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  • kilkennycat - Friday, December 21, 2007 - link

    The unrestricted ~60 amps available to each +12V output of the PC Power & Cooling supply should create a very pretty conflagration if the PC develops an internal low-impedance or short-circuit on a +12V line.... or if, say, an output capacitor in the power-supply begins to current-leak. There is a very good reason why Intel recommends a current limit of not more than 22amps PER OUTPUT on the +12V lines. Costs a bit more in components and space to implement the extra circuitry to provide safe current limits on EACH +12V output.
  • Bozo Galora - Friday, December 21, 2007 - link

    Your post is so silly, it requires no reply.

    However, if you DO wish to start a fire (while functioning perfectly), I would suggest using a Miller 4500W PSU with 375A of clean power. You could also get the 10,500 Watt model, but it's a bit expensive. Think how nice that thing would look sitting next to your case.

    My fav PSU review review, bar none:
    http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=384">http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=384

    and for all you starving students repeatedly whining about $100+, 750W Anandtech powersupply reviews - hey at least I can run TWO PC with any of my current units - lol
    http://reviews.pcapex.com/power_supply/ultra_x3_10...">http://reviews.pcapex.com/power_supply/ultra_x3_10...
  • HOOfan 1 - Friday, December 21, 2007 - link

    Or you could use your Miller PSU to weld yourself a custom Case.
  • HOOfan 1 - Friday, December 21, 2007 - link

    Or you could use your Miller PSU to weld yourself a custom Case.
  • Bozo Galora - Friday, December 21, 2007 - link

    ya, I read the PSU "myths" on the PCP&P site.
    anyone can deduce that stright in soldered leads are better than those that have a male and female connector involved.
    SO what.
    The simple fact is that the marketplace is moving to modular, Buck the trend and lose share.
    Modular PSU dont seem to be failing or blowing up mobo, or starting fires. They do seem to function well despite the added resistance.
    People are fed up with PSU with 20 cables 48" long that you are stuck with.
    I will never buy a non modular supply ever again.

    And heres an example of the conflicting reviews that litter the internet......

    greatest thing you could buy - 5 stars
    http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canu...">http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/ha...-tx750-7...

    so - so
    http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=136...">http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=136...
  • rADo2 - Friday, December 21, 2007 - link

    Zalman uses a combination of fixed and modular cables. The important connectors like ATX power and +12V for the CPU as well as two VGA power connectors and a HDD cable are fixed. This makes sense, because those cables will almost certainly be used, giving you an optimum power delivery. Should you need more than those you can attach them to the PSU.
  • Etern205 - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    Just wondering from the picture on the first page with the PSU's back facing us. Can anyone actually tell what PSU that is without having to look at the name? :)

    e.g. I know that the black with yellow stripes is by Antec Quattro.
    The orange PC&C Silener and the above I think it's a PC&C Turbo Cool.
  • strikeback03 - Friday, December 21, 2007 - link

    referring to any one PSU or all of them in general? The ones with USB ports are Hipers, I'd guess the ones with half-blocked rears are also Hipers, the one with the orange coil covers is a Thermaltake, etc. If you cared enough I'm sure you could identify most of them by looking back at the reviews and comparing shots.
  • Bozo Galora - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    well, PCP&C (OCZ) just announced a new super duper 860 Watt PSU with a SEVEN year warranty and 1.5% regulation/1% ripple and adjustable pots.
    http://www.pcpower.com/power-supply/turbo-cool-860...">http://www.pcpower.com/power-supply/turbo-cool-860...
    So you might wanna keep an eye on this one.
    But its NOT modular, so that lets me out.

    Zalman has a new vers of their 1KW unit which seems to be decent
    http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zalman/ZM1000-H...">http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zalman/ZM1000-H...
    And it IS (semi) modular

    I am still looking for the perfect PSU. I have read reviews until I'm buggy eyed, and theres always some one thing that ruins the deal......
    Too hot at high wattage, bad efficiency, one rail poor regulation or high ripple, stiff cables, too noisy, not modular

    Then there are the conflicting reviews - one guy says its the greatest, another says its deeply flawed.
  • rADo2 - Friday, December 21, 2007 - link

    Zalman has also ZM850-HP, which seems like the best 850W unit to me, it is stable and *incredibly quiet*:

    http://bios.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zalman/ZM850-H...">http://bios.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zalman/ZM850-H...

    Too bad Anandtech did not test it as well.
  • Etern205 - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    They do not make modular psu. Have you ever read their myths?
  • Christoph Katzer - Friday, December 21, 2007 - link

    Rumors say that OCZ will have good PCP&C PSU with cable management under their brand soon... we'll see.
  • jonnyGURU - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    Well, it also uses that same ol' Nidec 80MM fan, so it's not quiet either.
  • poohbear - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    u guys really should have rated them according to wattage category, i mean u chose psus that are 750wt+, but who the heck buys that stuff aside from the sli crowd? why not have categories for 350wt, 500wt, 650wt, and then the ridiculous 750wt+ monsters. quite frankly the seasonic was the only viable recomendation for me, an enthusiast that will never buy sli or crossfire.
  • aussiestilgar - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    I agree. I read the title of this article hoping there would be an in-depth round up. It would have been nice to have separate categories and name the best power supplies within each. I'm also surprised Corsair didn't get a mention.
  • JEDIYoda - Monday, December 24, 2007 - link

    I am not suprised at all!!
    Corsair has some fine PSU`s.
    But the fact remains there are as good or better power supplies on the market!

