasonic, yes. Apart from the fact that the three 12V rails only support 624W, its held up well in tests with upto 85% efficiency. Its supposed to have slightly increased in voltage rather than drop in loadup passing. I'll see if I can find something later on tonight.
IIRC its non-modular and Antec backs the TruePower Trio 650 with a 5 year warranty. I have come across a review somewhere on a forum with an Fx series AMD, where Prime95 and Real-Time High-Dynamic Range Image-Based Lighting (RTHDRIBL) demo v1.2 was used for stress testing; 30 minutes before the voltages were sampled under load. The Intel used was also overclocked to 265FSB aswell. It ran very solid all the way.
The stamped back grill design, the strong Al heatsinks and the 120mm fan are very cooling effective and overall seriously quiet. With 20A being the max permitted for an Intel ATX12V design to make the 240V (12x20), I think this is as close to it you can get at the top.

On a side note I couldn't help but post this: Enermax Galaxy 1KW, 5 12V rails!!!

And also, has anyone some info on the Antec Phantom 500. Its obviously a silent runner, but in testing it achieved 85-88% eff. below 200W and @ 90% efficiency for 250W, 89% @ 300W, 88% @ 350W and it stays the same all way above! Its pricey though, as the cheapest I found a few days back was @ $140.

Anyway, thanks.

**Kalim** · 12-10-2006, 10:19 AM

Antec TruePower Trio 650W:

Jayson113 · 12-10-2006, 12:55 PM

Thanks guys, much appreciated. I think I'll go for the Silverstone 650W. I don't think I'll use all of the 650W, but it's better than not being enough.

I'm kind of being skeptical and thinking it could be my RAM that's causing problems, but I may just upgrade it along with my PSU.

**Kalim** · 12-10-2006, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jayson113

Thanks guys, much appreciated. I think I'll go for the Silverstone 650W. I don't think I'll use all of the 650W, but it's better than not being enough.

I'm kind of being skeptical and thinking it could be my RAM that's causing problems, but I may just upgrade it along with my PSU.

Test your RAM to be sure beforehand. (Memetst86-Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool)

There's a very good chance your RAM is causing some problem. You could never know without testing. Upgrading is the safer way

but then again it could be your mobo if you haven't carried out the troubleshooting...

Not to scare you at all

Jayson113 · 12-10-2006, 01:13 PM

Yea, I ran Windows Memory Diagnostic extended test for about....4-5 hours and no problems were found. It's just that at idle 40% of the memory is used and when gaming, I'm sure it'll go up to maybe 100%.

Just a side question: when buying RAM it's best to buy the almost exact same as the one already installed, right?

I currently have G.SKILL Extreme Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200). At the

12-09-2006, 07:19 AM	#1 (permalink)
Jayson113 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 62 OS: Windows XP	Need a new PSU Hi, I need a new PSU because my current one seems to freeze/crash my computer when gaming. Topic HERE Specs: AMD Athlon 3800 1 Gb RAM ATI Radeon X800Pro NVIDIA nForce3 K8N Neo2 Current Power Supply: Brand:Turbolink Model:450ATX Watts:450 I've read the PSU selection topic and have decided on these 3. I was going to get a ENERMAX Whisper II 535W Power Supply, but Newegg doesn't carry it anymore. ENERMAX EG651P-VE FM(24P) ATX 550W Power Supply THERMALTAKE TR2 500W Power Supply SILVERSTONE Zeus SST-ST52F EPS12V 520W Power Supply Any other suggestions are welcomed and I'm trying to not spend more than around $110 on a PSU. Thanks in advance. Last edited by Jayson113 : 12-09-2006 at 07:20 AM.

12-09-2006, 12:30 PM	#2 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 39,454 OS: vista 32x ultimate retail	go for this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817163108 __________________

12-09-2006, 12:56 PM	#3 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 12,900 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	I 2nd Dai's choice big time! thermaltake units are junk __________________ Why would YOU try to power a $300.00 video card with a $70.00 power supply ? Do YOU enjoy trouble shooting ?

12-09-2006, 04:23 PM	#5 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 12,810 OS: XP Professional	Hi, You can't go wrong with dai's recommendation and that is a SUPER price for that unit. The OCZ is a pretty nice unit also, but I would not take it over the one dai recommended. Yes, *forget the Thermaltake. __________________ ---------- Last edited by Tumbleweed36 : 12-09-2006 at 04:25 PM.*

12-09-2006, 04:52 PM	#6 (permalink)
blackduck30 Moderator Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Wollongong/Australia Posts: 4,227 OS: XP pro SP3/Vista Ultimate My System	I will also put my recommendation with the 650W silverstone as well __________________ Blackduck30 Time is like money and milk, It's always running out Any Donations Help Keep TSF Free For All

12-09-2006, 04:17 PM	#4 (permalink)
Kalim Roaming To Help Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 5,538 OS: Many	http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341001

12-09-2006, 05:49 PM	#7 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 12,900 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	you guys cant go wrong with any of the units reccomended here! They are all top shelf The OCZ, Seasonic, Silverstone & most Enermax units (although you must research alittle more which enermax unit you buy, they are not all high quality; they sell many 70% efficient units) __________________ Why would YOU try to power a $300.00 video card with a $70.00 power supply ? Do YOU enjoy trouble shooting ?

