PSU's for overclocking

[Guest]

Hey guys, just a simple question.
 

Does it matter if you are going to overclock your system quite high if you only have a bronze rated PSU? even if it has enough watts (such as a 750w)?

I ask because I will have my z87, 4770k, gtx 780 and H220 cooler soon and im not sure the CX750M will be able to handle it when everything gets overclocked?
 

Cheers guys, just never quite understood the reasoning behind getting gold/plat PSU's (power costs and efficiency doesn't matter to me btw, only performance/stability)



 

[gts250ftw]

well i guess 80 plus gold psus will generally deliver cleaner power to your components but since your psu is from corsair i think itll be just fine...plus 750watts is more than enough for that system

[Elbstrand]

The efficiency has nothing todo with how clean the power delivery actually is. Check reviews for things like Riple & Noise, as low values there are important for stability.

 

BUT @gts250ftw isn't wrong, as a rule of thumb, you can say, the more efficient ones will most likely also have a cleaner delivery overall. And like he said, since its corsair i wouldnt worry about it too much.

[quan289]

Cheers guys, just never quite understood the reasoning behind getting gold/plat PSU's (power costs and efficiency doesn't matter to me btw, only performance/stability)

 

Better efficiency also helps by reducing the amount of energy being wasted as heat during the AC-DC conversion, thus allowing your PSU to work under a lower operating temperature. Your fan does not have to ramp up as fast and it will be more quiet. Of course, efficiency doesn't determine the quality of the unit overall. There are Bronze unit (take the Antec Signature) that are still better than some Gold unit (group regulated FSP Aurum Gold) in respect to electrical performance, DC quality output, and overall build quality.

 

Anyways, a 750w is more than plenty for your system. you could also get by with an ~600w. As for your Corsair CX750M. It's a Channel Well Tech build unit based on the PUQ-B platform. While it is a good platform, the CX line is Corsair budget line, so it's a bit cost down in terms of quality. It uses lower rated temperature capacitor, SamXon caps on the secondary, and a sleeve bearing fan. The Thermaltake Smart SP-750M is often in the same price range, so I could go with that. It's a PUQ-B unit as well, but uses higher quality caps and a ball bearing fan.

 

If you can spend a little more, I have a look at the higher-end Rosewill Capstone-M or the Seasonic G SSR-xxxRM line.

[Guest]

Thanks, I was having a big look around and I could also get an HX750 Gold for about $100 more or an AX760 Platnium for about $140 more, I see what you are saying about it being a 'cleaner' power, so that will help with stability when overclocking the system?

[quan289]

$100 more than the CX750M? The HX750v2 and AX760 is indeed a better unit; however, they don't cost that much more in the US. Where are from and what's your budget?

 

The DC quality output of the unit is indeed important and can potentially have an affect on your overclocks as explain by Phaedrus2129 of OCN. Typically, though, most mid-range to high-end motherboard VRMs and filtering capacitor are able to deal with it and ensure there's no ripple reaches the CPU. Not to mentioned, that many quality PSUs, has excellent ripple suppression that is well within half of ATX spec.

 

What you should worry about is the voltage regulation of the PSU. This isn't about how close you can keep the voltage to it's nominal value (12.24v is within 2% of the 12v rail), but rather the ability to keep that value stable (12.24v drops to 11.9v which equates to a 2.86% regulation). Poor v.reg can drive the operating voltages for the CPU / GPU higher to compensate for the larger voltage drop, which in turn can have an effect of the stability of your system.

 

There have been occasion where people who install a more power hungry graphic card and no longer able to keep their original overclock. This was not due to insufficient power, but rather, a larger load caused a larger voltage drop, which increasing the voltage up a notch help achieve that stability once again.

[Guest]

oh okay cool thanks, it will be powering a z87 asus maximus vi hero board, so I imagine an ROG board like that would have good ripple filtering etc

Yeah I see what you mean about the voltage drop, so I guess with a good board like this I should be able to get away with the HX750v2 right? as that's a gold plus PSU on a really good board

What would you go for personally out of those corsair ones? (im in New Zealand too and we don't get many of the brands you listed also things are slightly more expensive than in America)

[OneGun]

I would go with the Ax750 or AX850 if you can afford them as they are seasonic built..

[brownninja97]

That psu should be fine unless you are going extreme. As you can do sli with that psu then you should be able to oc quite easily.

[ictdude1]

corsair psu's are good and have alot of headroom if you go over 750w

[Guest]

Local store had AX760i's on sale so I just picked up one of those, talked to the guys there and they said it should be wicked, so thanks guys :)

[Elbstrand]

Great PSU, what did you pay for it? (Just scored one of the last AX750 for 60 bucks ^^)

[Guest]

$275 NZD normally $350, it was brand new and things are expensive here