NSK3480: New 80 Plus PSU?

bsoft · Post by **bsoft** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 4:43 pm

The NSK3480 appears to be the US version of the NSK3400, which is itself a version of the NSK3300 that uses a standard ATX power supply instead of the SFX supply used in the NSK3300.

What interests me is that the NSK3480, unlike the NSK3400, is 80 PLUS certified. The only 80 Plus 380W Antec supply, to my knowledge, is the EA-380. This seems to be supported by the fact that the Antec page for the NSK3480 describes the power supply as an "Earthwatts" supply.

If the NSK3480 does have a different supply than the NSK3400, this is very good news. One of the major problems with the NSK3400 was the power supply, which, while decent, wasn't really up to SPCR standards.

The Earth Watts supply isn't exactly silent (not up to Neo HE or S12 standards), but it stays pretty quiet under 200W, and it's sure a hell of a bargain considering that the case sells for US $80-$90.

misterjessejames · Post by **misterjessejames** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 7:04 pm

I highly doubt that they will include the Antec EA-380 power supply in the NSK-3480. I check the spec on the other NSK series enclosures and the 380w power supply description is similiar.

The most likely power supply that will be included will be the Antec SU-380. They included that in their NSK-2400 and NSK-4400 enclosure, so more likely that will be included in the NSK-3480 as well.

Here's a link for more information on this particular power supply:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article592-page1.html

bsoft · Post by **bsoft** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:33 pm

misterjessejames wrote:I highly doubt that they will include the Antec EA-380 power supply in the NSK-3480. I check the spec on the other NSK series enclosures and the 380w power supply description is similiar.

The most likely power supply that will be included will be the Antec SU-380. They included that in their NSK-2400 and NSK-4400 enclosure, so more likely that will be included in the NSK-3480 as well.

Here's a link for more information on this particular power supply:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article592-page1.html

Yeah, that's what I thought initially too, but is the SU-380 80 Plus certified? The marketing literature for the NSK-3480 explicitly stated that the power supply was 80 Plus, which was what made me think of the EA-380.

misterjessejames · Post by **misterjessejames** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 2:35 am

bsoft wrote: Yeah, that's what I thought initially too, but is the SU-380 80 Plus certified? The marketing literature for the NSK-3480 explicitly stated that the power supply was 80 Plus, which was what made me think of the EA-380.

Hmmm... you could be right on this one now that you have mentioned the flyer. Checking out the product flyer, word for word, they did include a line that says "80PLUSÂ® Certified EarthWatts 380W". So they basically copied and paste the description from their UK site and apply it to their US site.

When they released the NSK-3400 in Europe and other countries they included the SU-380 power supply as far as I know. But it would not make sense if they release the same case in the US but named it the NSK-3480 unless they enhance or upgrade it (putting the EA-380 instead of the SU-380). If that's the case, than that would be a great bargain at that price indeed.

bsoft · Post by **bsoft** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 3:50 pm

misterjessejames wrote:
bsoft wrote: Yeah, that's what I thought initially too, but is the SU-380 80 Plus certified? The marketing literature for the NSK-3480 explicitly stated that the power supply was 80 Plus, which was what made me think of the EA-380.
Hmmm... you could be right on this one now that you have mentioned the flyer. Checking out the product flyer, word for word, they did include a line that says "80PLUSÂ® Certified EarthWatts 380W". So they basically copied and paste the description from their UK site and apply it to their US site.

When they released the NSK-3400 in Europe and other countries they included the SU-380 power supply as far as I know. But it would not make sense if they release the same case in the US but named it the NSK-3480 unless they enhance or upgrade it (putting the EA-380 instead of the SU-380). If that's the case, than that would be a great bargain at that price indeed.

My NSK-3480 arrives tonight (I paid $88 plus shipping), and I'll upload some photos. Here's hoping that I get the EA-380.

bsoft · Post by **bsoft** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 11:19 am

bsoft wrote:
misterjessejames wrote:
bsoft wrote: Yeah, that's what I thought initially too, but is the SU-380 80 Plus certified? The marketing literature for the NSK-3480 explicitly stated that the power supply was 80 Plus, which was what made me think of the EA-380.
Hmmm... you could be right on this one now that you have mentioned the flyer. Checking out the product flyer, word for word, they did include a line that says "80PLUSÂ® Certified EarthWatts 380W". So they basically copied and paste the description from their UK site and apply it to their US site.

