psu choices

square_imp

square_imp

square_imp

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just a quick one:

thinking of getting an asus p5k3, q6600 and a 2900xt. given that i'll probably go crossfire at some point, any suggestions as to what wattage psu would be a safe bet? i've heard that 2 2900xts in crossfire can eat 530w...

cheers guys
 
I am sure that the Corsair 620W should be your champion. I am also sure that people will quote you 1000W PSUs.

Personally I would have thought that the build quality of the Corsair would be enough to sway you, although having got one myself I am biased.
 
square_imp said:
just a quick one:

thinking of getting an asus p5k3, q6600 and a 2900xt. given that i'll probably go crossfire at some point, any suggestions as to what wattage psu would be a safe bet? i've heard that 2 2900xts in crossfire can eat 530w...

cheers guys
Click to expand...

if you plan on going crossfire at some point a 620w Corsair will survive that, but are you planning on getting 4gb of ram, how many hard drives, watercooling?

if you plan on getting Crossfire, multiple hard drives, lots of ram, watercooling, few dvd/br rom/burners and an extra sound card id recommend something a bit more like.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-019-OC&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

but its best to read on how much the Corsair can handle, as their is plenty of reviews out their.
 
The corsair would be fine for you, although running crossfire you'd need both pci-express cables, plus a further 4 molexes with pci-express adapters fitted just for your graphics cards alone. If there would still be enough cables left over for your other peripherals then go for it.

With 4 pci-express cables, the gamexstream would certainly be a more convenient choice, but it actually provides 2A less on the 12v rails even though it is rated as a 700w unit (the fsp epsilon base-unit is also inferior to what seasonic produces), so the corsair remains a superior choice.

Worthwhile alternatives would however be the 650w/720w Enermax Infiniti, the 650w/750w Silverstone Decathlon or the PCP&C Silencer 750w quad-pcie.
 
thanks for the responses lads.
4gb is indeed a possibility (not atm, given the current cost of ddr3).
i was planning on water cooling it all (incidentally anyone know where i can get a 2900xt water cooling block?) so that's something to factor in, slipped my mind when making the post.
and 2hdd and an optical.
heh, now i think about it, that 700w one looks more and more inviting :)
any further thoughts?
 
Yes Darren but you don't have:

"thinking of getting an asus p5k3, q6600 and a 2900xt. given that i'll probably go crossfire at some point,"

with watercooling, 4gb of ram, 2 hdds + 1 optical.
 
Well i wouldn't trust some randoms testing of it for a start. if a corsair 620w which is rated at 750w apparently can handle all the equipment you stated above. why wouldn't a OCZ 700w psu do the same?
 
Darren, if you ask around, jonnyguru is an accepted authority on power supplies not some random. I'd take his word over the legion of sites who give the ocz (or whatever particular psu they are testing) their seal of approval after only putting something like a 200w load on it.

The corsair can handle it because even though it is rated lower in watts, it can still cope with 50A on the 12v rails which matches the ocz supply (I'm not sure where I got the figure of 2A more in my earlier post...silly me). And anyway, I never said the gamexstream 700w couldn't handle it, I said I would never trust it as the excess ripple (repeatedly proven to be outside what the ATX standard specifies) it suffers from as it approaches full load will put undue stress on the rest of your components.

Why get so worked up about it anyway my man? It's not like I'm insulting a member of your family. The ocz will work well for 90+% of the people who buy it but I think for powerful rigs like in this case, it just isn't a good choice.
 
um im not getting worked up? i simply said i have had no problems with my psu, though i don't have anything like watercooling,5 HDD's etc. No problems here, we are just discussing. :)

but if the power supply did blow up and cause your components to die wouldn't you be able to get something from the manufacturer? say it blew a 8800GTX and stuff :eek:
 
They'd send you a brand new gamexstream and leave you to deal with the rest of the fallout :D **

** - I've never experienced a psu blowout of that order so I don't actually know what would happen there. You'd hope the psu manufacturer would have some liability for damage to other components but...well I'm sure they could wriggle their way out of paying too much if anything.
 
lol :D

i just wasnt sure what you could actually do in the event of a big bang :p

so thats what you would have to do as the Psu company would wriggle out of it or whatever :confused:
 
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