What PSUs do you guys recommend?

opethdisciple · 4 Mar 2020 at 10:52

I am thinking of purchasing a new case (Cooler Master H500M) and thought by the time I am doing a rebuild I might as well replace my PSU as well....

Nothing wrong with my current PSU, but it is quite old now. I'm quite sure I purchased it in 2012 and it quite possibly will be fine to carry on, but I am doing the rebuild now and am planning on getting an Nvidia 3080 in the future so should probably look at replacing the PSU.

What do people recommend? I don't have high requirements. Nothing extra in the PC other than the usual. 1 SSD, 1 NVME and 1 soon to be high end GPU.

I noticed a 2080ti for example requires a 650w PSU so with that in mind please recommend me what you would buy to future proof your selves.

Thanks

Mcnumpty2323 · 4 Mar 2020 at 10:54

As a rough guide
Anything with a 7 or 10 year warranty
Nothing under 5 year warranty.

opethdisciple · 4 Mar 2020 at 10:59

Is 850w sufficient or should I am for 1000w?

Gray2233 · 4 Mar 2020 at 11:04

You don't need a 650W PSU to run a 2080ti, in fact a 3700X based system with that card will probably draw less than 400-450W while under load.

That said, getting a 550-650W PSU is a good idea as it gives you more leeway and room for degradation.

850 + is massive overkill for pretty much any gaming system.

This would be more than ample for your PC assuming your rig is what's listed in your signature:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Corsair TX650M 650W 80 Plus Gold Semi Modular Power Supply (CP-9020132-UK)= £74.99

Total: £74.99 (includes shipping: £0.00)

Mcnumpty2323 · 4 Mar 2020 at 11:05

opethdisciple said:
Is 850w sufficient or should I am for 1000w?

850w is plenty
More than needed but gives future
Proofing
My ax860i has been running pretty
Much 12+ hours a day for 8 years
So a quality psu is worth the money
In the long run

opethdisciple · 4 Mar 2020 at 11:12

Ok... I'll stick with an 850w PSU.

I got the 650 value for the 2080ti from the strix product page on this site.

I guess they mean 650w to cover the entire system.

---

So it says here, minimum 650w

Gray2233 · 4 Mar 2020 at 11:15

Hardware companies massively overestimate PSU requirements because people tend to buy low quality junk power supplies that don't deliver their rated power.

The ENTIRE system you're running wont break 450W under load, with 750-850 you're massively over-speccing your power supply for no reason.

Even the supply I linked delivers far more power than your system needs.

https://www.tomshardware.com/uk/reviews/gigabyte-aorus-geforce-rtx-2080-ti-xtreme-11g,5953-4.html

Average consumption of 302W in Metro: Last Light, that's just for the 2080TI. Your 3700X and other components combined will only take up another 100W give or take when under heavy load, probably less when gaming.

opethdisciple · 4 Mar 2020 at 11:26

Ok, cheers.

I am right to replace the PSU right... 8 years is getting on a bit?

Gray2233 · 4 Mar 2020 at 11:34

What's the exact model of your current PSU?

opethdisciple · 4 Mar 2020 at 11:49

Gray2233 said:
What's the exact model of your current PSU?

Hmm... Not sure right now.. would have to dig it up later tonight. I know it's a Thermaltake Toughpower 850w from 2012.

It could be this: Thermaltake Toughpower W0172RU 850W

Gray2233 · 4 Mar 2020 at 12:51

If I were you I would consider replacing it, the W0172RU is an old budget bronze unit that wasn't exactly the greatest even when it launched.

Given you're planning on running some very expensive components it makes sense to spend another £70-80 on a power supply for peace of mind, more modern supplies have a lot more in built protections to make sure your hardware is safe even should something go wrong.

hornetstinger · 4 Mar 2020 at 12:55

I like qtec gold dual fanPSU, it means I have to buy a new pc and house every 3 months.

opethdisciple · 4 Mar 2020 at 15:02

hornetstinger said:
I like qtec gold dual fanPSU, it means I have to buy a new pc and house every 3 months.

Looks great. Purchased.

Grimley · 4 Mar 2020 at 17:46

hornetstinger said:
I like qtec gold dual fanPSU, it means I have to buy a new pc and house every 3 months.

I'll just leave this here.

