are tagan PSUs good?

alglove · Post by **alglove** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 1:20 pm

Cyberpukish wrote:alglove:
btw where did u get the heatsink for the gf2 and what brand is it ?for the gf2

Actually, I used the big green passive heatsink found in the old Vantec Chipset Cooler bundle. It just happened to be laying around the house, so I just put it on there. I attached it with a double-sided sticky pad that was also included with the kit. Quite honestly, it did not make that much of a difference in temperature compared to running naked, but since the graphics card kept running, I did not worry too much about it.

I got mine at CompUSA, but this is such a generic product, you can probably find it just about anywhere, if they still make it. Here is a link to a review of that product, so you can see what I mean.

http://www.mikhailtech.com/articles/coo ... tecbundle/

Cyberpukish · Post by **Cyberpukish** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 6:31 pm

I guess i should remove the fan as well. At least i still have the heatsink remaining. Thanks for the advice. BTW wat gf2 model are u using? Mine is the GTS.

Javalava:
I got my zalman alcu for 68.20 dollars. I didnt know it is huge... Wiring will be a nightmare! Any Suggestions?

Gekkani · Post by **Gekkani** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 6:32 pm

JavaLava wrote:
Gekkani wrote:Mmm... I don't understand whats your problem. CPU idle temperature raises up due to a bad PSU ?? 70ºC??
Sorry for not elaborating on what's wrong with the PSU. The reason I said the fan circuitry was at fault is because the PSU fan would stop spinning or slow down to the point that it becomes ineffective in cooling down the PSU.

Oh, i see...

But... Which fan stop spinning? Inside fan normally do not have to spin unless psu gets hot (60% psu load according to Tagan)

Cyberpukish · Post by **Cyberpukish** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 6:36 pm

oh shat i jsut realised that my board is not compatible on the website *faints*

JavaLava · Post by **JavaLava** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 7:09 pm

Gekkani wrote:But... Which fan stop spinning? Inside fan normally do not have to spin unless psu gets hot (60% psu load according to Tagan)

The outside fan was what I was referring to. The inside fan never did come on in this system, even during extreme loads and high temp due to the failed outside fan, which led me to conclude that the fan control circuitry was defective.

Cyberpukish wrote:I got my zalman alcu for 68.20 dollars. I didnt know it is huge... Wiring will be a nightmare! Any Suggestions?
oh shat i jsut realised that my board is not compatible on the website *faints*

Sorry to hear about that

Perhaps you could return it and get a Thermalright instead.

Cyberpukish · Post by **Cyberpukish** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 7:31 am

w00t! its inside! well apart from a slightly bent capacitor... my bro and i managed to put in the heat sink. if not for the bigger headroom of the casing, i doubt th thing can fit... now i will see whether the cpu temp is stable. around 38 degress now... mobo around 33 degrees... i am only running one casing fan

alglove · Post by **alglove** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 6:37 am

Cyberpukish wrote:I guess i should remove the fan as well. At least i still have the heatsink remaining. Thanks for the advice. BTW wat gf2 model are u using? Mine is the GTS.

My graphics card was also a Geforce2 GTS 32 MB (Asus V7700 Deluxe, to be exact). Yeah, you may try removing the fan first and see how that works for you.

halcyon · Post by **halcyon** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 3:22 am

To add to the Tagan thread.

I finally powered up my system with Tagan 480W.

Or I tried.

It fails to feed enough power to my Radeon 9800SE AIW.

The system shuts itself down immediately after I press the power ON button. I can't even get to Bios beep, it all happens within a second or so.

Replacing the 9800SE AIW for a Rage 128 Pro AGP card solves all issues.

<sigh>

Unfortunately I can't hear if my Tagan is noisy or not, because the Rage128Pro mages such a huge racket

Time to shop for another PSU and add Tagan to my PSU museum, which is growing ever larger.

And I thought I was playing it safe by oversizing my PSU a little and calculating all the power draws for my components rail-by-rail.

Didn't help. PSU should be able to handle the load, but it fails.

