Given the high end specs of the system you are putting together, I would
recommend a top end power supply, such as the Antec True Power 430w or 480w.
Antec also has a less expensive line of "solution series" power supplies,
which includes a 450w model.  The True Power is Antec's premium line, but
the "SL" models are good quality, as well.  The True Power inclues a feature
that allows the case fans to be attached to special power connectors on the
P/S which regulate the speed of these case fans, depending on how hot the
P/S, itself, is getting.  This is one way to help control the noise level of
a system.

The real bargain with Antec comes when you buy one of their cases that
includes one of these very good power supplies.

Enermax makes an extensive line of high quality power supplies, as well.
The differences between their various models can be a bit confusing, but it
comes down to things like whether you can manually adjust the speed of the
power supply's fans and whether one of the P/S's fans can be shut down when
the system is in a suspended state.  They also advertise one of their models
as having "active PFC", which is a feature I've seen touted with other P/S's
(such as ThermalTakes), the hype sounds good, but I don't have the technical
background to comment on how beneficial this feature really is.  (Perhaps,
somone else on the list can.)  Enermax's "basic" 460w power supply would be
their EG465-VE (FM) (no manual adjustment of the P/S fan and no suspend
mode, but P/S's fan can be monitored through the motherboard fan connector).

As an aside, I haven't figured out why Enermax isn't doing what Antec is
doing, which is to include their high end power supplies with the cases that
they also sell.  They typically include some generic P/S (Powerup brand) in
the cases that they offer, instead.

Generally, when comparing power supplies, pay attention to the
specifications for the power output on the individual voltage lines (3.3v,
5v, and 12v), and also note what the output for the 5v and 3.3v lines
combined is.  You will often see that the less expensive models, though they
boast the same total wattage as a more expensive model (say, 400w), they
actually are not capable of delivering the same power output on this 5v and
3.3v volt combined specification as the better P/S.

HTH,

John


----- Original Message -----
From: "Daniel Medley" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 6:40 PM
Subject: [PCBUILD] Power supply suggestions?


> Building a system using an Intel D875PBZ mobo, P4 3.2ghz, GeForce FX 5900
> Ultra 256 MB vid card, Sound Blaster Audigy 2, Western Digital 2500GB hd,
a
> dvd burner, and a cd burner and, probably, a couple of gig of DDR400 ram.
>
> Any suggestions on a good power supply?

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