The XFN PSU Buying Guide

BlackKoala · 09-02-2006, 11:10 PM

BlackKoala | Grez

Two brains, one thread. Oh yeah. Read on to learn all you need to know about PSUs and the like!

Sections:
1) Introduction
2) Glossary
3) Types of PSU Power Connectors
4) Is My Power Supply Okay?
5) Buying Guide

Under $75
Under $100
Under $150
Price not an object
Modular PSUs

6) SLi or Not?
7) Brands Not Reccomended
8) Overall Reccomended Brands
9) Conclusion

1) Introduction
Welcome to the wonderful world of Power Supplies. First and foremost: Do NOT skimp out on your power supply. It is a well-known fact that a power supply (or PSU from here on out) is the most overlooked component of any PC. Unfortunately, it is one of the most critical pieces as well, as it is essentially the "heart" of your rig. If your PSU goes out, other hardware may have as well. So saving that extra $30 to get a cheaper PSU may have just killed your brand new $200 graphics card. A good rule of thumb is to expect to spend approximately 10% of the cost of your overall PC on your power supply. Remember, if you can't afford a good power supply, you can't afford the PC in the first place. Don't be cheap; it will cost you more in the long run.

This is where Grez and I come in. We are here to help you. Throughout this guide, you will find all of the information that our minds can collectively dump into a guide. Read through the whole guide to learn all that you would need to know. So, let's have at it, shall we?

2) Glossary
Here are some common terms used when dealing with PSUs:

Amperage - That amount of electrical flow through a wire. (Amps)
ATX - Most common form factor for your power supply.
Fluctuation - The total amout of 'wobble' on your PSU rails. ATX spec says it should be within 5%.
Modular - A PSU with detachable wires. These PSU's are great for good wire management.
Molex - The connector used to attach the PSU wires to a component (I.E. Hard Drive)
Power Supply - The component that uses external power to supply a stable power flow to your computer.
Rail - A controlled line on your PSU that delivers power through the wires. Can be in the 12v, 5v, or 3.3v flavors.
Wattage - How much power the unit can supply at a rated amperage.

3) Types of PSU Power Connectors
So, you just got your new PSU and you have a jumble of wires. Look a little closer at the wires, you will see little connectors on them. This is where these wires start to make sense. All of the pictures here are shots of Grez's blue Hiper Type-R 580W PSU:

20 or 24 pin Motherboard Connector:
This is the mac daddy of all connectors. This connector connects to your motherboard, and runs all the components on it. This is essentially your primary system power. The one pictured here is a 20+4 connector, which can be used with either 24-pin or 20-pin motherboards.

4-Pin Molex Power Connector:
This is the most common type of Molex. Used to power hard drives, optical drives, CCFL's, 12V fans, etc. You will usually find more of these on your PSU than anything else.

P4 Power Connector:
This is basically an Auxillary power cable. It is a square 4-pin connector, and it plugs into your motherboard along with the above 24 pin (although the socket for the P4 plug is often located away from the main 20/24 pin power socket).

Floppy Connector:
Used to power your good old legacy floppy disk drives and some other devices, such as fan controllers or front sound card extension units.

PCIe Connector:
This is used for dedicated power to your PCIexpress graphics card. It is a 6-pin plug, similar to the P4 plug.

SATA Connector:
Used to power all of your SATA (Serial ATA) Hard Drives. Note the small L-shaped notch on one end which prevents you from plugging this connector into the drive the wrong way.

4) Is My Power Supply Okay?
Whether you're concerned about an older PSU or one you've just bought, there is a cardinal rule regarding how stable your PSU should be: the rails should not "wobble" by more than 5% for a PSU to be considered truly stable.

So how does one go about testing the stability of their PSU? Well, the most in-depth way is to use a digital multimeter and measure the voltage of each rail, both at idle and under load, and record the total fluctuation (aka "wobble") observed. Given that this is a lengthy process, we will be detailing this in the future in its own thread, which will be linked from here. However, it is fairly easy to merely confirm that the PSU is working in general, even before you install it into your PC. This is a good idea, so you'll know if you have a problem starting your PC that the issue is not with the PSU itself. You can check that all of the rails are delivering power as expected if you have one simple (and fairly inexpensive) tool: the PSU tester.

