Which PSU would you go for? [AU]

[ThinkThankThunk]

This is for a budget/mid-range build. Located in Australia. Basic specs below:

 

Ryzen 3 3200G

2 x 8GB 3200 CL16

500GB M.2 NVMe SSD

 

I would like to have a bit of headroom for a possible mid-range GPU down the track and just in general. Modular would be nice, although it is not essential and I would prefer better quality/efficiency for the price over modularity. PC will most likely be on almost 24/7.

 

Tier A

Antec EA550G PRO 550W Earthwatts 80+ Gold [EA550G PRO] - $130AUD / $93USD

 

Tier B

Cooler Master MWE Bronze V2 650W* [MPE-6501-ACAAB-AU] - $90AUD / $65USD (*Low Priority/Minor high ripple/coil whine Issue)

Silverstone ET550-G 550W 80+ Gold Essential [SST-ET550-G V1.2] - $105AUD / $75USD

Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W 80Plus Gold [MPY-6501-ACAAG-AU] - $120AUD / $85USD

Cooler Master MWE Gold 550W 80 Plus Gold Modular [MPY-5501-AFAAG-AU] - $130AUD / $93USD

 

Tier C

Cooler Master MasterWatt 550W 80+ Bronze Semi-modular [MPX-5501-AMAAB-AU] - $100AUD / $72USD

Corsair CX450M 450W 80 Plus Bronze Semi-Modular [CP-9020101-AU] - $100AUD / $72USD

Corsair CX550M 550W 80 Plus Bronze Semi-Modular [CP-9020102-AU] - $120AUD / $85USD

 

All of these have a 5 year warranty except for the Antec which has a 7 year. These prices are including delivery.

 

I would have just gone with the CM MWE Bronze V2 for the price, if it wasn't for the high ripple issue. I don't believe the fixed versions are even in production and/or on the shelves yet. I am leaning towards the Corsair CX450M, which I was about to grab for $85AUD but then the price went up.

 

Prices are still up and down at the moment, which is making it harder to settle on the sweet spot for me. Are there any others of decent quality that I have missed for around the $100AUD mark (under if possible)? The higher priced units listed are really just there for comparison. Should I just spend the extra $30-$40AUD and go for a gold rated tier a or b? It doesn't really seem necessary to me.

 

Cheers.

Edited October 26, 2020 by ThinkThankThunk
Added more options

[Praesi]

 

I recommend the best PSU´s for a resonable price i have personal experience with.

 

Thats Corsair RMi or RMx

[Mateyyy]

Up to and around the 100 AUD mark, these are the ones I'd look at:

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/MxGnTW/cooler-master-mwe-bronze-v2-550-w-80-bronze-certified-atx-power-supply-mpe-5501-acaabus

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/FQ648d/corsair-power-supply-cp9020101na

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/qJpmP6/cooler-master-mwe-bronze-v2-650-w-80-bronze-certified-atx-power-supply-mpe-6501-acaab-us

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/FL3H99/seasonic-s12iii-500-w-80-bronze-certified-atx-power-supply-ssr-500gb3

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/Q7L7YJ/corsair-cx-2017-450w-80-bronze-certified-atx-power-supply-cp-9020120-na

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/zphmP6/antec-neoeco-gold-zen-500-w-80-gold-certified-atx-power-supply-ne500g-zen

 

6 minutes ago, Praesi said:

I recommend the best PSU´s for a resonable price i have personal experience with.

 

Thats Corsair RMi or RMx

The cheapest RMi (so the RM650i) is literally more expensive than the CPU OP is using.

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, Mateyyy said:

Up to and around the 100 AUD mark, these are the ones I'd look at:

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/MxGnTW/cooler-master-mwe-bronze-v2-550-w-80-bronze-certified-atx-power-supply-mpe-5501-acaabus

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/FQ648d/corsair-power-supply-cp9020101na

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/qJpmP6/cooler-master-mwe-bronze-v2-650-w-80-bronze-certified-atx-power-supply-mpe-6501-acaab-us

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/FL3H99/seasonic-s12iii-500-w-80-bronze-certified-atx-power-supply-ssr-500gb3

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/Q7L7YJ/corsair-cx-2017-450w-80-bronze-certified-atx-power-supply-cp-9020120-na

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/zphmP6/antec-neoeco-gold-zen-500-w-80-gold-certified-atx-power-supply-ne500g-zen

 

The cheapest RMi (so the RM650i) is literally more expensive than the CPU OP is using.

