What PSU would be good for this rig?

[MAGP]

Hi guys well i have come across a problem.  I bought pieces for my rig but i am missing 1 important part.

 

It is obvious that after some investment i will be considering something good.

 

I am an Intel fan boy but i decided to build a Amd System just to give it a go.

 

Case: Thermaltake Chaser A71

Mobo:MSI 970 GAMING - Socket AM3+, HT 3.0, AMD 970, 4x DDR3 2133Mhz (OC), SATA3, USB 3.0, 2x PCI-Express x16 2.0, SLI & CrossFireX

CPU: FX-6350 3.9ghz (not planning to OC)

Market cooler:  Cooler Master Seidon 120XL

GPU: GIGABYTE GV-R927OC-2GD Radeon R9 270 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 

Memory: Hyper X Fury Series 32gb(4x8) DDR3-1866 (I know its too much but since it was cheap)

Storage: 1. SAMSUNG 850 EVO MZ-75E250B/AM 2.5" 250GB SATA III 3-D (for windows and linux mint)

               2. WD Red Pro 3 TB NAS Hard Drive (Data storage and Videos and Stuff)

 

Peripherals: 1. LG Black Blu-ray Burner SATA WH16NS40 - OEM

                    2. Samsung DvD Burner 42x SATA

 

 

I will use it mostly for gaming between 720p and 1080p between ultra and high. I play wow and maybe something else.  I do video Editing but something more at a intermediate level.  Some photoshop, illustrator and Indesign.  Also alot of Music Production.

 

So will a 700w like  Thermaltake TR2 700W work for me.  I am looking more for a modular PSU but if there isnt one for my budget then a normal one is fine.  I can invest up to 120$ for my psu either in Tigerdirect or newegg.

 

Thanks for your time.

[sissj]

Hi guys well i have come across a problem.  I bought pieces for my rig but i am missing 1 important part.

 

It is obvious that after some investment i will be considering something good.

 

I am an Intel fan boy but i decided to build a Amd System just to give it a go.

 

Case: Thermaltake Chaser A71

Mobo:MSI 970 GAMING - Socket AM3+, HT 3.0, AMD 970, 4x DDR3 2133Mhz (OC), SATA3, USB 3.0, 2x PCI-Express x16 2.0, SLI & CrossFireX

CPU: FX-6350 3.9ghz (not planning to OC)

Market cooler:  Cooler Master Seidon 120XL

GPU: GIGABYTE GV-R927OC-2GD Radeon R9 270 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 

Memory: Hyper X Fury Series 32gb(4x8) DDR3-1866 (I know its too much but since it was cheap)

Storage: 1. SAMSUNG 850 EVO MZ-75E250B/AM 2.5" 250GB SATA III 3-D (for windows and linux mint)

               2. WD Red Pro 3 TB NAS Hard Drive (Data storage and Videos and Stuff)

 

Peripherals: 1. LG Black Blu-ray Burner SATA WH16NS40 - OEM

                    2. Samsung DvD Burner 42x SATA

 

 

I will use it mostly for gaming between 720p and 1080p between ultra and high. I play wow and maybe something else.  I do video Editing but something more at a intermediate level.  Some photoshop, illustrator and Indesign.  Also alot of Music Production.

 

So will a 700w like  Thermaltake TR2 700W work for me.  I am looking more for a modular PSU but if there isnt one for my budget then a normal one is fine.  I can invest up to 120$ for my psu either in Tigerdirect or newegg.

 

Thanks for your time.

500-600 watts will be fine

[STRMfrmXMN]

Hi guys well i have come across a problem.  I bought pieces for my rig but i am missing 1 important part.

 

It is obvious that after some investment i will be considering something good.

 

I am an Intel fan boy but i decided to build a Amd System just to give it a go.

