Which of these PSUs?

nheather · 20 Sep 2009 at 16:53

Need a PSU upgrade. I tried looking at the 2nd Hand market but the postage brings the cost too close to new price for my liking.

I need something around 550W, but decided to add a little extra margin so looking at 650-700W.

So far have come up with these in my price range

Antec EarthWatts 650W (wired)
Be Quiet Straight Power 650W (wired)
Corsair TX 650W (wired)
OCZ StealthXtreme 700W (wired)
OCZ ModXtreme 700W (modular)

Any of these jump out as 'must have' or to cross off the list.

Cheers,

Nigel

D1ngd0ng · 20 Sep 2009 at 21:11

I have the dark power pro version of the Be Quiet 650w and to call it rock solid doesn't do it justice, Corsair also near the top of the pile as are OCZ.

If you want neat though suggest you go for the OCZ ModXtreme 700W so you only plug in what you need

sigmar99 · 21 Sep 2009 at 12:18

+1 for the Be Quiet

magicroundabout · 21 Sep 2009 at 13:39

i have the TX650 Corsair which works extremely well with my setup in sig but i'm hopefully going to upgrade mine to the HX750 Corsair next month as it is modular and the wires are flat too which will be easier to hide behind my motherboard tray

tuppers360 · 21 Sep 2009 at 13:51

Out of that the Be Quiet is ace! +1

But the Corsair HX range are good too!

nheather · 21 Sep 2009 at 18:56

I did some research myself and dismissed the two OCZs.

Couldn't really choose between the other three but leaning towards the Cosair or the Be Quiet.

Out of those I had a slight leaning towards the Be Quiet until I read a review. Technically, the Be Quiet does very well, as does the Corsair and the Antec but it was Support where caution was raised.

It said that whilst the Be Quiet offers a 3 year warranty, the contact telphone number is in Germany and worse if you have to get the PSU swapped you have to send it back to Germany (which could be expensive and slow).

Is this correct\still the case?

By comparision, the Antec and Corsair support is UK based.

Cheers,

Nigel

D1ngd0ng · 21 Sep 2009 at 20:46

Without wanting to put my foot in it or tempt fate but I am a big price you will ever need to return the PSU to base

explicit4u · 21 Sep 2009 at 21:13

1st. CCCCCCorsair!

2nd. Be Quiet!

PermaBanned · 21 Sep 2009 at 21:23

Corsair is SeaSonic. And what about PC P&C?

D1ngd0ng · 21 Sep 2009 at 21:32

Had forgot about PC P&C seeing as you are not worried about going modular they become a runner

explicit4u - not sure you can spllt Corsair and Be Quiet, think it all comes down to personal preference

Kennysevenfold · 21 Sep 2009 at 21:47

BeQuiet or Corsair mate

Wont go far wong.

C64 · 21 Sep 2009 at 22:20

The only psu rma support in uk that I know of are antec enermax and tagan corsair rma is the netherlands.

Some of the corsair range are not made by seasonic forget which but the hx are/were.

Unless you buy antec enermax or tagan you are going to be sending an rma to germany/netherlands.

Personally I think be quiet are slightly overpriced what i would do is research to see which manu's still have uk based rma, if that bothers you because it chops and changes all the time so tagan antec enermax could in fact be send abroad now.

Personally I'd get the corsair hx750 7 year warranty and yes it will cost you about £20 to send to holland but at least you get a brand new sealed unit sent back in around a week.

Jargy · 21 Sep 2009 at 22:33

I have had my Corsair for 3 yrs, and it's always been rock solid. Would definitely have another.

Sasahara · 22 Sep 2009 at 12:04

BEquiet RMA is in Germany.

Also take note the Straight Power 650W is their cheaper line and not as good as the Dark Power series. The Dark Power series are good, but over priced.

Seeming that your budget goes up to £77.99 I'd pay an eXtra £2 for: the Antec Signature Premium 650W. This PSU was up at over £120 on release and is the best 650w OC stock. Very good price £79.99.

Most other e-tailers are listing it at over £115

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-104-AN&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

Not sure where Antec RMAs are delt with.

alex24 · 22 Sep 2009 at 12:13

I learnt recently that a certain online retailer who is a competitor of OcUK offers a warranty service on Enermax and Corsair in the UK, as opposed to the costly exercise of sending them abroad.

As I'm about to RMA my second HX620, this is a service I'd like to see OcUK offer too, not to mention the PSUs are actually cheaper on the other site. I usually don't mind paying a little extra for the excellent OcUK service, but the UK RMA is hard to ignore when postage is over £20.

nheather · 22 Sep 2009 at 13:17

Seeming that your budget goes up to £77.99

No it doesn't - not unless OcUK reduces it's prices.

I'm afraid that whilst I would love to be loyal to OcUK, all of the PSUs I'm am considering are cheaper elsewhere.

I learnt recently that a certain online retailer who is a competitor of OcUK offers a warranty service on Enermax and Corsair in the UK, as opposed to the costly exercise of sending them abroad.

I thought Corsair warranty service is UK based. Are you saying that is only the case with certain retaillers?

Cheers,

Nigel

Benihana · 22 Sep 2009 at 13:18

+1 for the Corsair

C64 · 22 Sep 2009 at 15:51

More than likely sounds like you send the retailer the psu and they send it to corsair via their own time and methods to me whilst you wait.
Cost me £18 to send my corsair to holland and I'd rather spend that and wait a week than spend whatever the uk postage is and wait 6 weeks to get a new one.

nheather · 22 Sep 2009 at 16:08

Thanks,

So

Corsair = Holland
BeQuiet = Germany
OCZ = Netherlands

So no differentiator, although I have now worked out the retailer who handles the Corsair sales.

Cheers,

Nigel

lbcliff · 22 Sep 2009 at 18:24

+1 for corsair