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Is 80+ Bronze Enough?

lewisedwards
By lewisedwards
in Power Supplies
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So I'm looking to upgrade my GPU, and for this I will be needing a bigger PSU. I currently have a CX430, which has been bulletproof (like I've bought 4 of these for different peoples builds and none have ever failed).

 

I'm planning to run my AMD X4 860K @ 4.5Ghz, and the upgraded GPU will either be a R9 380 or 390 (depending on how what kind of deal I can find). So my plan is, grab a 650w psu, but I have no idea what efficiency. I'm thinking to myself the CX series has been fantastic for me, why should I change it up?

 

What benefit is it to me getting anything more than bronze efficiency? As long as it is stable, bronze rated from a reputable brand it seems to be just fine.

 

So can someone give me a good reason to pay more for a PSU? 

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Posted
6 minutes ago, lewisedwards said:

So I'm looking to upgrade my GPU, and for this I will be needing a bigger PSU. I currently have a CX430, which has been bulletproof (like I've bought 4 of these for different peoples builds and none have ever failed).

 

I'm planning to run my AMD X4 860K @ 4.5Ghz, and the upgraded GPU will either be a R9 380 or 390 (depending on how what kind of deal I can find). So my plan is, grab a 650w psu, but I have no idea what efficiency. I'm thinking to myself the CX series has been fantastic for me, why should I change it up?

 

What benefit is it to me getting anything more than bronze efficiency? As long as it is stable, bronze rated from a reputable brand it seems to be just fine.

 

So can someone give me a good reason to pay more for a PSU? 

i recommend picking up an xfx 550w. CX isnt the best you can get for the money. They have a bad rep lately since they are not meant for "gaming" builds. 

Main PC |CPU - i7-6700k|GPU - R9 290x tri-x 4gb|RAM - 16gb ddr4|MOBO - MSI z170 - A PRO|HDD - WD 1TB/240gb Sandisk |PSU - 700w Raidmax

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Posted

The rating translates to less wasted energy usually equaling a lower energy bill.
I would focus first on brand. The quality of the PSU.
Brands I'd suggest are the XfX Pro, Evga g2, or something from SeaSonic.

[CPU: 4.7ghz I5 6600k] [MB: Asus Z170 Pro G] [RAM: G.Skill 2400 16GB(2x8)]

[GPU: MSI Twin Frozr GTX 970] [PSU: XFX Pro 850W] [Cooler: Hyper 212 Evo]
[Storage: 500GB WD HDD / 128GB SanDisk SSD ] [Case: DeepCool Tessaract]

[Keyboard: AZIO MGK1] [Mouse: Logitech G303] [Monitor: 2 x Acer 23" 1080p IPS]

 

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Quality, reliability and greater efficiency. That is not to say bronze rated power supplies are synonymous with poor quality.

Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow; Motherboard: MSI ZZ490 Gaming Edge; CPU: i7 10700K @ 5.1GHz; Cooler: Noctua NHD15S Chromax; RAM: Corsair LPX DDR4 32GB 3200MHz; Graphics Card: Asus RTX 3080 TUF; Power: EVGA SuperNova 750G2; Storage: 2 x Seagate Barracuda 1TB; Crucial M500 240GB & MX100 512GB; Keyboard: Logitech G710+; Mouse: Logitech G502; Headphones / Amp: HiFiMan Sundara / Mayflower Objective 2; Monitor: Asus VG27AQ

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Go for a SeaSonic M12II EVO or Antec High Current Gamer. Corsair CS, CX and VS aren't exactly good.

Archangel (Desktop) CPU: i5 4590 GPU:Asus R9 280  3GB RAM:HyperX Beast 2x4GBPSU:SeaSonic S12G 750W Mobo:GA-H97m-HD3 Case:CM Silencio 650 Storage:1 TB WD Red
Celestial (Laptop 1) CPU:i7 4720HQ GPU:GTX 860M 4GB RAM:2x4GB SK Hynix DDR3Storage: 250GB 850 EVO Model:Lenovo Y50-70
Seraph (Laptop 2) CPU:i7 6700HQ GPU:GTX 970M 3GB RAM:2x8GB DDR4Storage: 256GB Samsung 951 + 1TB Toshiba HDD Model:Asus GL502VT
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4 minutes ago, lewisedwards said:

Fair point, so it seems that gold would be a more reasonable choice...

