X-connect or fortron 530w!!

B

Bboy_Jon

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 9, 2005
Messages
308
Ok well im either going to get a fortron 530w, or an xconnect, BUT I CANT DECIDE!!

I wanna sleeve my psu cant really sleeve over the x-connect (i want green cables but the cheaper xconnects have blue)

Fortron 530w

Blue x-connect for $69.99 after rebates

still 99 bucks though, before rebates, i COULD get this

x-connect and chieftec matrix

i can either get the 70 dollar blue one, or the green one with the case, would it be possibly to get the blue one with the case rather than the green one? (i want a blue psu, but green cables)

so should i just get the x-connect or the fortron 530?
 
That should be a pretty easy question for you to answer for yourself.

Do you want the high quality power supply with top quality components (Fortron) or do you want the power supply thats flashy and is manufactured by Powmax who puts out the cheap generic PSU's that go BOOM all the time in those cheap $20 cases?
 
uhh... get the forton of course.

that X-Connect is a total POS

plus, you could modularize the Forton yourself and that would be :cool:
 
TaK said:
uhh... get the forton of course.

that X-Connect is a total POS

plus, you could modularize the Forton yourself and that would be :cool:
Click to expand...
Agreed and doing that exact thing right now. :D
 
I own that same fortron, buy it and don't look back, it's a high quality piece of electronics at a fair price.
 
hmm there powmax's? i never knew that, at the other forums (eocf, ocf) they said the x-connects are pretty good (not as good as the 530w) but there rails are pretty nice

the main thing isnt the look of the psu mainly, it does help, sleeved cables, modularness? lol, the biggest reason i want it is for that free chieftec matrix, id like to try some modding on it but i dunno

can you take some pics of your modularizing your psu project crimandevil?
 
Sure, I need to update my worklog anyways. (It's the first link in my sig.)
 
Bboy_Jon said:
so should i just get the x-connect or the fortron 530?
Click to expand...


my recommendation is to actualy determine your needs then consider which supplies will meet them

if this is a set piece solution where youve actually worked up the numbers ignore this
but if not, or if this is an infrastructure investment, Id ask why your looking at 20 pin ATX12V v1.3 supplies

uin either case however, I never recommend POWmax supplies ;)
 
Ice Czar said:
my recommendation is to actualy determine your needs then consider which supplies will meet them

if this is a set piece solution where youve actually worked up the numbers ignore this
but if not, or if this is an infrastructure investment, Id ask why your looking at 20 pin ATX12V v1.3 supplies

uin either case however, I never recommend POWmax supplies ;)
Click to expand...

eh? hehe ive never looked at numbers, all i know is that ive heard the fortron 530 is good but ive also heard the x-connect is good (not as good as the f 530 but ya)
 
I'll vote for the Fortron.

I've always had good luck with their PSUs, and in my experience put out nice stable voltages.

As for the X-Connect, i'd avoid it. My experience with Powmax/Leadman supplies is not so good. In fact, out of all the machines I've built/repaired only two manufacturers have produced supplies that died on me. Those two companies are Leadman, and Deer.
 
Bboy_Jon said:
eh? hehe ive never looked at numbers
Click to expand...

well maybe you should ;)

for starters how many pins does the power connector on your board have?
20 or 24?

both those supplies have 20
and if your planning to use this supply in your next mobo
it will require 24, if this mobo is a 20 pin, you can still use the 24 pin supply

the other thing is that depending on what your trying to power you might want more current to the +12V rail than the Fortron 530 would supply, irregardless of its wattage capacity

there are three main rails (distinct voltages) that a PSU converts from the AC voltage
the amount of current (amps) on each of these varies with the supply model
adding all three together (plus some signal lines) gives you the total capacity (Watts)
thus its entirely possible to buy a monster watt PSU that cant run your config if the amps are on the wrong rails

why dont yopu try to follow that tutorial as far as you can then post a link to your config on the calculator
(the big box at the top has a url you can cut and paste)
just let us know where you left off
 
http://www.xbitlabs.com/misc/picture/?src=/images/video/ati-vs-nv-power/6800u_table-b.gif&1=1
http://takaman.jp/D/?M=PbQFcG5d@de@hSCSgTVTcULkG5@TDkHkXaYBYbZAZa0H0aMZ&english

