Advice on Power Supplies

[DeepStarCorp]

I'm in the process of building a PC and I'm having a difficult time deciding which power supply to get.  I've been looking at mostly Corsair PSUs.

 

This is the main power supply I had my eye on:  http://www.corsair.com/en-us/ax860-atx-power-supply-860-watt-80-plus-platinum-certified-fully-modular-psu

 

It has an ample amount of wattage for my build, but I'm curious about it's other features.  Is the platinum rating worth it's price?  I can get it on Amazon for around $170.  Is there a different series from Corsair that would be a better value?

 

Also, are there any other brands that make good power supplies that you guys can recommend?

If you ware here in the US get the AX. Can't get any better than that and if you ever have ANY issues with them just hop on the Corsair forums for support, or pick up the phone and call Fremont. They are also easily the best LOOKING PSU's as well, IMO. -Astro

[Maowhree]

Of course it has wonderful reviews, it's an excellent power supply. My point is the EVGA Supernova G2 is excellent too, the main performance difference being a little less efficiency (as reflected in the Gold vs. Platinum ratings). And the G2 is MUCH cheaper.

 

Compare the ripple measurements on the EVGA Supernova G2 850W and the Corsair AX860 for an illustration of how excellent the G2 really is. 22.2 mV on the 12V rail is excellent, but the G2 decides to cut that nearly in half. :blink:

That's right, but the Corsair PSU still managed to beat the SuperNOVA in voltage regulation and efficiency (I just looked at those two factors though, comparing all the results in all tabs would be really time-consuming) and achieved a higher overall score by the reviewer too. 9.6/10 vs 9.3/10

 

In this particular case it's hard to determine which power supply has better stats than the other though. In fact I found no websites which reviewed both, aside from TechPowerUp.

I would like to make something clear though, I'm not trying to prove the Corsair one is the best PSU out there and the SuperNOVA is the worst, just saying that neither of them is perfect and you should let people take alternatives into consideration, have them research why one power supply is better than another and not just buy one because it is the one everybody recommends.

[Sakkura]

That's right, but the Corsair PSU still managed to beat the SuperNOVA in voltage regulation and efficiency (I just looked at those two factors though, comparing all the results in all tabs would be really time-consuming) and achieved a higher overall score by the reviewer too. 9.6/10 vs 9.3/10

 

The voltage regulation is almost the same on the 12V rail. It's only on the less important rails that the AX860 performs better. I don't know why you bring up higher efficiency since I've already mentioned that. It's also the reason the AX860 gets a higher score (along with the time that passed between the two reviews).

[Maowhree]

The voltage regulation is almost the same on the 12V rail. It's only on the less important rails that the AX860 performs better. I don't know why you bring up higher efficiency since I've already mentioned that. It's also the reason the AX860 gets a higher score (along with the time that passed between the two reviews).

Sorry, I didn't know you were the one who wrote those reviews.

[Sakkura]

Okay... well you can check their formula for the performance score, efficiency at least factors in there. I can't know for sure if it factors into the overall rating, but I don't see why it wouldn't.

[Siddhesh]

Add watercooling + another 970 + Overclock, the AX 760 is more than enough

[Captain_Slow]

What if I decide to overclock or add water-cooling to my build?  I may plan to add other peripherals later as well.  Will 750 watts be sufficient then?

 

1. Always get a PSU with a around 200w to spare, that way, your PSU won't run as hot, won't run as loud, and will generally last quite a bit longer. not to mention room for upgrades. 

2. Once you get past Gold efficiency, you will see a pretty sizable diminish in returns for going higher

 

with that in mind, here's what I'd do for your build.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8z4WK8

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8z4WK8/by_merchant/

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($309.99 @ Amazon) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($139.99 @ Amazon) similar feature set, supports 2-way sli, great overclocker as well

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($82.99 @ Newegg) you don't need 16gb of memory for gaming, if you want to do something else other than gaming then by all means, but you'd have to cut back on either the CPU or GPU to stay around budget

Storage: Corsair Force LS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($99.99 @ Newegg) YES, the 850 Pro is a better SSD, however it won't perform very differently for gaming, if you are doing write intensive tasks on this drive then switch back to an 850 pro, but keep in mind that SSDs slow down as they get full, a LS @ 50% capacity is faster than a 850 pro @ 90+% capacity

Storage: Western Digital RE 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($128.43 @ Amazon)  very similar to the black series, but this is an enterprise level drive, still comes with 5 year warranty but has faster speeds and is rated for better endurance. cheaper as well.

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($569.99 @ Amazon) 980>970, this is the highest stock clocked 980 on the market

Case: Fractal Design Core 3000 USB 3.0 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($77.85 @ OutletPC) personally I'd rather have a better GPU over a fancy case, this isn't fancy, but it's every bit as functional as the 760t

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($138.99 @ NCIX US) yes yes, 1000w is way more than you NEED, but you can OC, add peripherals, have a 10 yr warranty, and SLI. at the end you'll rarely hear the fan kick up 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($89.98 @ OutletPC) Win8 Pro has security features that gamers just plain don't need. again, if you want to use software that specifically require W8P then it's worth the additional $40 to you.

Total: $1638.20 

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-23 00:16 EDT-0400

[Sakkura]

Why would you suggest DDR3-2133 for a gaming build? No benefit from the higher speed.

 

The Corsair Force LS is pretty weak, the Crucial MX100 is all around better. Worth another $10 IMO.

 

The GTX 980 is bad value. The 970 is almost as fast and more than $200 cheaper.

 

The shitty case is just the result of wasting money on a 980 (and the next component on the list).

 

The Supernova G2 1000W is a great power supply, but it is absolutely ridiculous for this system. It goes way beyond overkill. Even with GTX 980 SLI, the system will draw less than 500W at the wall at peak load. Power draw at the power supply will be closer to 400W.

With such a power supply, you end up with lower efficiency than with a more reasonable wattage. Power supplies are less efficient at low loads, so with that 1000W power supply you'd be converting more power to heat than you would with a lower-wattage unit.

[Guest]

The EVGA G2 1000W doesn't have eco fan mode either, so the fan will run all the time regardless.