PC power supply - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Plaid13 · 08-20-2008, 05:48 PM

Well I apparently need a new power supply for my pc and I am having trouble deciding what to get. I think i want to get a antec or thermaltake. Pretty sure i need at least 550watts. But i would like to get some extra opinions and maybe suggestions on what model to get. Keeping in mind I am damn near broke and cheap is good but not worth losing quality and thats why i i narrowed it down to those brands. Getting it from tiger direct would be a plus since i live near the warehouse outlet and can just go pick it up there. But Newegg.com works as well simply because they have good prices and a huge selection.

My computer is a amd 3700+ on a asus midrange board dont remember the exact model off hand.

Has 2 gig of ddr2 ram
2 250gig sata 7200rpm western digital hard drives
1 180gig ide 7200rmm western digital drive
a lite on 16x dvd burner and a sony dvd drive
a soundblaster 5.1 pci sound card
a pci express 16x 7800gt 256mb nvidia video card
1 120mm fan and 2 80 mm case fans
Then of course a optical mouse and a usb keyboard. And sometimes a usb flash drive.

Pretty sure thats all thats in it thats in it.

Any suggestions on what power source would be the best bang for the buck and still be reliable would be a huge help. Would like to keep the price under $100.

shakran · 08-20-2008, 05:53 PM

Thermaltake is a good brand, but be sure you get the Toughpower line. The Purepower line is purecrap.

another one to look at would be sparkle.

As far as your budget, with power supplies as with most things, you get what you pay for.

LoganSnake · 08-20-2008, 08:25 PM

I have Thermaltake in my old computer and an OCZ in my new one (this one specifically: http://www.ocztechnology.com/product...m_power_supply). Both are excellent brands.

Reese · 08-20-2008, 08:49 PM

I'm guessing you built the computer or had it built? Seems so, but just making sure it's not a Compaq or HP because they have special power supplies.

Plaid13 · 08-20-2008, 09:44 PM

ah yeah i built it myself like 2-3 years ago.
-----Added 21/8/2008 at 02 : 29 : 39-----
Well the toughpower line from thermaltake is all beyond my budget so thats out of the question. and if the cheaper lines from them are crap i suppose i will avoid them. I have never heard of OCZ but I dont exactly keep up on whats what in the computer hardware world. Are they pretty high quality? I expect whatever i get to last around 3 years of heavy use. But i really cant afford to get something expensive.

Has anyone else used OCZ power supplys in the past? From the looks of it that ocz stealthxstream would fit my needs if the quality was up to par.

Lasereth · 08-21-2008, 04:28 AM

This is what I would get since you're "damn near broke."

Thermaltake 430w $41

If you want to spend a bit more (though you don't need to):

Corsair 450w $70

Thermaltake 550w $80, modular

Enermax 400w $80, modular

PC Power and Cooling 500w $85

Like I said before, you could easily get by with the $41 Thermaltake PSU. If you wanted to get a more powerful PSU, any of the others are very high quality. 2 of them are modular (meaning you can take off any cable from the PSU that you don't use) but that's just a preference.

Vigilante · 08-21-2008, 04:32 AM

What's your hardware and what's your budget? That should be the first question.

I'll give you what I use, which runs a highly overclocked intel Q6600 (3.6GHz daily speed), 8800GT, 2GB of ram, 2 drives etc:
Newegg.com - SILVERSTONE SST-ST56F 560W ATX 12V 2.01 & EPS 12V Power Supply 100 - 240 V FCC, CE - Power Supplies

It's using over 400 watts under load per my kill-a-watt meter, but runs flawless

The OCZ stealth line I think is one of the newer (lighter weight) PSUs. As such, I wouldn't use it for a power hungry machine, if you have one. You say heavy duty, so I would recommend what I know works great. Mine can run with 4 instances of folding@home running 24/7, plus whatever else I may want to do. The silverstone zeus is built like a brick, it's solid.

Lasereth · 08-21-2008, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luciferase75

What's your hardware and what's your budget? That should be the first question.

He said what his hardware and budget was in the first post.......

