True-Power psu's suck... [Archive] - XtremeSystems Forums

emtp563

09-26-2002, 04:24 AM

Just got an Antec 550W True-Power PSU. The concept seems like an excellent idea. These are quotes taken directly off the psu packaging: "The True Power design has dedicated output ciruitry for +3.3v, +5v, and 12v, which allows maximum power to be delivered to all voltages, thus assuring maximum performance when your system needs it the most." and "voltage feedback circuitry maintains accurate voltage to all components, further assuring ideal performance and stability."

This is blatent false advertising. My idle voltages are 4.89v on the +5v and 11.67v on the +12v rails. I'm getting random BSOD's which I have never had prior to installing this psu. So much for guaranteed stability and ideal performance.

I have taken this PSU apart and could not find a pot, even though there is a Q & A sticker on the psu that states "high pot o.k." Looks like I will be putting my old Antec 430W psu back in, at least it has a pot where I can crank up the +5v voltage.

I put my old 430W back in (with the pot adjusted) and I'm showing 5.08v and 12.40v @ 1.96v vcore.

This is a heavily-loaded system: 2200+ cpu @ 2.1Ghz, 1.96vcore, 3.00vdimm, 3hdd's, 1cdrom, a Radeon 9700, and a Vapochill case.

I have had similar experiences with Enermax psu's. Can any one rec. a psu (>500w) that doesn't suck?

TheDude

09-26-2002, 04:44 AM

Get the TTGI 520w PS. You will not regret it! It does have an adjustable pot for +5 and +12 rails and is rated at 45, I believe the highest rating I have heard of. The HiPOT ok sticker on your PS means that it was ok when tested, not adjustable pot. The TTGI is built like a tank. It has triple fans with manual speed adjustments. I LOVE mine! You can get them new for $85. I tried several brands looking to solve the problems you have. I even went the volt mod path on my Emax. Hope this helps!:D

PS It ran my vapochill with a loaded case..no prob.:D

emtp563

09-26-2002, 04:47 AM

Thanks man. I'll scour the web for that psu :-)

sysfailur

09-26-2002, 04:47 AM

Originally posted by TheDude
Get the TTGI 520w PS. You will not regret it! It does have an adjustable pot for +5 and +12 rails and is rated at 45, I believe the highest rating I have heard of. The HiPOT ok sticker on your PS means that it was ok when tested, not adjustable pot. The TTGI is built like a tank. It has triple fans with manual speed adjustments. I LOVE mine! You can get them new for $85. I tried several brands looking to solve the problems you have. I even went the volt mod path on my Emax. Hope this helps!:D

PS It ran my vapochill with a loaded case..no prob.:D

You :banana::banana::banana::banana: me.... can a PSU be so good? :D If what you say is true then I think I'm going to buy 2 and sell my 2 PSU's I have now.

Jupiler

09-26-2002, 04:50 AM

I've got the Channel Well 480W PSU and it's performing great.
+5V reads 5.00V at idle and 4.97V full load
+12V reads 12.16V idle and 12.22V full load.(never dropped under 12.00V)
Areally excellent PSU, I must say, worth it's price. Doesn't have any pots but it's not needed.

TheDude

09-26-2002, 04:51 AM

I got mine here for $78 plus shipping

http://www.Directron.com

That was 6 months ago and there is a higher wattage model available, but I cannot say that it also has adjustable pot. If model has changed, you might email them to make sure it still does. Yes it is that good!:D All I will buy from here on!

Direct link to my model still $78

http://www.directron.com/tt500ss.html

PS I no longer see the higher watt model listed there...but not needed anyway.

09-26-2002, 04:51 AM

my Antec PP-412X is still smokin right along with not a single voltage problem yet(pots tweaked). Dunno bout the new true-power ones, but all my old Antec's have rocked :)

Thx for the info on that PS tho, TheDude. Will make note of it for future reference...sounds like a bargain :D

Xe0n

09-26-2002, 04:55 AM

Sounds dodgy... I'd take the 550W back and complain. If it doesn't have/do what it claims to then you've got a reason to get your money back (in my experiences anyways).

Cheers,
Xe0n

sysfailur

09-26-2002, 05:09 AM

Marci

09-26-2002, 05:55 AM

Well, I've had an Enermax 431w since more or less the day they were available, and have always expected to encounter 5v rail probs when I finally got round to getting me a GF4... can quite happily say that this one suffers not one jot! 5v rail is always at 5.01v, never below 4.98v... only time it ever struggled was on my vmodded KX7-333-R where it would drop down to 4.7v when I pushed CPU up past 2.1v... 3 years later it's still silent (more or less).

