Recommendations for a new PSU

[Harry]

I am looking to replace my old 300w PSU with a shiny new 400w (or
greater)

I have about £60 (inc VAT) to spend and I have shortlisted the
following

AeroCool Turbine Power 450w £46 (Aria)
Enermax Coolergiant 430W EG435AX-VHB(G) £59 (TekHeads)
Thermaltake 480W Purepower W0020 £41 (TekHeads)

I thought about Tagan, but they seem a bit pricy for what they
deliver. Same goes for Antec; I know they are very reputable but they
seem to be cashing in a bit in their price.

Does anyone have any recommendations? For the record I dont need SATA
or PCI-E just yet, but it would be nice to get a PSU that is a bit
future proof

TIA

Harry

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

I am looking to replace my old 300w PSU with a shiny new 400w (or
greater)

I have about £60 (inc VAT) to spend and I have shortlisted the
following

AeroCool Turbine Power 450w £46 (Aria)
Enermax Coolergiant 430W EG435AX-VHB(G) £59 (TekHeads)
Thermaltake 480W Purepower W0020 £41 (TekHeads)

I thought about Tagan, but they seem a bit pricy for what they
deliver. Same goes for Antec; I know they are very reputable but they
seem to be cashing in a bit in their price.

You may want to look at something made by Fortron-Source Power (FSP)
because this thread:

www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=391989

says that a 300W Fortron-Source PSU is running a 20% overclocked Athlon
Barton XP3000+ with an NVidia 6800 graphics card, 2 CDs, 1 7200 RPM HD,
1GB memory. FSP sells under several brands, including Fortron,
Sparkle, Powerman, Powertech, Trend, PowerQ, and Hi-Q, most with model
numbers starting with "FSP" (some with "ATX", but other brands use that
too). PowerQ and Hi-Q are the company's budget brands but are
cheapened only with sleeve bearing fans in place of ball bearing ones;
other companies often cheapen everything else as well, by using smaller
heatsinks, transistors, diodes, and capacitors.

Of the PSUs in your list, I would choose the Enermax because
Thermaltake can be kind of noisy, and I don't know about Aerocool. The
actual manufacturer of a PSU can usually be found by going to
www.ul.com or www.csa.ca and entering the registration numbers (UL's
will be under the RU symbol). The best PSU reviews I know of are at:

www.tomshardware.com
www.xbitlabs.com
www.slcentral.com
www.silentpcreview.com
www.3dvelocity.com

(anybody: others?)

Almost every other website tests to only 200-300W, not the full rated
power.

 

[dawg]

Antec should be on the list. I've seen all positives on Antec power
supplies. I'm also in the market for a P/S the Antec 430 looks sweet.

 

[BigJim]

I don't care what the wattage is if it doesn't produce enough amps per line,
then you'll have wasted your hard earned cash. Check the amp ratings.

 

[DaveW]

No, Antec and other similar companies use far higher quality electrical
components in their PSU's. Bottom line, you get what you pay for...

 

[wooducoodu]

fortron is good and usually not as expensive the better known names. if
you're willing to spend a little more seasonic super silencers are among the
best.