12-09-2006, 06:52 PM	#8 (permalink)
malonn Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 44 OS: XP	OCZ, PC Power and Cooling, and Antec are recommended. __________________ Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe w/ Premium Rev. 1302 BIOS mod/ Athlon FX-55 @2815MHz, 1.5V / 2GB Corsair / 2 Hitachi Desktar's in RAID 0 / Maxtor DiamondMax 10 as back-up / 2 Geforce 7800GT's SLI / X-Fi Extreme Music / Lite On ODD / OCZ GameXstream 700W / Wireless / Gigabyte G-Power Pro / Modded Cooler Master case

12-09-2006, 07:12 PM	#9 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 12,810 OS: XP Professional	Hi malonn, Yes, the ones you have listed are recommended as well as Silverstone, Enermax, Fortron Source, and Seasonic (who also manufacturers some of the better PC Power and Cooling and Antec supplies). If you get a chance, read the power supply information listed under my signature area. I think you would enjoy the read. __________________ ----------

12-09-2006, 08:41 PM	#10 (permalink)
TheMatt Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,615 OS: Windows 3.1, 98, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	dai's pick is an excellent unit and it is a great value, I would pick that one. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

12-10-2006, 12:27 AM	#11 (permalink)
Kalim Roaming To Help Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 5,538 OS: Many	Thermaltake used to be a crappy PSU manu. but is changing. Many gamers/testers/overlockers are testing and using their new PSU's as they have the same OEM supplier for the newer builds: Channel Well Technology as Antec aka Seasonic. But it depends on the model, like Enermax. A PSU tester friend of mine from FL recommends the ToughPower 680W by them most definitely, as IIRC one of the best gamers (no idea who - don't play games) is running that perfectly with Quad SLI. But nothing else for Thermaltake has been recommended to me yet.

12-10-2006, 05:07 AM	#12 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 12,900 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	Yes Kalim you are correct; you are a knowledgeable researcher! Thats why we dont reccomend units from companies that have such a limited selection of high quality units on the market. For all the units that Thermaltake make; they have one good sereis to choose from; and the price of those good units is neck and neck with a known top notch maker like Seasonic. __________________ Why would YOU try to power a $300.00 video card with a $70.00 power supply ? Do YOU enjoy trouble shooting ?

12-10-2006, 06:24 AM	#13 (permalink)
Kalim Roaming To Help Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 5,538 OS: Many	I think this Antec TruePower 650W tri 12V rail being 19A each with upto 85% efficiency is a good deal @ $100 after rebate A lil heads up for you guys, so I thought I should post it Thanks linderman. I have good friends and advisories aka you more than ever generously nice people and some others, you see. The cousin of close friend of mine whose related closely to someone name John from FL in States, I've heard carries out PSU testing so she drops me some info whenever she decides to have a chat

12-10-2006, 07:52 AM	#14 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 12,810 OS: XP Professional	[quote=Kalim;725271]I think this Antec TruePower 650W tri 12V rail being 19A each with upto 85% efficiency is a good deal @ $100 after rebate A lil heads up for you guys, so I thought I should post it Hi Kalim, I have been watching this power supply and from what I am told, it is really a nice unit. A friend told me this particular one is manufactured by Seasonic, and we all know they are top-of-the-line supplies since they even manufacture some for PC Power & Cooling. I don't know that this one is by Seasonic for a fact, but that is the information I was given. If the reviews hold up on this baby, then linderman and I need to take a look at including it in our power supply information thread as a recommended supply when we revise to keep up-to-date with the sticky.. Keep us posted if you hear any more about it whether it might be good or bad reviews, because..........Inquiring minds want to know. Thanks for your good information...have a great day. __________________ ---------- Last edited by Tumbleweed36 : 12-10-2006 at 07:53 AM.

12-10-2006, 10:19 AM	#16 (permalink)
Kalim Roaming To Help Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 5,538 OS: Many	Antec TruePower Trio 650W:

12-10-2006, 12:55 PM	#17 (permalink)
Jayson113 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 62 OS: Windows XP	Thanks guys, much appreciated. I think I'll go for the Silverstone 650W. I don't think I'll use all of the 650W, but it's better than not being enough. I'm kind of being skeptical and thinking it could be my RAM that's causing problems, but I may just upgrade it along with my PSU.