Power Supply Has anyone bought the Metalfish 500W modular flex-atx psu from aliexpress/taobao?

[REVOCCASES]

So far nobody knows how that PSU will perform in the long run. But there is a reason why good FLEX PSUs like Enhance and FSP cost much more than the MetalFish.

Since your system might use more than 300W during gaming the MetalFish will definitely get hot because it has obviously not the best efficiency.

You can try to limit the PPT to get the power consumption down. Then it should run a bit cooler.

 

[Ricky Zeng]

hi guys, Im a new member of this group like literally just joined and read this thread. Im not very familliar with those PSU terminologies and new to pc building I am very sorry. but my situation is..

I got the bundle of S3 case and 400w psu from ali metalfish store. finished my bulid just a week ago

specs:
B450i gaming plus ac
r5 1500x (ID cooling is40x)
16gb 3000mhz vengeance LPx
Zotac OEM rx580
256gb TeamG nvme ssd
WD 380gb 2.5 hdd

in msi afterburner, I get 40° cpu & 50° gpu while gaming (apex) but I noticed that the case is getting hot. airflow from cpu or gpu is not that hot coz Im inside an airconditioned room. then I realised that the heat is coming from my PSU. the fan is not that loud on mine tho but it only starts when the system is on loads, it is not spinning when I booted the pc and during idle. is that even normal? so for now, I tend to use my pc for maximum of 3-4 hours and shut it down. coz im scared that the potential PSU problem might burn my system which I achieved from saving up money for almost a year.

I already underclocked/volted my rx580 and it helped a bit coz the PSU took longer time to get hot than before. but I think that is not the real solution. also, 1 side odlf the case is already open, I didnt bother to close it to help give more airflow.

what do you guys think? can someone help me out? should I buy another one with 500w? or there is nothing wrong with the wattage and the problem is something else?

I think your setup is similar to mine (R5 3600 / RX580). You should first of all check whether your PSU has good intake / exhaust air flow path inside your case and any blockages. The way the Metalfish S3 case mounts its Flex PSU is not ideal, as the PSU intake vents are facing towards the inside of the case from I can see in the pictures, and thus drawing hot air from CPU / GPU. If there's any ventilation from the bottom of the case, try and see if you are able to flip the PSU around to draw cold air from the bottom. Otherwise this will still be a problem even if you change for a better PSU.
Also I find your CPU / GPU temps a bit low for gaming. Mine were both in the sixties when running Forza Horizon 4 / Fallout 4, and that's in a properly ventilated A4 case... Try verify the temps from different sources maybe (BIOS, Radeon Control Panel, HWMonitor, etc.)?

 

[inSparks]

hi guys, Im a new member of this group like literally just joined and read this thread. Im not very familliar with those PSU terminologies and new to pc building I am very sorry. but my situation is..

I got the bundle of S3 case and 400w psu from ali metalfish store. finished my bulid just a week ago

specs:
B450i gaming plus ac
r5 1500x (ID cooling is40x)
16gb 3000mhz vengeance LPx
Zotac OEM rx580
256gb TeamG nvme ssd
WD 380gb 2.5 hdd

in msi afterburner, I get 40° cpu & 50° gpu while gaming (apex) but I noticed that the case is getting hot. airflow from cpu or gpu is not that hot coz Im inside an airconditioned room. then I realised that the heat is coming from my PSU. the fan is not that loud on mine tho but it only starts when the system is on loads, it is not spinning when I booted the pc and during idle. is that even normal? so for now, I tend to use my pc for maximum of 3-4 hours and shut it down. coz im scared that the potential PSU problem might burn my system which I achieved from saving up money for almost a year.

I already underclocked/volted my rx580 and it helped a bit coz the PSU took longer time to get hot than before. but I think that is not the real solution. also, 1 side odlf the case is already open, I didnt bother to close it to help give more airflow.

what do you guys think? can someone help me out? should I buy another one with 500w? or there is nothing wrong with the wattage and the problem is something else?

Well that's a surprise if it turns out that the Metalfish has a semi-passive mode. Usually that's a feature found on more expensive PSUs. However this PSU has surprised once with the higher quality than expected fuse. That really is a surprise if true, @REVOCCASES what do you make of this?

