My multimeter has pretty thin probes that I can wedge into the backside of a molex that's plugged in and measure voltage at the same time

But yeah... it shouldn't be that low :O

Alrighty so first I had an Asus A7N8X-X. It had 2 squealing coils in the power regulation section of the board. It's also one of the few boards that powers the CPU off the +5v rail. My Enermax 300w would run it with a good 3.3v, good 12v, bu the +5v would sag around 4.75. Then I bought an Antec 330w...

I'm currently running an Alpha pal8045 with an 80mm Vantec Stealth with a 39ohm resistor inline... the fan spins at an average of 1750rpm and It'll be the loudest thing in my system. Stock is roughly 2300rpm, and I believe it's running @ ~7v now. It's mostly wind noise, not really fan noise that's c...

But I just don't think it'll fit into my case. I've got an Inwin q500n with an epox 8rda3+ MB, so the fins will stretch out vertically, with air flowing through them from the front to the back of the case. Currently with my Alpha pal8045, I have about a centimeter from the edge of the HS to the bott...

NICE

5v should be plenty if nothing else needs cooling.

Bluefront, maybe now that the fan hub being further away from the actual stuff inside the PS, is allowing for better overall PS cooling?

My Fortron came in a blueish Fortron box, and it's a dullish silverish colour, with different heatsinks if I recall correctly.

Bluefront, what if the 140mm fan is no thicker than say the 120mm inside a Fortron?

My 300w 120mm is a bit low on the +5v according to MBM5, but when measured with a multimeter @ the ATX connector, I get 4.89v solid. I'd say it's a good power supply.

Now that is HOT

Why not put in a 92mm fan so the air gets forced through the HS, cover up the grates opposite the 80mm fan, and just leave the 80mm fan hole open? That way your fan is further away from an opening, you get airflow through the PS's heatsink, and with the other grates taped up, you don't get warm air ...

Lol that's just wierd.
I'd love to have an Intel I875PBZK as a MB though... HUGE heatsink on the NB

Just found out that the chip that does the hardware monitoring is the one that says "ASUS" on the bottom front corner of the MB.

Good thinking Mike :) Maybe some sort of silicone or hot glue substance would help? The Fortron PS seems to have their coils covered in heat-shrink plastic, which I can't see how it absorbs very much, but I guess it works. I'll probably just RMA it and sell the one I get back. I might get an MSI tha...

Yup, the Fortron 300w with 120mm fan. Initial thoughts: not particularily heavy and the wires don't appear to be as thick as the ones in the Antec 330w. Whether it's the insulation or actual wire thickness I don't know. With the Fortron... MBM5 is reporting the +5v at an average of 4.73v with a low ...

Alrighty, it's definetely going back.
I wonder what I should get next...

Jeez, I just turned off folding@home, so obviously the system is running a bit cooler, and putting less of a load on the PS. My +5v line sits a bit higher at an average of 4.93, but the line varied between 4.62 and 5.03! That's in maybe 1.5 hours worth of time: a lot less than the previous readings ...

Just got it this morning. It's not a *bad* PS by any means, but I'm definetely bringing it back. Main issue is line voltage. My +5v is averaging 4.87 (4.81-5.00, but mostly it's quite stable at 4.87)and my +12v is averaging 11.87 (11.80 and 12.03, again quite stable at 11.87). The FSP350-60BN it rep...

I bet it's pretty loud because of the extremely small grate

Thanks for the advice. I still haven't made up my mind though

I have no problem modding a PS, so dropping in a super-quiet 80/92/120mm fan isn't a big deal at all. I'm essentially looking for the best line regulation PS around 350w I can buy for around $75usd.

Here's an example of a Silverstone 400w PS with PFC, 120mm fan: http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-st40f.htm It goes fro $81 at CanadaComputers, and seems to have fairly good reviews in terms of voltage line stability. I'm considering either buying it, an Antec 380-430, a Fortron 120mm, or maybe...

Crap, that's a TINY board!

NM, I cut off the offending connectors and the PS works alright on my board. At 190x9.6 with 190mhz memory (380mhz effective), my +5v is still hanging around 4.86v average, +12v is at 12.12, and +3.3v is only at 3.23v.

I'd like to use my Sparkle 350w in my current rig, but I can't fit the 24pin plug onto ATX connector becuase it hits the adjacent IDE connector. I'd also prefer not to have to cut off the offending 4 pins, but it would eliminate a joint between the ATX connectors, and 24pin ATX PS's aren't very much...

Seems to be a very thorough test!

Thanks!

Do they have pots that can adjust the voltage up and down on each rail?

IIRC Antec's used to, dunno if the TP's do it. Would be nice if the FSP's did

Thanks in advance

Of course!

Talk about case ventilation