*READ FIRST* Updated Power supply guide

[Sora]

Add Xigmatek to your high-end gaming list and so on becuase these sources may be new but they are made by CWT like Corsair. They are nice supplies for the money if you want modular. I'm picking the 650w for my friend becuase at $110(plus MIR) at the egg you get 52A of CWT power and modular capabilities since he wants to order one of the egg so he gets everything at once and they are a better deal than the Corsair at the egg in terms of money (Corsair still has a better warranty though)

Actually from what i hear the Xigmatek 650w and 750w are the exact same thing as the Corsair 650w and 750w. Also the Thermaltake toughpower 750w and the hiper 780w are i believe the same thing too (the hiper is just rated a little higher becuase they like to rate the wattage higher usually ex: 580w)

[Ste]

Itll be in my next update.
Any specific models or wattages?

[Sora]

I believe that the 850w has a ripple problem of somesort.

However the 650w and 750w are the exact same thing as the Corsair 650tx and 750tx except they are modular and don't get Corsair's warranty. If you look they are the EXACT same price (with the same MIR of $10 too hrrrrmm )

Still my friend wants modular and thats a good choice for him.

There are 1000 and 1200w models and they are probably decent but i know that the 650 and 750w are great choices.

[ricanflow]

Xigmatek is a good brand overall. I have a couple of theyre case fans and they
are very well built, and move good air and remain near silent.

[Ste]

Please please please, for the love of whatever you believe or don't believe in, stop comparing disimilar products..

Thermaltake have some nice cases, but only a few good power supplies, many fans are good, but the brands have crap power supplies.

You cannot say this brand of power supply is good because of this case or another other product but another power supply.

granted, in this case, their power supplies and fans may BOTH be good, but, that doesn't mean all Xigmatek products will be..

[ricanflow]

Whoa ste calm down, having a bad day??

All i said was that its a good brand, and the only products they really make right now is cooling, power supplies and accesories. I havent seen any bad reviews for anything from them, so i think i can make the assumption that its a good brand.

Just take a look at the website and youll see.

[Drizzt5]

Originally Posted by Ste

Right, I said if you want to check, if you need to replace it, get a DMM and test the voltages.

got one, just rememberd that I never did this. How do I test voltages?

[Ste]

Originally Posted by Drizzt5

got one, just rememberd that I never did this. How do I test voltages?

Depends what you want to know.

I suggest restarting your computer, letting it load and then sit for 10-15 minutes, then you can take voltages at idle.

all you do is take the black lead and shove it into a ground prong and you use the red lead to test the other rails.

You will set your DMM to 20V, which means it will be reading nothing more then 20V, so there should be a 20V on the DMM somewhere..

You can figure out what rail it is pretty quickly, There is only 12V, 5V, 3.3V and they will be +/-.

For a rail to be within ATX specs it needs to be within 5% +/- of its voltage.

So if your on the 12V+ rail, 12 X .05 = .6, so the 12V rail can be anywhere between 11.4V and 12.6V, same math goes for the other rail.

After you get the voltages at idle, you can run 3Dmark06 or something to test under load, and moniter the voltages that way as well.

[Drizzt5]

12.19v I guess. thats what I got.

[Ste]

Yea, its fine, My PC Power and cooling one is 12.20 on Idle and 12.22 on load.

Well within specs..