There are some PSUs on the market under the brand HIPER, which are cheap alternatives.... basically Enermax OEMs rebadged... we carry the 520w here and they seem to perform brill! They have a 3 way selector switch for Fan Speed, from silent to racketous, and sport 3x Fans... 2x 80mm & 1x92mm... probably worth keeping an eye out for...

qwerty57

09-26-2002, 06:10 AM

my true 550 keeps my system below so stable that the only issues are that I wonder if the fans are broken because its so quiet :) on the other hand the volt's read 3.5v on 3.3, 4.96v on 5v, and 11.87v on 12v but they never move more than .05v on any line i think you just got a bad unit.

docah

09-26-2002, 08:11 AM

For a pelt power supply i really reccomend the Radio shack 25A 13.8v switching psu. It's over $100 but it's intended for the purpose, i've had bad luck using regular psu's to power peltiers.

I guess the only upsides are it is small, warrentied, and local service if the bugger breaks ya know? Price sucks ... but i wasn't much worried about that.

Tweaked!

10-15-2002, 10:25 AM

You might even want to check these psu's out. I don't have any personal experience with them, but I've heard alot of good things about them. Supposedly their psu's blow antec and enermax away.

http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/index.htm

Tiribulus

11-22-2002, 01:59 PM

Originally posted by Tweaked!
You might even want to check these psu's out. I don't have any personal experience with them, but I've heard alot of good things about them. Supposedly their psu's blow antec and enermax away.

http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/index.htm
These power supplies are about as good as they come, but are hideously expensive and they have a big gap from the turbo cool 475 to the 600w. Nothing in between with the 475 already pushing at 200 bucks. If money is no object then these units are top of the line, but for 78us I think I may grab on of those models The Dude recommends.
Tiribulus:D
BTW, Long story how it ended up there, but I have a Turbo Cool 425 in my Wife's machine so I do have first hand experience with these power supplies. Weigh enough to kill a large central African mammal with.

Jeff

11-22-2002, 02:09 PM

Originally posted by TheDude
I got mine here for $78 plus shipping

http://www.Directron.com

That was 6 months ago and there is a higher wattage model available, but I cannot say that it also has adjustable pot. If model has changed, you might email them to make sure it still does. Yes it is that good!:D All I will buy from here on!

Direct link to my model still $78

http://www.directron.com/tt500ss.html

PS I no longer see the higher watt model listed there...but not needed anyway.

Just to warn people... this is where I bought my TTGI 520SS and it was NOT a very good power supply. HardAss now has it and he has 4 others and the one I bought recently is NOT like the ones he has bought in the past.

I don't know if they "redesigned" thier power supplies or if I just got unlucky but I'd definitely be a bit leary of these now. And before you void your warrantee and try adjusting the pots, just realize that this did NOT work for my supply. The highest +5v reading HA is getting is only around 4.9v. :(

Like I said, I may have just gotten a bum supply but HA says the whole power supply looks different now.

Tiribulus

11-22-2002, 02:23 PM

You're saying you can visibly see a difference between the "old" ones like The Dude and Hardass got originally and newer ones that are of lesser quality? Or that it just didn't perform like theirs?
Tiribulus:eek:

Johnny Knoxvill

11-22-2002, 03:29 PM

I have a antec truepower 430W
5v-4.89v
12v-11.55v

but i only trust multimeter voltage readings. This PSU pwns your sister

if your sucks get a PC power and cooling 500W, the best PSU on the market

Tiribulus

11-22-2002, 04:12 PM

There is no 500w. 475 then 600w. Which are all ridiculously overengineered masterpieces, but also 50-75 dollars more than other brands of same general wattage.
Tiribulus:D

Liquid3D

12-07-2002, 10:16 AM

I think we should all get together and file a Class Action suit against Antec. I always thought they were the best, however, just about everyone I speak with encounters these same readings; 5V = 4.89V, 12V = 11.80V, and the 3,3V always seems to be over, mine is 3.47V? I've yet to experience any BSOD's and it's stable during OCing, but I wonder? I had an Antec 400Watt I purchased at CompUSA which suffered from the same Voltage deficiencies/readings. I remember calling Antec a while ago, and they responded "they were concerned..." however; with no anomalies (beyond the readings themselves) I simply kept the PSU. Now I'm thinking about sending it in for warranty work/replacement. It's only 4 months old. The mystery is why would two completely different PSU's show almost identical readings? Even if it were a specific device, wouldn't Antec discontinue sourcing a particular part after thousands of PSU's suffer from the same anomlies?
I tell you one thing, my next PSU will either be the TTGI 520W (I almost purchased, but they sold-out) or the PC Power & Cooling 600Watt. I don't care what it costs, if I'd spend $300+ to get the best video card, then the power source has to be equally (if not more) important.
By the way, the TTGI is made by Directron, www.directron.com/tt520ss.html and I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but I specifically remember seeing it at Newegg, and then it quickly sold-out. $88 for a Tri-fan PSU w/an excellent reputation isn't bad, I paid $89 for my TruePower 480Watt w/blue LED.

