VOGONS


The PSU Matchup Thread

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First post, by gdjacobs

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This thread is for identifying older as well as newer PSU models which are appropriate for vintage hardware builds whose loads don't work well with modern 12V heavy power supplies. Example loads include AMD Athlon systems and older, ISA cards requiring -5V, etc.

Barton 3200 appropriate:

  • Delta DPS-300GB (Compaq OEM)
    30A on 5V rail, 180W on minor rails combined. Protection is complete, but capacitors should be checked due to age.

Post the results of your research and experience so we can keep those machines running!

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 1 of 25, by kenrouholo

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I'll throw in a couple I've owned in the past and one related model that I didn't

Enermax EG375P-VE: 370w, 32A +5v, 30A +3.3v, 27A +12v over 2 rails. 240 watts for 3.3v+5v rails. This supply has pretty high ratings on every rail which allows a lot of flexibility - of course you can't draw near max on all rails at once, but it will be able to run most computers because it's so flexible. Not sure exactly what I used this on offhand, possibly an Athlon XP system (I built many Athlon XP systems) though it was probably on my 2600+. Reasonably efficient, too, close to the original 80Plus standard level of efficiency. Would still power most basic machines today (no high power GPUs or server machines, of course).

FSP (Fortron / Sparkle) FSP530-60GNA: 530w, 40A +5v, 28A +3.3v, 18A +12v. No specific rating given for 3.3v+5v, but you'll be good. Low +12v current keeps this unit from being particularly good for newer systems and PCI-E video cards but I did in fact use this with Athlon XP. Was a highly regarded supply in its day especially for Barton. Probably too low +12v for anything newer.

FSP350-60PLN: 350w, 32A +5v, 28A +3.3v, 16A +12v, 3.3v+5v power rating is 220 watts. One of the first with active PFC, so it's full-range without a switch. Also has low +12v but when powering the CPU with the +5v rail, that's fine. Should be fine with Barton and older systems. Probably too low +12v for anything newer.

Edit to note: Any of what I listed should also be inspected for capacitor issues. These are good brands as is Delta but no power supply lasts forever. Any power supply older than a few years, and/or used in unknown conditions, should be inspected.

Edit 2: Preferably with an ESR meter - I think you can buy cheap ones on Ebay for under $50. Highly recommended if you'd use it on multiple items. Much, much more useful to diagnose potential bad caps than a capacitance meter or an ohmmeter or especially visual check. But if you don't have any equipment and refuse to buy any, at least do a visual check.

Last edited by kenrouholo on 2017-03-15, 23:18. Edited 2 times in total.

Yes, I always ramble this much.

Reply 2 of 25, by Tetrium

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I could look up the model numbers if you wish gdjacobs , but most will be 300W FSP PSUs of slightly variable model number. But there was not a single bad apple so imo it doesn't really matter.

I have also used a Tagan PSU (I bought it new to upgrade my 300W FSP in my 3200+ Barton) and it ran seemingly without any issues but I'd have to go find it to check the model number. I do know it's a 380W PSU with relatively good rails on 5v (12v was probably also good).

There is however one caveat: The KT600 board I used both one of my 300W FSP units and the Tagan did in fact have a P4 connector, but I was unaware of this until years later (probably obstructed by some ribbon cables or something, it was a Fujitsu Siemens OEM rig using a Gigabyte motherboard) and I don't even know if I had the P4 PSU connector plugged in, let alone if the P4 connector on the motherboard actually does pull all power of the CPU from 12v instead of 5v.

kenrouholo wrote:

Edit to note: Any of what I listed should also be inspected for capacitor issues. These are good brands as is Delta but no power supply lasts forever. Any power supply older than a few years, and/or used in unknown conditions, should be inspected.

Actually I think that any computer component older than a few years or of unknown or uncertain origin or which had been stores for years somewhere should be inspected. Even my own rigs I'll always inspect first if I haven't used them in several years (if only for dead bugs 🤣).