@Emanski have you done a fan swap on this PSU or is it running with the stock fan?

My S3 arrived with the PSU literally today, but I have a modded Enhance PSU on the way from Geeekstore. If you're not happy with the thermals, I'd recommend you check them out, however they are very pricey. It'll cost you more for that modded PSU than it cost you for the case bundle.

 

[REVOCCASES]

Well that's a surprise if it turns out that the Metalfish has a semi-passive mode. Usually that's a feature found on more expensive PSUs. However this PSU has surprised once with the higher quality than expected fuse. That really is a surprise if true, @REVOCCASES what do you make of this?

@Emanski have you done a fan swap on this PSU or is it running with the stock fan?

My S3 arrived with the PSU literally today, but I have a modded Enhance PSU on the way from Geeekstore. If you're not happy with the thermals, I'd recommend you check them out, however they are very pricey. It'll cost you more for that modded PSU than it cost you for the case bundle.

yeah, it seems to have a load-controlled fan, same like the Huntkey I tested.

Power Supply - Huntkey HK400-92FP FLEX PSU Review

I tested another FLEX PSU which might be interesting for lower end builds: The Huntkey HK400-92FP It is rated with 300W total (240W on the 12V Rail) and costs less than EUR 35,- via Taobao / Superbuy (plus shipping). Please note that it does only work with 220V AC! Build Quality: Huntkey is a...

smallformfactor.net

Like I said before, we don't know yet how it will perform in the long run (reliability?) and how efficient it is exactly but it seems to be OK for some medium spec builds. Better than other TaoBao FLEX PSUs I have tested.

 

[inSparks]

yeah, it seems to have a load-controlled fan, same like the Huntkey I tested.

Power Supply - Huntkey HK400-92FP FLEX PSU Review

I tested another FLEX PSU which might be interesting for lower end builds: The Huntkey HK400-92FP It is rated with 300W total (240W on the 12V Rail) and costs less than EUR 35,- via Taobao / Superbuy (plus shipping). Please note that it does only work with 220V AC! Build Quality: Huntkey is a...

smallformfactor.net

Like I said before, we don't know yet how it will perform in the long run (reliability?) and how efficient it is exactly but it seems to be OK for some medium spec builds. Better than other TaoBao FLEX PSUs I have tested.

I think they look to have tried to pack in as many features as they can, as cheaply as possible. Which I think does raise questions of where is the origin of this PSU? Like are they using binned components and what is the overall build quality?

Personally I'm happy to try it out in my build as its only about 200W TPD combined, but I will be swapping to my Enhance when it arrives.

 

[REVOCCASES]

I think they look to have tried to pack in as many features as they can, as cheaply as possible. Which I think does raise questions of where is the origin of this PSU? Like are they using binned components and what is the overall build quality?

Personally I'm happy to try it out in my build as its only about 200W TPD combined, but I will be swapping to my Enhance when it arrives.

They must use cheap components to achieve this price. Looking at the cap for example. Same story will it be with the MOSFETS and rectifier. Therefore I highly doubt it has something like 80+ ish efficiency.

Saving money on the PSU in a build is not the best idea IMHO. Finally you'll have to pay again, either for your electricity bill or if it fails after two years.

 

[inSparks]

They must use cheap components to achieve this price. Looking at the cap for example. Same story will it be with the MOSFETS and rectifier. Therefore I highly doubt it has something like 80+ ish efficiency.

Saving money on the PSU in a build is not the best idea IMHO. Finally you'll have to pay again, either for your electricity bill or if it fails after two years.

I think that Huntkey PSU looks similar in overall basic design to the Metalfish, obviously with differences between each respective capacities. It's a pretty standard way of making a Flex PSU cheaply. But when you look also at the cast metal heatsinks on the Metalfish, they seem very poorly cast. The heatsinks on the Huntkey are much cleaner, while the Metalfish heatsinks are really rough. I think this just makes an already inefficient design even less efficient again.

 

[REVOCCASES]

I think that Huntkey PSU looks similar in overall basic design to the Metalfish, obviously with differences between each respective capacities. It's a pretty standard way of making a Flex PSU cheaply. But when you look also at the cast metal heatsinks on the Metalfish, they seem very poorly cast. The heatsinks on the Huntkey are much cleaner, while the Metalfish heatsinks are really rough. I think this just makes an already inefficient design even less efficient again.

