Antec TP-550 vs SLK-3700BQE PSU

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 8:04 pm

My current power supply is Antec's TruePower-550 that I purchased long ago determining that I would get a quiet power supply that was appropriate for a dual Athlon system. Now that I'm older and a little wealthier, I got a Kill-a-Watt meter, and found out that my computer draws only about 200W of power.

SOOOOO, since then I've gotten the SLK-3700BQE, which comes with it's own power supply that is more than capable of handling my system. The question becomes, should I use the new Power supply or should I stick with the TPU-550?

(In the terms of quietness of course. I know that if I do some massive upgrades and suck more power, then I can switch back, but I'd like to know which is the quieter of the two in general)

chylld · Post by **chylld** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 11:59 pm

The BQE's power supply is the SL350S, a 1-fan version of Antec's SL350.

If you're not into modifying power supplies, then stick with the 550. The 350 will probably choke and send its fan into orbital speeds - if it can handle it. A 350W PSU will do you no good if any of the measured 200W exceeds any of the rail ratings of the power supply, namely the 3.3v, 5v and 12v rails.

The SL350S, with a bit of modding (removing fan grill, replacing fan, bending front grill slats) is an excellent psu for less demanding systems but I would definitely look to a higher-rated product for something like a dualie.

Perhaps the upcoming Zalman 400B-APF is what you need?

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 10:40 am

Thanks for the advice.

Right, now I'm broke, and the case was the last toy I could buy for the next few months. (Funny how automobiles can be a money-sink, but I digress). Buying a new power supply at this point is out of the question. I'd probably get the Seasonic Super Silencer 400 (plus L1A mod) if I could a) find a good distributor that carries Seasonic, and b) if I could afford the cash.

So I'd have to choose between the two that I have right now.

Anyways, as I said above, thanks for the advice.

chylld · Post by **chylld** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 11:55 am

What car did you buy?

silicon acoustics carries seasonics.

you could always double-l1a mod your tp550...

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 7:24 pm

No new car, just replacement parts for the old car, as installed by the mechanic (I'm good at tinkering with my computer, but my car is another story)

How difficult is it to mod the TP-550?

chylld · Post by **chylld** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 8:03 pm

if i recall correctly the tp550 has 1 80mm fan and 1 92mm fan. if you just want to do a fan swap, then all you have to do is buy an 80L and a 92L, mod either the connectors or the plugs on the motherboard, and then just swap them.

i suggest you read up on some of the psu modding articles on this site / the forums / any other site because it can be tricky business

BlueTide · Post by **BlueTide** » Sun Jan 11, 2004 2:05 am

I have a smilar situation, sthayashi, with too noisy dual 2100+. I started my own silencing project and decided to get that TP550W to replace 400W Fortron I had before and have something to play with.

If you decide to mod it, could you take a few pictures from the inside? I'm especially interested if I could swap that 92mm fan to 120mm fan, but don't know yet if there's enough space inside. Have been busy toying with my new 3700AMB for a while.

Antec TP-550 vs SLK-3700BQE PSU

Antec TP-550 vs SLK-3700BQE PSU

My plans with similar setup