Suggestions for new psu please.

[TLH]

My Tagan has been running things quite nicely till now (see sig for spec) but I'm about to swap out my 4800 for a FX60 on this system.The X2 4800 will go into a new build and the Tagan has to go with it as I won't trust the Eagle 350w featherweight psu to it which is the only other spare I have and I'd like to replace that.So I'm looking for something with a few more watts than 480 to replace it now.

I will be buying from Scan.uk/power supplies (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Products.ASP?CatID=33&Category=Power+Supply&Thumbnails=yes) as they are the best priced place I can find over here for top end psu's.

I've read quite a few of Jonny's reviews and had decided on the OP650 but this has one drawback for me as my case is a Kandalf.The psu sits on its side in my case with a hdd cage just infront of where the 120mm fan would be.There isn't an awful lot of room between the cage and the Tagan,say about 5-6mm,at the minute so I'm thinking about a psu with a fan or fans on the end/ends now.I'm not that bothered about going modular but I would like sleeved cable or atleast twisted.

Current thinking is either Etasis ET650 or the 750 version,Silverstone ST65ZF-GM or Silverstone SST-ST75ZF.All good I take it.What would you pick and why,or would you suggest something else?

TIA.All replies appreciated.:cool:

[TLH]

No one has an opinion?

[GalvanizedYankee]

Yeah! Someone talk to this guy. :)

Welcome to this board. No cookie but I'll give you a bump.

[TLH]

rofl.I just did that.

I'd really like a little more info on why the ST65ZF doesn't carry a little more amps on the respective 12v rails (http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/st65zf/st65zf_spec.html) 13,18,16,8 on 1,2,3,and 4 when the 750w version has 18amps on each when there is only 100 watts seperating the two psu's.Seems a little low to me.

[jonnyGURU]

Because it's old. ;)

Seriously. I'm surprised it hasn't been discontinued from SilverStone's catalog.

[ianm2]

I was looking at silverston'es list the other day, its becoming as bloated as my xp's registry, rather confusing now.

hi I am in the uk and use scan from time to time.

I have the etasis 750, its great, I haven't used it in anger, but by its build, thick double circuit boards and case, I don't doubt it would hold up.

Its only drawback is that its not modular, next time due to a smallish case, I am going modular, but probably for the price, I would say its pretty good value, you can pay more and the build won't be nearly as good.

start with your max budget and target power consumption, then double both:D

but seriously, looking at the list, even in the 600watt ones, apart from the 3 cheapo ones, there are no real dogs there, I think the differences somtimes are a little overexaggerated, but of course you have to choose the best performing for your cash.

if you sort by price, the cheap 600w coolermaster and zalman are probably all you or most people could ever need.

and everyon'es favourites are the seasonic and the corsair, which I am probably going for next time, one of the zalman's I think is a seasonic/corsair, anyway, you are in the right forum

I also have an enermax noisemaker, I think I may keep that, it was quieter than the etasis, and the etasis really is a bit overkill now for my needs, its not as sturdy, but I suppose will do. jolly pricy at £85, surely that's enough for me.

finally, the 750w xclio at £75 may well be the pick of the lot, good brand, cheap, powerful, I am sure jonny will probably demolish my cheap choices, so if it were me, I would be going for the corsair or their oems

just read your post again, I don't know the kandalf case, but the etasis types are not small psu's, they are quite long, so you may either need a rethink, or even change your case. problem with end mounted fans is that they are smaller and noisier

the cow udder hiper 730w has the connectors, well, like a cows udder on the underside, but it still looks quite large, and stupid, too!!

[TLH]

Here's some photo's of the Kandalf.Hopefully it'll show you what I mean about the fan thing and why I need one in the ends rather than a 120mm in the base.

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=339

I use the hdd cage so with it in there isn't a lot of room between that and the psu.I think I could get away with any psu upto maybe 180mm long,although the shorter the better I suppose.

[madmat]

I've used the Armor (same base as the Kandalf) with 120mm cooled PSU's and with a PCP&C 850W (9" long) and in the case of the PCP&C I had to mod the case so the PSU could slide in from the rear and remove the top fan (which is nearly useless thanks to the restrictive top grille) and it worked just fine.