 

Case: Thermaltake Chaser A71

Mobo:MSI 970 GAMING - Socket AM3+, HT 3.0, AMD 970, 4x DDR3 2133Mhz (OC), SATA3, USB 3.0, 2x PCI-Express x16 2.0, SLI & CrossFireX

CPU: FX-6350 3.9ghz (not planning to OC)

Market cooler:  Cooler Master Seidon 120XL

GPU: GIGABYTE GV-R927OC-2GD Radeon R9 270 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 

Memory: Hyper X Fury Series 32gb(4x8) DDR3-1866 (I know its too much but since it was cheap)

Storage: 1. SAMSUNG 850 EVO MZ-75E250B/AM 2.5" 250GB SATA III 3-D (for windows and linux mint)

               2. WD Red Pro 3 TB NAS Hard Drive (Data storage and Videos and Stuff)

 

Peripherals: 1. LG Black Blu-ray Burner SATA WH16NS40 - OEM

                    2. Samsung DvD Burner 42x SATA

 

 

I will use it mostly for gaming between 720p and 1080p between ultra and high. I play wow and maybe something else.  I do video Editing but something more at a intermediate level.  Some photoshop, illustrator and Indesign.  Also alot of Music Production.

 

So will a 700w like  Thermaltake TR2 700W work for me.  I am looking more for a modular PSU but if there isnt one for my budget then a normal one is fine.  I can invest up to 120$ for my psu either in Tigerdirect or newegg.

 

Thanks for your time.

If you haven't built it already I suggest you don't. The AM3 platform is extremely underwhelming and any i3 will outperform that 6300. The i5 trumps the entire lineup of stuff from AMD. You can get a locked i5 and cheap mobo and use the stock cooler for a lot less than it would cost to use a nice mobo, a high-end AM3 CPU and an OCing cooler.

 

Nonetheless EVGA's 550W GS will work great for you.

[mikat]

-snip-

1. use http://pcpartpicker.com/part/partlist/

2. why would you get that super crap CPU.... get an FX-8350 or something like that and overclock it really far to get more performance

3. since you said you do not want to overclock, why the watercooler? use the stock cooler or the hyper 212 evo

4. 32 GB of ram is super overkill for that build and cpu

[STRMfrmXMN]

1. use http://pcpartpicker.com/part/partlist/

2. why would you get that super crap CPU.... get an FX-8350 or something like that and overclock it really far to get more performance

3. since you said you do not want to overclock, why the watercooler? use the stock cooler or the hyper 212 evo

4. 32 GB of ram is super overkill for that build and cpu

An overclocked 6350 will perform the same as an FX-8350 and yet still get rekt by an i5 and that will all cost a lot more than a cheap B85 or H81 mobo, stock cooler and i5 4460....

[MAGP]

If you haven't built it already I suggest you don't. The AM3 platform is extremely underwhelming and any i3 will outperform that 6300. The i5 trumps the entire lineup of stuff from AMD. You can get a locked i5 and cheap mobo and use the stock cooler for a lot less than it would cost to use a nice mobo, a high-end AM3 CPU and an OCing cooler.

 

Nonetheless EVGA's 550W GS will work great for you.

Yeah unfortunately i already bought this stuff.  I was going to build a better rig with i7 -4790 devils canyon and some other stuff i would have invested like 2 or 3 hundred more but i followed a friend whos an Amd Fan and told me that i wouldnt really notice the difference for what i was looking for.  He says that true cores are better than HT.

But well its done i will see it myself and sell it or change the mobo and cpu if it doesnt fit my needs.  

[STRMfrmXMN]

Yeah unfortunately i already bought this stuff.  I was going to build a better rig with i7 -4790 devils canyon and some other stuff i would have invested like 2 or 3 hundred more but i followed a friend whos an Amd Fan and told me that i wouldnt really notice the difference for what i was looking for.  He says that true cores are better than HT.

But well its done i will see it myself and sell change the mobo and cpu if it doesnt fit my needs.  

