Enermax or Leadman?

[Zag0r]

Looking at a new PSU. I can get the Enermax 365P-VE 350W for $145, or the Leadman 6100-D 400W for $150.

Which is gonna be the better buy?

[Deviant]

This is a common thread topic. They are both good PSU's. You can't go wrong, but maybe the 400w Leadman. What CPU are you running, cause thirsty Athlond may do better on the 400w.

[KingJackal]

Yeah, what Deviant said.

Enermax make the better quality PSU's, but that Leadman ain't exactly shoddy, and it is rated for more power.

The main reason for buying Enermax is if you can afford their 400W+ PSU's - now THEY really are da sh1z :D.

[Zag0r]

1G Tbird @ 1.4G, 1.8v
2x HDD / CD / FDD etc
4x 80mm fans, and soon 2 more 120mm's.

Getting random lockups on my PC right now with my 300W Hyena.

[KingJackal]

Originally posted by Zag0r
1G Tbird @ 1.4G, 1.8v
2x HDD / CD / FDD etc
4x 80mm fans, and soon 2 more 120mm's.

Getting random lockups on my PC right now with my 300W Hyena.

LOL - you don't need many W's, just a better QUALITY PSU ( if that is indeed the problem ).

My rig runs off a 300W PSU as well:
1.33G Tbird @ 1.4G, 1.75v
4x HDD / 1x DVD / 1x CDR
1x 92mm fans

...and no problems. So even 300W should be enough. But of course future-proofing for your next upgrade is always a good move with a PSU ;).

[mird-OC]

those 300W hyenas are NASTY... they're basically 235W PSUs with a 300W badge. but yeah back on topic - go for the leadman dude :D

[whetu]

zag0r,
welcome to the forums.

I think you'll find that a lot of people here will favour the leadman. A lot of us, including myself, are using one...

[Viper_NZ]

Hyena's are just nasty... nasty things...

So many of those have been DOA. :mad:

[SilverPriest]

Hyenas are nasty crappy generic trashy power supplies.
I say go for the leadman, more power, its cheaper, i own one, its quite good :)
If you have money to burn, get the enermax.....
Plus i would expect that the enermax would be quieter.
My leadman is irritatingly noisy for some reason.
Whetus one isnt, mine seems to be the only one, lol.
Good voltage rails tho, i get no voltage droop under load :cool:

[fatsanchez]

i was in pretty much your situation, went from a 300w hyena to a 500 leadman, makes a big difference in stablilty, but like sp said, much noisier as well.

[thabass]

The cables are a quite long, i guess its desighed for Full towers as apposed to mini/mid tower cases.

Just somthing that needs to be kept in mind, when trying to install the PSU as not to block air flow etc.. So if you have a very small case it can be quite a hassle, to cable tie the excess away.

[Volodkovich]

talking bout PSUs, how many amps can i expect off tha 5v rail of a Leadman 300watt?

[SilverPriest]

30 amps off the +5v rail on the 300 and 400 watt leadmans

[Viper_NZ]

I really like my 400W leadman. Don't find it annoyingly loud, and if you do Whetu's PSU mod was done on a 400W leadman so you can do that and use alternate cooling.

[Volodkovich]

cheerz, silverpriest, im gonna need quite a few for my pelt farm...

[Humantuckshop]

Yep I love my 400Watt Leadman aswell - more wattage for the money compared to Enermax.
Voltage rails:
3.3V = 28A
5V = 30A
12V = 25A

It also has overvoltage and overcurrent protection. :D

[Volodkovich]

woah....25amp on the 12volt rail...das good for a 400watt...r u sure thats correct coz thats 300watts just on the 12v rail?

[SilverPriest]

*looks on the side of his leadman 400watter*
yup, 25amps for the 12v Rail
They are good psus :)

[Volodkovich]

score! leadman it is! thas a good rating...if u add them all up, thats 542.4watts.

[Zag0r]

Sweet. Leadman it is.

[Sydog]

I just got a Powmax/Leadman psu when i gots my gf4, they are really good, long cables especially the mobo one (for when you cant get the cords around you 80mm mofo hsf). The molex leads are a bit larger than norm as well, and they have 3 molex's as opposed to 2 on most 300w psus.

[Volodkovich]

hmmm, look good, pretty much wat i want which is lots of power

[KingJackal]

Originally posted by Volodkovich
score! leadman it is! thas a good rating...if u add them all up, thats 542.4watts.

Yeah - that's what you get when you buy QUALITY.

I've seen 300W PSU's ( nasty generic one's ) that don't even ROUND UP to 280W all added :rolleyes: :rolleyes:. It's a shame, but the bad manufacturers really ARE that bad in the PSU business it would seem :(.

[Volodkovich]

hehe, i went to the leadman site, and there 500watt psu actually puts out 650watts! these things are real well made.

[Gh0s7 L3mUr]

damn it...

*adds Leadman psu to upgrade list* :D

650w out of a 500w psu, now that's quality. and just think how much cheaper they are compared to the Enermax 650w (I'm sure they have these out., might be a 600w). Now all Leadman need to do is add some adjustable speed fans. :p

[Volodkovich]

hehe, i must say, leadman are pretty damn good, thats awesome quality they have there

[mird-OC]

the only thing to be wary about leadman is this:

http://www.directron.com/lp6100c.html

Warning: High return rates showing below average reliability. We do not recommend it!

but i think the track record here in NZ is a lot better....

