Corsair HX520 PSU ok for this setup?

dmx07 · 7 Sep 2009 at 14:53

Hi all,

I built the following system a few months ago and alls well. The psu is superb but when the new ati 5800 series cards come out I will be replacing my 4850..

I am wondering while I'm at it should I replace the HX520 or will it suffice for a while..? I don't plan on any crossfire. I'll also be replacing the OS hard drive with an SSD (so I'll use the SSD for the OS and sell the 2 160Gb drives)..

i7 920 @ 3.8
Gigabyte X58 UD4P
6Gb Corsair PC3-10666
OS Drive: Samsung F1 500Gb
2 x 160Gb drives
HD4850

bledd · 7 Sep 2009 at 14:54

will be fine

dmx07 · 7 Sep 2009 at 14:58

Glad to hear it, I was hoping I wouldn't need a small power station!

HazardO · 7 Sep 2009 at 15:04

dmx07 said:
Glad to hear it, I was hoping I wouldn't need a small power station!

Buying a more powerful CPU doesn't need to mean you use more electricity to run your machine. For instance if you went with a HX750, which is clearly overkill, it might actually use less power than the HX520 (It is ~91% efficient @60% load while the HX520 would be ~81% efficient at 90% load). Also the HX750 would be comfortably cool and wouldn't therefore need to raise it's fan speed from default.

Having said that the HX520 is a good PSU (I had the 620 in my last build), and it's going to be a lot cheaper (You are unlikely to see the higher efficiency of the 750 save you the difference in price unless you run it for a couple of years 24/7.)

dmx07 · 7 Sep 2009 at 15:12

Apologies, my first post wasnt very clear, I already have the HX520 PSU in my system but was just worried that it might need to be upgraded in the near future...

Interesting point you make about efficiency though. I think for now I'll save the money if you guys think the HX520 won't struggle which it sounds like won't be a problem.

thanks!

Kennysevenfold · 7 Sep 2009 at 15:25

Nahh mate should be fine for some time yet

HazardO · 7 Sep 2009 at 15:31

dmx07 said:
Apologies, my first post wasnt very clear, I already have the HX520 PSU in my system but was just worried that it might need to be upgraded in the near future...

Interesting point you make about efficiency though. I think for now I'll save the money if you guys think the HX520 won't struggle which it sounds like won't be a problem.

thanks!

No need to apologise, it was my reading that was broken

You might as well stick with it, and consider replacing it the system does become unstable under load (as the capacitor's age). I doubt you'll have a problem though.