350-450W Roundup: 11 Cheap PSUs
by Martin Kaffei on July 3, 2012 1:30 PM ESTRosewill Green Series RG430-S12 430W
Most enthusiasts are familiar with Rosewill as an US brand of inexpensive products of decent quality. They've had power supplies on the market for ages, but those products are almost always for budget builds. This time Rosewill sent a PSU which is more "expensive". The Green Series is efficient (80Plus) and comes with several extras such as cable ties. The 430W unit can theoretically draw up to 10A from the power grid (115VAC), and it delivers up to 33A on the single +12V rail. The maximum output from 12V is thus 396W if you don't stress the other rails, which are both rated at 24A. Together, 3.3V and 5V can deliver an additional 140W, which is more than enough for a system with modern components such as SSDs.
At first we couldn't identify the manufacturer of this fan as Rosewill is the only name we saw on the label. However, the model number S1202512M told us that GlobeFan is the company behind. This sleeve bearing type has a maximum rotational speed of 2400RPM.
| Cables and Connectors | ||
|
Connector type (length) |
Main | 1x 24-pin (55cm) fixed |
| ATX12V/EPS12V | 1x 4+4-pin (50cm) fixed | |
| PCIe | 1x 6-pin (45cm) fixed | |
| Peripheral |
2x SATA (ca. 40, 55cm) fixed 2x SATA (ca. 40, 55cm) fixed |
|
|
3x HDD (ca. 40, 55, 70cm) fixed 3x HDD, 1x FDD (ca. 40, 55, 70, 85cm) fixed |
||
Here we have a typical ATNG design with two large heatsinks. The EMI filtering is equipped well and it's nice to see that there are Taiwanese capacitors. The Teapo models don't have the longest lifetime and lowest ESR; however, we've never detected a problem with Teapo in power supplies.
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pvdw - Wednesday, July 4, 2012 - link
Here's some good ones to look at in 350W-450W range:Seasonic X-400 Fanless
Seasonic S12II-380
Silentmaxx Fanless 400W MX460-PFL01
Nexus Value 430
Seasonic M12II-430
And just above the 450W range, but unlikely to use any more power in most systems are these good ones:
Enermax Modu/Pro87+ 500W
Kingwin STR-500
pvdw - Wednesday, July 4, 2012 - link
BTW, though I really enjoy most Anandtech articles, your PSU ones can't beat SilentPCReview. But then I can't see how you could do better without an anechoic chamberCheck out their list of recommended supplies:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/Recommended_PSUs
A5 - Wednesday, July 4, 2012 - link
The cheapest PSU on that list is well over $100, which is more than double the most expensive one in this article, which is about finding a good "cheap" PSU.I'm glad AT did this article as it should encourage a little more competition in the low-end space.
knutjb - Wednesday, July 4, 2012 - link
In my experience I've had a couple low end PSUs do bad things to MBs even though they were modestly loaded. After using a number of different manufacturers all I buy are Seasonics. I get them when they are on sale.I have a 9 yr old 600 S-12? on its second system and the output measures the same as it did when new. Blow out the dust occasionally and it just works. Even in low end systems I don't trust inexpensive PSUs, their quality control is all but non-existent with wide variation in samples.
You get what you pay for and I don't like buying things twice.
pvdw - Thursday, July 5, 2012 - link
A quick search turns up this link:http://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-ATX12V-S12II-430-BR...
The Seasonic S12II 430 for $60 shipped. Or the 380W for $54 shipped.
clarkn0va - Friday, July 6, 2012 - link
Seasonic SS-350ETSupposedly not as quiet as their retail offerings, but always inexpensive. I would like to see how this one holds up against similar offerings.
Maybe AT needs a Bench section for PSUs?
Belard - Wednesday, July 4, 2012 - link
I've bought some CX models for bottom end PCs for clients...But I picked up two 500w models, both were defective.
1) Defective power connector (at the motherboard)...
2) Flutter fan noises.
Returned them, bought Thermaltake TR2s.
piroroadkill - Wednesday, July 4, 2012 - link
When the Corsairs first hit the scene, the HX series were all Seasonic.Corsair is a nice rebrander, but I go straight to Seasonic for my own system's PSU these days. I have a Seasonic X-660..
Arnulf - Wednesday, July 4, 2012 - link
Great article !I wish you could round up even more models and/or present the results in a common bench-like database (you know, like the CPU comparison etc.) where different models coudl be added over time.
silverblue - Wednesday, July 4, 2012 - link
Enermax NAXN ENP450AWT-B 450W - £60 at Scan:http://www.scan.co.uk/products/450w-enermax-naxn-8...
(Unfortunately, out of stock)
Rasurbo RAP350 350W - £44 inc. delivery on eBay:
http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/280832584568?var=lv...
The 450W variant - £58 inc. delivery on eBay:
http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/280758645995?var=lv...
Corsair CX430 V2 430W - from £35 inc. delivery:
http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=Corsair...
You can find FSP Hexa, Aurum and Fortron PSUs quite easily; the Aurum 80 PLUS Gold 500W is £62 inc. delivery.