Well your friend doesn't know jack about cores than.... the FX series doesn't actually have (8350 as an example here) 8 true cores. They only have the ability to utilize 4 cores at once and their cores are pathetically underpowered. You'er buying into a 7 year old architecture with no upgrade path, much higher heat output, fewer motherboard features and straight up worse performance than any of the i5s and sometimes even worse than any i3s. And you will notice those FPS dips in games. Check uot @Aniallation's post about the FX series for gaming. They need to die off already.

 

Anyways, that EVGA I mentioned will work for you just fine.

[Zefues]

32gb of ram is too overkill for that build

[Aniallation]

@MAGP

 

DO NOT GET A THERMALTAKE TR2

 

and also

 

People think they are getting a good deal when they buy an FX for gaming, and they are not.
 
Simple conclusions - Why Intel i3/i5 are better for gaming then competing AMD FX:
 
- Generally better gaming performance (see below)
- Lower power consumption
- Lower heat output, heat output that the stock cooler can actually handle, eliminating the need for an aftermarket cooler for a quiet PC
- Upgradability: Buy an i3 now and upgrade to a massively more powerful i7 later while keeping the same motherboard. Buy an FX8 now, and be stuck with it until next mobo upgrade
- Greater motherboard selection, no need for fancy VRMs (see below)
- More modern technologies: PCIe 3.0, native USB 3.0/3.1, on-die integrated graphics (in case of GPU failure, can keep using your PC), etc
 
- Better IPC: Every MHz does more with Intel.
 
More cores does not mean better, if you can't use all of them. Intel cores are not twice as powerful as FX cores (given at stock), but if you can only use half of the cores on your FX then what's the point of having so many?

 

And before people think it, there is no bias here, I am an AMD CPU user. I don't regret my purchase because I did it back in the day when AMD was still highly competitive with Intel's first-gen Core-i CPUs, but here today, I'm just giving cold hard facts.
 
Gaming performance

Grand Theft Auto V
 

 
FX6 and FX8 fall between i3 and i5
 
The Witcher 3
 

 
FX6 and FX8 fall behind respective i3 and i5
 
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
 

 
A game optimized pretty darn well for multi-threaded CPUs, still can't see the FX8 pull away from i5
 
Batman Arkham Knight
 

 
Even the top-of-the-line FX 9590 can't catch up to i3
 
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
 

 
Lowest-end i3 can compete with FX, but even a 0.4GHz higher model and Intel starts to pull away
 
Project CARS
 

 
Once again FX6 and FX8 falling behind respective i3 and i5
 

If you note in some of these benchmarks, sometimes FX4 is actually ahead of FX6, because it is running at a higher frequency on each of the cores. These are examples of poor multi-threaded optimization in games. Many AAA titles still can't use more then 4 cores, so 4 FX cores at 3.8GHz is better then 6 FX cores at 3.5GHz.
 
VRMs - what are they and why are they important:
 

When talking about AM3+ boards you'll often hear the term VRMs. These are Voltage Regulation Modules, they are what turn the PSU's 12V into the ~1.4V (FX) your CPU will take. So the higher the power draw of your CPU, the more work the VRMs have to do. On Intel boards this isn't a big deal because at stock speeds you won't see more then 88W of CPU TDP, but you can't trust these same VRMs with the 125W FX chips. Overloading motherboard VRMs can actually lead to them burning out, causing a dead motherboard and possibly a fire hazard.
 
Read more about VRMs: http://www.overclock.net/a/about-vrms-mosfets-motherboard-safety-with-high-tdp-processors

 
Price:
(This is where the text comes in so get your English and math comprehension skills ready)
 

 

People think that FX is cheaper, and therefore is better for the money, and they'd be willing to make that sacrifice in performance for a bit of sacrifice in cost, but in reality, the difference is negligible. Take a look at these comparisons. Again this continues on the fact that you'll want a board with good VRMs for reliability on AM3+, while it's pretty much whatever with locked Intel chips. For this reason we'll be comparing using probably the best "cheap" AM3+ board, the Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P, with it's 8+2 phase VRMs, compared to a budget Intel H97 board.
 
