New built almost complete... need a good PSU now

[Formhault]

Hi guys!

 

So... my new build is gonna be complete soon (like less than a week). So far, this is what I got :

 

-Super Flower SF-800R case

-AMD FX-6300 CPU

-Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 Rev4.0 motherboard

-2x4GB Corsair XMS3 CL9 1333 MHz dual channel RAM

-SSD Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB (it's on the actual build, but I'm gonna move it over to the new one)

-AMD Radeon 4670HD 512MB DDR3 GPU (again, it's on the actual build... will move over)

-gotta find some 0.5/1TB SATA3 WD HDD (that ain't hard to do)

-some old ASUS DVD-RW unit

 

I know that GPU is quite old. But it's good enough for me. I might sell it and get a 7770... or wait a bit longer and do a REAL upgrade. But for now, this 4670HD will have to do it. Fun fact... the 1 GB variant was less than $1 more expensive, but NO WHERE TO BE F***ING FOUND at that time. Bummer

 

Alright. Now... a power supply unit. I did the math and this build isn't gonna need more than 500W (that is if I overclock the CPU to hell, haha), so I figured a 600~650W power supply is gonna be enough (even if I add an extra cr@ppy GPU later down the road or buy an entirely new one that's not gonna draw more than 250W max).

 

I was able to find a Corsair VS650 at about 70 USD. Is that good enough? I know Seasonic and Super Flower also have great power supply units, but for that price, this VS650 was the best I could find. Do you guys have any other suggestions? It'd be really appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance!

[NeatSquidYT]

I wouldn't go with a 6300, but on topic, http://www.amazon.com/XFX-Wired-Bronze-Power-Supply/dp/B004RJ8EKI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423306399&sr=8-1&keywords=xfx+550w

[Formhault]

I wouldn't go with a 6300, but on topic, http://www.amazon.com/XFX-Wired-Bronze-Power-Supply/dp/B004RJ8EKI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423306399&sr=8-1&keywords=xfx+550w

 

I can buy the FX-6300 for about 110 USD, which is cheap enough for this powerhouse of a processor. I can't go the Intel route - it's way too expensive. For AMD, this 6300 is the best right now... also, the board allows me to slap a FX-9000 series on it 5+ years later, or something like that, so... for now, I'm good.

 

The Kaveri / Richland APUs aren't good enough neither, so...

 

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About that XFX... yeah, those are pretty hard to find here, in Romania. That specific unit is about 90 USD here, so nah...

 

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Fun story. Both my PC and my parents' have deluxe (generic, no-name) PSUs. Mine's 400W or so, 8 years old. My parents' is 350W or so, 12 years old. Both are rock solid, and they were forced to shut down (power failures & such) for more than 20 times in total...

 

I know cheap PSUs are not to be trusted, but hey, these two seem like they could still run for an extra decade. Too bad they're loud... and cheap... and no-name

[Sauron]

I think you can settle for much less, do you live in the US? (I kind of assume so because you mentioned usd)

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx500this will do just fine, however it's not modular and only 80+ bronze. If you want something REALLY good for a good price, get this: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-120g10650xr

[NeatSquidYT]

I can buy the FX-6300 for about 110 USD, which is cheap enough for this powerhouse of a processor. I can't go the Intel route - it's way too expensive. For AMD, this 6300 is the best right now... also, the board allows me to slap a FX-9000 series on it 5+ years later, or something like that, so... for now, I'm good.

 

The Kaveri / Richland APUs aren't good enough neither, so...

 

----

 

About that XFX... yeah, those are pretty hard to find here, in Romania. That specific unit is about 90 USD here, so nah...

Oh, didn't realise you were in Romania. VS650 then if you want, but I'd upgrade asap, I'm not too sure on the longevity of them.

[NeatSquidYT]

I think you can settle for much less, do you live in the US? (I kind of assume so because you mentioned usd)

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx500this will do just fine, however it's not modular and only 80+ bronze. If you want something REALLY good for a good price, get this: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-120g10650xr

Romania.

[Formhault]

I think you can settle for much less, do you live in the US? (I kind of assume so because you mentioned usd)

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx500this will do just fine, however it's not modular and only 80+ bronze. If you want something REALLY good for a good price, get this: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-120g10650xr

 

The cheapest CX500 I can find here is ~8 USD cheaper than the VS650. Not sure it's worth it.

