Quick, stupid, repetitive....."Will this PS work for me?" question...

[C'DaleRider]

I've got a simple system build almost complete but am stuck choosing between two power supplies....

The system has a Phenom X4 9850 cpu on a Gigabyte MA78GM-S2HP mATX board, 2 x 500GB Hitachi SATA hard drives, 2 x 2GB Crucial DDR2 RAM, one optical drive, and using the onboard video and sound provisions.


I've got two power supplies to pick from, both Antec units...an Earthwatts 430 or a Basiq 500.

The system will be up pretty much 24/7 functioning in a server-type capacity (I know it's way overbuilt for that, but the owner of the small company that's having this done got screwed by the last guy who built a system for him and I guess he's overcompensating for it now. Wanted nothing less than a quad core cpu, a TB of hard drive space, 4GB of memory, and so on.....but he does have 8 computers pulling from it during the day.....)


Anyway, I'm more leaning towards the EA430 actually due to slightly better internal build quality and that the +12V rails are rated almost the exact same as the 500W Basiq unit, but the +5V and +3.3V have quite a difference on their respective max load ratings..........

Basiq.....18A, 18A on +12V1 & 2, +3.3....30A, +5V...30A, max on 3.3V & 5V combined is 150W, no max combined listed for +12V

EA430.....17A, 16A on +12V1 & 2, +3.3...20A, +5V...20A, max on 3.3V and 5V combined....115W, max combined on +12 V.....360W (30A)



So, which would do better.......or should I simply pull out that brand new Raidmax 380W unit, with a whopping 11A on its single +12V rail, that the previous guy left and stick that one in and be done with it? ;)

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Earthwatts.

[burebista]

Yep, EarthWatts. You'll have a Sesonic or Delta (EW) vs. Fortron (Basiq).

[C'DaleRider]

Thanks for the quick replies, guys. Really appreciate it. Makes me rest easier knowing that the EA will do its duty without collapsing on me.......and the Basiq has a home coming, too.....a simple budget build with a Pentium dual core 830. (Or maybe the POS Raidmax will suffice, though I really doubt it..........)

[cypherpunks]

Note that the EA430 is rated thus at 50°C. The Basiq isn't, so assume it's rated at 25°C, like all of the other over-rated power supplies it's competing with.

Typical derating is 1.5–2% per °C above the max. Giving the Basiq the best case, call that 1.5% times 25°C, or 37.5% derating at 50°C, i.e. it only retains 5/8 of its original capacity. That turns your 500W supply into a 312.5W PSU.

going the other way around, a 430W @ 50°C PSU can deliver a lot more at 25°C. There are fixed design limits like inductor saturation, but heat-wise, that would be equivalent to 688W.

These are pretty sloppy numbers, but take a 400W@50°C PSU over 500W@25°C any day.

[Smirnoff]

A 380W with only 11A on the 12V. That's pure comedy. Well, it's Raidmax anyways...

[C'DaleRider]

Note that the EA430 is rated thus at 50°C. The Basiq isn't, so assume it's rated at 25°C, like all of the other over-rated power supplies it's competing with.

Typical derating is 1.5–2% per °C above the max. Giving the Basiq the best case, call that 1.5% times 25°C, or 37.5% derating at 50°C, i.e. it only retains 5/8 of its original capacity. That turns your 500W supply into a 312.5W PSU.

going the other way around, a 430W @ 50°C PSU can deliver a lot more at 25°C. There are fixed design limits like inductor saturation, but heat-wise, that would be equivalent to 688W.

These are pretty sloppy numbers, but take a 400W@50°C PSU over 500W@25°C any day.


Well, since you obviously haven't seen it being tested, and it has in a hot box environment of 45C, you are talking about something that isn't applicable to this power supply.....and without prior proper research, one can end up looking like a know-it-all without a clue.

As a matter of fact, when subjected to a 45C hot box test, the Basiq 500W unit delivered its full 500W output, including 15A into each of its +12V rails, without screaming or failing......wasn't the cleanest DC output, but what can one expect from a 500W power supply that costs in the $35-$40 range.

[C'DaleRider]

A 380W with only 11A on the 12V. That's pure comedy. Well, it's Raidmax anyways...


Yeah.....the power supply was dropped off to this company as a "replacement" for a failing unit in one of their desktop computers.

Gawd awful unit it is.......light as a feather, uber thin wiring......horrid.

I got them to put in a little better unit (an Antec EA380 which was about 3X heavier when held) as a replacement and get the kid to come back and pick up the Raidmax crap.

[spursindonesia]

Is Antec Basiq 500w using the same FSP platform used in FSP Bluestorm 2 500w ? If that's correct, i think it's a decent 500w unit.

[Travis]

FSP Epsilon has quite a number of variations which share the same heatsink look and similar component layout. The component might be differently spec'd, the controller chip may be different, the transformer may be differently designed.