Review: FSP FSP300-60ATV (PF) ATX PSU

Or the lack of it! My test Enermax isn't a loud PSU. There's a thermostatically controlled fan that only kicks in when needed, otherwise it spins lazily or not at all to keep the noise down. With a switch to a near silent IDE hard disk recently from the usual noisy SCSI hardware, I started to notice other noise in my system a lot more. This included the Enermax for the first time since I use a totally silent Panaflo fan on my processors.

Swapping out the Enermax for the FSP with nothing but the IDE drive to make any noise lets me compare the noise level of the supply.

The FSP doesn't seem to alter fan speed within the power supply depending on heat, it seems they've just used a good PSU design and very very quiet fan from the outset. The PSU under normal operation is no louder subjectively than the Enermax in 'quiet' mode. Whisper quiet, to steal a phrase from Enermax, applies here.

It's a pretty large benefit these days to the enthusiast to have a quiet power supply since I think most enthusiasts are past putting up with a noisy PC system and want some peace and quiet. The FSP, in my subjective tests at least, will get you some of the way there to a quieter system.

Conclusion

There's not really much to say about a power supply after you've taken a look at some voltage lines, talked about the noise and made sure it was up to handling a decent load.

The FSP keeps a solid voltage at high load and doesn't mind powering all the components in the test rig for hours on end. I've not had cause to remove it since I finished the testing and there it'll stay for as long as possible since it does what's asked of it and it's quiet.

It's no better for me subjectively than the Enermax since the Enermax isn't loud but the FSP certainly wins on price. Dabs seem to be the only stockist in the UK for a very decent £31.72 at the moment including dreaded VAT. Dabs want over £80 for the EG465AX-VE FMA and the nearest comparable model in terms of output, the 350W EG365AX-VE FMA, is over £50.

All in all a pleasure to test, it's P4 compatible, it's quiet, it's solid in terms of output and it's a good price.

My only complaint is that it's hard to find apart from at Dabs and their stock levels aren't huge.

Pro's

Quiet
Good solid output
Cheap

Con's

Not so easy to get hold of, only one UK stockist that I can see

Overall

9/10

Thanks

The lovely Claire at Axalia for the sample
Rae at Pathway for my 9700 Pro test board