Which 500W PSU?

PhilipM

PhilipM

PhilipM

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Joined
11 Aug 2003
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Location
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I'm looking for a new 500W PSU without spending a fortune. I'd also like a drive that has a reasonably quiet fan. Modular would be handy, but only if it doesn't come at the expense of quality! Locally (here in Singapore) I've found the following options.

Andyson Silent G 530W (3Yrs).....75
Andyson 550W 80 Plus (3Yrs)......89
Andyson F500M Modular 80+ (5Yrs)...............99
CoolerMaster Extreme Plus 550W (3Yrs).....81
CoolerMaster GX550W Single Rail (5Yrs).......105
HEC Raptor Power 500W Dual 12V Rail.............84
HEC Cougar 550W Modular 80+...129
OCZ Modxstream-Pro 500 Watts (5 Yrs).....95
OCZ Z-Series 550W Silver (5 Yrs)...105
Seasonic M12II-520W Modular 80 Plus......112
CORSAIR VX550 (550W) / 5yrs 125
Enermax 600W ENP600AWT /3yrs 80plus 109
AMA Axe Power Plus 500W /5yrs 80plus 95

Any of these stand out as a clear winner (and why)?

Thanks,
Philip
 
i would choose between the seasonic and the corsair, both have a very good reputation for buildign good PSU, in fact several highly rated PSU brands such as corsair (for some of their PSU) jsut use rebadged seasonics.
 
Unfortunately the Antec is not readily available here.

I am heading the seasonic/corsair way. I'd actually love the fanless 460W as I try to run a quiet rig, but my CPU cooler (Silverstone NT06E) sits under the PSU in my case (Silverstone SUGO SG02B-F) and relies on it's bottom fan to provide CPU cooling. The idea being one less fan and compact size!

In reality, it's my XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 that sounds like a jet on takeoff when working hard.
 
M12 (35A on 12V).
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...-seasonic-m12ii-500w-power-supply-review.html

Corsair VX550 (41A on 12V).
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=62

Seasonic makes great units. This one is modular too. THe Corsair has more 12V power for graphics cards and CPUs. Both havea 6 and a 6+2 PCI connectors for a modern graphics card (or two old ones).

Coolermasters in general are not so good but still usable, OCZ are OK, have good usable power, but not as quality minded as the best of the class. Their Z series is suppose to be an improvement over the old. Enermax is a good manufacturer, but I'd look for a review first. Dunno much about the others.
 
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In that case I would give the Seasonic X series 560W PSU a hard look, it does have a fan - but it only turns on when the unit is under relatively heavy load and getting hot. So for most of the time it will remain silent, but the fan (which is still pretty quiet) will spin up when required. Here is a good review (and here is another).

If you want to quiet down your 4870, you could always add a third-party cooler to it. One of the Thermalright VGA coolers would be a good bet - they are great quality and are very quiet.
 
I actually need a PSU that has some airflow all the time, due to the need to keep the CPU cool. I would worry that the CPU could overheat before the PSU fan control would turn the fan on with the X series.
 
Could you not just install a fan on the CPU heatsink (a quiet one - perhaps even using a small fan controller) instead of having to rely on the PSU fan?

This is a nice, low speed, high static pressure fan you could use on the silverstone CPU cooler. If you hook it up to the CPU_Fan header - then the fan will only spin up to full speed (which is still very quiet) when the CPU is under full load.
 
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Unfortunately not. The heatsink sits directly under the PSU. So there is no space. Even if I could get a small fan under the heatsink, it would be drawing hot air from the PSU or tryong to push air into the PSU (not efficent as the seal is not tight).
 
In fact, here is a better picture of a very similar system. You can see the Corsair PSU at the top right with the cooler sitting up aginst it's intake fan (Nitrogon). Pretty tight in there, so not a lot of option but to continue to use a PSU with a containually driven fan.

In case you are wondering, the graphics card sits behind this lot. It's a very tight design, but works surprisingly well for heat management.

DSC00299.JPG
 
So is the selection only from what you listed in your opening post? are there anymore choices you can find?

Currently out of what you listed I would seriously consider picking one of these three.

OCZ Z-Series 550W Silver (5 Yrs)...105
Seasonic M12II-520W Modular 80 Plus......112
CORSAIR VX550 (550W) / 5yrs 125
 
Nice build

May I ask why you need a new ~500W PSU if you already have an excellent Corsair HX 520W? If it has broken you should be able to RMA it to corsair so long as it is within the warranty (should be 5 years long).

If you desperately need a new PSU with a constantly running fan then I would go with the Seasonic M12II-520W. It's a nice quality unit and comes with modular cables.
 
I think I'll keep it simple and discount the X series as too complex a solution.

These are the only commonly available PSUs that I can find advertised with suppliers here (there are more expensive versions too, but not looking to spend that much, unless someone can convince me otherwise!).

Perhaps a better questions would be - who makes/what is the best 500W PSU for around £50-60? Sounds like Seasonic / Corsair are the way to go...
 
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