an ultra adds another 4.3 amps to the +12V rail
good thing you dont have a AMD64 that would bump it another 2 amps
and figure each additional drive you might add would be another 2 amps to spin up

so right now your at 18 amps, we can deduct about 6 amps off the worse case real world senerio
(since all the components dont draw their full amount at the same time)

thats not a very heavy load on the +12V rail for that config
and provided you have a 20 pin mobo your OK with the Fortron 530
(which in my opinion is the best value to be had in an ATX12V v1.3)
we derate that for temperature from 28A to 18.6 and there is still plenty of power
(your at 12A adjusted)
and fortron tend to conservatively rate their supplies so there may be more
but the rating on the 530 has always been strange giving a nominal of 16A and a peak rating of 28A, from empirical evidence youll be OK in either event with that config however ;)
I put one in my brothers box, nice supplies great value

but if your planning on a new mobo, youll want an ATX12V v2.0 supply
the 530 not likely to make the upgrade to PCI-E
(in other words, adding a converter to the main connector from 20 to 24 pin, not a good idea)
 
well i will be getting an a64 system, hopefully in the summer, and the only thing i was thinking about using from my current pc, is the psu, but the 530 wouldnt cut it for it?

what about the x-connect?

i didnt know there was a 350w version of the "blue storm" :D
 
looks like they arent calling it the Blue Storm, but it is Blue, and it is the Blue Storms little brother in the ATX12V v2.0 series :p

Dont get the X connect as everyone pointed out, its merely a low midlevel supply posing as a high quality one, your paying the $$$ for the looks

In the ATX12V v2.0 class consider the Antec Neopower, the Enermax CoolerGiants, the v2.0 Noisetakers, the new Enermax EG6565 series SLis
\
alternately technically ATX12V v1.3 but v2.0 compatible
the OCZ Powerstream, and The PC Power and Cooling Express or SLi (that last two about as high of quality as it gets)

the Entry level ATX12V v2.0 is the Fortron Blue Storm (or that 350)

in a fanless v2.0 the Antec Phantom (expensive)

if your looking for a PSU that will take you a long ways as an infrastructure investment, youll want monster amps on the +12V rails, 30 > 34 amps
(the Powerstreams and the PCP&C are actually rated at 40C and are more powerful than a direct comparision of the amps might lead you to believe) They also both exceed spec for load regulation and are why they are the only ATX12V v1.3 Im recommending, make sure they have the 24 pin connectors (and the 20 pin adapter) but thats stock with both
and many if not all the others
 
Ice Czar: Great useful information on your post. The majority of PSU manufacturers seem to be pretty slow with moving to the ATX ver 2.0 standard, with only Antec and Enermax making any real strides there. Any idea why that is the case?
 
hmm ok well i got my last paycheck from my paper toue :D (just quit like a week ago)

and its 81 on there, plus 85 in cash right now (wow, didnt think id have that mch hehe)

so all in all i have 166, sweet!! hehe

so ya, hmm i should just go buy a cm stacker, hehe

ok, well i just want the ultra for the case and the looks is a plus, but i did hear pretty nice things of it though, never heard that it was a powmax or anything, just heard it had strong rails. I dunno i can save some money, have fun and sleeve the 530w, go with the blue storm and perhaps redo the sleeving on that, or get the x-connect, maybe sleeve it? and get the free case and mod

people at eocf said the ultra can be used in the furture, are there any other psus like the blue storm that are nice and have a 120mm fan, positioned like the blue storm and perhaps green sleeved cables?
 
ya :D

man i dunno cant decide, i really want the case but i kinda want the bluestorm for the 120mm fan, but.....THE CASE!!!!!!!
 
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I CANT DECIDE!!!!!! I frickin want the case really bad, but shiz, i wanna get the blue storm (mostly for the 120mm fan) but i wanna sleeve with green cables!!!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh i want the case though :mad:
 
Fortron for a good quality psu, ultra if you want BANG!
Click to expand...
LOL


still 99 bucks though, before rebates, i COULD get this

x-connect and chieftec matrix
Click to expand...

