ePOWER ZU-550W

[PaulTa]

Hi guys,

I am in need of an upgrade from the standard Dell PSU that was shipped with their 4700 model, and I was looking at this model. It covers everything I need (20A to the 12V line, 2X 12V lines, PCI-E connectors, etc), and has some decent reviews on newegg. I was hoping to get a more professional opinion before I make the purchase though, and I've heard good things about the guys on this forum.

It's an ePOWER ZU-550W ATX12V Version 2.0 / EPS12V 550W Power Supply

Newegg link- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817101021

I also need a power supply that has a fan on the back instead of a 12cm on the top, since my Dell case is a little lacking. Considering the proprietary parts of our good friends at Dell, I wont be able to upgrade the case without ditching the mobo, fan, etc, but thankfully ATX psu's are compatable with their mobo.

If this isn't a good choice, would anyone please recommend a PSU from newegg along the same price line that has good rating on the 12V lines, PCI-E connectors, and only an 80mm fan on the back?


Thanks for the time guys, and I look forward to hearing from you.
-Paul

[jonnyGURU]

You could do a lot worse. :)

With a $55 budget and the need for a pair of 80MM fans (as opposed to a 120MM) you're limited with your selection. ;)

[PaulTa]

Wow, talk about great response time on the question. I was thinking that I would need to go take a shower before the views hit above thirty. Thanks Jonny!

So the PSU isn't that bad? I've heard people say that that particular model outperforms Antec supplies at the same price, and is a good little piece of equipment.

I've got a CD write-rewrite, one hard drive, the fan, mobo, and not much else in my case, but I'm about to slap an eVga 7900 KO in there instead of my X800 GTO (which had the fan give out), so I wanted to upgrade the PSU.

In your professional opinion, is that a pretty good buy for my restrictions?


EDIT- I wanted the higher power in case I decided to upgrade even further. I wanted the ceiling to be pretty high for myself.

P.S. Any RAM recommendations real quick like for further purchases would be great. I'm planning on chucking in two one gig sticks to suppliment the four 256's I have in there now. :P

[jonnyGURU]

Yeah... it's good for the money.

Of course, ultimately, a new case that will allow you to use virtually any PSU would be better long term investment. ;)

[MrWicked1968]

I'll defer to jonny here, but at the same time there's something about the epower zu series that bothers me.

I'd rather have the 460w AMS Mercury (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817101111) (which aint from the land of bling and dookie, eh Jonny?)

[clsA]

I used a Epower Zu - 500 for a few months with my system and never had a problem with it.
they also have a couple of features i miss in the PSU I'm using now
the Epower has a turbo fan switch that is a nice feature, it cuts the voltage in half that runs all the system fans ..making the PC very quiet.

The other thing the Epowers have going for them is strong 3.3 and 5v rails for your older Athlon systems that don't use the P4 Plug to power the CPU (A7N8X-E Deluxe)

although it's not a tier 1/2 PSU it is still useful and quiet and inexpensive
I never really pushed the output of mine but it was very stable at 250 - 300w usage (And I'd bet the OP system pulls about that if not less).

Now after saying all that ..i would still probably get an Xclio 500W Greatpower for the same price, or a Good Enhance 450-500w unit for just a little more

[jonnyGURU]

I'll defer to jonny here, but at the same time there's something about the epower zu series that bothers me.

I'd rather have the 460w AMS Mercury (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817101111) (which aint from the land of bling and dookie, eh Jonny?)

Yeah. I actually Froogled the AMS Mercury 550W so I could suggest it, but it's a lot more expensive. I didn't think to suggest the 460W because I wanted to give a lot of over head. And since building this Quad Father, I'm thinking a lot of over head is a good thing these days. :D

[PaulTa]

"Now after saying all that ..i would still probably get an Xclio 500W Greatpower for the same price, or a Good Enhance 450-500w unit for just a little more"

They look like solid power supplies mate, but the 12cm fan on the top instead of front/back configuration is what would kill me.

"I'd rather have the 460w AMS Mercury (which aint from the land of bling and dookie, eh Jonny?)"

Also a solid build. Looks like a good PSU, and the fan config. is right.


