Need some help and suggestions for a PSU

[truefalse]

First off, I've read all the stickies and think they're amazing resources! Been waiting for someone to comment on the Enermax Liberty 620.

Anyways, I'm replacing my Antec TrueControl 2.0 550 (it's going to my wife's comp). Right now I'm thinking about the Silver Stone ST60F and the Enermax Liberty 620.

Basically I'm looking for about a 600+ PSU with good protection above anything. I'm in central Cali and in the summer we do get a lot of brown outs and I've had some friends with UPS and still got cooked.

So after looking around I've narrowed it down to the Silverstone ST60f and the Enermax Liberty 620. Price isn't too much of a concern long as it's not much than 200. I don't really need the modular cables cause I use about all the plugs. I do have a xfx 7800 GTX Factory OCed, X-Fi Fatal1ty, A8N32 mobo, and 2 gigs of Corsair XMS Pro RAM. I'd like to give these parts as much protection as I can. Right now I don't overclock but I plan to and also plan to go SLI.

I'm leaning a bit towards the Enermax just because they're a PSU company where as Silverstone is a bit new to the game. Also I've read that there were a few cases where Silverstone crossed the wiring in the ST60F and cooks some parts on the 12v. But it seems like the Enermax cabling with molex and SATA doesn't seem that well thought out, not that big of a deal. Also the Liberty isn't SLI certified yet....

BTW, I'm new...hi and thanks in advance!

Here's the links for the 2 PSUs:
http://www.enermaxusa.com/catalog/pr...products_id=82

http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-60f.htm

[Dj_iNSULIN]

the liberty has less +12V power than the st60f. 6A's is quite a lot, and because the +12v rail is the most important one of a psu today, I would take the silverstone

[davidhammock200]

What are you powering?

[truefalse]

Wow, was hoping you'd respond. Major props on the PSU threads!

AMD A64 4000+ w/ Thermaltake Volcano 12
Asus A8N32 SLI
XFX 7800 GTX Factory OCed
2 GB Corsair XMS Pro PC3500LL
1 74GB Raptor
1 300GB SATA Seagate
going to add another SATA drive for testing drivers etc
X-Fi Fatal1ty
2 NEC DVD RW/CDRW
2 120mm fans (going to add 2 more)
2 80mm fans
1 PCI Blower
1 PCI Blower/Fan

Oh is there a difference between Under Current Protection and Under Voltage Protection? One of them had UCP the other had UVP.

[kojie]

ill voted for the silverstone strider. i have one but its a bit longer than the other psus

[P.I.M.P_SLi]

I definetly vote for Enermax Liberty 620W.

[hostage67]

I voted OTHER

OCZ 600w is the one I was looking into though the Liberty was also one I considered so I don't think that would be a bad choice either. The OCZ just has a slightly better reputation, but they run basically the same power(12v line is the only one that really matters).

I have read about various PSU's that had multiple 12v rails and they had problems with "balancing" the use across the rails. And if the power consumption wasn't relatively balanced it appeared to be causing problems. This is my only real concern when looking at the silverstone which has 4x 12v rails.

The silverstone has more amps on the 12v rail which is a great thing but it's not only the amount of power that it runs through the system that makes the PSU. The PSU's ability to produce "clean" power is just as important as it is for it to produce enough power. For that reason alone I would choose a brand that has proven it's self already in that area.

I have heard a lot of good things about the Liberty but I have heard more about the OCZ. It could just be more of a brand loyalty I suppose but I have yet to find someone who thinks poorly of the OCZ powerstream PSU's.

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Originally Posted by hostage67

I have heard a lot of good things about the Liberty but I have heard more about the OCZ. It could just be more of a brand loyalty I suppose but I have yet to find someone who thinks poorly of the OCZ powerstream PSU's.

I'd take any one of the Liberty line over the OCZ Powerstream 600W, but I'd take the OCZ Powerstream 520W over the entire Liberty line

The 600W has never impressed me - not being able to power loads the 520W can due in no small part to the dual 12v topology has a lot to do with it. The price doesn't help any either.

For me, it's much the same story as the Antec Phantom 500W. Good PSU, but too expensive to compete as both a fanless unit and a fanned unit (when loaded enough to turn the fan on).

[truefalse]

Interesting, actually I've kind of avoided OCZ. I've heard the most good things about Enermax. Didn't OCZ have an instance where they couldn't produce enough fast RAM so they just packaged some slower RAM and passed it off? That's the main reason why I've never really used any OCZ products. I have no complaints with my Antec True Control 2.0 but I figured if I start add more stuff to my comp, I might as well get a better PSU.

Seems like I'm leaning a bit more to the Liberty now...

The Liberty has Under Current Protection while the Silverstone has Under Voltage Protection. Is one better for brown outs than the other? Haven't taken physics yet, I'm a Bio major....lol.

Oh is it a big deal the Liberty hasn't been SLI certified yet?

Thanks again for all the advice! Keep it coming!

[darkforce114]

Originally Posted by truefalse

Oh is it a big deal the Liberty hasn't been SLI certified yet?

Yes its been certified for SLI, im looking at the box right now.

[cdy291]

I voted other, I'm thinking OZC. But its just my personal opion, there all good. I don't personally know any thing about the silverstone but I don't like enermax psu because there cables are so messy and hard to route through the case.

[truefalse]

It has been? Odd Enermax hasn't listed it and neither has nVidia. Guess they're a bit slow then. Now I'm really leaning to the Liberty, does anyone know how's Enermax's support is? Just curious...

[cdy291]

I just looked at the enermax, the cables might not be bad on that one.

[truefalse]

Yea, I mentioned that above that the cables didn't look that great but not horrible...

Does anyone know the difference between Under Current and Under Voltage? And has anyone else seen that the Liberty is nVidia SLI certified?

Additional Comment:
Don't mean to keep posting but I've been looking through the forums and it seems like OCZ is fairly popular. To make my life more complicated, how would the OCZ Powerstream 600 stack up to the Enermax Liberty 620? Think the Silverstone is falling more and more behind...

Most is important to me is quality and reliability, I don't want things cooking.

Second if it does cook, how's OCZ as a company compared to Enermax? Will both take responsibility etc? Like I've said, to me it seems like Enermax would be better since they focus on PSU while OCZ does RAM etc...correct me if I'm wrong.

Looking at the Powerstream, seems like it would be kind of noisey compared to the Liberty...

[Pop_Quiz]

Lots of good info. in this post on both of these PSUs

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.co...d.php?t=205047

and I posted the same question a week or so ago

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.co...d.php?t=205319

Some great comments in there too. In the end I went with the Liberty as it went on sale ($30Can cheaper) and I felt it would work better in my Antec P180 case. Not to mention all the reviews on the rock solid rails on this thing.

Re OCZ...I was really tempted by the 520 Powerstream, but it just wouldn't work all that well in my case. OCZ apparently has fantastic customer service.

[Ishy]

Liberty FTW!!!

[truefalse]

Well I ordered the 620 Liberty from Newegg. The OCZ Powerstream 600 was out and the Liberty had a 20 buck rebate. Just icing...one of the things I based my decision on was also the fact that the Liberty is a lot newer not to mention the post here on how stable the rails were...got the Thermaltake Silent K8 RX also can post comments once I get it.

If my computer blows up I'm suing!!! LOL jk...I really appreciate all the feedback. Definitely one of the better communities I've been to, hope to contribute when I can...