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X-Connect 500W Modular PSU
VL writes "Sure, power supply reviews aren't all that interesting, but we take a look at one nice PSU that delivers power where it counts, and best of all, it is the best modular setup we've seen in this market segment."
so, come on, what's the deal?
* Posted by CmdrTaco
* by VL, viperlair, the company selling these PSU's
NEWS for Nerds or STUFF for Nerds? If I need stuff for nerds I go to my local PC supplier or I go to thinkgeek but this is a lil bit over the top not ?
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
"According to specifications, the fans will generate 34 dB of noise at full speed, which is certainly far from silent."
I was kinda psyched a while back when I replaced my old power supplies on two boxes w/ 400 watters. (the biggest i had heard of at the time). Stupidly, I failed to realize how much louder the new power supplies were. I don't know how many dbs exactly, though they verge on annoying.
TODO: come up with a clever sig
...is one of these for my Shuttle. Thing's too small for the excess wires running about.
(what I'd really like to see is a departure from the ATX connector on the Shuttles, moving to something smaller with less wires and higher amperage rated connections, but that's beside the point.)
Karma: Negative (Mostly affected by dorm trolling)
In case you didn't notice, this very nice review was brought to you you by a nice dotcom that has absolutely no interest in making you visit them....
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
...but how many rock tumblers can it power?
Nerd: I need an outlet for my rock tumbler.
Bart & Lisa: Plug it in! Plug it in!
Nerd: What, the rock tumbler or the TV?
Bart & Lisa: The TV! The TV!
It would be cool if it didn't suck.
I wouldn't label this as a "top of the line" "only the rich have" item. I dropped $90 on an antec PSU at 480 watts becuase the no name one I had didn't cut it. I can not stress enough the importance of buying a quality PSU, because it is such a hard thing to reconize when it is causing trouble. So exspect to spend around $100 on a quality power rig PSU. Another point of intrest to me is that that is a really inovative idea with the modular plugs. Seriously, when was the last time you saw something change in PSUs and it made you say "wow, that is really something different."
404
still just ugly metal boxes with minor variations on a 70yr design but now designed to last about 3yr
Yes I'll second that, my 70 year old IBM still works like a champ...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
The article says, "There isn't such a thing as too much power though..."
This article has no place on Slashdot. It is written by someone with no knowledge who quite likely was paid to say such things.
Despite all the bitching about this article being a paid ad, this PSU looks fairly useful.
The other day when I was blowing all the dust out of my case, I saw all those unused power cords strung about all over the place and wished I could get rid of them.
Since we're getting rid of bulky ribbon cables with S-ATA, it would be nice to get rid of all that other spaghetti too.
Does it make you happy you're so strange?
Those power connectors have always been the weakest part of any power supply, they often fail causing intermittent connections which result in lockups or worse. I find I have to crimp down each socket with some needle nose pliers if I remove them... and now there's TWO per connection..
I'm hoping more devices move to SATA style power, so far it seems to have far better contact.
"I don't know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots." George HW Bush
He didn't even push the PSU, yet say that it was more than able. Eh? He had one HD... How about 4 drives in a raid (so they're all active), and then see how it fares playing some games (so the gpu is taxed too)?
The modular connections looked like something I might want though.
Each connector provides additional resistance in the circuit leading to voltage sags and heat build up in the connectors.
I'd be more interested if this PSU offered high efficiency and Active PFC. (Active PFC opens the way for more efficient PSU designs). Current PSUs offer an electrical efficiency of about 68% - on a high-end system, the PSU could be pumping out over 100 W of heat itself, making it even more of a space heater than the CPU - and requiring substantial fans too.
Modern industrial SMPSs can achieve electrical efficiencies which are much higher. I've seen telecoms grade 400W PSUs claim efficiency of over 95% - so the technology exists to mass produce these things today.
Also, this review made no mention of protection systems:
Incredibly, the safety features listed above, are not standard on all PC PSUs - only a very few offer crowbar protection.
Uh... since when has /. had anything to do with journalism?
Depends. First of all, get brand-name PSUs. It doesn't have to be a super high profile brand like Antec or Enermax, there are equally good/better, cheap PSUs by other manufacturers, but no-name PSUs are horrible. Or at least they used to be - the rule was that any brand-name PSU was more powerful than a no-name PSU of twice the rating. Looking around on the net is a pretty good idea, although most PSU reviews really suck.
That said, most people I know buy way too powerful PSUs. 350W really gets you a long way - as I'm writing this, my 350W hec PSU powers a GF4 Ti4200, an XP 1800+, three hard drives and one optical drive. I'm fairly certain there's still room for more, I think a 300W PSU would be sufficient for this system. I'm curious whether it'd break if I installed a cutting edge graphics card which at some point were claimed to require a 450W PSU.
Buying a PSU that is too powerful for your system isn't a big deal, though. PSUs run most efficient when they're being used close to their maximum rating, but I don't think the efficiency difference is that great. So you can't go wrong if you buy a 400W PSU - you'll just spend more than you have to, for one thing.
Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
Just a thought, the article says " Basically, if you do not need all the available power, the PSU will reduce the voltages. ", well I don't know about you but I don't want my 5 volt stuff running on 4 volts :), obviously this reviewer wouldn't know a ripple if they saw one!
For really good power supplies, try PcPowerAndCooling.com really well made quality stuff.
"I don't know, I couldn't say, at least not today!"
I believe this company is offering the same sort of cable modularity as in the Antec NEOPOWER line (looks rather new):
http://www.antec.com/us/pro_details_powerSupply.ph p?ProdID=24480
The Antec version appears to have some interesting features, not the least of which is the fully open-back grill on the back of the unit. The dark brushing alumnium/steel finish is rather cool too. However, the Antec product does not offer the same sort of sleeved cables as the one in the originaly article. They are, instead, bundles of molex connectors -- two to three connectors per bundle.
Here's a flyer PDF link on the Antec product:
http://www.antec.com/pdf/flyers/NeoPower.pdf
Tom's Hardware also review this Antec product on July 20, 2004:
http://www.tomshardware.com/firstlook/20040720/ind ex.html
Also, if you're interested in EXTREME modular PSU options, visit Frozencpu.com and look under the Power Supplies area for a slew of their own customized PSUs with modularity options included. It's almost to a point of overkill, including plexiglass casings, UV wiring, LED fans, laser cut fan grills -- all for a friggin' power supply.
IronChefMorimoto
"All the cables are sleeved with a tinned copper braid, which act to shield the rest of the PC from EMI." How cables that transmit DC power going to generate EMI? If if a device's current draw is fluctuation enough to cause RF propagation the device needs to be replaced, not sheild the DC transmition cables.
Recieved it from FrozenCPU last week, its extremly quiet, and probably cut the noise of my PC in half. Also, the chrome and silver/black connectors look very clean. You can get a 500w power supply for a lot less, but it wont look this nice and probably doesn't have the performance (nobody ever reviews cheap PSUs). Its been running an XP3200+, 2 vid cards, 3 SATA hard drives, 2 optical drives and 3 fans without any hickups. Another review here.
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."