Seasonic vs Antec

Tumlehund · Post by **Tumlehund** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 2:08 am

I'm all set to by a new rig, but one of the components is hard to decide on: the PSU!

Since I'm going for the P180, I originally wanted to go for the Neo HE, since it's got long cables and it's QUIET (and it got a great review here at SPCR). However, now I'm suddenly having second thoughts about this PSU.

The reason is I'm going for the Asus A8N32-SLI and I am VERY concerned if I will experience the same problems as a lot of A8N owners are? AFAIK there is still no resolution to the problem of spontaneous shutdowns, I've been all over the internet trying to find out what causes the problem, but to no avail

So, since the Seasonic S12 model is getting great reviews I'm considering to go for this one instead of the Neo HE. However, I am a bit worried about cable length, and even though someone recommended me to get cable extenders I'm worried if this will have any negative side effects?

I guess bottom line is whether I bother to order the Neo HE and risk having to RMA it. Feels like take a chance to me, what do you think?

hravn · Post by **hravn** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 2:46 am

Well, I've already tried the taking a chance part, and it didn't work out (although with a Premium) so I'm voting for the Seasonic even though I have no experience with it.

Antec really should get this matter settled, I'd expect that they are losing alot of sales over this since the Neo HE and the A8N is both popular with people wanting quiet computers.

Tumlehund · Post by **Tumlehund** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 12:06 pm

Starting to get the picture, noone for Neo HE? :-/

Any input on cable extenders?

klankymen · Post by **klankymen** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 12:34 pm

hravn wrote:Well, I've already tried the taking a chance part, and it didn't work out (although with a Premium) so I'm voting for the Seasonic even though I have no experience with it.

same thing here. don't take the risk. I'm ordering an s12-380 tomorrow or the day after to replace my HE430, which has great cable lengths and all that stuff, but as long as your firm on your asus, and don't get something like a DFI instead, absolutely go for the s12

GHz · Post by **GHz** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 12:39 pm

I've used and recommended Antec PSUs in the past, but due to their declining reliability, I've switched over to Seasonic. The S12 series is quiet, powerful, and reliable. I think you'll be very happy with it. GL!

Tumlehund · Post by **Tumlehund** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:56 pm

OK, I guess I have come to the same conclusion: don't take the chance.

Seasonic it is...

Hellspawn · Post by **Hellspawn** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:56 pm

Tumlehund wrote:Starting to get the picture, noone for Neo HE? :-/

Any input on cable extenders?

Re: NEO HE Be afraid, very afraid.

wainwra · Post by **wainwra** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 6:59 pm

I'm in exactly the same situation. I have ordered an ASUS A8N32, a P180, have cancelled the NeoHE 430 order, and went for a S12-500 instead. (The Antec case and Seasonic PSU have arrived, but the motherboard will be another couple of weeks yet

).

I've just ordered one of these as I'm in Germany. Not sure where you are (you might update your profile!) but if you're in the US, you could buy one here or here if in the UK.

Tumlehund · Post by **Tumlehund** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 2:16 am

Wainwra, seems we're neighbours

Just updated my profile.

Thanks for the advice on the the cable extender. I have a hard time finding one here in DK, but I guess I just have to look a little bit harder!

What kind of graphics card do you use? I have an Radeon X850XL at the moment, I might exchange that for a 7800GTX 512MB after X-mas.

What heatsink are you going for? I'm set on the Ninja for now

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 3:56 am

Tumlehund, hello from another neigbour

I havent found one excatly like the above, but check this site, they have ATX extenders under "Ledning & kabler". www.vcore.dk

klankymen · Post by **klankymen** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 6:58 am

thank you, wainwra, i think I'm gonna need one of those, i noticed e-bug.de doesn't carry any unfortunately

Sooty · Post by **Sooty** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 7:00 am

Has it not been determined the NeoHE is a Seasonic? Ironic...

Tumlehund · Post by **Tumlehund** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 7:35 am

Wow all those neighbours, let's make a party

Thanks for the link, Thomas, but unfortunately I'm not able to find an extender there

I've all over edbpriser.dk as well, but no luck! I'm really amazed it's so hard to finde in DK! I'll try asking in one of the Danish newsgroups as well.