JavaLava · Post by **JavaLava** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 5:34 am

halcyon wrote:The system shuts itself down immediately after I press the power ON button. I can't even get to Bios beep, it all happens within a second or so.

The same happened here with the unit I returned, which I did not mention earlier on in this thread. I'm pretty certain your unit is defective.

BTW, I know the Zalman ZM400A has had some issues when it was just released, but recent ones that I've worked on have been excellent, and very quiet too. In fact, I prefer it over the Tagan TG480, Seasonic SS-400AGX rev.A2 and ST-400FB. It's very quiet and the NMB fan has the least sonic character of the four. Reliability is great too.

Cyberpukish · Post by **Cyberpukish** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 6:20 am

hmmmm CRIKES i may have bought the wrong PSU! I should have went with fortron silencer.... oh well ... but so far my tagan is ok... thanks again to all for helping me make the decision i solved the gf2 fan problem by removing diagonally 2 screws... now all i can hear is a low soft whirl which is acceptable to me.

Oh BTW i am using 2 soundcards with front 5.25 IO drives, one TDK CD burner with dvd rom, one pioneer dvd burner and a vantec fan controller assigned to control 2 cathode light tubes (yes yes they are redundant but i like the cool glow the casing gives off at the vent ;P) and the 120mm fan. i have 2 hardisks too and so far the psu is holding well. I did not have the problem where my WD just crashed XP upon entering the OS. I guess it might have been my old lousy cheap crappy PSU. Now for the real test. Having the computer running 24/7. I just hope nothing goes wrong! I am keeping my fingers crossed!

halcyon · Post by **halcyon** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 6:27 am

Thanks JavaLava!

I had missed that.

I tried another VGA card and Tagan worked with that.

Then I did "Load safe defaults" in Bios and now nothing works

Ah, the perils of building a new computer.

Time to ship the mobo back to store...

<sigh>

Cyberpukish · Post by **Cyberpukish** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 7:14 am

Sorry to hear that halcyon. Yes building CPUs sucks if something goes wrong....

JavaLava · Post by **JavaLava** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 7:38 am

And something always goes wrong... especially building a quiet one...

Cyberpukish · Post by **Cyberpukish** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 8:12 am

lol totally agree!

ldx00 · Post by **ldx00** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 7:32 am

I am perfectly happy with noise levels of my tagan, however it is getting very very hot. I am wondering whether this is a problem?? How hot do other owners PSU's get?? I have a GMC neo-classic and it ran cool with my generic no good PSU (although it was loud). Could someone post some general comments. Mine for example is hot to the touch, sometimes too hot to keep my hand on it for too long.

Max CPU temp - 60C
Max case temp - 50C !!!!!!!!

I'm also reading a very low 12V line, sometimes as low as 11.6 (never tops 11.7). Isn't this out of spec. If anybody has found a screw to toggle this please tell me where it is.

Thanks, sorry for the long post.

Leo

Mimesis · Post by **Mimesis** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 6:10 pm

Got my Tagan 380w a couple of days ago. Unfortunately, I haven't tested it on any demanding loads yet, so all I can give You is a report from using it on a fairly quiet PII-system.

It's fans are even qiueter than my old PSU's, which had a 12dB Papst in it. But it cools the case even worse also. Temps inside case and on CPU have risen about 3C, and the exhauste air from my (barely spinning) chassis-fan is noticeably hotter.
Also, there is some funny sounds comming from it, probably normal electrical, but I'm not sure after reading this thread. I can't hear it over my fridge, however, dispite the fact that the 'puter is currently placed on my desk.

Cables are many, long and thick.

So far I'm really happy with it, but like I said, I haven't really pushed it yet.

I'll be back to tell how it sounds when placed in a more quiet room and on a more up-to-date system.

teasers · Post by **teasers** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 1:46 pm

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=19606 has that topic too, and I am copying my story that I wrote on this forum:

-----
I have bought a TG380-U01 model almost a month ago here from Istanbul, and I have that ticking noise, too. In fact the noise began appearing more after I have spend over a $100 for making a low-noise PC. I have bought a Zalman FB-123 fan bracket, disabled the stock case fan, and I can say that the ticking noise is louder than the CPU fan!!

