spec me a decent PSU?

Reppyboyo · 8 Jun 2013 at 13:28

Hi

My old corsair 450w has given up on me after a good 4+ years, not bad.
Can anyone recommend a decent 650w psu to replace it? Preferably modular.

Thanks all

spixelspixel · 8 Jun 2013 at 13:35

What will it be powering and what's your budget

mickyflinn · 8 Jun 2013 at 13:49

YOUR BASKET
1 x XFX Pro Series 650W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £74.99
Total : £85.49 (includes shipping : £8.75).

Kill_Phil · 8 Jun 2013 at 13:50

spixelspixel said:
What will it be powering and what's your budget

1+

But other than that corsair have also proven to be reliable over the years for myself, so budget dependent something like this

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-052-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084

Reppyboyo · 8 Jun 2013 at 13:59

650w is all I need (non-sli rig), budget is about 100

mickyflinn · 8 Jun 2013 at 14:03

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair Professional Series HX+ 650W '80+ Gold' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020030-UK) £99.98
Total : £109.88 (includes shipping : £8.25).

spixelspixel · 8 Jun 2013 at 14:08

650w is way too much if you plan to use only one card.

You can power a titan and 3570k on a decent 500w power supply.

What is your cpu and graphics card?

ubersonic · 8 Jun 2013 at 14:40

mickyflinn said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x XFX Pro Series 650W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £74.99
Total : £85.49 (includes shipping : £8.75).

mickyflinn said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair Professional Series HX+ 650W '80+ Gold' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020030-UK) £99.98
Total : £109.88 (includes shipping : £8.25).

Between these two the Corsair is a much better PSU, however you pay a premium for it, but worth it IMO.

spixelspixel said:
650w is way too much if you plan to use only one card.

You can power a titan and 3570k on a decent 500w power supply.

What is your cpu and graphics card?

You *can* do it yes however overheads are always nice, especially if you want to overclock, I have a GTX670 and i7 3820 and I recently changed from a decent 500w PSU to an XFX 750w as my system (inc water pump, drives, etc) had reached the limit of what you could do with 500w.

One of the best things about over speccing the PSU is that if it has a variable speed fan (which any decent PSU should in 2013) it will be quieter the lower the load.

spixelspixel · 8 Jun 2013 at 16:15

ubersonic said:
Between these two the Corsair is a much better PSU, however you pay a premium for it, but worth it IMO.

One of the best things about over speccing the PSU is that if it has a variable speed fan (which any decent PSU should in 2013) it will be quieter the lower the load.

It really depends on what op is running though, getting a psu too big isn't always the way to go.

A 400w psu running its max capacity won't need a faster fan to cool it than an 800w psu running at 400w. It's efficiency that determines how much heat needs dissipating. Best way to be sure you get a quiet psu is try to find a decent review of it. Some units have fans that are way louder than required.

ATIorNvidia · 8 Jun 2013 at 16:27

It's not necessarily just the efficiency, a lot of low end/mid range PSU's are filled will Teapo/Capxon etc and they really need to stay very cool or they tend to give out after a few years of use.

ubersonic · 8 Jun 2013 at 17:33

spixelspixel said:
A 400w psu running its max capacity won't need a faster fan to cool it than an 800w psu running at 400w. It's efficiency that determines how much heat needs dissipating.

The 400w @Max will be putting out more heat then the 800w @400w because the 400w will be at its top end whereas the 800w will be in somewhere in its sweet spot for efficiency so will be putting out less heat per watt.

inogen · 8 Jun 2013 at 18:08

ubersonic said:
The 400w @max will be putting out more heat then the 800w @400w because the 400w will be at its top end whereas the 800w will be in somewhere in its sweet spot for efficiency so will be putting out less heat per watt.

Yeah. I recently upgraded my PSU and went for a 760W, knowing I'll probably draw half of it, if that.

My last PSU @ 540W was perfectly adequate, but did make a lot more noise and heat.

spixelspixel · 8 Jun 2013 at 18:12

ubersonic said:
The 400w @max will be putting out more heat then the 800w @400w because the 400w will be at its top end whereas the 800w will be in somewhere in its sweet spot for efficiency so will be putting out less heat per watt.

It depends on the psu though, a 400w gold psu will be more efficient at 400w than an 800w bronze.

rids57 · 8 Jun 2013 at 21:17

Sure it will be more efficient, for as long as it lasts, which won't be as long as an 800W PSU at 400W

ATIorNvidia · 9 Jun 2013 at 11:14

rids57 said:
Sure it will be more efficient, for as long as it lasts, which won't be as long as an 800W PSU at 400W

If the 400w is of higher quality then it will last longer than an average 800w unit.

rids57 · 9 Jun 2013 at 13:30

I don't think I said anything about the 800W being of inferior quality.

spixelspixel · 9 Jun 2013 at 13:34

rids57 said:
I don't think I said anything about the 800W being of inferior quality.

A 400w 80plus gold psu will almost certainly be higher quality than an 80plus bronze 800w.

rids57 · 9 Jun 2013 at 14:54

Maximum efficiency usually occurs at around 50% load. So comparing my 850W Silver rated XFX at 50% load against a Seasonic 460W Platinum rated at 100% load, the results are the same, 89% efficiency. So if they are going to be running at the same efficiency anyway while gaming I'd rather have the extra headroom than be running pretty close to the limit whenever my graphics card spins up it's fan.

ATIorNvidia · 9 Jun 2013 at 15:46

The Platinum unit is more efficient overall. You're very likely not running 50% load on your PSU at all times, so your point is irrelevant. Besides, your sig rig would barely reach over 300w DC while gaming, let alone half the capacity of your 850w PSU.

Have you ever used a kill-a-watt meter before?

Edit: If the OP is never going to SLI/CF then a ~500w is completely fine.

olivier renault · 9 Jun 2013 at 15:58

I like the new Enermax Triathlors. Or the 'budget' Seasonic-G range. 550W for a regular non-SLI rig.