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HERETIC · Wed Apr 15, 2015 7:39 pm

LoneWolf
The S12 and the modular M12 were the go to PSU for many years-only downside group regulated and
sometimes you'd get one with not enough glue on the coils....................
Today the G series is a good step up in performance good quality and only a little more expensive..........

Adaptive · Wed Apr 15, 2015 7:57 pm

LoneWolf15 wrote:
I think probably part of my problem now is that I tend to want modular power supplies for my builds.

If I didn't, I could go with the PSU I bought the last time for the wife's system, an Antec Neo Eco 520C. It's a little older Seasonic design (I think it's the S12II platform), serviceable, and $64.99 at NewEgg right now. However, since it's not modular, I have to find a place to stuff all of the cables. Still, if you don't need modular, it's about as bargain as you'll get for something that's pretty solid.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817371030

Or you can get the S12II 520W from Seasonic for less:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

I actually just bought the S12II 620W since it was only $10 more:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

localhostrulez · Wed Apr 15, 2015 8:04 pm

Adaptive wrote:
LoneWolf15 wrote:
I think probably part of my problem now is that I tend to want modular power supplies for my builds.

If I didn't, I could go with the PSU I bought the last time for the wife's system, an Antec Neo Eco 520C. It's a little older Seasonic design (I think it's the S12II platform), serviceable, and $64.99 at NewEgg right now. However, since it's not modular, I have to find a place to stuff all of the cables. Still, if you don't need modular, it's about as bargain as you'll get for something that's pretty solid.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817371030

Or you can get the S12II 520W from Seasonic for less:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

I actually just bought the S12II 620W since it was only $10 more:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

I have an S12II 520W. Runs very quietly, and it's been quite solid for me. I've since retired the machine that it was in though.

ozzuneoj · Wed Apr 15, 2015 9:48 pm

Almost forgot to mention the Antec Earthwatts series. I've used several over the past 8 years or so and I've never had a problem with them. They seem to be quite reliable and able to handle a decent load without problems. The only time I ever obviously overloaded one was when I decided to try my MSI TwinFrozr GTX 560 Ti in the "HTPC" in my sig. Apparently a 170W TDP graphics card, two 40W Xeons, 4x2GB of DDR2, a hard drive, a few case fans, an X-Fi and a Blu-Ray drive were too much for the EA430D's two 16\17A 12v rails. Basically, it just froze while booting. I later used that PSU in my main rig for several months without issue, so it didn't seem to hurt it any.

LoneWolf15 · Wed Apr 15, 2015 10:14 pm

Adaptive wrote:
LoneWolf15 wrote:
I think probably part of my problem now is that I tend to want modular power supplies for my builds.

If I didn't, I could go with the PSU I bought the last time for the wife's system, an Antec Neo Eco 520C. It's a little older Seasonic design (I think it's the S12II platform), serviceable, and $64.99 at NewEgg right now. However, since it's not modular, I have to find a place to stuff all of the cables. Still, if you don't need modular, it's about as bargain as you'll get for something that's pretty solid.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817371030

Or you can get the S12II 520W from Seasonic for less:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

I actually just bought the S12II 620W since it was only $10 more:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

I should have noted, right now the Antec model has a $20 MIR, so as long as you can deal with that, it's actually $44.99 after rebate. $20 is about the minimum mail-in rebate amount for me for it to be worth going through the process.

If you're on a really tight budget and want as much as you can have for as little as you can pay, Corsair's CX430M is a Channel Well design, and partial modular. Its caveats are that it's not as good as a Seasonic SII platform, but right now it's $49.99 not including a $20.00 MIR. I have one in my HTPC, due to the fact that I wanted modularity to keep it clean, and I don't need close to 430w, so I'll never load it hard. It's low-noise in my environment; I have never heard its fan. It's fine for basic builds, though I'd never put it in midlevel or higher rigs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

HERETIC · Wed Apr 15, 2015 10:40 pm

Guys we all know how wonderful the S12 and M12 series are/were-I still have 3 of them in use................
Today it's 2015-DC-DC Power supplies provide better voltage regulation and cleaner power to your beloved components.

If you want to replace a dead PSU in say a old Core two duo system then a craptastic $35 Corsair is fine-Probably do
same myself-Might last the last few years the system has left.

Can we keep this to Power Supplies under 500Watts-PLEASE post above 500 Watts somewhere else-THANKS.

Pholostan · Thu Apr 16, 2015 12:41 am

I have a Seasonic G-360 360W(1) in my server. Very nice efficiency at low loads and it was rather cheap at the time. Not modular, but it's not like I care much. The box has plenty of HDDs packed in cages so I usually use custom cables for these anyway. I have no graphics card, but I would think it would be okay with a mid-range card. Although it only has one 6-pin PCIe connector.

1. http://www.seasonicusa.com/G-series-360.htm

Thu Apr 16, 2015 2:13 am

I think the "group regulated == craptastic" assertion being thrown around by the OP is overblown? You want real craptastic, that's DEER territory.