BTW I'm not promoting Corsair at all. I've bought 3 Corsair PSU's, 2 I think are still going, 1 RMA'd & its replacement had to be RMA'd as well (HX series from 10 years ago)

Troezar · 5 Mar 2020 at 05:32

I tend to go overkill on the PSU as they last years and can be a pain if not up to the job. My two Corsair AX750's have been excellent. Seasonic manufactured. Just gone with Seasonic again. Notably I rarely get any system instability, decent PSU helping?

Rroff · 5 Mar 2020 at 07:00

There are some benefits with over-speccing a PSU as a generalisation some overhead often means a quieter and cooler PSU - somewhat model/feature dependant but for instance mine runs passive upto about 250 watt load or so and the fan hardly comes on for normal gaming loads - whereas a lower model ramps the fan up earlier and produces a little more heat (though it isn't hugely significant) at the same utilisation. At the same time no point going mad and over speccing by several 100s of watts for the sake of it.

You might also find power on in-rush and/or peak spikes a factor which aren't necessarily reflected in average system loads.

hornetstinger said:
I like qtec gold dual fanPSU, it means I have to buy a new pc and house every 3 months.

Urgh I remember back in the days before online shopping, etc. I had to get a system up and running on a weekend and needed a temporary PSU and all anywhere that was open had was qtec units... the system was never quite right again after - I'm pretty sure the PSU damaged something.

Troezar · 5 Mar 2020 at 07:05

Rroff said:
There are some benefits with over-speccing a PSU as a generalisation some overhead often means a quieter and cooler PSU - somewhat model/feature dependant but for instance mine runs passive upto about 250 watt load or so and the fan hardly comes on for normal gaming loads - whereas a lower model ramps the fan up earlier and produces a little more heat (though it isn't hugely significant) at the same utilisation. At the same time no point going mad and over speccing by several 100s of watts for the sake of it.

You might also find power on in-rush and/or peak spikes a factor which aren't necessarily reflected in average system loads.

Agreed, they also seem to reserve their highest quality components and performance for their higher wattage PSUs. I find 750W a decent level. Allows for a high spec system with headroom for extras to be added. I suspect in 12 years my system will look very different, of course the PSU may be obsolete then too!

sadbuttrue · 5 Mar 2020 at 09:22

Still rocking the Seasonic made Corsair AX750 after 8 years 24/7 use in a very dusty environment (I shudder to think how much dust is baked inside). Zero issues.

Personally I'd still opt for a top-tier £100 PSU in a low-end £600 build.

A top end PC can cost £1500-£2000 these days. It always amuses me to see penny pinching on the most important component for long term stability.

garnett · 5 Mar 2020 at 09:56

Just playing devil's advocate, but when I was looking for a pre-built system, one on OCUK came with a 750W Gigabyte Bronze-rated PSU. The OCUK representative I spoke to said it would be fine. I asked about it (as part of a pre-built ocuk system) here in the forums and was told it would be fine.

Then I asked in a separate thread about building my own system and included the same PSU in my component list and the PSU was flagged up multiple times as a very poor choice on my behalf.

YMMV

Gray2233 · 5 Mar 2020 at 16:02

Spending more doesn't necessarily mean you're getting a better or safer PSU, all manufacturers can and will make duds, even companies like Seasonic have issues with some of their supplies.

A good number of well informed people regard the Bitfenix Formula Gold to be one of the 'safest' and best power supplies you can put in your system, yet most people will consider it a 'budget' gold rated PSU.

Speccing 750-850 watts for his system is pretty much doubling up on the power needed, 650W already gives a good amount of leeway/room for going forward. Frankly he could run his system on a good 450-500W PSU without any problems.

garnett said:
Just playing devil's advocate, but when I was looking for a pre-built system, one on OCUK came with a 750W Gigabyte Bronze-rated PSU. The OCUK representative I spoke to said it would be fine. I asked about it (as part of a pre-built ocuk system) here in the forums and was told it would be fine.

Then I asked in a separate thread about building my own system and included the same PSU in my component list and the PSU was flagged up multiple times as a very poor choice on my behalf.

YMMV

OCUK also use cheap Kolink PSU's in their prebuilds, but you'll never get anyone who doesn't work for the company recommending you use one. They also have a tendency to put bottom tier B450 boards in their prebuilt Ryzen systems, again something nobody would recommend. Ultimately they're a business, and they'll be aiming to push units they have in stock even if some of it is of questionable quality.