Got a new "Extremo Power" PSU...

P

pHatalbOom

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 6, 2004
Messages
167
Just wondering if it was decent, got it today from Airborne Express. It's a 550 watt Ultra Quiet PSU. $25 shipped from www.str8buy.com

Havn't tried it out yet, im still waiting on my new X-clear acrylic case to get here, thats all that's left that I have to recive :(
 
How do i say this nicely.....hmm. Just put it this way, are you still able to return it and get your money back? If you read this thread and the review it links to...you'll see what i mean: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=702661

That psu probably has a lot of unclean power and thats what degrades components (slowly sometimes). You'll be scratching yer noggin when you can't achieve 100% stability with your system.

My list of recommendations in order starting from the best (imho):
PC Power and Cooling, the best but you're paying for it
Antec true line, a very close 2nd place
Fortron/Sparkle, a razor thin third place contestant
Enermax & TTGI/Superflower (same psu pretty much)
Thermaltake Silent Series, extremely effective and cheap to boot

There are plenty of others that are high quality but too many to list here, channelwell, kingwin, vantec and zalman (many of these either are oem or actually make other companies psu's.
 
Originally posted by SJetski71
How do i say this nicely.....hmm. Just put it this way, are you still able to return it and get your money back? If you read this thread and the review it links to...you'll see what i mean: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=702661

That psu probably has a lot of unclean power and thats what degrades components (slowly sometimes). You'll be scratching yer noggin when you can't achieve 100% stability with your system.

My list of recommendations in order starting from the best (imho):
PC Power and Cooling, the best but you're paying for it
Antec true line, a very close 2nd place
Fortron/Sparkle, a razor thin third place contestant
Enermax & TTGI/Superflower (same psu pretty much)
Thermaltake Silent Series, extremely effective and cheap to boot

There are plenty of others that are high quality but too many to list here, channelwell, kingwin, vantec and zalman (many of these either are oem or actually make other companies psu's.
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I agree pHatalbOom. People like to skimp on buying the brand name PSU's and RAM and then they come back complaining with their problems later on. Both of those components are far more important then the Processor, Motherboard, and Video card so you need to invest your money wisely.

Also SJetski71 when you say that Enermax & TTGI are the same PSU pretty much, thermaltake uses rebadged Enlight PSU's not Enermax as far as i know.
 
Originally posted by burningrave101
Also SJetski71 when you say that Enermax & TTGI are the same PSU pretty much, thermaltake uses rebadged Enlight PSU's not Enermax as far as i know.
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And Antec PSUs are rebadged Channel Well Technology PSUs. The Antec features the Active PFC circuit, where the CWT does not, though the CWT has beefier caps. The Antec also gets another year tacked onto it's warranty.
 
Originally posted by burningrave101
when you say that Enermax & TTGI are the same PSU pretty much, thermaltake uses rebadged Enlight PSU's not Enermax as far as i know.
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Sry i wrote it unclear, TTGI is actually an acronym for the factory that builds Superflower psu's. TTGI isn't an abreviation for Thermaltake psu's in other words. This sounds kinda redundant :confused:
 
The price alone should be a warning sign that it will be a POS. Return it if you can. Investing in a good PSU can be one of the smartest things you do for your PC.

Wouldn't you put $40 tires on your car? Probably not, or god I hope not atleast.
 
Originally posted by pHatalbOom
so is it best to say that it's a POS?
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Not necessarily.

Give it a run and test your system for stability over a period of a couple of weeks, then decide for yourself if it's worth it. You don't have to spend big bucks to get a quality PS.
 
Originally posted by Badger_sly
Not necessarily.

Give it a run and test your system for stability over a period of a couple of weeks, then decide for yourself if it's worth it. You don't have to spend big bucks to get a quality PS.
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No you dont have to spend big bucks for a quality PSU because you can get name brand ones for farely cheap. Fortron and Sparkle are among the cheapest and you can find a Fortron 400w on newegg for around $67 and a 350w for $42. The Antec 430w go for about $70.

A generic PSU may run fine for a while but the majority of hardware problems with computer originates with the Power Supply or Motherboard so i never skimp on buying a name brand, especially if i care anything about the hardware im putting into that case.
 
Originally posted by Badger_sly
Not necessarily.

Give it a run and test your system for stability over a period of a couple of weeks, then decide for yourself if it's worth it. You don't have to spend big bucks to get a quality PS.
Click to expand...

My minimum standard for a acceptable power supply is a Sparkle/Fortron 300w FSP model unit (NOT the ATX line, which is lower quality). These are at a wholesale cost of $23. You will notice that the Egg peddles it for 24+6 shipping. 25 shipped from a small shop sounding site is a definate red flag, especially for 550w
 
My minimum standard for a acceptable power supply is a Sparkle/Fortron 300w FSP model unit (NOT the ATX line, which is lower quality).

What problems are there with the ATX-xxxx line? Because I have a 300W Sparkle ATX-300GT that tested out OK at 380W and at 190W combined power. Inside, it looks almost exactly like a 350W Sparkle FSP-350Bxxt, only its high voltage side heatsink was chopped in half to make room for a FPC coil, and it has a fan/temperature controller. The fan is a Yate Loon ball bearing type, the power transformer identical in both PSUs, and I think all the semiconductors are the same, except I couldn't tell about the high voltage transistors because those in the 350W have no markings on them.

FSP's Hi-Q PSUs have sleeve bearing fans, but I'd much rather one of those than a cheapo Extremo with the finest BB fan in it. NewEgg has a 350W Hi-Q for $25, delivered.
 
Internally, some of those cheapo 550W PSUs look just like high quality 300W PSUs. Does that seem like a mere coincidence, or do you think it's a matter of excessive corner cutting? But since almost nobody's computer uses more than 250-300W, companies can get by with claims of ridiculously high power. BTW, Str8Buy
also lists a 650W Extremo but gives E134014 as its UL registration. Yet that number is for Enermax, and Enermax sure didn't build the Extremo.

By any chance is Str8Buy charging tons for shipping, so even if you do return it you'll get only half your money back?
 
The two beefs that I have with the ATX line are as follows-

for the ATX-300 vs FSP-300, the FSP is a heavier model, plus, it allows for 28A instead of 20A on the 3.3v rail and 15A instead of 13A on the 12v rail. When looking at a wholesale cost difference of 3 bucks, I'd call that worth while.

I've seen the Hi-Q supplies too- their 350w ones (i know they're FSP Group mfg'ed), and they are much lighter than the FSP300's (failure according to my redneck quality test). I don't recall where i saw the review, but in a few places, the FSP-300 model has tested out just fine in the 400-450w range
 
Its just basically your everyday generic PSU...I wouldn't buy from a site that is named str8buy:p
 
I've seen the Hi-Q supplies too- their 350w ones (i know they're FSP Group mfg'ed), and they are much lighter than the FSP300's (failure according to my redneck quality test).

Did you get a chance to make a rough comparison of Hi-Q verses Fortron/Sparkle transformers? The heatsinks of the Hi-Q I saw looked the same as Fortron/Sparkle, at least in a picture showing them through the top vent holes. I'm just wondering if FSP's Fortron & Sparkle brands differ as much from Hi-Q as Leadman's Raidmax brand now differs from their Powmax and Robanton brands, which is a lot (old Powmaxes look just like Raidmaxes, new ones like the cheapest Deers).
 
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