Is this PSU good or is there better?

[PhiberOptik]

Here is my build http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KH4WLk, I am not really sure about the PSU, I don't really like the fact it is bronze and was thinking I could go with maybe lower voltage and a gold but I'm not sure and don't have much money.

[Dzzope]

Are you near a micro center by any chance?

[PhiberOptik]

Why? If it's worth it I could find one.

[blackadder]

Here is my build http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KH4WLk, I am not really sure about the PSU, I don't really like the fact it is bronze and was thinking I could go with maybe lower voltage and a gold but I'm not sure and don't have much money.

its not the best but, i can't say it horrible either. There are better ones always lol. Have a look a seasonic or evga gs/b2,if they are close to the price. Johhnyguru.Com does out psu reviews see if you can find anything you like there, skip to the last page if you dont want all the technical crap.

[Dzzope]

Why? If it's worth it I could find one.

I'd go with this build instead if you can then... But that CPU price is in-store only.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ Micro Center) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($27.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($114.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: OCZ ARC 100 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.99 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card  ($319.98 @ NCIX US) 

Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.99 @ Micro Center) 

Power Supply: Thermaltake 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($84.98 @ Newegg) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit)  ($87.98 @ OutletPC) 

Total: $1038.86

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-04 20:58 EDT-0400

[PhiberOptik]

There is this from Seasonic but it is nearly twice the price of what I am coming from. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151088
I found this from EVGA, for $10 more. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438026, and this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438049

This is what I am trying to improve on for reference. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139048

[Griffscavern]

Here is my build http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KH4WLk, I am not really sure about the PSU, I don't really like the fact it is bronze and was thinking I could go with maybe lower voltage and a gold but I'm not sure and don't have much money.

The bronze and gold mean squat in the quality of a psu. There are bronze PSUs that are better quality than gold. The evga b2 is better than an evga g1. If you want good PSus, evga g2, gs, and b2 are good PSUs. The g2 being the best of the 3. Do not get the nex. It isn't great.

[AndrewSKY]

The ASUS Z97-A with USB 3.1 is only $148 if you're interested in getting the latest USB port speeds

[blackadder]

There is this from Seasonic but it is nearly twice the price of what I am coming from. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151088

I found this from EVGA, for $10 more. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438026, and this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438049

This is what I am trying to improve on for reference. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139048

i cant remember if the g line is great or not, the gs line is. Evga makes lots of great stuff and some thats not. 10 year warranty though, i would get it for that. How old are you, is 10 years a decent fraction of your life, it is mine. 10 years is a doctorate degree,long long time.

[Dzzope]

There is this from Seasonic but it is nearly twice the price of what I am coming from. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151088

I found this from EVGA, for $10 more. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438026, and this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438049

This is what I am trying to improve on for reference. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139048

Check out the build I posted.. Adds in a better quality PSU and bumps you to a 970 for about $20 more..

 

 

FYI PSU review: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Thermaltake/ToughPower550/5.html

 

SSD review: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/67144-ocz-arc-100-240gb-ssd-review.html

[PhiberOptik]

Looking at your build @Dzzope, I went with the Asus board over MSI, because the Asus has Intel LAN, and FAN expert 3, I also thought their Suite of Software was supposed to be largely useful where MSIs is largely junk, liveupdate being the fastest way to brick your board, the 850 evo seems much better then the arc to me in base performance, brand(lets face it OCZ has a bad track record), and coupled with Samsung Magician it out matches everything even if it just a 3GB turbo write buffer, the hard drive looks interesting I would have to see what the real differences are, I would have gone with a gtx 970 but budget and the 512MB vram issue steered me away, I don't really trust thermaltake PSUs but then again I have not really researched that model but I have never heard them mentioned which is probably not a good sign.

[PhiberOptik]

Yeah I do understand that @Griffscavern. I've just not really dug into the nitty gritty of PSUs recently. Thank you @AndrewSKY the USB3.1 version is nearly $20 dollars more for me though for 2 ports of something I am likely going to never use. Thank you though.

[PhiberOptik]

It looks like this is the best PSU near $70 then? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438049

[Griffscavern]

It looks like this is the best PSU near $70 then? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438049

That psu is good, but if you plan on overclocking and possibly sli down the road, you'll be at the peak of power usage. I'd at least get the evga gs 650 for a little more headroom.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220gs0650v1

Good article

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2025425/how-to-pick-the-best-pc-power-supply.html

[Dzzope]

Ok, on your points... the nic will impact so little it's not worth mentioning... Nice to have but shouldn't be a deal breaker..

 

I never install any application that comes with a motherboard.. it's nearly all either useless or bloat.

 

The OCZ drive is a monster especially at the price.. OCZ got nailed for reputation in failing drives in the early days due to controller problems.. Which is why they now make their own and don't use sandforce ones.. Also they were bought out by Toshiba (I beleive) AND they will cross ship a new drive to you and pay return postage if you have an issue with no proof of purchase needed.. Also IMO they treated people well through those early issues which is very important as you can have issues with any hardware and how they deal with it is important.

 

Performance wise.. I've always found my 840 Pro to be varying... my 730 is very consistent and sammy magician is rubbish.

For the price the Arc 100 is VERY hard to beat as it basically matches an 840 Pro.. you need a benchmark to tell the difference.

 

I linked a very good review for the thermaltake.. it performed well but was overpriced then.. it's half the price now and a good option..

 

970 vram issue... it has 4GB.. yes 512 of it runs sloweer than the rest.. But it still is faster than system memory and your solution is to choose a card with half the memory and less power.

 

 

Anyway.. it's all your choice but I've used nearly everything I've suggested here in multiple builds (bar the PSU).. it's your money to chose what to do with.