So? CPU's are pretty inexpensive.  That one especially.  Who set the rule that the PSU needs to be cheaper than the CPU?

 

[Ankerson]

2 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

So? CPU's are pretty inexpensive.  That one especially.  Who set the rule that the PSU needs to be cheaper than the CPU?

 

 

Never heard that one before...  

 

Maybe because it doesn't make any since....

[Mateyyy]

1 minute ago, jonnyGURU said:

So? CPU's are pretty inexpensive.  That one especially.  Who set the rule that the PSU needs to be cheaper than the CPU?

Strictly in this context, I think spending that much on a power supply doesn't make much sense, even more so considering that OP's trying to stay around the 100 AUD mark.

 

An MWE Bronze v2 or CX/CXM should do just fine I would imagine, considering OP's plan to upgrade to a dedicated mid-range GPU down the line, even if they were to throw in a Ryzen 3600 or something along those lines, to go along the GPU upgrade.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Mateyyy said:

Strictly in this context, I think spending that much on a power supply doesn't make much sense, even more so considering that OP's trying to stay around the 100 AUD mark.

True.  But you know how it goes with PSUs.  It's the last thing anyone ever thinks of replacing.   OP gets a high end graphics card later.  Upgrades the CPU, etc.  and they're still using the same PSU 10 years later because "it works".

 

[Ankerson]

1 minute ago, jonnyGURU said:

True.  But you know how it goes with PSUs.  It's the last thing anyone ever thinks of replacing.   OP gets a high end graphics card later.  Upgrades the CPU, etc.  and they're still using the same PSU 10 years later because "it works".

 

 

That's called forward thinking....

 

Something that is seriously lacking around here most of the time..

[thedangerine]

Just now, jonnyGURU said:

True.  But you know how it goes with PSUs.  It's the last thing anyone ever thinks of replacing.   OP gets a high end graphics card later.  Upgrades the CPU, etc.  and they're still using the same PSU 10 years later because "it works".

 

Thats how I am, got a nice power supply and will likely run it for as long as I can. Worth spending the extra money if you are going to keep it that long, plus the last thing I want holding me back is a PSU, and I don't just mean in terms of wattage

[Lurick]

Just now, Ankerson said:

 

That's called forward thinking....

 

Something that is seriously lacking around here most of the time..

If we went with your recommendations OP would be getting a AX1600i "because it's forward thinking"

[thedangerine]

If it was me I would go for the Gold rated Cooler master one

[Ankerson]

2 minutes ago, Lurick said:

If we went with your recommendations OP would be getting a AX1600i "because it's forward thinking"

 

Within reason....

 

650W to 850W is within reason.....

 

Could go with a 1000W depending on the machine and how close they want to be in the 50% draw range.

[thedangerine]

Just now, Lurick said:

If we went with your recommendations OP would be getting a AX1600i "because it's forward thinking"

Not really, obviously that is mad overkill, but getting something a little bit better than what you need  or "overkill" for your current needs but within reason isn't a bad thing. I got a 750w 80+ gold PSU that had really good reviews from places like jonnyguru.com and other sites for a system that would maybe draw 300 watts under load, then I got my 1080 and started adding more drives and got a better cpu. Now with 30 series cards drawing near 350 watts under load I am glad I did

[Lurick]

Just now, thedangerine said:

Not really, obviously that is mad overkill, but getting something a little bit better than what you need  or "overkill" for your current needs but within reason isn't a bad thing. I got a 750w 80+ gold PSU that had really good reviews from places like jonnyguru.com and other sites for a system that would maybe draw 300 watts under load, then I got my 1080 and started adding more drives and got a better cpu. Now with 30 series cards drawing near 350 watts under load I am glad I did

I agree that a 550 watt, for OP's build, is within reason. To say 850 watts is "reasonable" is beyond overkill for a 3200G system. OP is on a budget and while nobody can know for sure what the future holds, but to go balls out on something so excessively doesn't make sense either. OP likely is going to keep their budget system in mind and probably drop a mid-range GPU in there later on. They almost certainly aren't pairing a 3200G system with a 3090 or something overkill or anything super high end. They'll probably upgrade the CPU at some point but they even state they are keeping this very mid-range in terms of GPU performance.

