Antec PSU Concerns

[darklordbri]

i'm building a new system and i bought an Antec Sonata II case that has an Antec Smartpower 2.0 450W PSU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103936). i've been reading reviews on newegg about this particular PSU and i'm starting to worry about this in my setup. i'm looking to get something else so that i can bypass any issues with it dieing and possibly killing components. what should i look at? i'm having trouble understanding what to look for in terms of rails, amps, voltages, etc. i'd appreciate any help!

new system specs:
AMD Athlon64 X2 4200+ Socket AM2
DFI INFINITY NF ULTRAII-M2
2GB "Unknown Brand" DDR2 667MHZ RAM
256MB SAPPHIRE Radeon X1900XT
2+ SATA HDD's
2 Optical Drives

 

[imported_stev]

My SP-400 from my Antec TX640B case died and nothing else was damaged. Maybe the bad caps don't affect the electronics that protect the computer components? It seems to me that the unit could still be well-designed, even if it has bad caps, but I'm no expert.

 

[darklordbri]

how long did it take for it to die?

 

[darklordbri]

bttt

 

[Boyo]

Take a look at the new Corsair PSU or the Enermax Liberty line. You want a PSU with 80% effeciency. It's a shame because I would normally direct you to JohnnyGuru's website, but he took it down.

 

[Yourself]

Originally posted by: Boyo
Take a look at the new Corsair PSU or the Enermax Liberty line. You want a PSU with 80% effeciency. It's a shame because I would normally direct you to JohnnyGuru's website, but he took it down.

It's up....isnt it?

 

[Ausm]

I bought my Sonata II case for 89 after rebate so if my PSU dies I won't to upset. oh my rig has been running 24X7 for a month now with no problems whatsoever.


Ausm

 

[jones377]

My Antec SP2 450 died and took a motherboard with it...

 

[darklordbri]

yea i'm gettin the sonata II case with psu for like $75 AR or somethin like that. on newegg, all the people who have had problems with the PSU have had it start after several months of use. some 6 months, others 10 months. there didnt seem to be a case where right from the get-go it didnt work.

i'll take a look at that link too.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

You know the risk going in and you are still ready to put your hardware at risk.
Silly boy!

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: darklordbri
yea i'm gettin the sonata II case with psu for like $75 AR or somethin like that. on newegg, all the people who have had problems with the PSU have had it start after several months of use. some 6 months, others 10 months. there didnt seem to be a case where right from the get-go it didnt work.

i'll take a look at that link too.

$75 is rip off; the Sonta is $50 case. The worthless lump of a PSU it comes with dosn't add any vaule to it.

 

[darklordbri]

well i thought it was a good price at the time so i'm not concerned if it was a rip off or not. i needed a case and really liked this one so it was perfect. plus if i sell the PSU and make $20 at least then there is no ripoff.

 

[darklordbri]

so what do people think of this PSU for my setup above?

Cooler Master Real-Power 450W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817171001

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: darklordbri
so what do people think of this PSU for my setup above?

Cooler Master Real-Power 450W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817171001

OK, but this would be better.

 

[darklordbri]

will that one have enough amperage between the dual 12v rails to allow for my setup to run well? esp with that x1900xt?

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: darklordbri
will that one have enough amperage between the dual 12v rails to allow for my setup to run well? esp with that x1900xt?

Yes.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: Boyo
Take a look at the new Corsair PSU or the Enermax Liberty line. You want a PSU with 80% effeciency. It's a shame because I would normally direct you to JohnnyGuru's website, but he took it down.

There is no absolute truth to that statement....
Just becuase a PSU is rated 80% does NOT mean it is built well....
does NOT mean it is a relaible PSU.......
does NOT mean 6 months or a year from now it will not go bad on you....


The efficiency rating of a particular PSU has nothing to do with quality...relaibility or even workmanship for that matter....

There are many PSU`s rated in the high 70`s that are top quality in everyway...including workmanship....reliabilty....

yet the 80% goal of efficiency is a very good goal....
But don`t be fooled into believeing that if that criteria is met everything else will fall into place.

I am not down at all on that 80plus site......
Its an excelent site!!

I am just being real.....80% means nothing if a year from now your PSU decides to take a dump.....

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: darklordbri
so what do people think of this PSU for my setup above?

Cooler Master Real-Power 450W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817171001

OK, but this would be better.

Go with the Seasinic ovr the Coolermaster.....

The CoolerMaster has bling...but the Seasonic reeks of quality compared to the Coolermaster!!

 

[darklordbri]

The CoolerMaster has bling...but the Seasonic reeks of quality compared to the Coolermaster!!

is 380W enough though? the DFI motherboard says it should have a minimum of a 400W supply to run properly.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: darklordbri

The CoolerMaster has bling...but the Seasonic reeks of quality compared to the Coolermaster!!

is 380W enough though? the DFI motherboard says it should have a minimum of a 400W supply to run properly.

you need to take psu specs with a small grain of salt. there is no standard for how they measure their psus. going with a brand like seasonic, that has a good history is one way to do it. also the way they get their efficiency rating from their own tests is not standardized because as different temps and power ratings the psu is more or less efficient. here is a website that does their own tests on different items, including computer psus - they may not be perfect but at least a outside opinion.

personally, knock on wood, i have ran antec psus for about 7yrs without any incident but maybe i am the luck one. don't know.

 

[MrX8503]

For the last time do not use Antec PSU's from the smartpower line.

 

[modestninja]

There's always the enhance models, 5140gh (400W) and 5150gh (500W) at ewiz via froogle. Great quality like the Seasonics and quite a bit less expensive. See JohnnyGuru's site for the 5140gh review. Also the Silverstone Element ST50EF-PLUS is essentially a rebadged version of the new 5150gh.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Originally posted by: bob4432
personally, knock on wood, i have ran antec psus for about 7yrs without any incident but maybe i am the luck one. don't know.

You aren't the only one *knock on wood* and I'm currently running a 6 month old Antec TPII *knock again on wood*

 

[kenji4life]

As an owner of both the seasonic and the coolermaster in question, I'll vouch that both are good psus

however in hindsight i wouldn't have purchased the coolermaster had i known of the true quality of the seasonics

that being said, i'll take the seasonic 9.9 times out of 10.

it's more efficient
more quiet
higher quality
and lacks the blue light (which on my cm burnt out btw)

 

[anagrama]

It is not only the smartpower series... I got an old Sonata case from Antec, with a 380W TruePower PSU. Today it exploded on me. Seems like it was kind enough to not take the hard disks with it, though.

Unbelievable that it still is so difficult to find reliable power sources, even though failing PSU's have been a problem for many years.