[PhiberOptik]

@Dzzope This is what I am using to compare SSDs. http://ssd.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Samsung-850-Evo-250GB-vs-OCZ-ARC-100-240GB/2977vs2603

I'm not planning on using the software with the Asus board but the price is so close it doesn't make sense not to have it available. I also thought the Asus board would be higher quality than the MSI as well, with a better bios, better bios options, settings, etc.

My apologies I missed the review. I will go read it and see if it fairs better than the 550w evga gs.

I understand it is vastly faster than system memory but even then it still causes an issue which I am avoiding. My solution was mostly related to budget. Budget allowed I would have got a gtx 970 no doubt.

No disrespect @Dzzope, thank you a ton for your help, I am still welcome to suggestions, I am simply debating to see if I really am wrong. In the end I am trying to make every dollar count the most as this is a very tight budget build and I am trying to spend money where it matters the most.

[Dzzope]

"but these are only valid within the TWC. Users looking for more consistent performance should look elsewhere."

And it's twice the price.

 

I gave my suggestions as I see them.. you have the info and need to make your own choices... But for me I'd go bigger on the GPU as in real terms, you won't see the difference on the SSD's.... Maybe if they were side by side and yes in benchmarks but the ARC is by no means slow...

It's a case of how fast is fast enough... In which case why not go for the 850 pro.

 

the thing about the "ram issue" is that you not avoiding it... it is only an issue in very niche cases and only once you go over the first 3.5GB and even then it's better than just having 3.5GB.

My issue with your solution to the "problem" is that your reducing the graphics power and halving the available Vram which means you'll run into system memory much faster than if you get the 970. which is multiple orders of magnitude worse than going into the second 512MB partition on the 970

 

There is no right or wrong in this.. it's about prioritizing whats important to you.

The way I see it is in a gaming rig the GPU is king.. your not reducing CPU or memory and the board and SSD performance are so close that the massive jump in GPU is more than worth the trade off..

BTW, I'm not saying the ARC is better than the EVO BUT at their current prices I know which I'd go for on your budget. (or for around what you built at)

 

I hope I've at least made you think about the options.. cause thats the most important thing. Consider the pro's and cons and then go with what feels right for you.

[PhiberOptik]

@Dzzope I found this PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153200&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=       but it does not match the one in the review.

[PhiberOptik]

@Dzzope there is a 17 dollar price difference between the drives on newegg. I'd love to change the GPU but can't afford it. Even if I did all your price cuts I still couldn't afford it as I am buying the computer from Newegg unless something is stupid cheap elsewhere.

[PhiberOptik]

Here is my parts list from the seller as I see it. @Dzzope
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153200&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132118
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117372&cm_re=4690k-_-19-117-372-_-Product
RAM:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231719
SSD:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147372&cm_re=850_evo-_-20-147-372-_-Product
HDD:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236625
GPU:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487091
Case:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139018
CPU Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
OS:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416776&cm_re=windows_8.1-_-32-416-776-_-Product

Edit:@Dzzope given that list and the price of a gtx 960 vs gtx 970 I would need to cut $150 from that build in order to afford a gtx 970. If I can afford it I might change from the 2GB 960 to the 4GB model. I also plan to add a second stick of ram later when I can afford that.

[Dzzope]

The main place to save is the CPU if you can get to micro-centre

 

It's a CWT unit which are generally good..

 

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/05/15/thermaltake_toughpower_gold_550w_power_supply_review#.VXEHSs-qpBc

 

Apparently it's the same unit just variations for different regions or modular / semi modular.

The reason I picked it was because it was part of a combe deal and saved some more.

 

 

The thing with getting the 970 at your price is you need to trim the spend in other areas and if you don't do them you end up over budget very fast..

 

System spec'ing is a balancing act of price to performance and prioritizing where to spend.

I've spec'd 100's if not 1000's of rigs and built more than I know and (as I said), thats what I would do with your budget (if possible to get to micro-centre)

 

You seem to have a decent understanding of most of whats going on.. But really the 2 things I'd be mindful if I were you is that the quality between similarly priced boards isn't much these days.. they all use the same chip-set unlike the old days

SSD's, once they are within about 10 - 15% of the performance are hard to tell the difference (and once they get so fast unless your really really loading them up is pointless)

GPU power is king in a gaming rig once the processor is good enough.

 

PSU's, yes get a good unit.. but if it's solid, get the cheapest (of 2 solid choices), it will add no performance.

[PhiberOptik]

@Dzzope So if I were to get my CPU from micocenter, use the z97s krait, and the arc 100, and switch to the toughpower I would only save $66. Unless the mail-in rebate for the arc actually works. Then I would be at $86 which is not bad at all but still not gtx 970 worthy coming from a $200 card and I would have to order the card after mail-in rebates which adds delay and hassle if they even work.

[Dzzope]

Your build vs mine was $20 less, not sure where your comparing the prices. But yea, if you can't make it work.. you can't make it work..

I think your getting everything from newegg means your not getting all the best prices.

 

I know in Canada what most people do is find all the cheapest prices and then order from somewhere that they can price-match to, not sure if you have somewhere in the states that does something similar.

 

Anywho, good luck with it, I'm off to bed.

[PhiberOptik]

@Dzzope using what you said as a guide I went on PCpartpicker again and actually used it for the entire build from sellers I will actually use and managed to get a gtx 970 and save $10 dollars. Thank you so much for your time and help.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/p6CR99

[EcoBoost]

@PhiberOptik end your search here: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/376385-evga-750b2-49-after-mir-at-ncix-us-and-why-its-a-great-psu/