When they released the NSK-3400 in Europe and other countries they included the SU-380 power supply as far as I know. But it would not make sense if they release the same case in the US but named it the NSK-3480 unless they enhance or upgrade it (putting the EA-380 instead of the SU-380). If that's the case, than that would be a great bargain at that price indeed.
My NSK-3480 arrives tonight (I paid $88 plus shipping), and I'll upload some photos. Here's hoping that I get the EA-380.

Unfortunately, the company I purcahsed from (compumusic) sent me an NSK3400 instead of an NSK3480. I'm trying to resolve the issue now.

misterjessejames · Post by **misterjessejames** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 8:15 pm

bsoft wrote:Unfortunately, the company I purcahsed from (compumusic) sent me an NSK3400 instead of an NSK3480. I'm trying to resolve the issue now.

Man, that sucks. Does the box outside says NSK-3480? Did you open up the box and check out if the case has the EA-380 in it? It's strange that the company can get a hold of the NSK-3400, even though it is not available in the US.

I hope everything in the end turns out ok... keep us updated.

bsoft · Post by **bsoft** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 2:31 pm

misterjessejames wrote:
bsoft wrote:Unfortunately, the company I purcahsed from (compumusic) sent me an NSK3400 instead of an NSK3480. I'm trying to resolve the issue now.
Man, that sucks. Does the box outside says NSK-3480? Did you open up the box and check out if the case has the EA-380 in it? It's strange that the company can get a hold of the NSK-3400, even though it is not available in the US.

I hope everything in the end turns out ok... keep us updated.

The box says NSK3400, but there's a sticker over the UPC.

The power supply is an SU-380, not the EA-380.

bsoft · Post by **bsoft** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 3:23 pm

bsoft wrote:
bsoft wrote:
misterjessejames wrote: Hmmm... you could be right on this one now that you have mentioned the flyer. Checking out the product flyer, word for word, they did include a line that says "80PLUSÂ® Certified EarthWatts 380W". So they basically copied and paste the description from their UK site and apply it to their US site.

When they released the NSK-3400 in Europe and other countries they included the SU-380 power supply as far as I know. But it would not make sense if they release the same case in the US but named it the NSK-3480 unless they enhance or upgrade it (putting the EA-380 instead of the SU-380). If that's the case, than that would be a great bargain at that price indeed.
My NSK-3480 arrives tonight (I paid $88 plus shipping), and I'll upload some photos. Here's hoping that I get the EA-380.
Unfortunately, the company I purcahsed from (compumusic) sent me an NSK3400 instead of an NSK3480. I'm trying to resolve the issue now.

Updatre: The owner of Compumusic contacted his distributor to resolve the issue, and they will be sending me an EA-380.

I cannot be 100% certain that the NSK-3480 has an EA-380 (because I haven't actually received one), but going by the specs on Antec's website, I think that it probably does.

Note that my experience may indicate that some distributors are remarking (possibly imported) NSK3400s as NSK3480s, unaware that the specifications are not the same.

Mankey · Post by **Mankey** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 3:25 pm

I also ordered a 3480, and recieved a 3400.

I ordered from Eagle computer.

Other than the 80 plus certification, what are the differences between the two models?

kaange · Post by **kaange** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 11:22 pm

I'm keen to know what PSU it is (and its noise level at low loads) when you finally get your 3480 as I'm thinking of buying a 3480 for building a media PC.

KJ · Post by KJ » Tue Jul 24, 2007 3:57 pm

I created a new thread about the above problems under the label "NSK3480 fraud in the US"

NEW THREAD

I hope no body is offended by my thread hijack, but I wanted to attach a more alarmist title, so that the issue is dealt with appropriately by the distributor responsible. Also, I want to know if there even is an NSK3480 that is currently in distribution.

Firetech · Post by **Firetech** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 1:06 am

kaange wrote:I'm keen to know what PSU it is (and its noise level at low loads) when you finally get your 3480 as I'm thinking of buying a 3480 for building a media PC.

Ditto but not availability until mid-August here?

