Best 400W PSU ?

PSUs: The source of DC power for all components in the PC & often a big noise source.

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henners
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Best 400W PSU ?

Post by henners » Sat Jan 31, 2004 4:22 am

What is the best 400W PSU? I will be buying an athlon64 3200, radeon 9800pro and 3700AMG. I'm looking for quietness. All I know of is that Zalman do a 400W quiet PSU but dont know much else!

Thankyou,
Henry

Shadowknight
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Post by Shadowknight » Sat Jan 31, 2004 4:54 am

Look in the appropriate recommended section on the main site.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/modules.p ... s&secid=10

henners
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Post by henners » Sat Jan 31, 2004 5:13 am

Yeah, I couldnt find a comparison with the new Zalman 400 PSU Though.

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Sat Jan 31, 2004 10:45 am

henners wrote:Yeah, I couldnt find a comparison with the new Zalman 400 PSU Though.
Review on the new 400 B is coming. Some time in Feb.

henners
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Post by henners » Sat Jan 31, 2004 10:58 am

OK, thanks. Do you think it will be worth waiting for?

Sooty
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Post by Sooty » Sat Jan 31, 2004 12:25 pm

Z400B review here:
http://www.dirkvader.de/page/zm400b-aps.html

The Z400A suffered from a ticking problem, otherwise an excellent PSU. The Z400B is the one I’ve short-listed. Fingers crossed that a company with Zalman’s rep, will have sorted the ticking with the B. I need to order next week, so I too would appreciate a preview of Mike’s review.

With all that you read, I don’t want to chance a Seasonic. The only others I’ve personally identified, would be the Fortron 350/400 (120mm) – there are many rebadged versions of the Fortrons, but I’m not convinced they’re any better than the original, despite being more money.

Others: Tagan 380, and the untested and very expensive, Globalwin 450 Onyx.

Sooty
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Post by Sooty » Sun Feb 01, 2004 3:33 am


JavaLava
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Post by JavaLava » Sun Feb 01, 2004 5:03 am

IMHO, the Seasonic Super Silencer 400 would be the best bet.

The Zalman 400A gets a little noisier when compared to the SS-400AGX when things get hot. So a well ventilated case is a must.

I've recently installed a Tagan TG480 and it is VERY quiet except for a strange mechanical noise. It also runs a little hotter than the others. The TG380 is reported to have such a defect too, although the European-only model seems to be better.

The Super Tornado 400 was a disappointing experience for me. The only way I could make it stay quiet is to reverse the case exhaust fan, which means it becomes an intake fan. The result is less noise but more dust!

Hope that helps! :)

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