As to the large fan PSU, I had zero issues with the HDD cage blocking the fan off, the PSU kept as cool with the cage in as it did with it out. You're worrying about a non-issue, honestly.

[TLH]

Ah now that's good to know.This changes my whole game plan.So the OP650 I was originally looking at would be a good choice after all then?

So what's the thinking on single rail or multi rail or is that another non issue?Which is better?

[Sir_ReeL]

I have an OP650 and I like it. It's quiet and plenty powerfull.(C2D4300@3150, Tek coolers on proc and video, 4 hds 2 dvd drives and "stuff") Can never hear it over the Ultra Tec cooler. I run 2 instances of F@H 24/7 and it never ramps up.

Only downside is that it came with the wrong 8-pin pci-e plug and no adapter. Probably got it before anyone noticed.

_ReeL

[Sir_ReeL]

So what's the thinking on single rail or multi rail or is that another non issue?Which is better?

Pretty much a wash; +s and -s to each, I wanted a single rail, less likely to get a low power(amperage) condition on anything. Multi rail "may" be safer if you get a short. Most, or at least many multi rail supplys really arn't.

There is all the info here to be read, but that would take much time...

_ReeL

[TLH]

I have an OP650 and I like it. It's quiet and plenty powerfull.(C2D4300@3150, Tek coolers on proc and video, 4 hds 2 dvd drives and "stuff") Can never hear it over the Ultra Tec cooler. I run 2 instances of F@H 24/7 and it never ramps up.

Only downside is that it came with the wrong 8-pin pci-e plug and no adapter. Probably got it before anyone noticed.

_ReeL

Yeah I wondered about the 8 pin thing from the posting about the 750 version.Not that I'll be using that for a while but it'd be nice to know I got the right one when I bought it.

I looked at modular again as ianm2 mentioned it earlier.I do have a fair amount of room in my case but with the Tagan I have currently it's messy so I'm looking at the ST75F again now.It's just a little over my budget but what the heck,it'll do me for a good few years to come hopefully.

I have a couple more days to decide as there is no point ordering till next Tuesday due to it being Easter and bank holidays here.

[TLH]

So I just ran my system through one of those psu calculators and put some hefty capacitor aging into it and came up with 800w total draw if I upgrade to an 8800 in the future and add a few bits extra.If I do my system as it is currently I get around 610w.

Is the OP650 going to be enough juice for me in the future considering upgrade to 8800 or x2800 later?

Sir_ReeL what video card do you run at present?

[TLH]

ianm2 has offered me his Etasis ET750 for £80 shipped.Sounds like a good deal to me but doesn't have a 8 pin pci-e.I'd kinda like native R600 out of the box and am still half set on a OP650 for £94 from Scan.uk.

I can't make up my mind.Tier 1 without support or Tier 2 with?

ps.I messed up the calc earlier and did dual cpu.Real max load with 30% capacitor aging is 620w.

[TLH]

Well I went and ordered the OP650 in the end.I was impressed by Jonny's review of it and I read much more good than bad about it too.It arrived today.

It is a V1.1 but has the wrong PCI-E 8 pin connector.I can stick a pic up later if you like to illustrate.I've just spent the last couple of hours reading about customer service at Silverstone and can't say I'm that impressed by what I read.I can't say I'm disgusted either but the proof will be when I contact them and ask for an adapter to be sent to me.

I read also that most here had the correct 8pin although quite a few had the wrong one.I thought after this amount of time the issue would be sorted and it would all be fixed by now.Says on the box the Issue Date = November 2006.Just wondering whether the one Jonny reviewed was a V1.1 of a similar age?

[madmat]

He'd have to tell you that one... him or the person that won it.

[TLH]

Well not to worry.I emailed Silverstone last night about an adapter and they have replied already saying no problem.I also asked for a little extra sleeving and heatshrink but they weren't as keen on that one saying I could prolly find some somewhere from an online store.They did say they would bear the full sleeving in mind for future psu's.I wrote back saying the only stuff I can seem to find around here is uv red,blue or green.Black sleeving seems very hard to find.

I take it that the wiring on both the bad and good 8 pin is the same and I can just take off the good connector from the adapter and put it on the psu in place of the bad one?