 

Also, 500W vs. 650W... keep in mind that I intend to change this GPU later down the road (for a much beefier one - it's gonna be a must in 1-2 years, especially with UT4 coming out haha)... like 200W consumption or so. So I'd need >500W I guess.

 

Anyway, if the CX500 would have been about 15 USD cheaper than the VS650, I'd go for it.

[Formhault]

Oh, didn't realise you were in Romania. VS650 then if you want, but I'd upgrade asap, I'm not too sure on the longevity of them.

 

Hmm? Are you saing the VS650 isn't very good for long-term use?

[NeatSquidYT]

Hmm? Are you saing the VS650 isn't very good for long-term use?

No, it's just that it's not a very high quality unit compared to a CX series PSU. Apparently it's based on CWT GPA platform, which is quite low quality, and nearly into no name territory. I'd try and save up a bit more for at least a CX or CX-M series PSU.

[Sauron]

The cheapest CX500 I can find here is ~8 USD cheaper than the VS650. Not sure it's worth it.

 

Also, 500W vs. 650W... keep in mind that I intend to change this GPU later down the road (for a much beefier one - it's gonna be a must in 1-2 years, especially with UT4 coming out haha)... like 200W consumption or so. So I'd need >500W I guess.

 

Anyway, if the CX500 would have been about 15 USD cheaper than the VS650, I'd go for it.

 

500 watts would be enough even if you decided to buy an R9 290, that's not a problem. As @NeatSquidYT said the VS series is not that great compared to the cx, if it's available and even a bit cheaper I'd go for the cx 500. For future reference: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jspit's an approximation but it's usually pretty accurate.

 

What about the EVGA one? Is it even availble in Romania?

[quan289]

in Romania.

 

Do you have any links to where you able to buy from? As well as your budget in your currency?

[Formhault]

No, it's just that it's not a very high quality unit compared to a CX series PSU. Apparently it's based on CWT GPA platform, which is quite low quality, and nearly into no name territory. I'd try and save up a bit more for at least a CX or CX-M series PSU.

 

 

500 watts would be enough even if you decided to buy an R9 290, that's not a problem. As @NeatSquidYT said the VS series is not that great compared to the cx, if it's available and even a bit cheaper I'd go for the cx 500. For future reference: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jspit's an approximation but it's usually pretty accurate.

 

What about the EVGA one? Is it even availble in Romania?

 

I see.

 

I looked CX500 up and it appears that several people have complained about coil noise...

[Formhault]

Do you have any links to where you able to buy from? As well as your budget in your currency?

 

Well, our newegg alternative is www.pcgarage.ro - aside from that, next on the list are www.emag.ro and www.evomag.ro.

 

But there are other stores, too... I usually go on www.price.ro and search for what I want, and that website basically gives me an index of all other websites where that specific item can be found, and for what price. For example, I found the motherboard and CPU way cheaper on www.forIT.ro, instead of www.pcgarage.ro... Hope you see how this works.

 

My budget... I dunno... I don't want to go higher than 300 RON (~77 USD). But prices in Romania aren't really comparable to those from the US or Canada...

[Formhault]

Well... Looks like I'm not gonna go the VS650 route nor the CX500 route. Instead, I'm gonna buy a Seasonic S12II-520 Bronze 520W. It has way more connectors, too

 

I really don't want to risk getting a faulty CX500 that has coil noise, so... next on the list : that Seasonic. They do good ****, too - at least that's what I've heard people saying left & right all the time.

[quan289]

Well, our newegg alternative is www.pcgarage.ro - aside from that, next on the list are www.emag.ro and www.evomag.ro.

 

But there are other stores, too... I usually go on www.price.ro and search for what I want, and that website basically gives me an index of all other websites where that specific item can be found, and for what price. For example, I found the motherboard and CPU way cheaper on www.forIT.ro, instead of www.pcgarage.ro... Hope you see how this works.

 

My budget... I dunno... I don't want to go higher than 300 RON (~77 USD). But prices in Romania aren't really comparable to those from the US or Canada...

 

http://www.price.ro/preturi_super_flower_sf-550p14xe%28gx%29_705125.htm

The Super Flower Golden Green 550w is available for 299 RON / LEI at Evomag.ro. That is a better quality PSU than the VS650 and would power a single GPU card like the GTX 980 or R9 290x with the rest of your system.

