best psu?

tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
edited March 2006 in Hardware
I have $100 to spend on a new ATX PSU, any suggestions?

currently running...
AMD 64 3200+
Asus K8V Se Deluxe
1.5 Gigs pc3200
ATI x800XL AGP

any suggestions would be appreciated. Doesnt have to be SLI supportive, as you can tell I dont have pci-e. thanks

Comments

  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited February 2006
    Newegg has the THERMALTAKE TR2 500W Power Supply for around $80. I recently built a a desktop Dothan system for my brother using the 470 watt version like this psu and I was very impressed, to say the least. It has 1-120mm fan in it and is very quiet and all the cables are sleeved too. Plus, the shiny black paint job on the psu looks damn spiffy too. It also has good solid rails. In all, I think it's a damn good deal for the price. It's heavy too, which indicates that they are using decent sized heatsinks inside.
  • madmatmadmat
    edited February 2006
    The Ultra X2 (550W) runs around $100. It's a very good PSU with strong rails, it's modular and the cables are fairly easy to route.

    I've had one apart and I can tell you that it's very well built plus it's SLI compatible and offers EATX compatability with 20+4 ATX power (the last 4 pins on the 24 pin ATX plug snaps off) and has both 4 pin and 8 pin (2x2 and 4x2) auxilary 12V plugs. All told Ultra's really stepped up on their quality plus it offers a lifetime warranty.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited February 2006
    The TT I linked to also has the same plug features as the Ultra that madmat is talking about too. But it doesn't have a lifetime warrantee. Hopefully Ultra has someone building their psu's beside Powmax now, because that's who used to be their supplier. But I haven't actually seen and handled one like madmat, so he should know much more about their present day quality.
  • tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
    edited February 2006
    I've always thought the x2's have a nice design. I think I'll give that a try.

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1273350&Sku=ULT31851 pefect luck, $100
  • TheSmJTheSmJ
    edited February 2006
    The Antec Smartpower 500W is going for $50 after rebate at CompUSA right now (I think $80, then a $30 mail in). It also has that modular cable design.
  • rykoryko new york
    edited February 2006
    my vote is for a superflower (TIGI) 550w modular w/ a 140mm....on special at directron for $79 + shipping. I have one and it has been a rock solid beast for my work/file server. don't let the pics frighten you---they are out-of-date. the updated version is much nicer with a mirror finish and black cable wrap instead of that wierd green. plus it's nice and heavy and TIGI has been making quality psus for years.

    http://www.directron.com/tt550k14.html
  • madmatmadmat
    edited February 2006
    Here's the insides of the Ultra in case you were curious to see it.

    UltraX2lores.jpg
    I'm working on a review of it so that's all I can share, just thought I'd give y'all a teaser.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    I'll take your word for it that the new Ultras are good PSUs. I've no experience nor knowledge of them whatsoever. But with that said, the picture above...well, those are not large sinks. I know that doesn't make or break a PSU, but Antec's heatsinks are much larger.
  • madmatmadmat
    edited February 2006
    the 'sinks are sitting directly under a 120mm fan. Most 120mm fan equipped PSUs have smaller 'sinks than their 80mm counterparts.

    that said here's what my 480W Tru Blue looks like inside:
    AntecTruBlue480.jpg
    The sinks are very similar in size...
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    ryko wrote:
    my vote is for a superflower (TIGI) 550w modular w/ a 140mm....on special at directron for $79 + shipping. I have one and it has been a rock solid beast for my work/file server. don't let the pics frighten you---they are out-of-date. the updated version is much nicer with a mirror finish and black cable wrap instead of that wierd green. plus it's nice and heavy and TIGI has been making quality psus for years.

    http://www.directron.com/tt550k14.html
    I echo ryko on the superflower (TIGI). I have one and it is just as solid as my PC P&C. If you wat to look forward a bit more this SILVERSTONE SST-ST50EF 500W is an even better choice as is this FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX500-A, 2.0 version, 2 SATA, PCI Express, 500W.
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited February 2006
    http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=S47ATX

    You still have $1 to spare too :).

    (Btw this psu pwns all in its price range)

    PC power and cooling for the win !.
  • madmatmadmat
    edited February 2006
    GrayFox wrote:
    http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=S47ATX

    You still have $1 to spare too :).