Sooty, yeah it's ironic. Everything "connects", you know

wainwra · Post by **wainwra** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 9:00 am

Regarding the ATX12V P4 extension cable, if Maplins (the UK link above) won't ship to Denmark, then you might try one of the following:

http://ph-computer.dk/product_info.php?products_id=358
http://www.edbpriser.dk/Listprices.asp?ID=104229
http://www.studiedata.dk/productitem.as ... APS,CAPSCA

or else you could Google "atx12v forlænger".

Tumlehund wrote:What kind of graphics card do you use? I have an Radeon X850XL at the moment, I might exchange that for a 7800GTX 512MB after X-mas.

What heatsink are you going for? I'm set on the Ninja for now Smile

I'd love to have a 7800GTX, but I'm already way over budget, and as I don't actually play any FPS games (yet!) I thought it would be sensible to save a few hundred euro and go for something more affordable. So I bought a MSI NX6600LE-TD256E (256Mb) for less than €100. Based on the reviews I read, I think it is probably one of the best performing passive cards in that price range.

I must admit though, the forthcoming Gigabyte cards mentioned in this thread sound very tempting.

And yes - I have also gone for the Ninja!

I'll be sure to make a full post when I finally get the system together.

Tumlehund · Post by **Tumlehund** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 9:20 am

Wow, thanks for your help, wainwra!

wainwra wrote:Regarding the ATX12V P4 extension cable, if Maplins (the UK link above) won't ship to Denmark, then you might try one of the following:

http://ph-computer.dk/product_info.php?products_id=358
http://www.edbpriser.dk/Listprices.asp?ID=104229
http://www.studiedata.dk/productitem.as ... APS,CAPSCA

or else you could Google "atx12v forlænger".

A German speaking/understanding Danish...

Stop embarrasing me!

Seriously, thanks for you efforts! However, none of those 3 places have the right one:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/images/Full/34109i0.jpg

wainwra wrote:I'd love to have a 7800GTX, but I'm already way over budget, and as I don't actually play any FPS games (yet!) I thought it would be sensible to save a few hundred euro and go for something more affordable. So I bought a MSI NX6600LE-TD256E (256Mb) for less than €100. Based on the reviews I read, I think it is probably one of the best performing passive cards in that price range.

Yeah, you're right those new cards are so expensive! I wonder what the 7800GTX 512MB version will be like. €700 or something?

wainwra wrote:I must admit though, the forthcoming Gigabyte cards mentioned in this thread sound very tempting.

And yes - I have also gone for the Ninja!

I'll be sure to make a full post when I finally get the system together.

Looks promising with the Gigabyte "heatsink" solution. It's great to see more manufacturers putting some effort into this!

What parts did you order for your system, and why did you choose the parts you did?

Sizzle · Post by **Sizzle** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 9:46 am

I have a Antec SmartPower 2.0 500 in my P180, it's aweful quiet. The rear fan rarely kicks in. Straight through air fan design and modular cables. Modular cables are a must for me now that I have been exposed to them.

Looking at the design of the P180, I think passive and straight-through design PSU's are better suited to the case. Not that the Seasonic won't perform wonderfully in there, many members seem to have a Seasonic running in their P180.

kenoka · Post by **kenoka** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 10:43 am

Sizzle wrote:I have a Antec SmartPower 2.0 500 in my P180, it's aweful quiet. The rear fan rarely kicks in. Straight through air fan design and modular cables. Modular cables are a must for me now that I have been exposed to them.

Looking at the design of the P180, I think passive and straight-through design PSU's are better suited to the case. Not that the Seasonic won't perform wonderfully in there, many members seem to have a Seasonic running in their P180.

How was cable management on this PS? I'm contemplating returning my NeoHE 500 for the Smartpower 2.0 500, due to compatability issues with my Asus A8N-SLI Premium. I'm concerned in reading this from the SPCR review of the Smartpower 2.0:

The main complaint with the cables is the short length, which makes cable management more difficult. It also makes the SmartPower 2.0 unsuitable for use in a case where the motherboard is mounted upside down, such as the SilverStone TJ-06, or where the power supply is not mounted in the standard position, such as the Antec P180.