Tweaked!

12-07-2002, 11:20 AM

Well, just thought I'd throw this in here for you guys to have more to compare. Mine's a Antec true 430w. I don't believe it's any better than what the rest of you guys have, but it hasn't let me down yet either. Not a single bsod, burp, or anything that I know of. I've got my vcore set at 1.75v, everything else is factory. My overclock on this particular rig is in my sig. I kinda figured that my rails seemed a little low because it's a duallie.

Tiribulus

12-07-2002, 09:07 PM

Originally posted by Liquid3D
I tell you one thing, my next PSU will either be the TTGI 520W (I almost purchased, but they sold-out) or the PC Power & Cooling 600Watt. I don't care what it costs, if I'd spend $300+ to get the best video card, then the power source has to be equally (if not more) important.[/B]
A PC Power and Cooling Turbo Cool 600 will cost you $369 or so if I remember right. They are however quite simply put the most reliable indestructable power supplys on Earth. They have a five year warranty and only use the highest quality components available. The 475 watt version is 200 bucks and may be a bit more realistic as well being plenty powerful. It's hard to recommend a 370 dollar power supply, but you will NEVER EVER have to worry about any PS related doubts again, so in that light it may be worth it. Though I can't imagine any possible problems with their 475 either. The PDC where I work was built in 1996 and has run 24x7x365 ever since with a 300 watt unit from them and has never skipped a beat to this day.
Tiribulus:D

Alexandrus

12-28-2002, 09:30 AM

My Antec TP430W is great, and my TP550W is also great, so I have no compliants.
PCPC are very expensive, but maybe they are worth the money.

Keeper

12-28-2002, 10:11 AM

My TP550 has been good to me, the rails are a bit below spec, but then every power supply I have ever had, was out of spec reading off the MBM.

Tiribulus

12-28-2002, 03:05 PM

Originally posted by Alexandrus
My Antec TP430W is great, and my TP550W is also great, so I have no compliants.
PCPC are very expensive, but maybe they are worth the money.
PC Power and Cooling products are one of those things that probably very few people actually need as there are many more than adequate units available form other outfits for substantially less green. If one is looking to end all doubt about power problems and is willing to spend the money they are second to none. If you take the cover off one they look like they were built to survive a thermonuclear holocaust. Nothin fancy, appeaerance wise, but made with the most expensive maximum quality everything. The reason I finally broke down and bought one two years ago was because I figured with all the damn money I was sinking into my main machine, why the hell not. I'm not saying anybody's hampered by not running one, just that they are indisputably the best.
Tiribulus:D

Alexandrus

12-30-2002, 04:11 PM

Originally posted by Liquid3D
By the way, the TTGI is made by Directron, www.directron.com/tt520ss.html and I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but I specifically remember seeing it at Newegg, and then it quickly sold-out. $88 for a Tri-fan PSU w/an excellent reputation isn't bad, I paid $89 for my TruePower 480Watt w/blue LED.

Actually the TTGI PSUs, as well as Vantec Stealth and all other triple fan PSUs are made by Topower(www.topower.com.tw).

As for the Antec TruePower PSUs, I have my 430W running right now and although the +5V and the +12V are below nominal, they are still within specs(nominal +/- 3%).
Tak a look at the pic attached, everything under full load.

Alexandrus

12-31-2002, 04:41 AM

PS. All the low voltage and temp values are from when MBM starts, for some reason it reads low value at that moment.

mdzcpa

12-31-2002, 05:02 AM

I found the voltages on 12v and 5v rails were a bit below where they should be with a new TruePower 550 I installed a few months back. I was so dissapointed that I threw it into my non overclocked server.

However, after the demise of my Enermax EG465 which was in my main testing rig, I went with the TP550 again as a temporary solution. Well....it's still in there:)

What I found was that although the nominal votlages read a tad bit lower than my Enermax, the rails fluctuated less. The rig is very stable and I have no PSU concerns at all.

I guess I have mixed feelings about the TruePower now.