Bad Antec PSU

[Synesthesia]

I recently bought this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371009 to replace my 550 watt Ultra power supply which suffered significant a voltage drop while gaming and running high power programs. Well, I installed it and guess what, .030 volt voltage drops on average while running higher power programs. Not only that, but Bioshock and COD4 started to randomly crash on me.....AND its loud, something else I hoped to alleviate. Many people talked about not being able to hear it, yet not only does the fan sound like a blower and emit very little air, but for some reason it also creates a very high pitch sound. Damnit! $150 for something with so many problems....and I really liked the way it looked and felt! So now I need a new one...with the priority on silence (my room is small, the walls reflect sound well, and I have to leave in on at night to catch up on all of the stuff that I download). I was looking at this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817379007 What do you guys think? Taking a PSU out in my set up is a pain in the a** and so is RMA'ing it and loosing %15 of my money, so I need to get this right the second time.

Any ideas? Thanks.

BTW, I am considering modding my old 550 watt psu and trying out a few ideas on how to make it perfectly quite (although that still doesn't fix the voltage drop problem). How dangerous is this? I essentially want to attach a piece of copper to the top of the current heat sink, and lead it outside the PSU and the case, to a large copper plate with two high quality heat sinks thermo epoxied onto it, with a 80mm fan. If this works really well, I might be tempted to actually use it......(If i don't buy the Zalman by then)....how important is the voltage? Can .030 volts (same drop on my old one) hurt the computer or cause allot of instability?

 

[PC eye]

If you just bought the supply you could return it. A .03v drop is rather small while showing that the supply there lacks a little in the regulation dept.!

Antec uses different manufacturers for their supplies and only until the last couple of years saw a trend away from Channelwell and FSP. A noisey supply sounds like a bad fan needs replacing. Without other experience modding a supply electrically would be a bit more hazardous.

Going from 550w to 850w is a large jump if you are going to running a stock setup. For saving a little of the "do re' me" plus getting into not so large like a 700w supply have a look at the OCZ here. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

 

[ScOuT]

How long did you have you had the Antec PSU? Is the warrenty still good? Antec has really good customer service, might be able to return it.

That's really weird, that is one of the better PSU out there. I would consider looking at some other hardware issues if the original PSU and the Antec have dropped power....might be something else causing the problems. I have always used Antec PSU and had luck with them. If it is really loud then something was wrong...my Antec Neo Power 650w is silent....can't even hear it from my chair.

The Zaleman you picked is a great PSU also. PC Eye gave some good advice...a lot of people love the OCZ PSU....they have some of the best ratings out there.

Good Luck

 

[PC eye]

I ran Antecs on several older builds and decided on the 700w OCZ model seen at the link for the current build. Before switching manufacturers they were simply the more basic lower powered supplies for the average build run stock. Then they introduced the TP II line.

The last build here saw the TP II 550w model that was trouble free and quiet as well as all that were previously used suggesting you simply got a bad one out of the bunch. For ocing most will go for a heftier supply and other brand as well.

OCZs are noted for taking a pounding and still providing. When putting the build here together I ran two ide hard drives along with the pair of sata still plus two opticals and expansion cards. Quiet as a mouse is the description of the OCZ model. Zalman makes some great supplies as well while the price difference was the thought.

 

[Cleric7x9]

I ran Antecs on several older builds and decided on the 700w OCZ model seen at the link for the current build. Before switching manufacturers they were simply the more basic lower powered supplies for the average build run stock. Then they introduced the TP II line.

The last build here saw the TP II 550w model that was trouble free and quiet as well as all that were previously used suggesting you simply got a bad one out of the bunch. For ocing most will go for a heftier supply and other brand as well.

OCZs are noted for taking a pounding and still providing. When putting the build here together I ran two ide hard drives along with the pair of sata still plus two opticals and expansion cards. Quiet as a mouse is the description of the OCZ model. Zalman makes some great supplies as well while the price difference was the thought.

off topic but, PC eye, did you see that there is an imposter of you in the forum now?

 

[PC eye]

I noticed a new member name with a variation but haven't given it any worry. (PS saw auto reply notifications of posts but none seen by EYE on threads)

As far as the small voltage drop when ocing and gaming at the same time you are placing a heavier demand for power with the cpu as well as video and sound cards. Another thing is some boards are better for ocing due to design and seeing better power distribution.

Rmaing a bad supply there would be the thought since Antecs were never known as the ocer's supply to start with plus seeing a defect. You can also look over the sticky on supplies made up by for some ideas there as well. http://www.computerforum.com/computer-cases-power-supplies-cooling/announcements.html