 

A cheaper option in the entry-level segment would be the Antec Neo Eco 620C: http://www.price.ro/preturi_antec_neo_eco_620c_757848.htm

It's a Seasonic S12II Bronze unit internally but with lower quality caps. It is still a better unit than the VS650.

[Formhault]

http://www.price.ro/preturi_super_flower_sf-550p14xe%28gx%29_705125.htm

The Super Flower Golden Green 550w is available for 299 RON / LEI at Evomag.ro. That is a better quality PSU than the VS650 and would power a single GPU card like the GTX 980 or R9 290x with the rest of your system.

 

A cheaper option in the entry-level segment would be the Antec Neo Eco 620C: http://www.price.ro/preturi_antec_neo_eco_620c_757848.htm

It's a Seasonic S12II Bronze unit internally but with lower quality caps. It is still a better unit than the VS650.

 

That Antec... nah.

 

That Super Flower one is also nice. Evomag must have made it on promo just now, as it's 400 RON (~25 USD above 300 RON) everywhere else...

 

But, my case has 3 MOLEX fans and one 3-pin one (which also works via MOLEX). Besides... one HDD will require MOLEX power (right?), so that leaves me with all 4 MOLEX connectors used up. The Seasonic PSU has 6 MOLEX and 9 SATA connectors, while the SF one only has 4 MOLEX and 6 SATA. I think I'll be needing those extra connectors later down the road, eh? I mean what if I install an extra fan on the bottom of the case...

 

But come on, 87% efficiency on the Bronze Seasonic and 85% efficiency on the GOLD Super Flower? How does that even work, lol...

The Super Flower PSU has Nippon caps... The Seasonic one has Chemi-Con capacitors (or the websites I've seen reviewing it failed to say wether they are Nippon or not)?

[quan289]

That Antec... nah.

 

That Super Flower one is also nice. Evomag must have made it on promo just now, as it's 400 RON (~25 USD above 300 RON) everywhere else...

 

But, my case has 3 MOLEX fans and 1 3-pin one (which also works via MOLEX). Besides... one HDD will require MOLEX power (right?), so that leaves me with all 4 MOLEX connectors used up.

 

But come on, 87% efficiency on the Bronze Seasonic and 85% efficiency on the GOLD Super Flower?

The Super Flower PSU has Nippon caps... The Seasonic one has Chemi-Con capacitors (or the websites I've seen reviewing it failed to say wether they are Nippon or not)?

 

The HDD would used a SATA power connector.

At 20/50/100% load, the S12II Bronze would 81/85/81% efficient respectively, whereas the SF GG would be 88/92/88% @ 230v.

The SF would also offer modularity and better electrical performance than the S12II-B due its utilization of DC-DC.

And yes, they both used Nippon Chemi-Con (NCC).

 

Since the S12II-B 520w is 280.67 RON / 71.93 USD and the SF GG is 299 RON / 76.62 USD, I would definitely consider the GG. That is actually cheaper than the Rosewill Capstone 550-M (also a SF GG design) here in the US, atm.

[Formhault]

The HDD would used a SATA power connector.

At 20/50/100% load, the S12II Bronze would 81/85/81% efficient respectively, whereas the SF GG would be 88/92/88% @ 230v.

The SF would also offer modularity and better electrical performance than the S12II-B due its utilization of DC-DC.

And yes, they both used Nippon Chemi-Con (NCC).

 

Yes, I just found out that most HDDs now use SATA power. Well... mine's 8 years old, so I wouldn't know haha.

 

So the Super-Flower is more efficient. Great. Not that power is expensive here, but hey, that means $2 less per year .

[Formhault]

Since the S12II-B 520w is 280.67 RON / 71.93 USD and the SF GG is 299 RON / 76.62 USD, I would definitely consider the GG. That is actually cheaper than the Rosewill Capstone 550-M (also a SF GG design) here in the US, atm.

 

GG? You mean Golden Green, right?

 

Anyway, yeah, I've canceled the Seasonic order from PCGarage (280 RON) and ordered this SF one from evoMAG. Less than 10 USD more for modularity and better longevity (maybe) + more quietness (I guess that 140mm dual-Jesus-bearings is better than that 120mm whatever they use in Seasonic, eh?)