PSU Recommendations

[tpeter3]

Hi

 

Sometimes I am giving advice or just reading the forums of my country (Hungary), and at times I don't understand what's on people's minds. I see people posting great gaming builds with garbage PSUs like Akyga and Codegen. I read that "I would rather buy something from a more well-known brands like Chieftec or Zalman. The problem with these chinese stuff is that they either work or not, and they might destroy your PC". Someone wrote it about an EVGA power supply. Since when is Chieftec a better, more well-known brand than EVGA? Since when is EVGA chinese crap? And why are they recommending low-quality units instead? Also people are recommending 420W-450W PSUs for like R9 290 gaming builds, and when I tell the guy that he should consider a 600W PSU for that R9 290, other users tell me: "Why would he need 600W for that build. Even the 500W Chieftec unit is too much. Just buy an XFX 450W, even that's way more than you need." Is there something wrong with me? Or they don't know what they are talking about?

[Oshino Shinobu]

Some of Chieftec's PSUs are actually made by Channel Well, which also make some of Cooler Master and Corsair's PSUs (among other brands) , so they're not all too bad. 

 

What matters more is the specific PSU and the OEM, rather than the brand. 

 

As for wattage, an R9 290 can be used with a 450W, but it will be tight in most cases. A lot of places don't know much about power requirements (such as Facebook. I get told my PSU is too small for my system, even though I have plenty of room). Luckily, most people here are more knowledgeable about how much power will be needed, and a lot of us will be able to tell you how much you'd need just from a few specs. 

[STRMfrmXMN]

Hi

 

Sometimes I am giving advice or just reading the forums of my country (Hungary), and at times I don't understand what's on people's minds. I see people posting great gaming builds with garbage PSUs like Akyga and Codegen. I read that "I would rather buy something from a more well-known brands like Chieftec or Zalman. The problem with these chinese stuff is that they either work or not, and they might destroy your PC". Someone wrote it about an EVGA power supply. Since when is Chieftec a better, more well-known brand than EVGA? Since when is EVGA chinese crap? And why are they recommending low-quality units instead? Also people are recommending 420W-450W PSUs for like R9 290 gaming builds, and when I tell the guy that he should consider a 600W PSU for that R9 290, other users tell me: "Why would he need 600W for that build. Even the 500W Chieftec unit is too much. Just buy an XFX 450W, even that's way more than you need." Is there something wrong with me? Or they don't know what they are talking about?

Well I would personally pair a 290 and, say, an OCd 290 with a 500W PSU of good quality. You're mostly right in saying that EVGA has good PSUs but remember: EVGA doesn't make the PSU, that's left to the OEM and, usually, EVGA is good a sourcing OEMs.

 

Here's my PSU whitelist I made yesterday. Check stuff in there to see if it's logically OK to put one in a system.

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/404921-strmfrmxmns-psu-whitelist/

[STRMfrmXMN]

Some of Chieftec's PSUs are actually made by Channel Well, which also make some of Cooler Master and Corsair's PSUs (among other brands) , so they're not all too bad. 

 

What matters more is the specific PSU and the OEM, rather than the brand. 

 

As for wattage, an R9 290 can be used with a 450W, but it will be tight in most cases. A lot of places don't know much about power requirements (such as Facebook. I get told my PSU is too small for my system, even though I have plenty of room). Luckily, most people here are more knowledgeable about how much power will be needed, and a lot of us will be able to tell you how much you'd need just from a few specs. 

Yes, I do brand based stuff based on the OEM at times. CWT isn't always fantastic BTW (Ahem Corsair CX series) so you have to individually Google the PSU to look at reviews which I was not doing at 1 AM last night

[Oshino Shinobu]

Yes, I do brand based stuff based on the OEM at times. CWT isn't always fantastic BTW (Ahem Corsair CX series) so you have to individually Google the PSU to look at reviews which I was not doing at 1 AM last night

Yeah, they're not great, but they're also not particularly bad. For a budget, they're quite good. 

 

But yeah, it really depends on the individual PSU, unless it's from a OEM that has a record of pretty much every PSU being good quality. So someone like Seasonic or FSP maybe. 

[STRMfrmXMN]

Yeah, they're not great, but they're also not particularly bad. For a budget, they're quite good. 

 

But yeah, it really depends on the individual PSU, unless it's from a OEM that has a record of pretty much every PSU being good quality. So someone like Seasonic or FSP maybe. 

On a budget they still aren't very good when you can get a Seasonic PSU for the same price They're meant for PCs with low power GPUs and CPUs that don't produce tons of heat and are most definitely not for overclocking. Basically most normal home use PCs are where the CX series shines. 

 

As for FSP, they have some really great stuff, some good stuff and some utter trash. 

[tpeter3]

OK, I see. I agree that there are some brands that you need to check unit-by-unit to know something about the quality of a certain one. The high-end Chieftec ones are probably decent, but I still wouldn't recommend putting a really power-hungry GPU on a 400W low-end one.

BTW I have a CX750 and it's fine, I had no problems with it so far. (a year and a half) Are there any typical problems with that one?

[STRMfrmXMN]

OK, I see. I agree that there are some brands that you need to check unit-by-unit to know something about the quality of a certain one. The high-end Chieftec ones are probably decent, but I still wouldn't recommend putting a really power-hungry GPU on a 400W low-end one.

BTW I have a CX750 and it's fine, I had no problems with it so far. (a year and a half) Are there any typical problems with that one?

CX750 is a different platform than the rest of the CX series but you still can get much, much better for the money.

[tpeter3]

I know, but pricing and availability is different over here than in the US. And just out of curiosity: what's wrong with the other CX models?

[Zach TOm]

cx is just awful check out jonnyguru.com