peak output on a power supply?

[superman270]

i was lookin at a Thermaltake power supply and in the description it says peak output 550W, it is named as a 480W power supply so i was wondering what peak output is/means.

here is a link to the power supply
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...153-008&depa=1

[miha76]

Peak output is maximum power output in very short time that PS can produce without damage to PS or powered components.

Example.

When you power up your PC some components draw much more power then when they are in normal working state.

HDD consumes around 40W during spin up time (when powering up). Normally they draw 10-12W. So this is where peak output from power supply can be useful.

But basicaly whenever manufacturer labels componets with peak output power it means that product is not very good.

If you need good power supply look for Enlight, Enermax, Antec, Enhance etc.

[Flash]

The short answer is the PS is capable of reaching 550W mometarily (peaking) but can`t sustain that output. It can output 480W contiunously.

[superman270]

are the thermaltake power supplies any good?

[Todd a]

Also be warned. A lot of genaric power supplies are rated for peek output and can not run at these speeds for long if at all. That is the main reason to stick with only good power supplies. Antec is always at the top of most lists. They are always rated for continous and usually can go much beyond that. Tom's Hardware was able to get a 430w Antec True Power PS to run at 489w continous. They are also very quiet.

[superman270]

antecs is only 3 dollars more for the same wattage, i was just wondering if anyone had used Tt's powersupplies and are they any good?

[Todd a]

Likely the Antec will also have more features. The curciuts are supposed to be self correcting for resistance and load a few hundred times a second. The fault protection curciuts are very good. They also are very quiet. They use a thermally controlled fan and my 480w never runs above 1600RPM, which is whisper quiet for an 80mm and 92mm fan. They also have additional fan headers for connecting additional case fans to the thermal contol. Also some of the 380 and 480w power supplies are avaluable with LED fans (I think only blue ones so far). I got that it it just rocks. They also have an eternal 4 pin molix connector on the back of the PS incase you need a power connector for something outside the case. It is covered with a black rubber protector. The PS fans also have a single RPM sensor wire so you can plug it into a motherboard header and monitor the fan RPM inside it. They also have a very nice 1-800 tech support number and a good warrenty.

If it is only $3 more I'd get the Antec one, and if it is the LED version I'd definately get it. Those LED fans normally run $15 a peice. I think on NewEgg the LED one was only about $5-10 more. I would have rather had tri-color fans to match the other 4 tri-color fans in my case, but the blue still looks good.

[superman270]

yah its not the blue fan one that i was lookin at but i think i will probably go with it, i was wondering about the thermaltake because i like most of there other stuff, and they do have a feature i liked. it was called ACTIVE PFC(power fault correction) sounds similar to what u were sayin about the antec.

[Todd a]

Likely the same thing.

The thing I am wondering is if TT actually makes the power supply or if someone else is making it for them and they are slapping their name on it.

[superman270]

yah, but if it was like that it would be just like RK-byte's ram, they just resell other ppls product. and just like RK-byte they back their products.