No enthusiast in the right mind will power a PSU close to full load. General recommendation is to be at 30-80% to be most efficient (higher if you get a 80 Plus Gold/Platinum unit, but then again will those be group regulated?). Getting so close to maximum load that the negative impact of group regulation is significant does not seem likely, given any reasonable build done through the proper prior research.

HERETIC · Thu Apr 16, 2015 7:18 pm

To that Gerbil God Flying Fox-My Craptastic comments in general refer to your typical $35 PSU that generally
has lower quality components and lower build quality. And probably a 1 to 3 year warranty.........................
A quote from OklahomaWolf
"A word about the capacitors now: crap. These are Yang Chun parts, and are tier three at best in my opinion. There are a lot of other brands I prefer to see in my power supplies, and if you ask me should probably be recapped after a couple years on this unit with decent parts.Oh, by the way, this unit has a mediocre two year warranty. Think about that for a while. Yessir, this is the very definition of a temporary power supply with sleeve bearing fans and capacitors like these. It's not built to last.----Cooler Master elite-550 Watt."

I always advise picking a PSU that has around double the power you need-50% to 60% use is optimal for efficiency
and any higher fan noise can be heard-Thro DC to DC power supplies don't waste as much as group regulated and
therefore less heat=less fan usage.
A even larger PSU would be recomended if someone was going to possibly upgrade their GPU in the future-that
is changing thro as today you can generally upgrade your GPU one level and reduce power.........................

Thu Apr 16, 2015 7:38 pm

Why in the world would you even bother recapping a cheap PSU? Not worth the trouble.

And yeah, I've noticed that some of the Cooler Master PSUs seem unusually lightweight for their wattage rating, which generally isn't a good sign. I haven't had one fail on me so far; but I don't push them hard so they are not being asked to deliver anything near their rated wattage.

Chrispy_ · Fri Apr 17, 2015 6:57 am

Pholostan wrote:
Intolerant people ought to drink more beer.

HERETIC · Tue Apr 12, 2016 7:41 pm

Corsair can now join the list of Quality-Low power-Power supplies-----Affordable?????????
http://www.corsair.com/en-au/sf-series- ... sfx-psu-au
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cor ... ,4512.html

anotherengineer · Tue Apr 12, 2016 7:59 pm

1 year AED necro revival nice!!

But may as well keep it going.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Super_Flo ... n_350W_PSU

Haven't seen it anywhere in NA though.

http://www.super-flower.com.tw/products ... ge=1&lang=

all the way down to 450W

Thu Apr 14, 2016 2:15 pm

EVGA also puts out some decent low wattage units also. Ive been very pleased with the new I picked up for my main rig to replace the old pc power&cooling I had in there since 08. Looking to buy a few to replace the units in my older rigs as some are very long in the tooth and a few are having stability issues.

MarkG509 · Thu Apr 14, 2016 9:19 pm

My current "favorite" low-power power supply is a picoPSU 160XT with the 192W EDAC adapter from Mini-Box.

This powers a Core i7 ASRock mini-ITX board with 16GB DDR3 in a Fractal Design Node 304 with the front fans removed and a Noctua for the 120mm exhaust fan that spins at 400 to 700 RPM. I stuffed the power-brick inside the box where a normal ATX power supply would go. With 2 SSDs and using the IGP driving 2 displays, it idles at 14 to 18W, and peaks up to nearly 100W (measured with a Seasonic Power Angel). It's dead quiet to the point where I cannot even tell when it's on.

Another machine I leave on 24/7 is an older i5-2520M SuperMicro mini-ITX board that uses a picoPSU 120 with the 60W Level-5 brick (also from Mini-Box). This guy runs 2 pfSense VMs plus another Linux VM that serves up ownCloud. Though, with this one, I can tell when it's powered-on because the fans spin up every hour on the hour (+/- 3mins) when it checks for updates, etc..

Redocbew · Fri Apr 15, 2016 4:21 pm

PicoPSUs are pretty nifty. I've used them in the past as well. Toss in a couple of sata power splitters, and it's quite surprising the kind of systems you can build using one.

Frugal · Wed Jun 15, 2016 4:47 pm

You can find Dell 80+ gold and silver PSUs in ATX form factor and about 230 watt range. They are pretty good for a near silent PC as long as you don't have a bunch of old HDDs, a high end GPU or a 6+ core CPU.

The problem is that they are designed for a specific PC with short cables and sometimes not as many connectors as you would like. Plan carefully or get out the soldering iron and it's not an issue.

CScottG · Wed Jun 15, 2016 6:44 pm

Hmm, I just go to Partpicker's Power Supply section and select Bronze & Gold in the Efficiency selection group on the left of the page and then sort by price looking for a good price, the wattage I'm looking for along with modularity, and then looking at the manufacturer and warranty for the item and user reviews. Finally I'll also look at connectors for that item.

Ex.:

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/power ... ge=1&e=4,2

HERETIC · Thu Aug 24, 2017 11:30 pm

Another "GEM" to add to the list-
Seasonic-Focus Plus 550 Watt--$80
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?na ... y&reid=529

OklahomaWolf Quoted-"Considering that this is perhaps the most stable 550W unit I have ever tested,"

Sadly this is the smallest in the Gold Plus series-Thro there is a 450Watt in the non-modular and semi-modular series.

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