[Ankerson]

1 minute ago, thedangerine said:

Not really, obviously that is mad overkill, but getting something a little bit better than what you need  or "overkill" for your current needs but within reason isn't a bad thing. I got a 750w 80+ gold PSU that had really good reviews from places like jonnyguru.com and other sites for a system that would maybe draw 300 watts under load, then I got my 1080 and started adding more drives and got a better cpu. Now with 30 series cards drawing near 350 watts under load I am glad I did

 

It's all about percentage of power power draw.

 

The sweet spot is in the 40% to 65% range depending on the actual PSU.

 

So take max power draw and ideally it would be no more than than say 65% or so of the PSU output.

[thedangerine]

2 minutes ago, Lurick said:

I agree that a 550 watt, for OP's build, is within reason. To say 850 watts is "reasonable" is beyond overkill for a 3200G system. OP is on a budget and while nobody can know for sure what the future holds, but to go balls out on something so excessively doesn't make sense either. OP likely is going to keep their budget system in mind and probably drop a mid-range GPU in there later on. They almost certainly aren't pairing a 3200G system with a 3090 or something overkill or anything super high end. They'll probably upgrade the CPU at some point but they even state they are keeping this very mid-range in terms of GPU performance.

I would agree that 850 is too much, but I think the 650w would be reasonable and leave plenty of room for upgrades

[Praesi]

3 hours ago, Mateyyy said:

Strictly in this context, I think spending that much on a power supply doesn't make much sense, even more so considering that OP's trying to stay around the 100 AUD mark.

 

An MWE Bronze v2 or CX/CXM should do just fine I would imagine, considering OP's plan to upgrade to a dedicated mid-range GPU down the line, even if they were to throw in a Ryzen 3600 or something along those lines, to go along the GPU upgrade.

Low Tier PSUs dont belong in a Gaming PC. Thats my view. Rather spend a bit more and be on the safe side.

[ThinkThankThunk]

10 hours ago, Mateyyy said:

Up to and around the 100 AUD mark, these are the ones I'd look at:

-snip-

The cheapest RMi (so the RM650i) is literally more expensive than the CPU OP is using.

 

Cheers! I had already looked at all of these. The MWE Bronze V2 650W is currently going for the same price as the 550W, so if I was going to settle for that I'd go with the 650W. There is no local stock that I can find of the Corsair CX (2017), same goes for the Seasonic S12iii. The ones on Newegg, with the shipping cost it just makes it not worth it. With the Antec, If I was gonna step up in price I was looking at the EA550G for $130AUD, but I was trying to work out if I can be sure I would be getting the Tier A version rather than the Tier D version..

 

10 hours ago, Lurick said:

I agree that a 550 watt, for OP's build, is within reason. To say 850 watts is "reasonable" is beyond overkill for a 3200G system. OP is on a budget and while nobody can know for sure what the future holds, but to go balls out on something so excessively doesn't make sense either. OP likely is going to keep their budget system in mind and probably drop a mid-range GPU in there later on. They almost certainly aren't pairing a 3200G system with a 3090 or something overkill or anything super high end. They'll probably upgrade the CPU at some point but they even state they are keeping this very mid-range in terms of GPU performance.

 

I agree and that pretty much sums it up for me. I can understand both sides of this common argument, as it is one that I am currently having in my own mind, which is why I'm here!   Although, while I am happy to bump it up a bit if something worth it is in reach, I don't think I could justify spending anywhere near $200AUD for example (RMx/RMi).

 

10 hours ago, thedangerine said:

If it was me I would go for the Gold rated Cooler master one

 

I was thinking this might be the sweet spot at the moment for a decent Gold unit. As I mentioned, there is also the Antec EA550G for $130AUD, but I am still trying to work out how I would determine whether I was getting the Tier A or Tier D version.

 

6 hours ago, Praesi said:

Low Tier PSUs dont belong in a Gaming PC. Thats my view. Rather spend a bit more and be on the safe side.

 

I forgot to mention, I will be doing some gaming but not a whole lot. The PC will mainly be used for streaming media and general use.