PSU Advice

Strider

Strider

Strider

Associate
Joined
8 Mar 2007
Posts
52
Hi Y'All,

I need a new psu, but I've no idea what's suitable for the spec, I'm quite up to date with hardware except PSUs (that, and I spent £50 on a really duff PSU from ebay, that may as well been a Psu from some 1970's Xmas tree lights)

I've got my ideas together for a (semi) new pc (although I'm being stingy in some places to use some of my old kit to save money ;) ).

My new/current Spec
Antec 900
Q6600 2.4 ghz (will be overclocked, to at least 2.6)
2gb Cosair Sli Memory 1066mhz
3x Wd Raptor's 36.7gb Raid 0
500gb Diamond Max SATA2 Drive
XFX 7800GTX 256Mb o/c Edition (I'm going to replace this with the 8800 Gtx when the price has dropped and the Girlfriends not looking :D)
HDTV in/out Card (still undecided on this one)
2 DVD-RW IDE drives

I've heard great things about the Enermax Galaxy psu's, except the price is a little hard to justify. My current PSU is an NeoPower 500w, but that's only got 1x12v CPU rail, Quad cpu's need two (or so I've read in Custom PC).

Any idea's if its possible to get around the single 12v CPU rail? or if its possible to pick up a decent PSU for £75?
 
I'm fairly sure CustomPC is talking bobbins about needing a dual rail for quad-core but I am not entirely certain on that point so I'll have a look into it a bit further.

If they are then I'd suggest a Corsair 520w or 620w which are meant to be triple rail but are actually fed from a single rail and are excellent PSUs. :)

//edit just remembered in fact since Corsair have demonstrated quad-core systems with SLi'd graphics I know it is mince so I'm considering my search over. :)
 
I agree, the 650W would be a superb PSU for the job, especially if you are upgrading to a GTX as well. You might be able to get away with having a 550W in there, I have one powering the system in my sig.
 
Another vote for the corsair.
semi-pro waster said:
//edit just remembered in fact since Corsair have demonstrated quad-core systems with SLi'd graphics I know it is mince so I'm considering my search over. :)
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Indeed.

Anyone who writes in an enthusiast magazine that quad core processors require a dual rail psu needs to be sacked.

For a start, the current crop of quad core processors use less power than far older dual core netburst toasters.
 
steve258 said:
The Antec Trio 650W is probably your best bet for £75. It's reviewed in this issue of CPC as well.
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Not read up to that point yet. All my friends have Antec PSU's, they're almost invunerable, too bad you can't pick up a Modular one for less than £75
 
I'm so going to post pics when this baby's done :D, I managed to spend £50 on lighting/modding bits for my last case, didn't tell the girl friend that ;)
 
semi-pro waster said:
I'm fairly sure CustomPC is talking bobbins about needing a dual rail for quad-core but I am not entirely certain on that point so I'll have a look into it a bit further.

If they are then I'd suggest a Corsair 520w or 620w which are meant to be triple rail but are actually fed from a single rail and are excellent PSUs. :)

//edit just remembered in fact since Corsair have demonstrated quad-core systems with SLi'd graphics I know it is mince so I'm considering my search over. :)
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Totally agree with all that - My 620W version is sweet. Very stable and ultra quiet :D
 
Strider said:
3x Wd Raptor's 36.7gb Raid 0
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Biggest waste of money in your spec. Raptors provide little performance boost over say the 7200.11 seagate barracudas. For half the price you can get a 500GB Seagate Barracuda that wouldn't be much slower then the raptors.

Use the saved £100 on increasing your other specs a bit or just take your gf out for a nice dinner then maybe she won't mind your GTX so much ;)
 
Darg said:
Biggest waste of money in your spec. Raptors provide little performance boost over say the 7200.11 seagate barracudas. For half the price you can get a 500GB Seagate Barracuda that wouldn't be much slower then the raptors.
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I've already got 2 raptors :D, I've read more reviews on the raptors, their speed justifys {spell?} their price, before now I've seen the windows "pirate edition" screen disappear in less than 2 seconds.

Darg said:
Use the saved £100 on increasing your other specs a bit or just take your gf out for a nice dinner then maybe she won't mind your GTX so much ;)
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It wouldn't suprise me if AMD/ATI drop their Gfx Prices to compete with Nvidia when their DX10 GPU finally comes out, and I'm hoping Nvidia do the same (like the current CPU war).

Suprisingly she already knows I've set £1k aside for the upgrade, strangely, shes okay with it, its very rare the box gets properly upgraded (once every 2 years)
 
Hi Guys,

I've refined the PSU wattage I need(Link) , and its something like 550w (but that's not including the 20% depolarisation thingie), I'm guessing would 700w be enough? watt would you reccomend for 700w?

I've got around £100 to spend, and preferably a modular PSU to try and help with cable management.

I've read good bits about the Silverstone 700W PSU? except its getting close to the £120 mark :eek:

Any Ideas?
 
The corsair HX620 will do the job nicely. See my link above.
That psu calculator is very over the top, it adds about 200w in the most extreme cases that you really don't need.
 
Strider said:
Looks like a nice little bit, I might be completely wrong here, but has corsair been making psus for long? I've not seen them in overclockers much?

Would 620w be enough?
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Corsair don't make the PSUs themselves as such, they get Seasonic to do it for them which is a pretty good omen in and of itself considering how good their PSUs are. The basic design is of the Seasonic S12 range (the one with fixed cables) but they have incorporated the M12 connectors (from the modular range) and beefed them up so you now have the best of both at a price that is cheaper than a Seasonic itself and a 5 year warranty which is one of the longest in the PSU industry. :)

And yes 620w is enough, as has been linked by Joe42 quad-core + SLi'd 8800 series cards + watercooling + hard drives is well within its capabilities.
 
semi-pro waster said:
Corsair don't make the PSUs themselves as such, they get Seasonic to do it for them which is a pretty good omen in and of itself considering how good their PSUs are. The basic design is of the Seasonic S12 range (the one with fixed cables) but they have incorporated the M12 connectors (from the modular range) and beefed them up so you now have the best of both at a price that is cheaper than a Seasonic itself and a 5 year warranty which is one of the longest in the PSU industry. :)

And yes 620w is enough, as has been linked by Joe42 quad-core + SLi'd 8800 series cards + watercooling + hard drives is well within its capabilities.
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Absolutely right. :)
Further to that, they also have a slightly quieter fan, or at least fan controller, and better caps.
So basically its a seasonic with 5yr warranty, quieter fan, better caps and a lower price. Which makes it the best PSU on the market today imo.
 
Strider said:
Looks like a nice little bit, I might be completely wrong here, but has corsair been making psus for long? I've not seen them in overclockers much?

Would 620w be enough?
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corsair don;t make the psus, i believe its seasonic who make the psu's and also sabotage a few so that corsair will not have as high a reliability rate as seasonics :D :p
 
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