~£50 PSU for i3 & Radeon 6850 build

sharingan_sasuk

sharingan_sasuk

sharingan_sasuk

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Hi guys, just finished building my mini ITX rig with an i3 2100K and ASUS Radeon 6850 1GB GDDR5 inside a Lian Li Q08B case. Space is no issue with a bit of cable management, so a modular PSU isn't a requirement.

I'm using a spare OCZ SilentXStream 500W PSU I had lying around to keep my budget down. But now I remember why it was left around as a spare lol; it sounds louder than when I first got it so I can't help but think it's going to develop a fault at some stage. So obviously I don't want it to fry the rest of my components if it does, and the noise is really annoying for night gaming.

So what would you guys recommend me for around £50? I was looking at the Corsair CX 430W or 500W. I previously had BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' for my i5 2500K & Radeon 6950 build and I absolutely loved it.

Inside the case I have a 5.25" DVD-RW SATA drive, 2.5" Crucial M4 128GB SSD, 4GB Kingston DDR3 RAM, a 140mm front fan, and a 120mm top fan.
 
Oh, and also a 140mm fan to replace the one at the front as mine currently has blue LEDs which I don't like at night lol. Maybe also a 120mm fan for the top but I don't know if they would be noticably quieter than most case stock fans these days.

I was looking at that OCZ, but is there something else? After this OCZ, I don't trust them so much. Maybe I've just had a dodgy one with sound issues.
 
The Halk said:
There's nothing wrong with OCZ PSUs. I can't find reviews of the XFX however, but I'd guess those are the same PSU inside. The OCZ one gets steller reviews. I didn't get a good experience when I had to return an XFX graphics card, and I'd rather have the powerswap 3 year warranty than a 5 year 'limited' one.
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im just going off users ive dealt with, a lot of compatibility issues with ocz and gigabyte boards,dont know if theyve improved since then
 
Those OCZ are built by Sirfa/High Power. As I said though the Powerswap warranty is the attractive part. Seasonic doesn't guarantee it's a high end PSU, they do make to customer's specifications, but equally they won't make a low end PSU. There's lots of reviews of the OCZ ones and they all come out well.
 
Btw, how does warranty work for XFX power supplies? I actually asked OCZ if I could RMA this PSU I got because I was worried about its noise a year or so back, but they wanted me to ship to the Netherlands! So I never bothered after that because I may have as well bought another PSU, which I ended up doing.
 
Poorly :(

When I did mine (it was a few years ago) I had to send it out of the UK, I can't remember where though. That's why the OCZ warranty (the new one, not the one you have on your old PSU) is more attractive. I don't know if it's still Holland for RMAs but it was the timescales not the expense that gets me. Having to wait weeks means in most cases buying a new PSU.
 
Ok, before I go to sleep, I did some acoustic tests. I disconnected the two case fans and I noticed a difference in noise. So my OCZ power supply isn't as loud as I thought. However, when starting up Windows and it's loading, the PSU sounds like a hard drive under load. Even on idle, it still sounds the same. Surely this doesn't sound good and it means I need to replace it asap? I also notice when I shut down, just before the PSU fan comes to a complete halt, it wobbles a bit in the center.
 
Sounds like it's the fan rather than the PSU. You can replace the fans - be careful inside the PSU though of components still holding a charge.

Or if it's fine once it's up and running then just see how long it lasts...?
 
The Halk said:
Sounds like it's the fan rather than the PSU. You can replace the fans - be careful inside the PSU though of components still holding a charge.

Or if it's fine once it's up and running then just see how long it lasts...?
Click to expand...

Sometimes tapping or pressing into the PSU makes it quieter for a few seconds yea. Also, I've left it overnight to download something, and its noise seems to have stabilised now.

Case does feel warmer though, and this is it left overnight with the side panel off! So I guess some quiet 140mm and especially 120mm fans are also in order.
 
stulid said:
Thats a strange thing to say, it doesn't matter whats connected to it, never skimp on the PSU quality whether its a £200 or £600 worth of PC components attached to it.
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I think that you need to qualify that with context. PSU hysteria does need to stick within sensible limits. We're not living in the times of Hiper PSUs exploding. Neither of those PSUs is skimping on PSU quality for the system concerned. Were he to be going for a Rampage motherboard, 256GB SSD and a top end single discrete card I'd suggest he was skimping, but not for the system he is looking at, it has to be a relative thing.

Spending 45 on a PSU for this system is appropriate and sensible. You'd suggest spending a bit more, but he'll not use anything like the max on the 12v on the 45 quid unit, under any realistic upgrade circumstances with the system he's looking at, were he to be looking at a desktop then yes, the one you suggest would be better - he might want to add a second graphics card later for Crossfire, and he'd be pushing it with the PSU at that point. It's entirely up to him now if he picks a PSU more than suited for the job, or if he wants to spend a bit more on something even better. It actually looks like he'll get away with not spending the money at all.
 
Definitely no Crossfire involved in this mini-ITX build! :) Going to be ordering in the next hour or so as it's my day off work again tomorrow and I would like it delivered then.

So atm, XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £52.99 inc VAT it seems.

PSU
I am also looking at these but I'm not sure if they are any better?
Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-500CXUKV2) [CMPSU-500CXV2UK][OCZ-ZS550W-UK] £44.99 inc VAT
OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply [OCZ-ZS550W-UK] £46.98 inc VAT
Corsair Builder Series CX 600W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-600CXUKV2) [CMPSU-600CXV2UK] £52.99 inc VAT
PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III Series 400W High Performance Modular Power Supply - White [PPCMK3S400-UK] £54.98 inc VAT although the pic shows a non-modular connection?

120mm fan
I also need a quieter 120mm fan as that seems like the loudest part of my PC atm, and I was looking at these 3:
Antec Tri-Cool 3-Speed 120mm Fan - Black £3.98 inc VAT
Akasa AK-191-SM Smoke Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin [AK-191-SM] £5.99
Zalman ZM-F3 120mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin [ZM-F3] £4.69

140mm fan
Finally I need a 140mm fan to replace the front LED one I got. Needs to have no LEDs as I don't like the flashy lights:
NZXT FN-140 Enthusiast Performance Case Fan - 140mm [FN-140RB] £9.98 inc VAT
BitFenix Spectre 140mm Fan - Black £9.98 inc VAT
Phobya Nano-G 14 PWM Black Silent Edition case Fan ( 140x140x25mm ) £10.99 inc VAT

Any idea which I should get? I just need enough to keep the airflow going but more important is the quietness.
 
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