Lost newbie looking for advice on buying a PSU

[Star-Knight]

Hello everyone.

 

I'm trying to help my parents update an older desktop computer they use for general home use and entertainment (web browsing, video streaming, playing DVDs ect) and with help from brob over in the New Builds and Planning form I have a provisional spec list. Something I haven't chosen yet is a PSU, I had originally thought to reuse the the old unit along with the case but given its age I don't think that would be a good Idea to take chances with the new hardware.   

 

The provisional parts list is as follows:

 

Ryzen 3 3300x

Either an MSI B450M Mortar Max or X470 Gaming Plus Max

Patriot viper 4 2 x8 GB 3000mhz

GT 710 1 or 2 GB

Reuse HDDs

 

The GT710 seems to need a 300w PSU minimum, could someone point out what I should look for in a budget friendly PSU at this capacity or maybe slightly higher to have headroom for upgrades? I really don't know how to tell something good from a ripoff.

 

Many thanks for any help you can offer.     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HanZie82]

Use the PSU bible:

 

It might be a lot of work, but i suggesting finding the highest tier version you can afford.
And yes for your system anything 300 and up will be perfect.
I'm sorry i have no other direct advise. Goodluck!

[Star-Knight]

Aha! That is just the kind of info I was hoping for, thanks! 

[Star-Knight]

Ok, I've tried using the PSU list and I seem to be confusing myself.

 

I understand the way they are split up in tiers and I understand that the tiers are listed alphabetically, what I can't seem to figure out is how the names of the different models are listed for each brand.

 

I've tried copy and past names into my search engine and the results have been hit and miss, could you please either tell me how the names are divided  or point me to some sort of table/key?    

 

Also while I was searching for the PSUs I came across this website https://psutierlist.com/ is it in anyway linked to the Sticky thread?

[Juular]

1 hour ago, Star-Knight said:

I can't seem to figure out is how the names of the different models are listed for each brand.

A dash separates different series and a slash separates different models in the series (if more than one), then brackets consolidate models with different suffixes or efficiency levels into one position and square brackets usually add some bits of information to specify which model we're talking about (like a part of SKU code or label color). So, for example :

• Seasonic | Focus GX / GM / PX [1] / SGX - Prime Gold / Platinum / Titanium / Fanless PX / Fanless TX / Snow Silent (Gold / Platinum / Titanium) / Airtouch - Connect

Here you can see the Focus lineup, with Focus GX, Focus GM, Focus PX and Focus SGX and then Prime lineup with Prime Gold, Prime Platinum and so on, and then Prime Snow Silent Gold, Platinum and Titanium, which have different colors because Gold efficiency version doesn't meet requirements for gold color in our tier list (not related to efficiency), thus Prime Snow Silent entry itself is not colored because it breaks down into specific models.

Or here :

• Thermaltake | Toughpower GF1 (ARGB) / PF1 ARGB / iRGB Plus (Gold/Platinum/Titanium) / Gold Semi-Modular 1500W / DPS G (Gold / Platinum) / DPS G RGB Titanium <=1250W / Grand (non-RGB) Gold / Russian Gold 1500W

These are all belong to Thermaltake Toughpower series so read this as Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 or Toughpower GF1 ARGB, Toughpower PF1 ARGB (specifically, because there also non-ARGB PF1), iRGB Plus Gold, Platinum, Titanium, and so on.

I understand that it's a mess but we're trying to save space and make it as concise as possible while still being readable, because it's already long enough. But we'll try to make it somewhat more readable in the next revision by exploding some entries that may be ambiguous to some people.

1 hour ago, Star-Knight said:

I came across this website https://psutierlist.com/ is it in anyway linked to the Sticky thread?

The only way they're associated with us is that they're copying our work and profiting from it. We're working on our own site but no ETA yet.

[Star-Knight]

Many thanks for taking the time to explain (and type) all that, I'll take another look through the list and I'll stay away from the other lot's website.

 

[Star-Knight]

Ok, I have really tried to use the PSU tier list and I still feel like I'm tearing out my hair.

 

Are there any decent or at least ok  300-400w budget friendly PSUs even available at the moment?

 

@Juular

 

Ok. I think I got my head around it, is this by any chance one of the Be Quite models you have listed for tier C?

 

https://www.cclonline.com/product/252029/BN246/Power-Supplies/be-quiet-System-Power-9-500W-Power-Supply-80-Plus-Bronze/PSU1553/

 

 

[Juular]

7 hours ago, Star-Knight said:

Ok. I think I got my head around it, is this by any chance one of the Be Quite models you have listed for tier C?

It is.

[HanZie82]

On 3/10/2021 at 12:33 AM, Star-Knight said:

Ok, I have really tried to use the PSU tier list and I still feel like I'm tearing out my hair.

 

Are there any decent or at least ok  300-400w budget friendly PSUs even available at the moment?

 

@Juular

 

Ok. I think I got my head around it, is this by any chance one of the Be Quite models you have listed for tier C?

 

https://www.cclonline.com/product/252029/BN246/Power-Supplies/be-quiet-System-Power-9-500W-Power-Supply-80-Plus-Bronze/PSU1553/

 

 

Glad you were able to find a nice unit! That price, wow its really nice!

 

On 3/10/2021 at 7:39 AM, Juular said:

It is.

Thanks for the invaluable information!