    Plus it all depends on what site is doing the testing and awarding the best....but we will not go there....heheh
  • Christoph Katzer - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    did in the holiday buyer's guide though...
  • Ratinator - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    I have to agree with you on this. I have only taken some brief cracks at overclocking (I just haven't had the time to get an understanding of how to do it properly) plus the computers I build for myself tend to be the best for your buck not the hgh end. I personally prefer seeing the base scores for CPUs, GPUs and RAM though I do have a fair bit of interest in overclocking ability even if only to look at (for now). Anand and his team almost always do a great job of showing the best of both worlds. I really like the articles that delve into high range, mid range and budget range comparisons too.

    This article does give me an idea what to look at for a power supply, but I too am curious about the 500W range as I don't see myself doing SLI anytime soon and don't feel I will need anything in the 750W range.

    Anyway. Anand and his team are still my favorite and best source for information. Keep the info coming. You guys rock.
  • BladeVenom - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    I know the big power supply fetish gets old. Just look at Anandtech's 8800GT review; that card with a C2D Extreme only used 209 watts under load.
  • jonnyGURU - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    Yeah, but let's see someone build a PC with it and and a 300W power supply and see how well it does after doing some gaming for a couple hours. ;)
  • JimK - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    Not saying its recommended, and I'm sure I'm on the ragged edge, but I'm running a 350w ps. My hardware is:

    Asus P5N-E SLI (Nvidia 650i)
    Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3.2ghz
    2 gig GSkill DDR8-800 4-4-3-5
    XFX 8800GT AlphaDog
    2 x 320gig Seagate 7200.10
    Samsung H-S203B
    Rosewill RCR-102 Card Reader

    I've been playing the demo of UT 3 at 1600x1200 all the visual details turned up without any problems. I usually play 20 minutes at a crack but have played stretches over an hour.
  • Inkjammer - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    Y'know, what's sad... the first thought I had looking at the pic of power supplies stacked one upon another: "Yep, and it's going to take that much juice to power the nextgen GeForce card, too."

    But in all seriousness, these articles on power supplies have really helped me build better, more energy efficient computers. Even with my GTX cards.
  • Hypernova - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    I got an Antech P182 case and I'm looking for some XFire PSU for it. PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 QUAD looked hopeful but after some measuring around my case it seems its 8 pin EPS cable isn't long enough. Is there any PSU with long cables and has 2 8 pin PCI-E connectors?
  • blackcurtain - Thursday, January 17, 2008 - link

    pcpower used to custom build connectors. they would build you a PSU with whatever connectors and length you want for an extra fee.
    however I don't know if they still offer this since merging with OCZ.
  • richensw - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    I have the Antec P182 and I use the Seasonic M12 700w.

    All the motherboard (EVGA 680i) power cables go around the back (behind the mobo) of the case and through the holes at the top and plug in fine.

    It also has 2 modular PCI-E outputs, and each cable splits into two PCI-E connectors, so that's 4 in total.
  • n0nsense - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    "The Corsair TX750W has the following connectors: 20+4-pin motherboard, 4+4-pin ATX/EPS, four 6+2-pin PCI Express, eight 4-pin molex, two 4-pin floppy, and eight Serial ATA interfaces. The four 8-pin PCI Express connectors (that are also compatible with 6-pin PCI-E connectors) is enough for four graphics cards or running two ATI Radeon HD 2900XT graphics cards. These power cables are long enough for even the largest of ATX cases, such as the SilverStone Temjin TJ10. All of these power supply cables are also sleeved."

    http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&...">http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&...
  • Hypernova - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    That looks interesting but the 8pin appears to be a convert from the 6pin not a native 8 pin. Isn't that going to affect the output a bit?
  • HOOfan 1 - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    Look into the Corsair TX750. I don't know about it specifically, but I know a bunch of people complain about the other Corsairs having cables that are TOO long.
  • gaakf - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    I think it should be mentioned that Seasonic makes power supplies for Antec and Corsair as well. Corsair's line of power supplies is excellent and Antec's 380W Earthwatts power supply offers an unbeatable price/quiet performance ratio at $30 on newegg. (promo EMC1213CASE01)
  • JEDIYoda - Monday, December 24, 2007 - link

    Don`t make too much out of that...
    Some of these companyes hasd there own engineers and solely choose Seasonic based on qualilty of workmanship!!

    Just because Seasonic is the OEM does not make that a Seasonic PSU!!

    Peace~!
  • bryanW1995 - Friday, December 21, 2007 - link

    the earthwatts 430 is also $30 AR at newegg right now, at least it was last week when I bought one for my mom's computer!
  • HOOfan 1 - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    well The PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750 that won the Gold Award is also made by Seasonic
  • blackcurtain - Thursday, January 17, 2008 - link

    quote "made by" and that is all it is. Seasonic only builds the PSU to PC Power engineered spec. manufacturing and engineering are totally separate things, PC Power engineers all thier own PSU's. it is not a Seasonic PSU, only assembled by them including specs on quality of capasitors, design etc... which will play a big part in PSU quality. once built the PSU's are returned to PC Power for testing before sold.
  • gaakf - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    Your absolutely right about that. It seems that Seasonic is the real winner here by having a brand of power supplies that it assembles in every medal catagory. They are obviously the best OEM for the job of building a quality PS.
  • HOOfan 1 - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    actually Enhance is the OEM maker of the Antec Truepower Quattro
  • sprockkets - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    I see. Is not Enhance and also HEC together too?
  • Christoph Katzer - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    No...
  • n0nsense - Thursday, December 20, 2007 - link

    OooH yes !!!
    Corsair Rocks !!!
    Have two of them, hx520 and vx450.
    Absolutely quiet.
    The only noticeable noise in computer room is HDs.

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