Vigilante · 08-21-2008, 11:27 AM

Well fack. That's what I get for posting at 7AM. Jesus tapdancing Christ. /slaps forehead

I still stand by the PSU though. I have never had one as strong as this for its given wattage and price.

Redjake · 08-21-2008, 02:58 PM

Lasereth already mentioned it, here is your clear winner:

Newegg.com - Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W ATX Power Supply 115/ 230 V - Power Supplies

Get this and be done with it. It will power your set up easily, you don't need 550W at all.

EDIT: It now has a $10 rebate - you gotta do this. $30!!!!!!!!

Plaid13 · 08-21-2008, 05:13 PM

I have looked at a few of those online power supply calculators and they all seem to say i need 500-550 watts. I have a tendancy to keep the cpu pegged at 100% useage for a good chunk of the day. from gaming and making copies and compressing dvds and that sort of thing. Dont think it would be a good idea to get a power supply that just barely has enough power and spends most of its life working near 100% pretty sure that would just kill it faster then normal.

Also tend to do things like run the OS off the first drive play a game off the second while listening to music thats onthe third drive. So all three drives will be working at once. Would rather have extra power then not quite enough. Better to be safe then sorry and all that. And i could still have a little room for expansion. In the next year or so i would like to upgrade to a dual core processor and board. And most likely a better video card at some point after that. Doubt i would ever bother running two video cards though. I had a antec 550watt for the last few years in it and it seems i have worked that thing to death. at least i hope thats the problem or this is going to be a lot more expensive of a fix then i had hoped.

I am currently looking over reviews for the ocz gamextream 600watt OCZ OCZ600GXSSLI GameXStream 600-Watt ATX Power Supply - SLI-Ready, SATA-Ready at TigerDirect.com

Just from looking over the forums for them it seems there answer for any problems is hey we will send you a new one. Sounds like a pretty good company as far as warrenty policy goes.

Vigilante · 08-21-2008, 06:29 PM

Antecs are not the best nowadays. They were several years ago but the quality died back. They have since picked up the pieces and started making decent ones again, but my experiences with them in the past make me look elsewhere.

OCZ is a good brand depending on the model. My wife's E6600 system has a 500w stealthXstream, and it is NOT a beefy unit. It feels like one of those rosewill PSUs or something, light duty transformer and smallish heatsinks. I do not like the way that feels, but it has been stable on a non-overclocked rig, so whatever.

One thing to consider though, is if you are not an overclocker or if this rig is used for work/livelihood (hence no overclocking there either) then a 600w OCZ would probably last you a good while even at 100% CPU usage over time. It just wouldn't last me a good while because Q6600s are power hungry beasts, especially OCed.

If you do go with the OCZ, then you will easily be ready for a dual-core intel in the future. FYI newegg has a rebate on the OCZ model you want:
Newegg.com - OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI 600W ATX12V Power Supply 100 - 240 V CB/CE/CSA/UL/FCC - Power Supplies
more up front, but 80 after the rebate.

Plaid13 · 08-21-2008, 08:52 PM

yeah i looked at the stealthxstream line orignaly but they are the budget minded units they make and when the gamer line is only a little more i think its worth while. At least going by what the company says its supposed to be a much higher end unit. Yeah saw the rebate from newegg and i have considered getting it from there just to save a few bucks in the end but... i live near the tigerdirect warehouse outlet so its so much easier to just drive in and pick one up. and in the rare case i get one thats dead out of the box it just makes it so much easier to return it for a replacement. Not to mention its faster to get the computer up and running once i decide for sure what i want.

Redjake · 08-22-2008, 03:47 AM

Buy what you want, but the Thermaltake is plenty. Trust me, a lot of us know a ton about PSUs - we've blown enough to populate a small country.

The quality of the PSU is infinitely more important than the wattage.

Right now, I have a Core 2 Duo E6750, 4 GB of Corsair XMS RAM, GeForce 8800GT 512 MB, a 750 GB SATA HD, a 120 GB SATA HD, 2 x LightScribe DVD-RWs, and 6 internal fans. This is way more power consumption that your current setup, and it's all powered by a 400 watt Enermax power supply. I game pretty hard on it, which is arguably just as intensive as compressing/rendering and burning media. In today's market the wattage means nothing, it all comes down to the voltage on each rail and the quality of the manufactorer. But spend your money how you want, if you want to waste it on overkill, go for it.