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Reply 4 of 25, by Tetrium

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gdjacobs wrote:

Tagan is one of the brands that kind-of scares me.

Yes I know. I was kinda doubting when I bought it and I must've known about it at the time, but it's very likely that I had a good reason to purchase and use it.

If you want, I can go get it and take some pics of the internals? I'd rather have you tell me the cold hard truth that it suckxxorzz than to continue living in a pink-clouded dream 😜

But in all honesty, from my rather mediocrely knowledgeable perspective it was far better than a gutless wonder. It seemed to be build pretty solid (from my n00b-perspective that is 😜) and it just worked. If any, I might have more doubts about its safety implementations than its safety (so more in a build-well-but-if-it-fails-something-dies-kinda way)

Even if it had caps that aged more quickly, this wasn't any concern as I bought it brand new. I'll go see if I can find it, it's probably in some half-finished rig somewhere.

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Reply 5 of 25, by Tetrium

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Found it. It's a Tagan TG380-U01.

It's still mounted in a rig I ended up never completing couple years ago but I probably bought it because of the KT600 board having a P4 plug and me wanting to get a PSU that had good rails on both 5v and 12v (37A on 5v and 22A on 12v this unit has).

I will probably be taking it out anyway (due to the caps) and then I'll open it up and upload some pics of the internals (iirc it was very hard to see much once inside due to the sheer amount of components blocking the view) but not feeling like doing this before bedtime 😜

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Reply 6 of 25, by gdjacobs

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I've found some photos and you're correct, the TG380 is very tightly packed. In fact, considering that it's marketed as a quiet PSU with a low speed fan, the lack of airflow channels is already a problem.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 7 of 25, by TELVM

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kenrouholo wrote:

... Edit to note: Any of what I listed should also be inspected for capacitor issues. These are good brands as is Delta but no power supply lasts forever. Any power supply older than a few years, and/or used in unknown conditions, should be inspected.

Edit 2: Preferably with an ESR meter - I think you can buy cheap ones on Ebay for under $50. Highly recommended if you'd use it on multiple items. Much, much more useful to diagnose potential bad caps than a capacitance meter or an ohmmeter or especially visual check. But if you don't have any equipment and refuse to buy any, at least do a visual check.

^ This. Venerable '+5V heavy' PSUs are 10+ years old as of 2017. And electrolytic capacitors have a finite life, specially inside the harsh environment inside a PSU. At the very least we should check visually the caps inside PSU for bulging/oozing.

I'd better re-cap and re-fan any ancient PSU as a matter of fact (if old tired fan seizes up, kaboom).

Let the air flow!

Reply 8 of 25, by Errius

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I had an old no-name PSU blow up recently. The fuse blew. I just tossed it, but wondered if it could have been be repaired. The fuse was soldered to the PCB - is that normal?

Is this too much voodoo?

Reply 9 of 25, by TELVM

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Yep fuse being soldered to PCB is usual in PSUs.

Thing is, a blown fuse means some problem downstream of it. If you just replace the fuse without further investigation, the new one will probably blow too.

Let the air flow!

Reply 11 of 25, by luckybob

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I'm a big fan of the Superflower TTGI power supplies. They range from 420W to 550W. I have an ebay auto search for them: (tt-420ss, tt-450ss, tt-470ss, tt-500ss, tt-520ss, tt-550ss)

There are a few different flavors, with the 4-fan "chrome" ones being the best. I've owned 3 of these and 2 are still in service. The third I killed. They are powerful supplies designed for the P4 era. That said, they have -5V and a very strong+5v rail. They have both aux power connectors for P4 and AMD.

I will update this post when I find a picture. The company is still around, and they make quality supplies to this day. The caps are not Japanese, but should be replaced at this point anyway. Be careful, these things are heavy and cramped. Swing one of these units around and you will kill someone.

It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.