FX-6300 vs i3

 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($96.88 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($79.98 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $176.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-05 19:59 EDT-0400
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($108.95 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($64.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $173.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-05 20:01 EDT-0400


 
$3 cheaper for the i3, and keep in mind as we proved above, the i3s are more then capable of competing with FX8 and even FX9 chips, only in the worst case scenario being around the same as FX6. On top of that, the benefits of Intel as listed above.
 
FX-8320 vs i5

 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($134.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($79.98 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $214.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-05 20:03 EDT-0400
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($166.95 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($64.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $231.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-05 20:04 EDT-0400
 

 
$17 more for the i5, for much higher performance and pretty much zero bottleneck with any single GPU in any game, as opposed to the struggling FX...
 
Cooler
 
Do note that these builds are NOT with an aftermarket cooler. While the stock Intel coolers are fine for their accompanying chips, the coolers bundled with 125W FX chips aren't really up to the job, and can become VERY loud under load. If you want a quiet PC you'll want to invest in an aftermarket cooler. The cheapest one worth buying to quiet down an FX chip is the Zalman CNPS5X, which is $17. 
 
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/zalman-cpu-cooler-cnps5xperforma
 
This eliminates the price gap between the FX8 and i5, and makes the i3 choice $20 cheaper then the FX6 choice.
 
But what if I don't live in the USA?
 

 
Canada
 

 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($122.99 @ NCIX) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($109.75 @ Vuugo) 
Total: $232.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-05 20:12 EDT-0400
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($136.50 @ shopRBC) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($93.98 @ Newegg Canada) 
Total: $230.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-05 20:12 EDT-0400
 
 
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($169.75 @ Vuugo) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($109.75 @ Vuugo) 
Total: $279.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-05 20:35 EDT-0400
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($225.00 @ Vuugo) 
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E34 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($66.00 @ Vuugo) 
Total: $291.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-05 20:14 EDT-0400

 
UK
 

 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  (£79.19 @ Aria PC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard  (£64.54 @ More Computers) 
Total: £143.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 01:14 BST+0100
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  (£84.53 @ Ebuyer) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£69.47 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £154.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 01:14 BST+0100
 
 
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  (£108.13 @ CCL Computers) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard  (£64.54 @ More Computers) 
Total: £172.67
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 01:15 BST+0100
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£137.36 @ Ebuyer) 
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E34 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£34.68 @ CCL Computers) 
Total: £172.04
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 01:15 BST+0100
 

 

Kangaroo Land
 

 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($145.00 @ CPL Online) 
Motherboard: MSI 970 GAMING ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($145.00 @ CPL Online) 
Total: $290.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 10:25 AEST+1000
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($152.00 @ CPL Online) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($99.00 @ IJK) 
Total: $251.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 10:26 AEST+1000
 
 
 
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($205.00 @ CPL Online) 
Motherboard: MSI 970 GAMING ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($145.00 @ CPL Online) 
Total: $350.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 10:25 AEST+1000
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($246.00 @ Centre Com) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($99.00 @ IJK) 
Total: $345.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 10:26 AEST+1000
 

​Deutschland
 

 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  (€99.90 @ Caseking) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard  (€85.09 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Total: €184.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 02:23 CEST+0200
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  (€119.95 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (€76.89 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Total: €196.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 02:23 CEST+0200
 
 
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  (€139.90 @ Caseking) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard  (€85.09 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Total: €224.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 02:23 CEST+0200
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  (€189.90 @ Caseking) 
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E34 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (€56.18 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Total: €246.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 02:23 CEST+0200
 

 

(more to be added)
 
Around the world the price differences do change and often the gap grows but there is never a point where the Intel option is "overpriced" compared to Intel, considering the performance you get.