REPORT: Just got my Fortron FSP300-60ATV

PSUs: The source of DC power for all components in the PC & often a big noise source.

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batman5177
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REPORT: Just got my Fortron FSP300-60ATV

Post by batman5177 » Fri May 02, 2003 11:09 pm

hi, i just got 2 fortron fps300-60atv's from newegg. i hate to say this, but i'm not impressed. here are the results:

1) Noise: the noise level is the same as my antec 250w. i've turned off all my case fans and cpu fan, and i hear no difference between the 2 psu's. i've had other people listen and they hear no difference either.

2) Rails: i'm using speedfan to read the rails:

3.3v is at 3.33 mean, 3.28 minumum
5v is at 4.81 mean, 4.76 minumum
12v is at 11.67 mean, 11.61 minumum

i got about the same readings from the antec 250w.

3) despite having larger vents than the antec, case/cpu temps have not changed at all.

i get about the same results with BOTH fortron fsp300-60atv's. am i not supposed to use speedfan to read rails?

i have a 92mm panaflo connected directly to the a7n8x mobo, does that affect anything?

having said this, the system is perfectly stable, but it was also perfectly stable with the antec 250w.

am i doing something wrong?
Last edited by batman5177 on Fri May 02, 2003 11:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

fmah
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Post by fmah » Fri May 02, 2003 11:15 pm

Well that is not the one with the 120mm fan, which one were you trying to get?

batman5177
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Post by batman5177 » Fri May 02, 2003 11:29 pm

it's the one with the 80mm fan.

in a couple posts down, i asked which one was quieter, the 120mm one or the 80mm one.
i decided on the 80mm one because people said the 80mm was quieter.

i thought the fortron fsp300-60atv was the same psu as this one:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/modules.p ... =79&page=1

even if the fan isnt the same, how come i'm getting such low rails?[/url]

NeilBlanchard
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???

Post by NeilBlanchard » Sat May 03, 2003 5:01 am

Hello:
batman5177 wrote:it's the one with the 80mm fan.

in a couple posts down, i asked which one was quieter, the 120mm one or the 80mm one.
i decided on the 80mm one because people said the 80mm was quieter.
Huh? I think there was a debate between folks who think the 120mm is quiet enough and those who think it is a bit noisier than some other PS's. But, I can't think that anyone wrote that the 80mm was quieter than the 120mm! :shock:

I own two of the 120mm (& non PF) units and I am quite pleased with them -- but they are not ."silent".
batman5177 wrote:i thought the fortron fsp300-60atv was the same psu as this one:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/modules.p ... =79&page=1

even if the fan isnt the same, how come i'm getting such low rails?[/url]
The fan makes ALL the difference in the noise! Lots of the quiet PS's are based on the Fortron/Source PS, and they are quite stable and they seem to be able to meet or exceed their specs

Radioactive
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Post by Radioactive » Sat May 03, 2003 11:53 pm

I have the 80 mm one, too bad i miss your question. It is definitely not quiet. I had to remove the stock fan and put a panaflo on the outside. It is still loud to me. My old antec 250 watt with a panaflo mod was much more quiet.

energy
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Post by energy » Tue May 06, 2003 4:08 pm

I doubt anyone considers the stock FSP 80mm designs as quiet - the "noise killer" kicks in way to early and as a result the fan spins up to full speed in a few minutes regardless of any substantial temperature difference.

batman5177
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Post by batman5177 » Tue May 06, 2003 6:20 pm

would the noise be lowered much if i swapped out the fan for a panaflo L1a?

also, does anyone think that the 3.3v, 5v, or 12v rails are running too low?

silenx
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Post by silenx » Tue May 06, 2003 6:45 pm

Hi Batman,

The noise would be lowered when using the Panaflo L1A, significantly lowered if you just swap it in where the stock fan used to be. If your lines are running too low, there's usually a pot inside that allows you to adjust the lines.

JarsOfFart
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Post by JarsOfFart » Wed May 07, 2003 5:07 pm

silenx wrote:Hi Batman,

The noise would be lowered when using the Panaflo L1A, significantly lowered if you just swap it in where the stock fan used to be. If your lines are running too low, there's usually a pot inside that allows you to adjust the lines.
How do you adjust those pots? My voltages are as shown in the following picture. They don't seem to be too great.

Image

silenx
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Post by silenx » Wed May 07, 2003 5:13 pm

There should be a small square unit with a white circle with threads for a cross-shaped screwdriver. You can turn that clockwise or counterclockwise to change the voltage. It affects all the rails on your PSU so make sure to have a multimeter handy to see what changes it makes on the PSU before plugging it back in to your computer.

batman5177
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Post by batman5177 » Sat May 10, 2003 7:45 pm

hi, thanks for the replies.

i opened the psu but i cant seem to find the pot to adjust the lines.

do u have any pictures or links to pictures of it?

also, what's a good program to check on the lines inside windows? i've used speedfan and asus probe, but they give different readings!

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Sat May 10, 2003 8:57 pm

Batman, unless you KNOW that you can attribute some misbehavior specifically to low voltages on the lines, I recommend you leave them alone. The voltages vary -- they do not stay the same, even in the very best PSUs. Your screen capture shows us one moment (the green), none of which look serious off. Plus the high and low points points for each line at which (presumably) an alarm might go off. Has that alarm gone off? You need to consider what happens to the voltages over a long time period with a wide variety of loads, not just a minute or a few moments. It is too easy to go wrong in there. The biggest danger is turning up the voltages too high and cooking your components.

Please consider this post:
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto ... ght=#20176

batman5177
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Post by batman5177 » Sat May 10, 2003 9:23 pm

umm...the post with the picture is not mine....it's from JarsOfFart.

i just tried Motherboard Monitor and it gave me the same results as speedfan:

IDLE:

3.3 ~ 3.3
5 ~ 4.81
12 ~ 11.55

LOAD:

3.3 ~ 3.3
5 ~ 4.73
12 ~ 11.68

i get the same readings in the bios too.

nothing has gone bad with my computer so far, no crashes etc, but i cant help feeling disappointed.

i read your link, and everyone's lines are VERY close to what they are supposed to be, unlike what i'm getting. i was under the impression that fortron made good psu's!

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Sun May 11, 2003 1:07 am

batman, nothing in your voltage readings suggests you have a "bad" PSU. For the past 20 mins, I have been monitoring the MBM5 voltages on this P4-2.8 system run on a Seasonic 300. The 3.3 & 5V lines are within 0.1V but the 12V line is 11.43~11.53V. I never experience any instability with this PC, have not rebooted (at times) for upwards of 2 weeks.

MBM5 reports the voltages that the mobo reports, which is at some certain physical point after the ATX connector. That in itself can be enough to affect the voltages you see, a bit of extra contact resistance can drop voltages.

See the entirety of this thread... http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=2021 ...esp the last few posts.

Also read this very informative piece carefully: http://www.overclockers.com/tips845/

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