Reply 12 of 25, by gdjacobs

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^ Special thanks to Luckybob who brought this one to my attention:

TTGI TT-520SS: 520W, 28A +3.3V, 52A +5V, 260W for +3.3V and +5V rails. This supply appears to be a rebranded Superflower model, so it has a trusted pedigree and may be available from other suppliers. Please be aware that the entirety of the 52A rating on the +5V rail is likely not usable, as it requires no load on the +3.3V rail. Still, with proper care and replacement of caps where necessary, this supply should easily handle any high clock Barton or 760MP/MPX builds.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 13 of 25, by kenrouholo

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Newegg's house brand Rosewill also often uses Super Flower as an OEM for what it's worth. I've got a cheaper Super Flower (Mad Dog brand) and I had a newer Rosewill Capstone (which is unfortunately a bit too recent to have high +5v). But yeah I like Super Flower also.

Another OEM I like is Enhance, which is commonly seen as the OEM that Silverstone uses.

This post didn't add much, I suppose, but that makes 3 recommendations for Super Flower stuff.

Yes, I always ramble this much.

Reply 14 of 25, by gdjacobs

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Phil posted a video on youtube (not yet in his thread) where he looks at PSU options for high powered Athlon boards. I included the link and posted some thoughts in response.
Re: Phil's YouTube and Website updates (philscomputerlab)

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 15 of 25, by deleted_Rc

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gdjacobs wrote:
Barton 3200 appropriate: […]
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Barton 3200 appropriate:

  • Delta DPS-300GB (Compaq OEM)
    30A on 5V rail, 180W on minor rails combined. Protection is complete, but capacitors should be checked due to age.

for a barton or any athlon XP I would suggest around 35A on the 5V since 30A is barely enough if you have a decent high end GPU in it.

Hiper R 580W
36A 5V

Antec Truepower 330
30A 5V

both use infamous Fuyuji capacitors and should probably be replaced.

Reply 16 of 25, by gdjacobs

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A power hungry GPU can certainly add to the total and require a more powerful PSU, but I trust Delta PSUs to run right to their limit.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 17 of 25, by firage

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You can avoid any trouble by pairing the power hungry AXP's with specific boards that put their mosfets on the 12V rail, whenever that's an option. (Abit NF7, Epox 8RDA3+, Gigabyte 7NNXP, etc.)

AGP slot powered cards tend to lean on 3.3V quite a bit. They could theoretically hit 5V for 10W tops; it's unlikely that they got too close. Performance cards with molex power look to peak at about 20W-25W on 5V.

This X-bit Labs table on the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra reference board shows it's already nice and 12V heavy, like later cards:
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Radeon 9700/9800 and some of the other GFFX board designs are most troublesome, breaking 25W from 5V.

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(That 5950 Ultra will give AGP slots a nice workout. It comes close and, after overclocking, actually breaks the 6A specification for the slot's 3.3V current supply.)

Athlon XP's can do up to 80W-90W of damage including VRM efficiency losses, so with a video card that's easily 20A right there. The rest of the system (PCI cards and drives) needs a couple more amps, and overclocking will add another couple more.

Good to keep an eye on those 3.3V rails also for cases where they might directly bleed off an already marginal 5V supply, like this guy:

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Any less than 150W of combined power is a definite issue for the worst case combos.

Regardless, some (many?) motherboards are designed to generate 3.3V from the 5V rail, which sure doesn't help if it's the case.

I've been educating myself a little on this subject today. 😀

My big-red-switch 486

Reply 18 of 25, by deleted_Rc

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Time to revive and add a old PSU with heavy 5V

Enermax noisetaker 420 pulled from a PIV Northwood. Looks solid but have little experience with Enermax PSU.
80/90 fan with fan control on the back and semi active fan (with multiple temp sensors) also 2 minutes operation of fans to cool PSU after shutdown

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Reply 19 of 25, by CkRtech

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What caps does it have in it? Not TEAPO, right?

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