2003 Power Supply Roundup Part II: Better Faster Cheaper
by Kristopher Kubicki on July 31, 2003 1:58 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
We praised the TruePower in our last review because it abided by two fundamental rules; it was efficient and it was cheap. Antec is large enough to grab good prices from their component makers and thus relay the savings down to their consumers, without sacrificing quality. Let us hope during the benchmarking of this unit that Antec continues to follow those same rules. To balance Antec’s representation, we also obtained a TruePower 330W for the roundup.
The TruePower 330W is a relatively no thrills power supply, especially when compared to Antec’s 550W TrueControl. It does come with the standard motherboard monitoring, and the two dedicated fan molexes (controlled automatically by the power supply). However, we are fairly hesitant to use these. The power supply is tucked into its own corner of the case, so we really do not want temperature changes inside the power supply to affect the fan control elsewhere in the case.
Wattages
|
|
3.3V |
5V |
12V |
-12 |
-5 |
+5vsb |
combined theoretical |
actual combined |
advertised total |
|
Antec TruePower 330 |
92.40 |
150.00 |
204.00 |
12.00 |
2.50 |
10.00 |
- |
- |
330.00 |
The TruePower still produces a respectable amount of power on each rail, but not a lot of power on the +12V. The dedicated +3.3V rail will benefit AMD users, particularly overclockers; but beware of the extremely modest +12V rail. If you are running a high end video card, or an Intel Pentium 4, this power supply simply will not produce enough juice.
The TruePower 330W is priced around $55, which puts it just a couple bucks under its TruePower 430W cousin. In our opinion, it would be more cost effective to get the 430W TruePower, which also won our roundup a few months ago.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
70 Comments
View All Comments
Anonymous User - Saturday, August 2, 2003 - link
#11, yes P=IxV, but the power ratings in the table were obviously taken from manufacturers' data rather than actual measurements, which is why when any power rating for any of the positive voltages is divided by that voltage, the quotient exactly equals an integer. That would not be a problem if all manufacturers applied identical standards to their specifications, but many computer users have learned that this isn't the case.Anonymous User - Saturday, August 2, 2003 - link
Perhaps you could include a Q-Tec PSU in the next review? They retail here in Sweden at about 60% of the price of corresponding Enermax and other high quality units, so assuming they aren't totally lousy they're very cheap.Anonymous User - Friday, August 1, 2003 - link
I agree with #15. Definitely take a look at the PC Power and Cooling 400w Silencer PSU. I own two of these units and they're very high quality with reasonably low noise.Anonymous User - Friday, August 1, 2003 - link
Enlight power supplies are always being excluded from these PSU comparsions. I have a Enlight 360W PSU and it's very stable and very quiet. Test some Enlight PSUs!Anonymous User - Friday, August 1, 2003 - link
I appreciated the comments concerning AMD users, but what I really need is some sort of guidance on AMD processor speed vs combined power or 3.3V rail current for upgrading older systems. Many older cases have limited power supplies and I'm trying to figure out the fastest processor I can install and still have reliable operation. Example: A 300 watt supply with 25A of 3.3V can only support up to a Athlon 1600+ on an ECS K7S5A Pro or a 350 watt with a combined power of 200W can support up to 2200+. Oh, and forget that old 250 watt power supply altogether. I need something like that... yeah, I know: your mileage may vary, void where prohibited by law, no watts were endangered in the making of this article.....:-)Anonymous User - Friday, August 1, 2003 - link
Next time you guys might want to check out the PC P&C Silencer 400. It's built just as heavily as the Turbo Cool but with a quieter fan.Anonymous User - Friday, August 1, 2003 - link
Hey guys, im sure 1 or 2 of you resistorheads are an ee or will soon be one.. ripple and noise are only part of a good pwr supply.. we need the facts... how many watts do these power supplies really put out. how do they respond with a big load.. will they take an overload.. how well are they protected...thats what i wanna read aboutMIDIman - Friday, August 1, 2003 - link
WOW - excellent review. I'm getting a zalman for my silent box.Nice to see you guys pumping out articles quickly again! Thanks!
idenyit - Friday, August 1, 2003 - link
hey just wondering the allied A400ATX hows that compare with the B400ATX thats offered on newegg? any differences?Anonymous User - Friday, August 1, 2003 - link
#10, doesnt P=IV? The Power and Voltage measurements were given.