True, also note the Huntkey is only rated 300W and MetalFish claims to be 500W. A good 500W would be more cramped with components inside. Just look inside of the Enhance or modded DPS.

 

[inSparks]

True, also note the Huntkey is only rated 300W and MetalFish claims to be 500W. A good 500W would be more cramped with components inside. Just look inside of the Enhance or modded DPS.

Theres a thread on r/sffpc right now from someone with a very similar build to mine who has potentially had a metalfish PSU go bad after like 1 day. I'm not so confident any more. I'm going to wait for my 7660B now.

 

[Emanski]

Well that's a surprise if it turns out that the Metalfish has a semi-passive mode. Usually that's a feature found on more expensive PSUs. However this PSU has surprised once with the higher quality than expected fuse. That really is a surprise if true, @REVOCCASES what do you make of this?

@Emanski have you done a fan swap on this PSU or is it running with the stock fan?

My S3 arrived with the PSU literally today, but I have a modded Enhance PSU on the way from Geeekstore. If you're not happy with the thermals, I'd recommend you check them out, however they are very pricey. It'll cost you more for that modded PSU than it cost you for the case bundle.

Havent done fan swap. The fans I ordered online are just about to get shipped as of now. might arrive in a week or a bit longer. I started to doubt the thermals from the msi afterburner tho. everybody is telling me those are suspicious numbers. For now, I cant afford the mod enhance. this pandemic tightens the budget.

this psu also makes me confuse. at first the fan is not working. when the heat turns up. it goes on. after few days It became worse like not turning on at all even if the psu is like burning hot. so i tried to push the fan blades with my small scrw driver and it goes on. few days after, it is now working fine. low RPMs on underload and turns RPM up when loaded. I also noticed that it gets hot only when the GPU is on its job. Power consumption of the rx580 maybe to high for this 400w psu.

If this will work long term like it is now, I think it is not that bad for a budget 1u flex. and as stated in the page that it has temp controls, that is one hell of a feature tho. and also, the fan noise for me is not that loud. maybe the noise of my rx580 is covering it up.

also want to see your s3 1u flex psu. maybe i was wrong about the rpm and temp controls pls let me know if you had good observations on yours.

ps: there is also a YinWang brand psu on ali express. k39 itx case users are using it. I also have a facebook friend that is using it and says that it is working fine on his system. you guys might wanna check that also. THOUGH it is not labeled in ali as a YinWang. So you just gotta look at the product pics to see the yinwang. i has orange colors on the sticker on the psu.

 

[inSparks]

Havent done fan swap. The fans I ordered online are just about to get shipped as of now. might arrive in a week or a bit longer. I started to doubt the thermals from the msi afterburner tho. everybody is telling me those are suspicious numbers. For now, I cant afford the mod enhance. this pandemic tightens the budget.

this psu also makes me confuse. at first the fan is not working. when the heat turns up. it goes on. after few days It became worse like not turning on at all even if the psu is like burning hot. so i tried to push the fan blades with my small scrw driver and it goes on. few days after, it is now working fine. low RPMs on underload and turns RPM up when loaded. I also noticed that it gets hot only when the GPU is on its job. Power consumption of the rx580 maybe to high for this 400w psu.

If this will work long term like it is now, I think it is not that bad for a budget 1u flex. and as stated in the page that it has temp controls, that is one hell of a feature tho. and also, the fan noise for me is not that loud. maybe the noise of my rx580 is covering it up.

also want to see your s3 1u flex psu. maybe i was wrong about the rpm and temp controls pls let me know if you had good observations on yours.

ps: there is also a YinWang brand psu on ali express. k39 itx case users are using it. I also have a facebook friend that is using it and says that it is working fine on his system. you guys might wanna check that also. THOUGH it is not labeled in ali as a YinWang. So you just gotta look at the product pics to see the yinwang. i has orange colors on the sticker on the psu.

Mine has arrived now and bear in mind I'm only doing a few tests so I cannot confirm anything absolutely.

I have done the fan swap and I too am confused. I'm using a Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX and it isnt spinning. I've reversed the polarity as I understand that is needed for the Noctua to work with the PSU fan header but no dice. Havent tested it yet with normal polarity but maybe this PSU is doing something weird.