Well, I'm afraid that the deal has been sealed anyways, guys. I placed the order for the ePOWER ZU-550W last night, along with an eVga 7900 K0 to replace my burned out X800 GTO.

I might just stick around here though. You guys are more helpful than a hundred reviews.

[GalvanizedYankee]

I might just stick around here though. You guys are more helpful than a hundred reviews.

Do read reviews...jonny's, SPCR's and Xblt Lab's are a good start.
Our links page has much usefull info on it. Kinda called study=Yuk!
When you have time, look through the PSU Forum over at badcaps.net. :cool:

IMO, SPCR weighs thier reviews too heavily for silence but they do good'ens.

[PaulTa]

I do indeed read reviews, but trying to find said E-Power ZU 550 reviews was impossible. It's not the latest and greatest PSU with all of the hardware shiney effects and ice from alaska cooling it, so it's not something you're going to see on the first five pages of many review sites.

Now after sorting through about fifty or sixty potential sites with information on the power supply, I finally got to the back of the google pages and found this site... with a forum... I post, and in five minutes I have a response with a shakey thumbs up from the guy who hosts the forums! Since dear Jonny here is probably the most credible source on PSU's that I'll interact with in the next few years, I am really happy to see that I had a little input right away.

Hence, I plan to stick around. :D

[jonnyGURU]

Hence, I plan to stick around. :D

You better! ;)

[PaulTa]

I'll have to update you guys on how the E-POWER holds up. If it works as well as the reviews on newegg say, then it's quite a buy for what it offers.

Now I'm off to see if you guys have any reviews on the 7900GS KO from eVga.

[clsA]

Well then welcome aboard PaulTa

First off Jonnyguru is a great person, and he rarely if ever gets out of line or is impolite. And he's got a wealth of information to share.. theirs plenty you can learn hanging around here. I know I sure have ..thanks again all.

Now here's a little info on your epower PSU..
Epower/Topower and Tagen are one in the same manufacture.

One of the main problem's most poeple have with their psu's is their not consistent in their build quality and component choices. You and I could both have the same model Epower and the 2 have totally different components

another thing is their poor voltage regulation .. meaning if you put a heavy load on the 12v rail the voltage may dip by .2 - .5v ...but then again your's may be stable as a Rock ..lol

OCZ used the Topower P5 model for it's Modstream and Powerstream series and abandon them and moved to FSP for their GameXtreme series.

Topower also makes PSU for Spire, BFG, Mushkin, some Hipro, Vantec, Scythe, Listan, and some Raidmax. As you look around at Newegg at their PSU pictures the multi colored Velcro ties bundled with the psu is a dead giveaway your looking at another Epower/Topower PSU.

Hope you Enjoy your stay and your new Toys .. ;)

[PaulTa]

I sure hope that I get one of the good models.

What really sold me on newegg was that despite there only being nine reviews, all of them were consistent in saying that this model is amazing for it's price. A few guys on there said that they have used the same model more than once (nine times for one guy) and they have never had any problems with decent loads.

Hopefully the power flux on the 12V rail wont be enough to push my PC in the danger zone. Assuming about 12A for the mobo, I still have an extra 10A on the 12V rail not being used. Here's hoping *crosses fingers*.

Just as a suggestion to Jonny, I think it would be really great if he reviewed some of the power supplies that us more mid-ranged guys would go for... the stuff in the 50-100 dollar range. I know that that would be the first part of the forum I'd turn to when visiting, since my budget wont be "endless" until I get out of college...

Of course, after college I'll be raking in about 80-100K a year (USD), so I'll probably then switch to the high fly PSU section. :D

[Oklahoma Wolf]

OCZ used the Topower P5 model for it's Modstream and Powerstream series and abandon them and moved to FSP for their GameXtreme series.

P5 - Modstream, group regulated. Topower often doesn't seem to do these too well, but you could indeed do worse quite easily.
P6 - Powerstream, independantly regulated. Very good regulation, but build quality is hit and miss between models.

The Epower in question is one of the group regulated models, going by the price and the presence of a combined 3.3v/5v rating. I wouldn't call it real good or real bad. Just ok. Again, you could do worse ;)