[Binky Stunt Cat]

whats the PSU that comes with the Enermax 710 case then??

[Volodkovich]

i thought they didnt come with psu's...?

[Humantuckshop]

PSU is optional.

[Binky Stunt Cat]

hmmm, ok, that helps.......
now whats the best PSU + Quietest, or can i rip the fan out and chuck a Vantec stealth in there?

[Humantuckshop]

A while back (maybe on the old, old forums) I heard that Sparkle were really quiet PSU's. Good quality aswell. Ask Whetu.

[whetu]

sparkle = UBER

[SilverPriest]

^^^
What he said.
Sparkle PSU's ROCK
my old 300watt aopen (rebadged sparkle) was wicked :D

[Hans]

When purchasing PSUs, don't look @ the max AMP for indivial voltage rail.

The figures, e.g. 12V 25A, represents the max possible load you could place on 12V rail WITHOUT any loads on other rails. Thus, this figure is like PMPO in a way, although not that bad.

You need to look @ combined voltage, 3.3V and 5V, etc. We had an review on a few PSUs and you can have a look @ them here.

PUS Mod:
http://www.overclockers.co.nz/ocnz/misc/psu/1.shtml

LeadMan 500W PSU: http://www.overclockers.co.nz/ocnz/misc/leadman500wpsu/1.shtml

SevenTeam:
http://www.overclockers.co.nz/ocnz/misc/st300blvpsu/1.shtml

Super Micro:
http://www.overclockers.co.nz/ocnz/misc/supermicro400wpsu/1.shtml

[swiftynz]

while we're on the topic of psu's, does anyone remember the psu trouble i was having a few months ago? where the 5V rail was running rather low at 4.76V? that problem has disappeared completely with my new board (GA7DXR+) as u can see below. it's exactly the same psu so maybe the reading on the old board (ka266+)was inacurate?

btw my "cheapo" pro-v psu adds up to 396W all up so i'm quite happy :). it's not great but it does the job.

[Hans]

It the readings on 5V and 3.3V rails have a lot to do with the design and location of voltage circuits on board. Iwill, in their KK range, sucked @ the design thus a rather low 5V reading. I am not sure about KA-266 though. They've fixed the problem with the KK-266+ range.

[Gh0s7 L3mUr]

Originally posted by SilverPriest
^^^
What he said.
Sparkle PSU's ROCK
my old 300watt aopen (rebadged sparkle) was wicked :D

Are they the psu's that come with the HQ-08?

[Hans]

Yeap, most of the Aopen's PSU is made from Sparkle.

[Humantuckshop]

Originally posted by mird-OC
the only thing to be wary about leadman is this:

http://www.directron.com/lp6100c.html



but i think the track record here in NZ is a lot better....



I imagine it had some problems when running off the American 110V system?

[kaz]

i pwn a emerax 300watt PSU and it pwnz me

so quiet

dual fans

excellent quality

[CrazySurfaNZ]

Yeah i have a leadman powmax 400w psu, and ive never had any trouble with it, i really love having plenty of connectors coming off it... no more running out of them / using molex splitters .

[lapp]

I have a 300watt Enermax dual fan and it kicks ass ;-)
Havent had a single problem with it, and it runs uber quiet
And the main ATX lead is loomed :D

Well worth the extra dollars!

[Humantuckshop]

Originally posted by lapp
I have a 300watt Enermax dual fan and it kicks ass ;-)
Havent had a single problem with it, and it runs uber quiet
And the main ATX lead is loomed :D

Well worth the extra dollars!



Well, not really considering the Leadman is a 400 Watt PSU. I'd rather spend an extra $40 and get teh 400Watts of Leadman goodness. :D

[lapp]

Hehe yeah maybe so

Ive never tried Leadman, but from what ive seen posted here i might give em a go with my next PSU purchase :)

Still love my Enermax though :P

[Gremlin]

Anyone reckon I'm a headcase if I was to replace the two fans on the Leadman 400W with Vantec Whispers ?

[Humantuckshop]

Go for it, Gremlin. :D

Some of the Leadman 400Watters can be noisy. :eek:

[SilverPriest]

I've thought about the same thing as my leadman is irritatingly noisy.
I'm concerned about the longevity of the PSU, and the contents inside overheatings etc
Mabye im paranoid, but, yeh.....
I guess doing a PSU mod whetu style (http://www.radiativenz.com/guides/psumod-whetu/index.shtml) and using quiet fans might work out......
hehehe, can ya tell im nervous bout screwing up me psu ;)

[Gremlin]

Going to put a probe in my PSU today and see what the heat gets like under load, then throw in the fans and see what the difference is. Too big of a difference and I'll take them out again ... I'll keep ya's posted

Then I'll try running a Zalman without the actual fan and see if I can still keep me p4 running under 40

If it all works out I should have one very quiet PC :)

[Gremlin]

Well the Vantec's turned up on the door before i got around to putting the probe in to see what the normal PSU temp was ... so I just chucked them in.

All I can say is WOW I am impressed with these fans ... soooo quiet now :)

Instead of wiring the fans up the same as the existing ones in the Leadman I've just run the connectors out the grommet in the back and connected them directly to my DigiDoc5 :)

Sweeeet .. now do I spend the extra bucks and change the other fans over to Vantecs too ... the Lian-Li stock fans seem pretty damm quiet already.