A PSU tester is a small device that allows you to power on your PSU without plugging it into the motherboard (usually required), and independently test each type of connector and see that the appropriate rails are responding. Here's a shot of the one we're using, an inexpensive CoolMax PSU tester bought here on Xoxide for about ten bucks:

(Please note: many 24-pin ATX 2.x PSUs do not use a -5V rail, and this is the case with the Hiper Type-R 580W being tested here.)

Again, we will be using the Hiper Type-R 580W PSU for this demonstration, since so many people are familiar with it. The first thing you want to test is the main 20/24 pin power lead. So, you plug this into the 24-pin socket on the tester, and just like magic, you can turn on the PSU:

You'll notice that all of the lights (except the -5V, which we mentioned often isn't used on ATX 2.x 24-pin PSUs) are on, which tells us that all of the rails are properly delivering power. However, please note that this does not mean that your rails are within the 5% "wobble" tolerance, only that the rails are functional and delivering (generally) the right amount of juice.

Next, we leave the main power lead plugged in, and begin testing all of the other connectors. First, we'll check the standard 4-pin molex connectors:

As you can see, on the left side of the tester, there are three lights for the 12V, 3.3V, and 5V rails. When testing the molex connectors, you should see the 12V and 5V lights lit up, as in this picture. That tells you that the connector is working properly. You should repeat this test for all of the molex connectors on the PSU.

Next, let's check the floppy connector. We need to unplug the molex, and then plug in the floppy connector to the appropriate port on the tester:

Again, the 12V and 5V LEDs should light up, as in the picture.

Unplug the floppy connector, and plug in the PCIe connector:

The only LED that should light up for this connector is the 12V.

Unplug the PCIe connector, and plug in the P4 connector:

Again, only the 12V LED should light up for this connector.

Unplug the P4 connector, and last (but not least) test your SATA connectors:

Now, what LEDs you see here may vary. Because of the fact that on the Hiper, all SATA power is delivered through convertors, you should only see the 12V and 5V LEDs light up. However, if your SATA connectors are hardwired (or "dedicated"), then you should see the 3.3V LED light up as well (so all three lights should be lit). So, on my Hiper, we see two LEDs lit, but on the Magnum 500, we see all three.

So there you go. You are now armed (so long as you're willing to spend $10 on a tester) with all of the info you need to ensure that your PSU is fully functional before you ever install it into that shiny new rig. This will help give you confidence that, at the very least, your components are getting the power they need to run properly. After that, it's all up to you.

5) PSU Buying Guide
Here is where you get a run-down of the PSU's on the market that Grez and I will recommend to you. Any of these may be recommended by any of us. No, this list is not perfect or 100% completed. The completion will come in time. As of now, it took three hours to get this list compiled (and that time is growing as we add more). We researched reviews on all of the PSUs we were sketchy about. If you have any PSUs that you'd like to add (or remove), please PM us and we'll review the request and then make any necessary additions/deletions. So, have at it!

Under $75

Under $100

Under $150

No Limit on Price

Modular PSUs

6) SLi or Not?
Every now and then you will come across a PSU with a little logo that looks like this. This is what nVidia puts on their PSU's that they officially certify for 'SLi' video cards. They make money off this big time, so of course they will put the logo on them ;). If you have SLi, do you need this certification? Absolutely not. If your PSU is powerful enough to handle your cards, it will run them, SLi certified or not. Here is a list of all nVidia certified SLi PSU's.

7) Brands Not Recommended
Here's a list of brands that we do not recommend you buy under any circumstances, no matter how good the PSU looks:

A-Top
Apex
Aspire / Apevia
Deer
Hipro
In-Win
Kingwin *
Logisys
Nexxus
PowMax
Raidmax
StarTech
Sunbeam
Ultra *

* These brands have some acceptable or good models, but should only be considered for those models specifically listed. The brand names themselves are still not reliable, and should not count as a positive factor when making your PSU choice.

8) Overall Recommended Brands
Here's a list that we have compiled of overall decent brands. If you stick with these brands, your chances of selecting a good PSU increase dramatically. Please note though, that not everything from every one of these companies is a great power supply. However, these vendors generally make really solid PSUs, so long as you don't go with their total bargain-basement models. This is just a general list to be looking at when you are browsing through your vendor of choice.