Getting a higher certified PSU in respect to 80 Plus does not mean you are getting a better quality PSU. In some cases, you may end up getting something worse.

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Posted
3 hours ago, DXMember said:

is this good enough reason?

https://youtu.be/dYHVUrXOwbI

dYHVUrXOwbI

[youtube]https://youtu.be/dYHVUrXOwbI[/youtube]

[video]https://youtu.be/dYHVUrXOwbI[/video]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dYHVUrXOwbI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

 

... i give up, it's not possible to embed youtube...

Just post a link like so! Literally just copy and paste the link.

 

 

3 hours ago, lewisedwards said:

Fair point, so it seems that gold would be a more reasonable choice...

I mean, efficiency != quality so no, not really. I'd much prefer you bought an EVGA B2 750W (Bronze rated) over an EVGA NEX series as the B2 is much better. In fact, I suggest you check out the EVGA 750B2 as that should fit your budget nicely.

My account is almost entirely dormant. Hope you all are having a grand time. Many years of fun were had here.

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5 hours ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

Just post a link like so! Literally just copy and paste the link.

Just post a link like so! Literally just copy and paste the link.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYHVUrXOwbI

 

https://youtu.be/dYHVUrXOwbI

 

YOU LIE!!!

#oldforumwasbetter

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Storage: Samsung 950Pro 512GB // OCZ Vector150 240GB // Seagate 1TB | PSU: Seasonic 1050 Snow Silent | Case: NZXT H440 | Cooling: Nepton 240M
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Bronze power supplies are perfectly fine aslong as its a well made PSU and isn't made with cheap parts like some bronze PSU's out there. Most people go with Gold because most gold units are made with some of the best parts compared to bronze where there are a ton of bronze units and only a small amount of them are actually of good quality. Just choose the right unit and bronze will serve you perfectly for your build. Only reason I'd ever think to consider getting Gold or higher is if you plan on building something insane like really high quality i5/i7s or Xeons and the highest tier GPU's but even then a really solid and well built bronze would be fine. Gold should also be considered if you are really picky about thermals and power efficiency since some Gold and above units come with ECO mode where the fan will never spin and the unit will draw the least amount of power it has too. 

Gaming Desktop - AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, MSI MPG B550 Gaming Plus, 32GB Cosair Vengenace LP 3600mhz, EVGA RTX 3070 XC3 Ultra,  Sabrent Rocket 4 1TB NVME SSD, Crucial P3 4TB NVME SSD, 4TB Mass storage, EVGA 750W G2, NZXT H9 Flow

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Posted
9 hours ago, DXMember said:

is this good enough reason?

https://youtu.be/dYHVUrXOwbI

dYHVUrXOwbI

[youtube]https://youtu.be/dYHVUrXOwbI[/youtube]

[video]https://youtu.be/dYHVUrXOwbI[/video]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dYHVUrXOwbI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYHVUrXOwbI

 

... i give up, it's not possible to embed youtube...

Whenever I post a full-sized youtube link it just auto-embeds.

 

 

We have a NEW and GLORIOUSER-ER-ER PSU Tier List Now. (dammit @LukeSavenije stop coming up with new ones)

You can check out the old one that gave joy to so many across the land here

 

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12 hours ago, Nacho Marco Segui said:

Wattage is what matters

Amperage on the individual rails is extremely important.

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17 hours ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

I mean, efficiency != quality so no, not really. I'd much prefer you bought an EVGA B2 750W (Bronze rated) over an EVGA NEX series as the B2 is much better. In fact, I suggest you check out the EVGA 750B2 as that should fit your budget nicely.

B2 looks nice... I've sourced an XFX XTR SERIES 650W fairly cheap... I've read some good stuff on XFX psu's

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2 minutes ago, lewisedwards said:

B2 looks nice... I've sourced an XFX XTR SERIES 650W fairly cheap... I've read some good stuff on XFX psu's

The XTR is pretty decent. Go ahead if you wanna buy it.

My account is almost entirely dormant. Hope you all are having a grand time. Many years of fun were had here.

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