Is this not applicable to the 500 because it uses modular cables?

wainwra · Post by **wainwra** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 11:27 am

Tumlehund wrote:A German speaking/understanding Danish... Cool Stop embarrasing me! Laughing

Seriously, thanks for you efforts! However, none of those 3 places have the right one

Well, it's a shame to admit it, but in fact I don't speak Danish. I just did an easy piece of guess work based on the results of Googling "ATX12V dk" and the similarity of the Danish word to the German (Verlängerung).

But unless there's something crucial in the text, I think that something like this (http://www.studiedata.dk/productitem.as ... APS,CAPSCA) would be suitable for you - it would allow you to turn a spare ordinary 4pin molex connector into a P4 ATX12V connector. That would work, I think. You'd probably want to check the pinouts to be sure, but if my recollection serves, all of these power connectors are just collections of 12V 5V and ground cables, and they even seem to agree on the same colour convention.

I have to go now, but I will give a proper answer to your other question, later!

Good luck with your shopping!

Sizzle · Post by **Sizzle** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 11:32 am

kenoka wrote:
Sizzle wrote:I have a Antec SmartPower 2.0 500 in my P180, it's aweful quiet. The rear fan rarely kicks in. Straight through air fan design and modular cables. Modular cables are a must for me now that I have been exposed to them.

Looking at the design of the P180, I think passive and straight-through design PSU's are better suited to the case. Not that the Seasonic won't perform wonderfully in there, many members seem to have a Seasonic running in their P180.
How was cable management on this PS? I'm contemplating returning my NeoHE 500 for the Smartpower 2.0 500, due to compatability issues with my Asus A8N-SLI Premium. I'm concerned in reading this from the SPCR review of the Smartpower 2.0:
The main complaint with the cables is the short length, which makes cable management more difficult. It also makes the SmartPower 2.0 unsuitable for use in a case where the motherboard is mounted upside down, such as the SilverStone TJ-06, or where the power supply is not mounted in the standard position, such as the Antec P180.
Is this not applicable to the 500 because it uses modular cables?

My cables reach my connections fine. The mobo and P4 connection are fine. I only use two modular cables, one for my hard drivers and one for my optical drivers. Easy to route only a few cables.

Tumlehund · Post by **Tumlehund** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 4:28 pm

wainwra wrote:Well, it's a shame to admit it, but in fact I don't speak Danish. I just did an easy piece of guess work based on the results of Googling "ATX12V dk" and the similarity of the Danish word to the German (Verlängerung).

Qualified guesswork, well done, hehe...

wainwra wrote:But unless there's something crucial in the text, I think that something like this (http://www.studiedata.dk/productitem.as ... APS,CAPSCA) would be suitable for you - it would allow you to turn a spare ordinary 4pin molex connector into a P4 ATX12V connector. That would work, I think. You'd probably want to check the pinouts to be sure, but if my recollection serves, all of these power connectors are just collections of 12V 5V and ground cables, and they even seem to agree on the same colour convention.

Yeah you're right, it probably would work, but I'd rather try and find a "real" cable extender if possible. But... if I'm out of luck, of course it's a feasable solution.

wainwra wrote:I have to go now, but I will give a proper answer to your other question, later!

Good luck with your shopping!

Cool, sweet dreams

serg · Post by **serg** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 6:00 am

go for seasonic, i have antec smartpower 300w with leaked capasitors and it is only 1 year and 1 month old! and waranty is over, usually antec power supplys are less efficiency and hotter, for example p4-3200 e0 consumes with "antec smartpower 300w" about 113-114w, with "fsp blue storm 350w" and "component pro 300w" only 101-102w. Seasonic will be even more efficiency. Antec ps are not cheap here and they cant buy quality capasitors?! even "component pro 300w" seems to be better (fsp oem?), but not so quiet and price only 50 euro with aopen case! I will not buy any antec ps anymore

S1mon · Post by **S1mon** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 1:20 pm

I'm in a similar situation. I already have the P180 and NEO HE 550 sitting here while the A8N32-SLI on back order. I ordered everything before I read about the reported problems.

I'm going to stick with it and see what the results are. I'll let you guys know......

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 1:22 pm

wow 28 to 1 !!!

thats a first on spcr. hm. I am replacing my mom's psu this month. i should go 330 or 430 seasonic I guess. I forget if theres a difference at idle for those two sound wise?

spiffy102 · Post by **spiffy102** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 9:12 pm

Lemme ask a quesiton here... Aside from the problems the HE did / does have...

