RE: Re: PC PSU

["Malcolm Surgenor" <malcolm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks Ian that's really useful. I hadn't come across Custom PC magazine
before - it's web site carries the PSU labtest you mention plus another
interesting article on what to look for in a PSU when building a PC.
http://tinyurl.com/4xxzb

Malcolm
-----Original Message-----
From: Ian [mailto:ian@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 28 December 2004 15:16
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [ukha_d] Re: PC PSU


Don't know how relevant it is Malcolm, but I found this comparison of
PSU's
(from custom PC magazine, I think)

1st =3D Tagen TG480-U01 - 92% overall *CPC Premium Grade "the
turbocharge=
d
12V
rail and upgrade flexiblility makes this the dream PSU"
2nd =3D AOpen Xpower400W - 89% overall*CPC Approved " cheap, stable
and
quiet"

Akasa PaxPower 460W - 88% "powerful, stable and flexible"
Antec NeoPower 480W - 88% "superb stability for such a high output
PSU,
but
its expensive"
Zalman ZM400B-APS - 86% "quiet and stable, ideal choice for a
PVR"
Vantec Stealth 420W - 85% "very efficient but the 5v stanby rail is
worryingly underpower"
Seasonic Super Tornado 400W - 80% "very stable but lacks modern
features"
Enermax Coolergiant 435W - 79% "rather weak 5v rail, otherwise an
adequat=
e
design"
FSP Bluestorm 400W - 77% "dangerous tendancy to supply too much
voltage"
Asus A36-F - 69% "very weak 3.3v rail and noisy fan"
SilentX Luxurae 460W - 31% "failed to meet its claimed output by
20%"
Silentmaxx ProSilence PCS-423W - 25% "wham! bang! no thank you
ma'am"


They don't seem to like the SilentMaxx much - and it's largely down to th=
e
poor 12v feed.
It's possible that the 19A rating is accurate, and your specific unit
isn't
even hitting that.

Personally, I can vouch for the Aopen unit - I have an AOPen silent PSU
with
a 120mm Fan (this one: http://tinyurl.com/4ydfx ) Rock solid
and
absolutley
*silent* - you literally can't tell if it's on without looking at the
LEDs.
For =A330 it's a no brainer.

On that subject, I did a revamp on my Main PC recently, and fitted this
PSU,
an Arctic Cooler T2C Silent CPU fan, (http://tinyurl.com/5ps43 for =A36 )
and
a Silent cooler for my Radeon 9600XT (http://tinyurl.com/4qxt6 for =A313 =
)

My PC is now so quiet that I can literally only tell if the PC is on by
looking for the red glow of the mouse. It's some of the best money I have
spent on a PC, and has improved my desk environment enormously!

Ian.


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