9) Conclusion
Well folks, there you have it. The PSU Buying guide for Xoxide Forums. This should alleviate most if not all "What PSU Should I Buy" type threads. This will be an ongoing effort to correct this, and update this, so bear with us, please. More revisions coming in the future.

As for you guys, the two of us hope that you can learn a thing or two from this. If you cannot, this guide would be a failure. Please feel free to leave comments or reputation.

Canavi · 09-02-2006, 11:21 PM

A+ Thanks, EXACTLY what I wanted in a guide.

If newbs don't read this, they are asking for trouble.

BlackKoala · 09-02-2006, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canavi

A+ Thanks, EXACTLY what I wanted in a guide.

Thanks, man. We tried to nail all the basics, and it seems like we did. If there is anything that we missed, please let one of us know via PM!

**MDSarcasm** · 09-02-2006, 11:52 PM

Yeah, werent you dedicating a site to it?

2 things:

how to measure the PSU under load with the multimeter

and

Links to all the PSU's posted, if you dont wanna waste the time of adding them, Id be glad to :)

BlackKoala · 09-02-2006, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MDSarcasm

Yeah, werent you dedicating a site to it?

2 things:

how to measure the PSU under load with the multimeter

and

Links to all the PSU's posted, if you dont wanna waste the time of adding them, Id be glad to :)

I will. You feel like converting bBcode to HTML? I didn't think so.

1) That's an entirely different guide.

2) Haha. I tried it. You really can't just do that, as places go OOS, prices change, etc. I will write a macro eventually to get all of the PSU's to linl\k to their manufacturers site. Grez and I thought about linking every PSU, and trust me, you don't want to.

rahl07 · 09-03-2006, 01:09 AM

Rep slinging. to both you crazy cats.

**mpcamer** · 09-03-2006, 01:45 AM

Good Job.. rep later..

**WhiteBoy88** · 09-03-2006, 04:43 AM

Should get Stickied.
Good work, guys.

'DomE ^ · 09-03-2006, 07:57 AM

awesome guide. exactly what i was looking for

tencent · 09-03-2006, 01:21 PM

on your no limit on price section you have a typo on the mushkin psu,its 650w not 600w. Everything else looks pretty good, nice work.

R.Carter · 09-03-2006, 01:44 PM

Great guide ya'll.

I noticed that Ultra was on your "Brands Not Recommended List." Now that doesn't bother me in the least, but some folks might be interested as to why that decision was made. Especially since so many of them are in use.

Care to offer any insight?

Also, and recommendation as to sturdiest/impact resistant PSU? lol

millerm277 · 09-03-2006, 02:23 PM

It's because Ultra's early x-connects are terrible (although i have one), along with their other cheap PSU's. I've heard good things about the X-Finity/X2Connect, though.

BlackKoala · 09-03-2006, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tencent

on your no limit on price section you have a typo on the mushkin psu,its 650w not 600w. Everything else looks pretty good, nice work.

Doh! I flew right over that, sorry. Fixing now...

Carter...

I put it there because most people will see an X-connect and jump right on it. EVentually I will clarify and make it more pronounced, but until then, buy something else :-p.

**Grez** · 09-04-2006, 12:31 AM

Thanks for all of the feedback, guys. If you want to see anything added that doesn't belong in its own specific thread, PM it to either of us, and we'll see if we can fit it in there!

montypythizzle · 09-04-2006, 12:47 AM

hmm why is rosewill on non recommended psu list

BlackKoala · 09-04-2006, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by montypythizzle

hmm why is rosewill on non recommended psu list

Well, they haven't really had a good showing.

NOTE:
If you see a PSU that you like, look up reviews on it! We may have made a mistake, so feel free to prove us wrong!

xtremegamer_624 · 09-04-2006, 02:16 AM

Cool guide.

Like said...I don't see what's so terrible about rosewill.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...sewill&Ntk=all

Check out the user review eggs below every one on that page...Looks pretty good to me. I've also had one for over a year, without one problem after it being used for a few hours every day.