    (Btw this psu pwns all in its price range)

    PC power and cooling for the win !.

    Sorry but the Ultra puts out 536W continuous across the 3.3V, 5V and 12V rails, has higher efficiency (78%) and offers the same regulation (5%) plus is quieter and modular.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited February 2006
    That is a great find though, GrayFox. Getting a PC P&C psu for that price is a good bargain, IMO. madmat, is that Ultra rated at 50 C like the PC P&C GrayFox linked to? I kind of doubt it; they are about the only psu manufacturer I know of that rate their psu's at that high an operating temp. I have a Turbo Cool 510AG and it's definitely da shiznit for stability and power that I've ever had (plus I got a great deal on it from mmonnin :D ).
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited February 2006
    madmat wrote:
    Sorry but the Ultra puts out 536W continuous across the 3.3V, 5V and 12V rails, has higher efficiency (78%) and offers the same regulation (5%) plus is quieter and modular.

    The Ultra is manufactured by powmax (At least the xconnect was)
    The xconnect was a 350W powmax in a new box

    Every since then I have had no respect for ultra and I belive everyone should avoid them.

    This pc power and cooling is showing you the watage at 50C its probably about 600W at the 24C that the ultra is benched at.

    Ultra is a very crappy brand.

    If he doesn't get the pc power and cooling the fsp and the silverstone are great choices.
  • rykoryko new york
    edited February 2006
    please people....how about talking about products you have actually had experience with?

    the ultra bashing is a little ridiculous. how do you know it's so crappy if you have never dealt with one? I have an x-connect in my gaming rig and it has been wonderfully stable since it's purchase almost a year ago. and it has been stressed in an overclocked rig this whole time. the only real problem that i have with it are it's 80mm fans which don't really provide enough cooling for my comfort. luckily i have massive rear exhaust which helps the x-connect to breath better. looks like ultra has listened to the complaints of it's customer's and the new x2 connect looks to be much better in the cooling department.

    http://xoxide.com/ultra-x-connect2-uvblue.html

    and the powmax rumours are not true. the x-connect is not a rebranded 350w powmax. this is just plain garbage.

    p.s. madmat where's that review?
  • madmatmadmat
    edited February 2006
    GrayFox wrote:
    The Ultra is manufactured by powmax (At least the xconnect was)
    The xconnect was a 350W powmax in a new box

    Every since then I have had no respect for powmax and I belive everyone should avoid them.

    This pc power and cooling is showing you the watage at 50C its probably about 600W at the 24C that the ultra is benched at.

    Ultra is a very crappy brand.

    If he doesn't get the pc power and cooling the fsp and the silverstone are great choices.

    Sorry but I've seen the numbers on the Ultra benched independently for an hour continuously at 536W. Ultra was NEVER made by Powmax, they were made by some company named Young Chen or something similar. I don't know where you got your information but Powmax doesn't make a PSU at all, they have them made to their specs. For all you or I know they could be buying PSUs from the same guys that make Antecs, as long as they spec out a crappy PSU that's what the builder will supply.

    The Ultra is rated 535W @ 40C 50C is an industrial spec used for mission critical PSUs and I really doubt the PC P&C supply will hit 600W downhill in a windstorm, the 510TC hits that and costs damn near double the price on the smaller PSU.

    Ryko: I'm working on it, moving and looking for work has sort of taken up a great deal of my time.
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited February 2006
    madmat wrote:
    Sorry but I've seen the numbers on the Ultra benched independently for an hour continuously at 536W. Ultra was NEVER made by Powmax, they were made by some company named Young Chen or something similar. I don't know where you got your information but Powmax doesn't make a PSU at all, they have them made to their specs. For all you or I know they could be buying PSUs from the same guys that make Antecs, as long as they spec out a crappy PSU that's what the builder will supply.

    The Ultra is rated 535W @ 40C 50C is an industrial spec used for mission critical PSUs and I really doubt the PC P&C supply will hit 600W downhill in a windstorm, the 510TC hits that and costs damn near double the price on the smaller PSU.

    Ryko: I'm working on it, moving and looking for work has sort of taken up a great deal of my time.
    Ive seen enough dead ultras ive come in contact with 4 ive seen 2 dead.