Got another DC 12v Brushless fan to test with too. Can't remember the brand. So I'm going to try that.

Interestingly though, the metalfish PSU actually allows my Ryzen 5 2600 to boost up to the maximum stock multiplier of 39 for 3.9GHz. Previously my Silverstone 450W 80 plus bronze SFX PSU only seemed to want to boost to 38. Now bear in mind I dont have the equipment to test with but does this suggest less load on the VRM? Could it be the ripple from this PSU might actually be pretty low?

 

[Instran0]

ps: there is also a Y...... brand psu on ali express. k39 itx case users are using it. I also have a facebook friend that is using it and says that it is working fine on his system. you guys might wanna check that also. THOUGH it is not labeled in ali as a Y....... So you just gotta look at the product pics to see the y....... i has orange colors on the sticker on the psu.

please post a weblink to it, on aliexpress.com.

 

[inSparks]

Ok so I've swapped the fan with one from an old Enhance Flex PSU I have in an old eGPU. The Enhance PSU itself is no good as it only has a 24 pin connector and an 8 pin PCIE connector. No CPU auxiliary power so can't be used in a PC.

Even with this fan it just doesn't spin. I don't get it. I'm putting a load on the GPU and CPU and nothing. Is it because I'm only drawing 200W as a maximum? It's just not seen as a load that causes the fan to spin?

 

[inSparks]

OK while I know that my system works in its current configuration I've decided not to push it with this PSU any longer. I just cannot risk it. Thats 3 fans now I've tried and none of them are spinning, even when the PSU was obviously hot. The room had that hot electronic smell you know? Like not burning but clearly hot.

No more tests from me. I've seen enough. This PSU has clear issues with fan control and I wouldnt trust it any further. I'm waiting for my Enhance 7660B.

 

[Ricky Zeng]

OK while I know that my system works in its current configuration I've decided not to push it with this PSU any longer. I just cannot risk it. Thats 3 fans now I've tried and none of them are spinning, even when the PSU was obviously hot. The room had that hot electronic smell you know? Like not burning but clearly hot.

No more tests from me. I've seen enough. This PSU has clear issues with fan control and I wouldnt trust it any further. I'm waiting for my Enhance 7660B.

Fan speed on these types of Flex PSU is controlled by current / power load, there's no smart speed control like PWM on motherboards. Try use a multimeter to see if there's any reading from the fan connector at all, if not, you've got a bad sample.

 

[inSparks]

Fan speed on these types of Flex PSU is controlled by current / power load, there's no smart speed control like PWM on motherboards. Try use a multimeter to see if there's any reading from the fan connector at all, if not, you've got a bad sample.

I dont think the multimeter is strictly necessary here, although I might do it the for the sake of curiosity. If it was an expensive PSU that I cared much about I'd probably want to know, but if it won't even run its stock fan configuration properly then i think there's clearly an issue.

I think there's enough length in the fan cable to run the fan to the motherboard header so I might just do that instead, but let's just say there's not enough here to inspire much confidence. I definitely cannot recommend this PSU for anyone not confident enough to modify it in any way. Novice users should not consider this PSU.

 

[Emanski]

@Instran0 bro sorry forgot to post the links

this is the link to the YinWang 500w-550w psu

77.99US $ 22% OFF|New Psu Fully Modular 80plus Silver Flex Itx Small 1u K39 Silent 500w 550w Power Supply 110v 220v - Pc Power Supplies - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

a.aliexpress.com

I also saw enhance posted in ali

141.0US $ |New Enhance Enp 7660b 1u Mini Flex 600w Psu 80plus Platinum Power Supply With 2*6+2 Gpu Connector - Pc Power Supplies - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

a.aliexpress.com

My metalfish psu's fan is working. But not properly tho. It wont spin on boot, then I will give Gpu loads then try to push the fan blades by pushing it with a small stick from the outside. then it will run. that is one crappy way of making use of it tho. but Temps went low and i can use the system properly. will just make use of this temporarily. Will save up and find another one in time. But honestly I cant afford the enhance mod if it is really more than the worth of buying a bundle of metalfish case and PSU. that would break my bank.

