Power Supply Unit

[GoFishing]

I would like to describe my recent experience with a power supply and
ask your opinion about it.
I bought Powmax LP-6100D, 400W power supply unit in December of 2004.
I chose this one because I had had used a Powmax 300W LP-6100C happily
for longer than one year.
As soon as I installed it, I noticed a high-pitched noise through the
speakers when I booted the computer. I also noticed its 3.3V line was
erratic according to the Asus Probe monitor. The voltage fluctuates
more than 10% and often up to 15%. Another missing item was the 3-pin
Fan monitor connector which was prsent in the 300W one and still
described to be present as a feature.
[http://www.svc.com/pow-400uc-75.html]

I wanted to return it but I had already discarded the box and other
packaging material that were used to ship it. I ended up buying anther
one so that I could use its box to return the first one in it.
The second one behaved exactly in the same way as the first one. The
first one was not "defective" after all. The quality of the product
was bad. I decided to keep both because the vendor would say they were
not defective and charge me 20% re-stocking fee. I did not think it is
not worth the hassle and return shipping charges and re-stocking fees.
I installed the first unit into two different computers with the
identical results, which indicated the problems were not specific for
a particular setup. I tend to think that the unstable 3.3V line and
the high-pitched noise. What do you think? You can have a look at the
voltage monitor chart and hear the noise for yourself at
http://www.yoon.bz/pub/Power.html.

 

[w_tom]

First where are the numerical specs so necessary in all
minimally acceptable power supplies? I don't see any.
Second, the retail price of a minimally acceptable supply is
about $65. IOW you got only what you paid for. As for those
missing specs? 'No numbers' was the warning.

Review Antecs sold by same www.svc.com supplier. Even SVC
subtlety inform you why that Powmax is suspect. Notice the
difference. Both in price AND numerical specs are provided.
Rather obvious.

 

[Ruel Smith]

Do yourself a very big favor, and only buy Antec power supplies from this
day forth. You will NEVER be disappointed. They're that good. You can't
find a single person that has a complaint about them. Sure, there may have
been a bad one make it to market or two, but even Toyota Camry's get turned
in under Lemon Law.

I won't even buy a case from anyone else, because the bundle of an Antec
(Chieftec) case with an Antec power supply is so cost efficient, and I know
the quality is outstanding, that's it's too good to pass up.

 

[GoFishing]

Thank you both tom and Ruel for your comments. I know I was not smart
to buy such poor quality products but I wanted to share my experience
with others just so I may redeem myself by helping others not repeat
my unwise mistakes.

 

[Guest]

I bought Powmax LP-6100D, 400W power supply unit in
December of 2004. I chose this one because I had had
used a Powmax 300W LP-6100C happily for longer than one
year. As soon as I installed it, I noticed a high-pitched
noise through the speakers when I booted the computer. I
also noticed its 3.3V line was erratic according to the
Asus Probe monitor. The voltage fluctuates more than 10%
and often up to 15%. Another missing item was the 3-pin
Fan monitor connector which was prsent in the 300W one and
still described to be present as a feature.
[http://www.svc.com/pow-400uc-75.html]

I wanted to return it but I had already discarded the box and other
packaging material that were used to ship it. I ended up buying anther
one so that I could use its box to return the first one in it.
The second one behaved exactly in the same way as the first one. The
first one was not "defective" after all. The quality of the product
was bad. I decided to keep both because the vendor would say they were
not defective and charge me 20% re-stocking fee.

The fact the power supply lacks the 3-pin fan connector described in
the dealer's ad gives you the right to full refund, minus your return
shipping costs, because the dealer didn't deliver what was promised.
Challenge this in writing with your credit card issuer, referring to it
as a billing error, and also mention that you don't accept the product
because it wasn't what you ordered. Mail the letter to the special
address reserved for billing problems because only that will guarantee
certain legal rights.

 

[Richard Dower]

What is the moral of the story here?....you pay for what you get. The PSU is
a VERY important part of ANY computer. Thus you must invest in a good one
with a good amount of wattage.

An absolute MINIMUM wattage nesscary these days is 400W, you'd be advised to
get the 450 or 480W. Antec, Enermax, OCZ - all solid quality brands.

Yes they costs more then a shitty Q-Tech and mid range Tagan, but as this
post proves....you pay for what you get!!

 

[Matt]

An absolute MINIMUM wattage nesscary these days is 400W,

Maybe you meant to say that 400W is necessary for those who can't think.

 

[Richard Dower]

Maybe you meant to say that 400W is necessary for those who can't think.

No..needed!

 

[Matt]

No..needed!

I was not making fun of your spelling.

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

I bought Powmax LP-6100D, 400W power supply unit
in December of 2004. I chose this one because I had
had used a Powmax 300W LP-6100C happily for longer
than one year. As soon as I installed it, I noticed
a high-pitched noise through the speakers when I booted
the computer. I also noticed its 3.3V line was erratic
according to the Asus Probe monitor. The voltage fluctuates
more than 10% and often up to 15%.

