PC Power Supply Recommendations?

Am looking for a reliable cost effective ATX Power Supply.

While researching found "Who's Who In Power Supplies, 2011: Brands Vs. Manufacturers"

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"Lack of protection circuits, low efficiency, and bad build quality were major points of criticism." Like most PC hardware seems important to do your homework.

Hope the protection circuits work. Do not want an explosive or fire problem so am especially interested in power supplies that have survived catastrophic events.

Thanks

Ken

Reply to
KenO
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You may want to check JonnyGuru.com and HardwareSecrets.com for recommended models and brands. Among the best manufacturers are Seasonic, Enhance, Win-tact, and Zippy/Emacs, but also good are Delta, Enermax, and Fortron-Source/Sparkle. These may be sold under various brands, like Corsair, Thermaltake, PC Power & Cooling, and Antec, and each of those brands may be made by several different companies. Some manufacturers produce a wide variety of quality, with the better companies simply substituting inferior brands of electrolytic capacitors in their cheaper models (Seasonics may use OST capacitors, Deltas may use Ltec), meaning the power supplies will work fine, only they won't last forever because those capacitors will rot. Capacitor quality matters a lot. For example, I have an ancient TV that's needed only 2 of its Japanese capacitors replaced in 35 years, while the digital converter box on top of it has had most of its Chinese capacitors go bad in less than two years.

Even the very worst power supplies have protection circuits, only the protection doesn't work fast enough to prevent damage.

Reply to
larry moe 'n curly

researching

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major

I read this article the other day. It won't tell you which brands you "should" or "shouldn't" buy, but it provides a lot of useful information about what to look for.

By the way, the Power Man supply in my 10-year-old computer is running fine.

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

cturer,291...

Some have had issues with Antec power supplies but I've had no problems at all. The don't run 24/7, only when being used. II have 3 Earthwatts units that auto switch 120/240 and claim high efficiency. Quad core Phenom II with 2 HDD normally run 110 Watts checked with a Kill-a-Watt. I recommend them.

G=B2

Reply to
stratus46

Reliable, powerful, cheap. Pick any two.

Interesting article, but insufficient information to even offer a recommended power supply.

If you look at the various ATX schematics found by Google Images, you won't find one that lacks input protection. That's because in order to obtain the multitude of certifications and logos plastered all over the serial number sticker, input protection is required.

What I look for is power factor correction. That will drop the efficiency somewhat, but is well worth it (and will soon be mandatory).

The manufacturers warranty only extends to the value of the power supply. The metal case does quite well at containing any explosions. However, the clear plastic fans, with plastic grill, will not survive and probably fragment if the guts explode.

A few years ago, I decided it would be interesting to see what happens if I load an ATX power supply with it's maximum ratings. The power specs are a bit complexicated, so I settled on a somewhat less than maximum load. For example, the 5V and 3.3V loads are combined for a maximum of 115W. I forgot exactly what I used:

250 watts of heat is a lot of heat.

I dug out my collection of junk ATX supplies, and fired them up. I think two of them simply shut down and gave up. One blew up, but it may have been blown before the test. Most survived for about 5 minutes, and then shut down from overheating. The 5V line dropped to as low as 4.2V on about half the supplies. The 12V line was even worse, dropping to below 11VDC. None of the junk power supplies came even close to meeting their own specifications.

So, who makes high quality ATX power supplies? Well, it's none of the commodity or OEM vendors. It's possible that the industrial and server vendors have better power supplies, but I didn't test any of those. I also can't afford them.

So, how do you pick the lesser evil power supply? Well, one way is to check the density of the components. If the PCB is sparse, with large empty gaps between components, they've cut some corners. Better power components tend to be big and heft. If the power supply is crammed full of parts, you have a good chance of having found something usable.

Also, I rather like Dell power supplies. I've had my share of Dell failures, but reliability is not the attraction. In their larger boxes, Dell uses a single 120mm cooling fan, with the speed controlled by the temperature. That makes for a very quiet machine.

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# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
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Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

FWIW, I recommend Corsair. I purchased their 650 model about 6 months ago to replaced a failed Antec. The reason I chose a Corsair is that they appear to hold up fairly well in review testing. The 650 also uses

105 degree rated Japanese capacitors (as opposed to the 85 degree Chinese caps typically used). If you check out what the gaming community favors - and they are pretty hard on power supplies - you'll notice that many choose this brand.
Reply to
Sofa Slug

I have an Antec EA380 running 24/7 without air conditioning. No problem so far....

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May the Force & farces be with you!
Reply to
Man-wai Chang

Hi larry moe 'n curly,

"You may want to check JonnyGuru.com and HardwareSecrets.com for recommended models and brands. =A0Among the best manufacturers are Seasonic, Enhance, Win-tact, and Zippy/Emacs, but also good are Delta, Enermax, and Fortron-Source/Sparkle. =A0These may be sold under various brands, like Corsair, Thermaltake, PC Power & Cooling, and Antec, and each of those brands may be made by several different companies."

Thanks for the suggestions.

"These may be sold under various brands, like Corsair, Thermaltake, PC Power & Cooling, and Antec, and each of those brands may be made by several different companies." Guess you really have to know the reputation of a specific model.

Ken

Reply to
KenO

Hi Jeff,

"What I look for is power factor correction. =A0That will drop the efficiency somewhat, but is well worth it (and will soon be mandatory). Any idea when it will become mandatory?

"I forgot exactly what I used: Tried to use the link but only got "404. That=92s an error."

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2.pdf

"So, who makes high quality ATX power supplies? =A0Well, it's none of the commodity or OEM vendors. =A0It's possible that the industrial and server vendors have better power supplies, but I didn't test any of those. =A0I also can't afford them....I rather like Dell power supplies. =A0I've had my share of Dell failures, but reliability is not the attraction. In their larger boxes, Dell uses a single 120mm cooling fan, with the speed controlled by the temperature. =A0That makes for a very quiet machine." Do you know who makes the Dell PSU with the 120mm fan?

Ken

Reply to
KenO

Set your user agent to quote properly, last two posts make no sense.

Reply to
Grant

In Europe, IEC 555-2 currently requires power factor correction to reduce harmonics on power mains in power supplies. It's been around for at least 15 years.

I don't know anything about the US status. Googling returned a muddle which will require more time to untangle than I'm willing to burn. Sorry(tm).

Very strange link. See ATX 2.2 link at:

The URL is a mix of / and \ in the path. That usually works, but not this time. There are some links here:

which seem to work better. Here's my copy in case you can't get the link to work:

It won't work for building your own machine. The case has exactly one

120mm fan and it's not inside the power supply. It's near the bottom of the case and acts as an air intake. The hot air gets blown out through the power supply vent holes.

The fan is the black thing above the disk drives. Air flow is from left to right. There's no fan in the power supply.

More on PFC

This should explain power factor:

More here:

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Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com
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Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

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