    Powmax use to have a link to ultra's site and if you look at the older revisions of the xconnect you can see powmax's logo on the pcb.

    Anyways I don't want a flame war so lets just leave it at this.
  • madmatmadmat
    edited February 2006
    I've seen dead Antecs, Enermaxes along with others I forget the name of. That's pointless. My point is that Ultra actually cares about their product, their new PSUs are a quantum leap ahead of what they were selling and as far as that goes they started working on fixing what was wrong with their old lines back when they started having troubles.

    It's silly to stigmatize a company because they made a mistake, Antec isn't having the best time imaginable with ASUS AMD boards ATM but I wouldn't start calling them crap over a glitch that they're working frantically to cure.

    Same goes with ATI and the Quake/Quack debacle or nVidia and their "optimized" drivers.

    My point is simply this, stop living in the past, what was has happened but get over it. Until someone starts having issues I'd consider it safe to assume that the isssues of old have be addressed and fixed.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited February 2006
    I have no actual experience with the Ultra psu's, so will take your word that they are quality stuff now, madmat. I'm glad to see that they are rating their psu's at 40 C, since that's a lot higher than most other companies such as Enermax rate theirs at (which was around 25C if I remember right). But if I had to choose between the Ultra you linked to and the PC P&C that Grayfox linked to, I still think I would go with the PC P&C. Not because I think the Ultra is crap, but I know what kind of products PC P&C puts out versus an unknown to me like the Ultra. It all comes down to personal choice and either would make a great psu for tmh88. :)

    EDIT: And you are so right about living in the distant past about a company too. If you remember, OCZ used to be known for their shoddy products and shady dealings in the distant past and now they are one of the premier manufacturers of quality parts and excellent support nowdays.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    ryko wrote:
    my vote is for a superflower (TIGI) 550w modular w/ a 140mm....on special at directron for $79 + shipping. I have one and it has been a rock solid beast for my work/file server. don't let the pics frighten you---they are out-of-date. the updated version is much nicer with a mirror finish and black cable wrap instead of that wierd green. plus it's nice and heavy and TIGI has been making quality psus for years.

    http://www.directron.com/tt550k14.html

    ditto!:thumbsup:
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    the 'sinks are sitting directly under a 120mm fan. Most 120mm fan equipped PSUs have smaller 'sinks than their 80mm counterparts
    Oh, OK. Learn sumpin everday. :bigggrin:

    All my PSUs have 120mm fan intakes at the bottom. Fortunately, I have had to pull any of them apart. Previously, with the older model PSUs, most of them were disassembled once or twice to exhange quiet 80mm fans for cheap, junky, loud 80mm fans.
  • SmiGDigSmiGDig Albany, NY
    edited February 2006
    Do any PSUs today come with adjustable pots inside?

    The older Antec PP-412X is a great PSU that you can adjust the 5v and 12v rails on, up or down to suit your setup perfectly. Mine is still pumping away powering my Athlon XP Mobile 35W 1.6 @ 2.4GHz and all my other accessories.

    Thats one good story for anyone considering Antec PSUs.
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited February 2006
    SmiGDig wrote:
    Do any PSUs today come with adjustable pots inside?

    The older Antec PP-412X is a great PSU that you can adjust the 5v and 12v rails on, up or down to suit your setup perfectly. Mine is still pumping away powering my Athlon XP Mobile 35W 1.6 @ 2.4GHz and all my other accessories.

    Thats one good story for anyone considering Antec PSUs.


    Im pretty sure the Pc power and cooling does.
  • rykoryko new york
    edited February 2006
    ocz powerstream also...
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    So do the Superflower/TTGI PSU's. You can actually crank them up quite high.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    mtgoat wrote:
    So do the Superflower/TTGI PSU's. You can actually crank them up quite high.
    hunh?

    dude if you tell me I've had adjustable pots all this time I will freak.
    Where are they? Why am I always the last to find these things out?;D ??
  • SquillSquill Chesterfield, Va
    edited March 2006
    I got a nice 450 watt thermaltake PSU off Newegg about 6-9 months ago and I love it. Last time I looked they didnt have the same model that I bought but I'm sure all their new PSU's are good. The thing weighs 8 lbs and from what I heard the more they weigh that means the better they are. But I got it for like $60.
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