Is it possible that your older Powmax looks decent inside, like this:

www.techimo.com/images/img2/raidmax400/raidmax400-internal1.jpg

while your newer one more resembles this completely different design?

www.techimo.com/images/img2/raidmax400/powmax400-internal3.JPG

Powmax was never great, but in the past few years they've been
cheapened considerably.

 

[BarryNL]

What is the moral of the story here?....you pay for what you get. The PSU is
a VERY important part of ANY computer. Thus you must invest in a good one
with a good amount of wattage.

An absolute MINIMUM wattage nesscary these days is 400W, you'd be advised to
get the 450 or 480W. Antec, Enermax, OCZ - all solid quality brands.

Really? I have a Sempron 2400+ system quite happily ticking away on a
no-name 250W PSU. It has mobo VGA and one disk and is probably drawing
no more than 100W total. Still, if you say I need a 400W+...

Do you have shares in a power company?

Yes they costs more then a shitty Q-Tech and mid range Tagan, but as this
post proves....you pay for what you get!!

I would like to describe my recent experience with a power supply and
ask your opinion about it.
I bought Powmax LP-6100D, 400W power supply unit in December of 2004.
I chose this one because I had had used a Powmax 300W LP-6100C happily
for longer than one year.
As soon as I installed it, I noticed a high-pitched noise through the
speakers when I booted the computer. I also noticed its 3.3V line was
erratic according to the Asus Probe monitor. The voltage fluctuates
more than 10% and often up to 15%. Another missing item was the 3-pin
Fan monitor connector which was prsent in the 300W one and still
described to be present as a feature.
[http://www.svc.com/pow-400uc-75.html]

I wanted to return it but I had already discarded the box and other
packaging material that were used to ship it. I ended up buying anther
one so that I could use its box to return the first one in it.
The second one behaved exactly in the same way as the first one. The
first one was not "defective" after all. The quality of the product
was bad. I decided to keep both because the vendor would say they were
not defective and charge me 20% re-stocking fee. I did not think it is
not worth the hassle and return shipping charges and re-stocking fees.
I installed the first unit into two different computers with the
identical results, which indicated the problems were not specific for
a particular setup. I tend to think that the unstable 3.3V line and
the high-pitched noise. What do you think? You can have a look at the
voltage monitor chart and hear the noise for yourself at
http://www.yoon.bz/pub/Power.html.

 

[Richard Dower]

Really? I have a Sempron 2400+ system quite happily ticking away on a
no-name 250W PSU. It has mobo VGA and one disk and is probably drawing no
more than 100W total. Still, if you say I need a 400W+...

Do you have shares in a power company?

You've got a very old an obsolete PC, try SLI and four raptors and all the
other new toys.

 

[Matt]

You've got a very old an obsolete PC, try SLI and four raptors and all the
other new toys.

Yeah Barry, get with it---your computer is just not good enough to
satisfy Richard Dower's needs.

 

[Richard Dower]

Yeah Barry, get with it---your computer is just not good enough to satisfy
Richard Dower's needs.

Indeed, running two 74GB Raptors here in RAID 0, FX-55, Gigabyte nForce4
Ultra, Plextor 716A, Leadtek 6800GT PCI-E, 14 fans, Antec 550W PSU, 1GB
Corsair XL, Audigy 2 ZS and a shit load of other very high end gear.

But my point was you need a minimum 400W these days, that gives you some
future proofing as well.

 

[Matt]

Indeed, running two 74GB Raptors here in RAID 0, FX-55, Gigabyte nForce4
Ultra, Plextor 716A, Leadtek 6800GT PCI-E, 14 fans, Antec 550W PSU, 1GB
Corsair XL, Audigy 2 ZS and a shit load of other very high end gear.

But my point was you need a minimum 400W these days, that gives you some
future proofing as well.

Your point was wrong.

 

[Richard Dower]

Your point was wrong.

Not it wasn't.

 

[BarryNL]

You've got a very old an obsolete PC, try SLI and four raptors and all the
other new toys.

Why would my parents-in-law need all that for surfing the net, word
processing and reading e-mail?

 

[BarryNL]

Indeed, running two 74GB Raptors here in RAID 0, FX-55, Gigabyte nForce4
Ultra, Plextor 716A, Leadtek 6800GT PCI-E, 14 fans, Antec 550W PSU, 1GB
Corsair XL, Audigy 2 ZS and a shit load of other very high end gear.

But my point was you need a minimum 400W these days, that gives you some
future proofing as well.

Hmm, say 65W for a processor, 15W for a hard disk, perhaps another 20W
(being very generous) for the motherboard. I still don't see where the
other 300W goes...

Actually, far from needing a 400W PSU, a machine just for net browsing
and office apps is unlikely even to need a 200W PSU.

 

[BarryNL]

Yeah Barry, get with it---your computer is just not good enough to
satisfy Richard Dower's needs.

Yeah, but he thinks a Sempron 2400+ is very old and obsolete

 

[Richard Dower]

Why would my parents-in-law need all that for surfing the net, word
processing and reading e-mail?

They don't, but most guys here are builders and techno nerds, or is it just
me?