400-450W PSU Roundup
by Christoph Katzer on November 6, 2007 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Comparison and Conclusion
Let's come to the interesting part of performance. The output stability has been quite similar from the three higher-end units. Thermaltake looks a little better than the others do, but all are well within specs. Ultra ends up as a very low-end unit and the results clearly show this better than any words.
In the area of efficiency, the Antec and Corsair units take the lead again. Both are at 80% efficiency starting with loads of around 90W while the two other are at 76% and 73%. The components in the Corsair PSU seem to be slightly better than the cost-reduced Antec PSU, as evidenced by the 1% higher efficiency. Still, 1% higher efficiency should not be the only reason for buying this unit since there are so many other points to keep in mind. Thermaltake does achieve a high 85% efficiency with a medium load of 225W as well.
In terms of connectors, the Corsair clearly has the most options and is the best-equipped PSU of the bunch. There are six Molex and six SATA connectors attached to four harnesses with a minimum length of 30cm and a maximum length of just 60cm. The ATX connector, PEG and CPU connectors have a length of 60cm as well which is nice and long. The corsair is the only unit today with an 8-pin EPS connector (not that it's really necessary for a 450W PSU).
When it comes to prices, it's no shock that the Ultra is the cheapest (by far!) of the four tested units, with prices as low as $40US. The V-Series 400W is not available in Europe because of the missing PFC. The Antec Earthwatts 430W comes next, with prices starting at $60. That may be 50% more than the Ultra, but we hope it's now clear that this is money well spent. Corsair and Thermaltake come in as the most expensive of this batch, with the Corsair 450VX selling for around $78 and the Thermaltake Purepower 450W going for a few dollars more ($84).
After looking at the test results, one of these power supplies clearly rises above the rest: the Corsair 450VX. It provided the best overall performance, it wins in the area of connector options (though not by a large amount), and it also provides the lowest noise levels. It's not perfect, as heatsink temperatures were still a bit higher than we'd like under stress conditions, but if you're after a high quality, moderate wattage power supply this one definitely ranks above the rest. The price is even acceptable. If you'd rather spend less than $60, while the Earthwatts isn't bad, we'd probably just go back to the source and pick up a Seasonic 380W unit.
Let's come to the interesting part of performance. The output stability has been quite similar from the three higher-end units. Thermaltake looks a little better than the others do, but all are well within specs. Ultra ends up as a very low-end unit and the results clearly show this better than any words.
In the area of efficiency, the Antec and Corsair units take the lead again. Both are at 80% efficiency starting with loads of around 90W while the two other are at 76% and 73%. The components in the Corsair PSU seem to be slightly better than the cost-reduced Antec PSU, as evidenced by the 1% higher efficiency. Still, 1% higher efficiency should not be the only reason for buying this unit since there are so many other points to keep in mind. Thermaltake does achieve a high 85% efficiency with a medium load of 225W as well.
In terms of connectors, the Corsair clearly has the most options and is the best-equipped PSU of the bunch. There are six Molex and six SATA connectors attached to four harnesses with a minimum length of 30cm and a maximum length of just 60cm. The ATX connector, PEG and CPU connectors have a length of 60cm as well which is nice and long. The corsair is the only unit today with an 8-pin EPS connector (not that it's really necessary for a 450W PSU).
When it comes to prices, it's no shock that the Ultra is the cheapest (by far!) of the four tested units, with prices as low as $40US. The V-Series 400W is not available in Europe because of the missing PFC. The Antec Earthwatts 430W comes next, with prices starting at $60. That may be 50% more than the Ultra, but we hope it's now clear that this is money well spent. Corsair and Thermaltake come in as the most expensive of this batch, with the Corsair 450VX selling for around $78 and the Thermaltake Purepower 450W going for a few dollars more ($84).
After looking at the test results, one of these power supplies clearly rises above the rest: the Corsair 450VX. It provided the best overall performance, it wins in the area of connector options (though not by a large amount), and it also provides the lowest noise levels. It's not perfect, as heatsink temperatures were still a bit higher than we'd like under stress conditions, but if you're after a high quality, moderate wattage power supply this one definitely ranks above the rest. The price is even acceptable. If you'd rather spend less than $60, while the Earthwatts isn't bad, we'd probably just go back to the source and pick up a Seasonic 380W unit.
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Christoph Katzer - Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - link
Yup and before the use of very bulky heatsinks made the power supplies heavier. Today the components are better and the heatsinks are getting smaller again (Seasonic and FSP standard design for example).Pale Rider - Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - link
It's easily the best of the "lower" power choices.JarredWalton - Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - link
We already reviewed the Seasonic 330W and 500W, and given that Seasonic is the ODM of the Corsair and Antec units... except while Corsair is basically identical to the Seasonic model, Antec messed around with the fan to cut costs or something. 430W S12II and 450VX are pretty much the same PSU.Modular - Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - link
Page 2: "360W combined equates to 15A when both are "fully" loaded."-Should read 30A fully loaded.
Page 5: "The original design used two 17A 12V rails (as does the Earthwatts)"
-Per this review http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=51&...">http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=51&... the Earthwatts line isn't really 2 12v rails either. No biggie, but just wanted to clarify.
The Ultra is listed as a V-Series when it's actually the XVS, which is basically a step above the V-Series in that it has the flex cables and is modular.
Overall this was a pretty informative review. I'm glad that you included heat sink temps and fan noise, and it's really good to see the ripple included.
drebo - Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - link
In the retail computer sales business, I don't consider a $60 430W power supply to be a "Budget" power supply. That's more of a midrange, and is generally overkill for most of the computers sold. Even the Ultra is too expensive to bother with for most of my customers.I'd like to see a true budget roundup. Powersupplies in the $20-30 range. Like those from Athenatech or Maxtop(Q-Max) or even the lower-end Thermaltakes. I realize that they're going to be pretty crappy results, but I think it's important to see, comparitively, how they do. If it were up to me, all of my customers would be using Antec EarthWatts power supplies, but they don't understand why the extra money is necessary. With information like this, it would be far easier to convince them to spend the extra $20.
magreen - Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - link
I second that call for lower cost PSU roundups. I was under the impression that FSP makes decent enough PSUs. Can you include reviews of their 350W, 400W and 450W models? They won't have active PFC, but let's be honest, most users don't care at all about that.Iger - Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - link
+1 actually. I'd really like to understand what kind of performance can one expect from a low-end psu. Then again, Ultra probably answers the question, at least vaguely. I just wish we'd have a bigger choise of psus in europe... And better prices <sigh>Christoph Katzer - Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - link
No choice in Europe? Which country are you living in? Most shops are sending the stuff all around Europe already and you'll probably find even more in Ebay.The problem with a low end PSU roundup is that I am living in Europe as well and it will not be easy to convince a company to send me their stuff when the shipping is triple the cost of the actual product. But let us find a way and in the beginning of next year we will see what we can do...
xsilver - Wednesday, November 7, 2007 - link
Also, has it been investigated whether there are differences between varying PSU's coming off the assembly line?I would like to think that the high end manufacturers could produce identical products but Im not so sure the QC of the cheapo PSU's will give u the same PSU every time. eg. some cheap psu's seem to live on through torrid abuse and yet some just die only after 1 month of use.
Super Nade - Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - link
Hi,Why did you guys cut down on the internal component analysis? Hate to see a single picture and a few cursory words about the internal architecture. Load testing aside, I find everything else a bit boring. You had a nice thing going looking at the components, why cull it? If you decided to shorten the reviews, you could have trimmed the part about acoustics. ;)
Regards,
Super Nade
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