 

[inSparks]

@Instran0 bro sorry forgot to post the links

this is the link to the YinWang 500w-550w psu

77.99US $ 22% OFF|New Psu Fully Modular 80plus Silver Flex Itx Small 1u K39 Silent 500w 550w Power Supply 110v 220v - Pc Power Supplies - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

a.aliexpress.com

I also saw enhance posted in ali

141.0US $ |New Enhance Enp 7660b 1u Mini Flex 600w Psu 80plus Platinum Power Supply With 2*6+2 Gpu Connector - Pc Power Supplies - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

a.aliexpress.com

My metalfish psu's fan is working. But not properly tho. It wont spin on boot, then I will give Gpu loads then try to push the fan blades by pushing it with a small stick from the outside. then it will run. that is one crappy way of making use of it tho. but Temps went low and i can use the system properly. will just make use of this temporarily. Will save up and find another one in time. But honestly I cant afford the enhance mod if it is really more than the worth of buying a bundle of metalfish case and PSU. that would break my bank.

If you ever save to get an Enhance ENP-7660B I highly recommend getting one from Geeek. They have a range of other models available and they all come pre-modded to make them modular, they do a fan swap on them, and they include basic custom cables. That's where mine is coming from.
https://www.geeekstore.com/shop/enhance-custom-flex-atx-modular-psu/

Sure the 7660B is like $179 there but that's considerably less than an equivalent modded one you'll find on Aliexpress. The 7660B is basically best in class for SFFPC use.

 

[AyMD20]

Something I've been trying to research a lot lately and have come up short with finding anyone who has done this is modifying some decommissioned server power supplies to work with a desktop system. They're super cheap on eBay, are made by reputable manufacturers such as Delta, and generally have sufficient 12V output for a midrange gaming PC.

Take this one for example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Delta-Elec...ply-DPS-350AB-12-E86365-006-350W/193343438590

350W 80+ Silver Delta unit. Can do 28A/336W on 12V (probably a DC-DC design I am guessing) over two rails (18A each). This particular unit already has a 24 pin motherboard connector and a 8pin EPS connector, with a couple of SATA too. It wouldn't be that hard to turn the 8 Pin EPS connector into a 4 Pin ATX + 6 Pin PCIe that should be sufficient for a midrange build (think 65w CPU + 120W GPU, ex. Ryzen 5 3600 + 1660 Super). That's 185W on one of the 12V rails that should be able to handle 216W.

All it would require is a bit of soldering on your behalf, like this:

A 4 pin ATX connector is perfectly sufficient for a 65W CPU, and 2 12v wires for the 6 pin PCIe connector is totally fine for 75W, so long as you don't use one of those 6P to 8P adapters so then you're pulling 150W from 2 wires.

 

[inSparks]

Something I've been trying to research a lot lately and have come up short with finding anyone who has done this is modifying some decommissioned server power supplies to work with a desktop system. They're super cheap on eBay, are made by reputable manufacturers such as Delta, and generally have sufficient 12V output for a midrange gaming PC.

Take this one for example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Delta-Elec...ply-DPS-350AB-12-E86365-006-350W/193343438590

350W 80+ Silver Delta unit. Can do 28A/336W on 12V (probably a DC-DC design I am guessing) over two rails (18A each). This particular unit already has a 24 pin motherboard connector and a 8pin EPS connector, with a couple of SATA too. It wouldn't be that hard to turn the 8 Pin EPS connector into a 4 Pin ATX + 6 Pin PCIe that should be sufficient for a midrange build (think 65w CPU + 120W GPU, ex. Ryzen 5 3600 + 1660 Super). That's 185W on one of the 12V rails that should be able to handle 216W.

All it would require is a bit of soldering on your behalf, like this:

A 4 pin ATX connector is perfectly sufficient for a 65W CPU, and 2 12v wires for the 6 pin PCIe connector is totally fine for 75W, so long as you don't use one of those 6P to 8P adapters so then you're pulling 150W from 2 wires.

I've been told that the PCIE slot can supply up to 75W of power too, hence why those low profile cards that don't need power from the PSU can fuction. So this in theory means that the 6 pin to 8-Pin PCIE power could in effect be good for cards up to 150W TDP I reckon. Probably a bit less in practice, to be on the safe side.