You can buy the case without the power supply at tigerdirect and then buy a seperate power supply. Here's a case for 19.95. The color may or may not suit you but other colors start at ~$49.00
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=579103&CatId=1520

It is a very nice looking case and that's a tough decision :)
 
hmm last time i saw that it was a blue one, and i dont want a blue case (my raidmax scorpio is already blue) but hey black isnt bad, ya maybe i will just buy the case seperate and a blue storm i guess, but sh*t, my dad would get mad if i buy the case, if i buy the psu i can say that the case was free with the psu but not if i buy it seperate :confused:
 
Your new case won't seem so pretty if all of your components go up in smoke. Get the Fortron...
 
ya i think ill just get the blue storm, then ill buy the 20 dollar matrix case, hopefully my dad wont get mad, ill say it was a deal or somethin

but it would be wierd if they come on different days :(
 
Bboy_Jon said:
ya i think ill just get the blue storm, then ill buy the 20 dollar matrix case, hopefully my dad wont get mad, ill say it was a deal or somethin

but it would be wierd if they come on different days :(
Click to expand...
laff why did you ask witch was a better buy. Thne we tell you what to get and you go with what we told you not to get. so funny :D
 
xcite said:
laff why did you ask witch was a better buy. Thne we tell you what to get and you go with what we told you not to get. so funny :D
Click to expand...

because he chose a third supply?
the Blue Storm isnt the 530
 
no worries Bboy_Jon, Im not sure what xcite thought he read
I was just pointing out that the 530 and thye Blue Storm are 2 different supplies, and that almost everyone chose the Fortron v1.3 over the Ultra anyway
but that you elected to get an ATX12V v2.0 instead

I would go with the Blue Storm as an entry level ATX12V v2.0 I havent changed my opinion ;)
 
isnt the blue storm better?

cuz the reason i want it over the fortron is due to the fact that i can use it in newer systems, and the 120mm fan on the bottom of the psu. The 530 has the fan parallel to the exhaust, so isnt it mostly sucking air from the optical drives and whatever is in the 5.25 bays? with the 120mm fan pointing down, and the 80mm fan on the ultra, wouldnt it be better as its more of a blow hole and sucking air from the heatsink/cpu?
 
well the Blue Storm has dual +12V rails, and more of its capacity is devoted to those than the 530, which has a larger amount of capacity devoted to the +5V rail
thats the main reason you want it

the airflow pattern especially when exhausting the case might not be all that different
there are alot of fan variables, the intake direction as you mentioned
the CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) rating of the fan
the Static Pressure of the fan
the resistance the internal components in the PSU enclosure cause to the airstream
which has to do with the flow path, a straight through design, might out performa a bigger fan that has the airstream going through a 90 degree turn

(as a general rule CFM is a free air rating, while static pressure is what is required to overcome resistance) that get all rather involved but you can read up on it here
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=839035
 
heh, but even though with the fan at a 90 degree angle, itll help move air off the cpu and heatsink, rather then one straight through itll help move heat outta my cd rom drives and fan controller :D
 
your Optical drives and Fan Controller
dont pass much air, just through the craks, that has more to do with having a negative pressure gradient in the case as a whole than the direct the fan is pointing

the air from the mobo compartment rises as its heated adn fills that space behind those components, which is what is being exhausted (and its normally introduced to the compartment in the front bottom of the case)
as to the actual airflow pattern in a case tat is variable with the components installed (cards can be baffles, cabling, total number of fans, their CFM, and Static Pressure)

having the fan directly above the CPU was first called for by the AMD Builders Guide back in the day of the first Athlons, but actually exhausting the heatsinks output through the PSU rises its own enclosure temperature and decreses its capacity

generally thats not a problem, however thats not the only way to deal with the exhaust, a fad or even shroud and duct having been employed by a few mobo manufacturers, and modders

in my case which is a 4U rackmount the PSU isnt exhausting the mobo compartment
and has only a couple of HDDs upstream of it

OEM manufacturers employ sophisticated Computational Fluid Dynamics Software to model the overall thermal solution

we get trial and error
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top