A good 400+ watt PS

[Scott_Arm]

Hey, my power supply is dying on me, and I've been getting some messages saying my video card is not getting the power it needs to run at full performance.

I have an Athlon64 2800 (754pin)
BFG 6600 GT OC AGP
DVD rom(IDE)
CD burner(IDE)
one hard drive(IDE)
sound and network are on-board
4 case fans (two use the larger molex connectors, the other two use the smaller ones that can plug into the motherboard)
I don't do any overclocking right now

Can anyone recommend a powersupply that would be a good fit for this system? I'm looking for something quiet, with decent cooling performance, and very stable rails. I was looking at Antec and Enermax stuff, but there seem to be so many different varities and I'm not really sure what the difference is.

 

[Diplo]

There was a recent thread regarding this you could read.

 

[karlotta]

my 400w choice

 

[Pete]

That PC P&C unit looks pretty bad-ass.

FYI, BestByte.net has the Seasonic S12-430 for $83 + S&H. According to SPCR, the S12-430 is the quietest fan-based PSU they've tested. Actually, the $36 Seasonic SS-300 may suffice for your system, but its +12V rating doesn't leave much headroom and I don't think it has a six-pin PCIe connector, so adding a faster PCIe card would probably require a better PSU.

But, for your setup, the $36 Seasonic may be a great choice. It's supposedly 80% efficient and very quiet, and Seasonic is pretty popular over at SilentPCReview. SPCR reviewed the SS-300FS--dunno the exact differences, but I'm guessing the one at BB will still be quiet. No promises, though. SPCR also reviewed what appears to be the 400W version of the 300W model at BB. I'm still not sure what that "-F3BLR" suffix is for, though. Maybe Google it or search SPCR's PSU forum.

Or you could pick up the Antec TruePower 330 for $40 at CompUSA. It sounded pretty darned quiet to me, but I didn't like the dual-fan config, which seemed to dump more hot air back into the case than my previous single-fan Antec SL300S. I know this because my CPU and case temps went up a few degrees with the TP330. Normally, this wouldn't bother me, but I'm running a low-noise, (very) low-airflow case, so seeing my load CPU temp go from ~52C to ~55C was a bit disconcerting, so I returned it.

 

[poopypoo]

i'm an antec man, too, but if it were worth the money to me for silence, i'm sure you'll find Zalman's line of silent PSUs to be high-quality.