2003 Power Supply Roundup Part II: Better Faster Cheaper
by Kristopher Kubicki on July 31, 2003 1:58 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
We took a long look at every valuable bit of data we could manage to squeeze out of the power supplies available. If anything, the most startling data we found in this review was the disappointing problems with some fan controls. We recommend not buying a power supply with an onboard fan control.
Overall, the surprise victors of this roundup were Fortron and Zalman. Both included virtually identical units in the review and both performed extremely well, especially in the sound tests. However, since the Fortron units are priced about $20 lower than the Zalman units, we have to give our editor’s choice award to the Fortron. ThermalTake came in very strong, with very low noise and very high stability. The $74 cost is high, but considering the other external fan control power supply costs $60 more, we think the cost is easily justifiable.
As with the last roundup, we were very impressed with the Enermax power supplies. If their price was not so inhibitive, we would give them a stronger recommendation. Kudos to Enermax on both of their power supplies represented.
The PC Power & Cooling TurboCool 475 surprised us the most. It had excellent performance, low heat and relatively good price. However, when on, this power supply sounds like a train. One could easily modify the fan, but this would probably throw the unit out of spec and change the performance.
Unfortunately, like with any roundup, we can not include everyone. Fortunately, our power supply roundups are cumulative. Next time we do another PSU roundup, we will include the models we have listed here as well as a few other ones. If you have a particular PSU you would like to see included, feel free to drop a line in our forums so we know for next time!
Once again we would like to thank Directron.com for sponsoring this review and donating the hardware for us to test. Furthermore, we would like to thank the folks at Maxpoint, Kingwin, Case-Mod.com for providing hardware and testing equipment.
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unclebud - Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - link
i came in here today looking for just the same thing though!we needs a new ps article! thanks in advance anandtech!
JustAnAverageGuy - Sunday, January 30, 2005 - link
Dopey:It's an extremely old article. Nobody reads those except when they need to be pulled out of the vault.
Dopey - Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - link
Sad to see no comments since 2003! ???Looking for a good power supply for AMD and review indicates that both Fortron & Zalman are good at not too high price. But looking at Antec True Power 330W I read "beware of the extremely modest +12V rail. If you are running a high end video card, or an Intel Pentium 4, this power supply simply will not produce enough juice." Both the Fortron &n Zalman deliver just 180 watts on the +12V rail while the Antec True Power 330W puts out 204 watts. And if you look at the whole list of PSUs reviewed 204 watts looks like a respecatable amount of power. So ... ????????????????????
MIDIman - Friday, November 7, 2003 - link
I bought the Zalman 300w for $50 as a result of this article. Love it to death, but newegg stopped carrying it.1) What size fan is in the Fotron reviewed here, 120mm or 80mm?
2) What is the model number of the 300w alternative to the Fortron FSP400-60PFN?
3) Isn't the Sparkle FSP350-60PN reviewed here also a fotron, and what is the model number of its 300w alternative?
Anonymous User - Monday, October 27, 2003 - link
You state for those PSU's that have good amoubt of voltage for the 3,3V are good for AMD.It will also be nice to say that most new motherboard from AMD are now using 12 RAIL e.g. 8RDA3+ many more and from what ive seen all K8 mobos use 12 RAIL
all in all good review.
What i have found with my TT320W that when you stress it too much and it heats up it will shit down whole system.
Also if your PC is off for many hours if you touch the PSU its worm :S
Ordered my Antec 550W True Control
Also you should show how to short the old PSU so user can use 2 PSU in one system..
I run my whole system on a 480W ProSourse untill my 550W Antec TC is here
My GFFX5900 runs on a dedicated PSU 300W soon it will have a dedicated 480 ProSource :D
And all my 12 fans run on a 300W generic PSU
Also TT's seem not to like when to many devices are connected to it
Anonymous User - Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - link
To know how much the exhaust air will heat a room you have to know not only its temperature but also its volume. It would be simpler to measure the efficiency of the supply.The tests were not very thorough at all because if they were they would have included electrical noise and current measurements and testing at full power.
Anonymous User - Saturday, September 13, 2003 - link
The memory errors could be due to bad filtering more than cable shielding. Putting a 'scope on the outputs would would provide a graphic portrayal of output quality. <hint, hint> :-)*TimDaniels*
Anonymous User - Sunday, September 7, 2003 - link
I enjoyed reading the article and I think it was very well written and the tests were very thorough. Although the article discusses "heat" and examines each power supply to see how well they deal with the heat issue, I think from a consumers point of view, you should have measured the difference in the temperature of the exhaust that is emitted from the power supply. For me that is a real issue as the heat that emits from my existing power supply probably raises the room temperature by 7 to 8 degress (to the point of making it uncomforable to stay in the room on a hot day). I want a power supply that doesn't blow out hot air. Which one of these blows the coolest air?Anonymous User - Friday, August 22, 2003 - link
As much care was taken in creating the title as in testing the power supplies.I hope to see another Anandtech power supply review soon, only one with proper testing. I have to give Anandtech an A for effort in this case, but I can't still give them a passing grade. Please consult with a specialist in this field for any future test.
Anonymous User - Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - link
Is it just me or does the article title seems a little off? "2003 Power Supply Roundup Part II: Better Faster Cheaper" Faster? A faster P/S?