First, this sound does not come from any of the fans inside the PSU. It is electronical, it is heard even when the PC is turned off (which means the PSU is still connected to mains, thus has electricity inside)

1. The most least sound is heard when the PC is turned off
2. It gets louder when the PC is turned on
3. It is really loud when you have some actions on the PC that will use slightly more energy than it uses on idle, even like clicking the Internet Explorer or Windows Explorer.

It's really annoying. I wouldn't buy it if I knew that. I guess that comes from the active PFC correction feature, but I'm not completely sure. Even we accept that it comes from the power correction, we can't say that all PSU's having the power factor correction feature have this sound.

http://www.bit-tech.net/review/299/5 reviews some PSU's including a Tagan, and has a paragraph named 'Noise/ripple' :

Noise/ripple - first, let me stress we are talking about electrical noise here (interference and distortion on the PSU's output voltages) and not the acoustic kind. The results have been rounded up to the nearest unit of 10mV for clarity. The Tagan was the only supply to have a chassis ground cable to reduce electrical noise. Supply rail noise was measured both with and without this cable tied to the chassis using an oscilloscope. With the cable connected to the chassis the Tagan electrical noise was reduced significantly and in fact produced the best result of the roundup. It is worth noting that the Zalman matched the Tagan's +5V noise figure. Without the cable connected its results were more typical of the other supplies although generally better.

I have this cable connected to my mainboard too, but that morse-like ticking sound is really, really bad. It's so bad..
------------------------------------------------------------

Now, normally I was thinking of returning the PSU, and after reading that Tagan accept that this is something which is their fault and that will be fixed, now I will absolutelty apply my store for contacting Tagan for a change.

Mimesis · Post by **Mimesis** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 7:12 pm

Now i've tested my Tagan with the rig in my signature in a quiet environment for a while. With all fans at 5V, I almost can't hear it. The ADSL-modem is clearly louder, and you can't hear that a couple of meters away.

With an open case, or behind the computer, i can hear the Tagan, both ticking (wether it's on or off) and the electric noise, however not the
fan(s) even with my ear next to it.

I'm very happy that i was lucky to get both a quiet Tagan and a quiet Samsung HD, since both apparently also come in loud samples.

halcyon · Post by **halcyon** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 9:39 am

Update to my Tagan TG-480 PSU problem.

I found out it was an incompatibility issue with my motherboard.

Tagan has no problems powering up Radeon 9800 Pro on my other motherboard (Abit NF7S).

Also, now that I changed my video card to X800 Vivo, I can use my Tagan TG-480 with my problematic motherboard (Shuttle AN50R).

And it is very quiet (more so than my 120mm fortron FSP 60PN with modded fan/rubber fan mounts).

Loki · Post by **Loki** » Sat Sep 11, 2004 2:16 pm

Here is my not so favorable review of the Tagan TG-480

I had read many favorable reviews of The Tagan power supplies, which led me to purchase the TG480 back in July 2004. Shortly after installing it I had a brown out and my 700VA UPS was unable to power the computer. I began to email tech support concerning the problem. I sent several emails over a 6-week period with no response. Almost two months later they finally responded telling me that the TG480 needs 685 watts or at least a 1200VA UPS. So I purchased a 1500VA UPS by Powercom, from NewEgg. UPS power still will not work with this power supply. Many emails to Tagan since, the last one being on 10\06, I have yet to receive a reply. I feel I have given them more than enough chance to make good on a defective product. Buyer beware, your on your own if you purchase anything from Tagan.

Dobby · Post by **Dobby** » Sat Sep 11, 2004 7:24 pm

Just for a general interest take a look into http://www.topower.com.tw. Pick right model and you will get either BeQuiet!, Tagan or their newest member, Ocz PSU.