Do you feel the HE is more appropriate for a P180 than a Seasonic due to the straight through air flow? Wouldn't that be more likely to benefit hard drives by having better airflow through the chamber?

Not to mention the removable cables - to limit un-necessary cables hindering airflow.

I'd like to see a SPCR of the higher rated HE's... I'm wondering if the 500W model would have a similar noise profile up to the 430w mark, and then a bit louder further up....

Tumlehund · Post by **Tumlehund** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 7:28 am

I'm not sure how much room there is underneath the PSU in P180, but I'm guessing it won't be much of a problem. However, I feel the Neo HE is a better match for the P180, considering modular and *longer* cables.

I'd also like to see a review on the 500/550W models here at SPCR. Please!

spiffy102 · Post by **spiffy102** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 8:13 am

Last night I was checking out HE 550 reviews on NewEgg. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817103941)

A comment there by someone concerns me:

+3.3V@24A, +5V@20A, +12V1@18A, +12V2@18A, +12V3@18A, [email protected], [email protected]

The TruePower 550:
+3.3V@32A, +5V@40A, +12V1@19A, +12V2@19A, -12V@1A, +5VSB@2A

Truepower 380 ($59) has MORE POWER:
+3.3V@28A, +5V@35A, +12V1@16A, +12V2@16A, -12V@1A, +5VSB@2A

The shutting down would be the 3.3 and\or 5 volt lines overload protection tripping the unit off.

I don't think my planned system (non-SLI) will be a problem. But the distribution of those 550w certainly seems different than previous generation Antec power supplies. Maybe for the better? I don't know.

mimp · Post by **mimp** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 8:48 am

My first S12 died within a day, I'm now on my second and experiencing spontanious shutdowns but am going to replace the (aging) motherboard before returning it to make sure it's definately the PSU. I'm not that enamoured with seasonic at the mo, especially considering how much those things cost..

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 9:42 am

My Seasonic S12-330 works great, even after modding it with a Nexus 120mm fan to run at 1% through Speedfan (~ 500<700 rpm) and is dead silent in my case sitting on the carpet floor. Speedfan ramps it up to about 1100 rpm (just my preference, helps speed up the cooling during/after load) during periods of load when the temperatures of compenents move out of the designated "safe" ranges I set. Then after load when the temps have settled down it drops back to the inaudible.

frankgehry · Post by **frankgehry** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 10:08 am

The antec neo he is made by seasonic. Unfortunately for antec, the production units don't have the advertised efficiency and are incompatible with a growing number of motherboards. Antec must be kicking themselves for linking up with seasonic. Who's idea was that?

It appears that seasonic is also supplying silverstone with st365 and st405 models. This review at phoronix
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=a ... =282&num=2
shows the now familiar seasonic heat sink design and yadda yellow label fan. The photos at the silverstone site show a everflow label fan (still looks like a yadda) and a different heat sink design.

The smartpower 2.0 became available in april 05, so serg, you have an earlier model.

Don't forget that the s12 vents heat back into the computer case through large front side vents. Some, however, may consider this a feature as it reduces psu case air flow restrictions by allowing air to exit both rear and front vents reducing the need for higher fan speeds. But in a p180 a horizontally mounted fan in a constricted space makes little sense. - FG

spiffy102 · Post by **spiffy102** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 10:32 am

frankgehry wrote: Don't forget that the s12 vents heat back into the computer case through large front side vents. Some, however, may consider this a feature as it reduces psu case air flow restrictions by allowing air to exit both rear and front vents reducing the need for higher fan speeds. But in a p180 a horizontally mounted fan in a constricted space makes little sense. - FG

This is one thing that bothers me a lot about the S12.

Is the SS-500HT the same way? I'm having difficulty finding any information on this "80 plus" model. Some suggest that the S12-500 = SS-500HT.

Ugh all I want is a very quiet power supply that will perform well in a P180, including the cooling of 3 HD's mounted in front of it. (If I have to, I'll put an 80mm fan in that compartment)

Seasonic vs Antec

What PSU should I get?

Seasonic vs Antec