MC FLMJIG · Post by **MC FLMJIG** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:55 am

http://www.google.com/products?q=NSK348 ... &scoring=p

And ZZF!!! But OOS

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... e=10006029

Shame they are soo heavy! 18lbs!!!

Any info on the PSU. This EWatts 380?

kaange · Post by **kaange** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 8:12 pm

Firetech wrote: Ditto but not availability until mid-August here?

It's on the Altech website already and last week, my supplier was able to get a price on one for me (and the 2480 too).

MC FLMJIG wrote:Any info on the PSU. This EWatts 380?

According to that zipzoomfly link, it's the EarthWatts 380W

jaldridge6 · Post by **jaldridge6** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 8:44 pm

earthwatts 380's have clicky fans and coil buzz.... just so you know. I had 3 of them. All sucked.

Firetech · Post by **Firetech** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:30 pm

kaange wrote:It's on the Altech website already and last week, my supplier was able to get a price on one for me (and the 2480 too).

I know (they're all over staticICE but with 'zero stock' or 'ask' or...) so when did your supplier say you can actually have one in your hot little hands?

jaldridge6 wrote:earthwatts 380's have clicky fans and coil buzz.... just so you know. I had 3 of them. All sucked.

are they worse than the current NSK PSU though?

Kreed · Post by **Kreed** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:58 am

Firetech wrote: Is the new EA version PSU definitely an improvement (in SPCR sound terms) over the SU version?

I bought the NSK3400 a few months back and replaced the SU-380 fan with a medium speed 80mm Panaflo fan. I haven't had any problems since the swap and it's very quiet.

I believe the EA version is meant to be more efficient. However, according to the review done by SPCR, the SU-380 is also quite efficient. So, besides a quieter stock fan, I don't really know what other advantages the EA version has over the SU-380.

bendit · Post by **bendit** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:56 am

the su-380 is also a seasonic psu and isn't bad at all. I did a fan swap to a low speed panaflo and it was great. I have an ea380 and I don't have any coil whine or annoying noises coming out of it. However, I am not fanatical about my sounds.

Kreed · Post by **Kreed** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 6:51 pm

Bendit wrote:the su-380 is also a seasonic psu and isn't bad at all. I did a fan swap to a low speed panaflo and it was great. I have an ea380 and I don't have any coil whine or annoying noises coming out of it. However, I am not fanatical about my sounds.

Bendit, which one do you think is quieter: An SU-380 with a fan swap or a stock EA380?

bendit · Post by **bendit** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 3:02 pm

not much difference. I have a low power system and the fan on my EA does not ramp. I can't hear it. But then again, I am not a fanatic like some folks around here.

I think its a great psu for the price.

merlin · Post by **merlin** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 11:14 pm

Interesting news, since they replaced most of the NSK series with 80plus, they're now doing the NSK1380 and NSK1480 also, looks like the 1480 is some sort of low profile media center case.

bendit · Post by **bendit** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 9:14 am

the news on nsk1380 is potentially significant. It is either a total redesign of the chassis (positive) or they have a nw sfx PSU that is 80+. Both are very interesting developments as I believe one of the weaknesses of the nsk1300 was a noisy non standard PSU. I also hope they have silicon mounting for the HD. Can't wait to see it! Times have changed and now this style case becomes much more useful given the plethora of low power chips out there with reasonable performance.

merlin · Post by **merlin** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:01 am

Bendit wrote:the news on nsk1380 is potentially significant. It is either a total redesign of the chassis (positive) or they have a nw sfx PSU that is 80+. Both are very interesting developments as I believe one of the weaknesses of the nsk1300 was a noisy non standard PSU. I also hope they have silicon mounting for the HD. Can't wait to see it! Times have changed and now this style case becomes much more useful given the plethora of low power chips out there with reasonable performance.

I doubt any major redesign, they'd give it a newer name is so. But even getting a decent 80plus psu would make me happy as I'd be up for doing some changes to my current aria.

bendit · Post by **bendit** » Fri Oct 26, 2007 8:14 pm

it looks like the new psu for the nsk1380 is up on the 80+ site. the model is Antec AR-350. Hope it's quiet.

NSK3480: New 80 Plus PSU?

NSK3480: New 80 Plus PSU?

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