Albeit the high quality impression you surely get from the appearance and details, if you do your research you will find that at least two first named are known to suffer randomly quite similar problems. If I had to guess, some quality control related issues at the real manufacturer. This rebranding of PSUs must worthy business as its get more popular all the time.

Takhisos · Post by **Takhisos** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 1:50 am

I didn't have time to read through the 3 pages of replies, but i'll state the my 380W Tagan is excellent, much much quiter than the Antec PSU I recived with my Sonata case.

The quality of it is supurb, its queit, what more does a guy want?

rperezlo · Post by **rperezlo** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 7:39 am

I got a BeQuiet in February and I'm very happy with it, no problem so far and very quiet. I hear my suspended Samsung HD spinning make more noise than the PS. The BeQuiet does make a clicking noise but it is very faint. I can only hear it if I stop all the fans in the computer, and even then I have to concentrate to hear it.

What you lose with these PS is the air extracting capability. They run hot (and very quiet) because their fans spin at minimum speed, and all the top of the computer is also hot due to this.

Dobby · Post by **Dobby** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 11:46 am

Takhisos wrote: The quality of it is supurb, its queit, what more does a guy want?

That every unit is about as good as yours.

x9731091 · Post by **x9731091** » Sat Oct 23, 2004 4:52 am

Does anyone have a fixfor the Tagan ticking noise? I've emailed Tagan but they haven't responded and this was 3 weeks ago!

asusboy · Post by **asusboy** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:03 pm

I get my tagan 480w from ebay which the seller got it from Scan. I just wanted to know if it meant to come with the 3 year warrenty card? As i seen it on the internet somewhere. thanks

leon

davidstone28 · Post by **davidstone28** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:40 pm

http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=16738

asusboy · Post by **asusboy** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 1:29 am

I get the loud klick noist now on the tagan 480. it just goes on all the way through when the pc turn on. is it defective?

ejl10 · Post by **ejl10** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 9:39 am

I contributed to this topic about a year ago when the Tagans were first hitting the market. Thought I'd give everyone an update, especially given the bad reviews I've read in other threads. My 480W is still running strong, and is still inaudible vs the rest of my system (which is impressive, since the rest of my system consists of a 120mm Evercool, a 120mm Enermax, and an 80mm Panaflo - all undervolted to just above the lowest voltage they'll start at, two silent Samsung HDs, and not much else). I haven't had any problems since the "ticking" went away shortly after I got it. I haven't noticed any inordinate amount of heat, either.

However, my experience doesn't seem to be the norm, so watch yourself. Certainly be wary of any PSUs that come with a sliced "warranty void if seal broken" sticker.

Asusboy- I heard that clicking, too, when I first got my Tagan. But mine went away within a few days. I've read several other reviews where the ticking never went away.

Oh, and my user name doesn't end with X.

Good luck,
Emmett Lyman

IMOM · Post by **IMOM** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 2:32 am

Just wanted to let everyone know, that I just another Tagan 380W power supply for a system I already have. I just recently updated my old system with Antec Aria to Antec SLK1650B, so I decided to get another Tagan. I thought I would be safe since I would get my new power supply from Newegg.com. Well, I just got my power supply today, completely sealed new. The carton was sealed in plastic wrap and after I removed the power supply out of the box, it was sealed in bubble wrap. Well, the warranty seal was cut. I don't recall the Tagan 380W power supply I bought from ajump.com a year have the warranty label cut. I didn't want to buy from ajump again, because I have had excellent experience with Newegg. I hope they will look into this.

I'm going to contact Newegg tomorrow and let them know. I still don't know if I am going to keep it or not. It's really sad... the product seems to be of high quality, why Tagan/EPower would pull this kind of crap is beyond me.

I have a question for someone who can confirm this...Newegg doesn't list this power supply as having active PFC, but this power supply doesn't have a 110/220V switch. I'm going to take an educated guess and say that it does because it auto switch from 110 to 220V and vice versa?

are tagan PSUs good?

My 480W tagan