Plaid13 · 08-22-2008, 04:30 AM

Hum i may be wasting money on overkill but... in the last 8 years through multiple rebuilds and countless upgrades i have gotten by with a total of 3 power supplies... this will be my 4th. And if you have blown enough to populate a small country... perhaps you may not be the right person to take advice from. But i do appreciate all of the info and opinions i can get. Quality and expandability on a budget is the real ideal goal. The best bang for the buck is what I am looking for not just the cheapest thing that will work with a good brand name. I have been reading many reviews on many different power supplies and the thermaltake ones do look good. But dont have the expandability for the price range im looking for on most of the models they make.

Even if that 430watt thermaltake would power what i have it only has 2 sata connectors. Thats a real downfall. Its also only 60% Efficiency when all of the newer models are almost all 80% Over time that will pay for itself in power saving costs. Needing to upgrade a power supply just because i need more hard drive space is never a good thing. Just not worth buying a dated power supply to save a few bucks when my budget can afford something better.

Vigilante · 08-22-2008, 05:08 AM

Redjake, you have to remember he plans to upgrade with this PSU as well. In that case, 600w known good units are as low as you want to go, because you never know what you may want down the road. Hell he may want a quad core at some point if he does CPU intensive stuff, and the OCZ600 will do the job, while the 430w would die in a week.

Also, current matters on each rail (voltage can be tweaked either by a trim pot on the rail inside the unit, or added on the voltage sense lines if needed), as well as the number of rails. The goal is less +12v rails and more amperage per rail, ideally being 1 rail with a massive amp rating. Not to say that 4 rails is bad, but if I could choose between 4 rails @ 60A total and 1 rail @ 55A, I'd go with 1 rail. That way you have less of a chance of overloading one rail, depending on how they branch (or combine) the rails at output.

If you want to know what a well-planned PSU can do, I have a quad Q6600 2.4GHz overclocked to 3.6GHz (can run 4GHz, but not daily), 2GB Crucial on a Abit IP35 Pro, 8800GT, 10k raptor, 250GB sata drive, several 120mm sanyo denki fans, all watercooled. I ran folding@home for months, dual SMP instances which means full 100% CPU load and heavily taxed memory. The PSU output was a little warm, but not hot. If a 560w PSU can do that, you know you have the right PSU. The great part? The PSU was not an upgrade, it was left over from the system before

. That's why he should get a 600w+ unit, because you never know that the next system will be.

Plaid13 · 08-22-2008, 06:00 AM

exactly I want the part to last untill the basic format of it is changed. last power supply i had to get wasnt because the old one was dead but because of the need for the newest motheboard and pci express power jacks.

MSD · 08-22-2008, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redjake

The quality of the PSU is infinitely more important than the wattage.

And it's not total wattage you really need to worry about anymore, it's amperage on the 12v rails. Read this:
Info: How much 12V current (Amperes) do I really get on the 12V rails of my PSU? - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net for more info.

Lasereth · 08-22-2008, 06:42 AM

It sounds like you're not really "damn near broke" if you can afford the $100 PSU so I would definitely get a $80ish 500w+ PSU if you're scared about wattage or efficiency. The Thermaltake 430w would be fine but I can understand if you want the PSU to be fully upgradeable with a new system. I still stand by the 550w Thermaltake or PC Power and Cooling PSUs I linked above.

Plaid13 · 08-22-2008, 09:13 AM

Well like i said in the orignal post i am damn near broke but i have a budget of about $100 I think getting a cheap one that wont last as long would just end up costing more in the long run. and i personally cant stand that to waste money like that. Spending $50 now just to need to spend another $80-100 in a year or so is not a good deal when i could just spend a little more now and get one that will last. I would love to be able to afford to just spend $250 on a power supply and not have to think about it but thats just out of the question.

That 550 watt thermaltake is one i have been looking at but the whole modular thing seems pointless since i would need all the wires. Just seems like one more possible problem point. And only having 2 12v rails might be a bit annoying with how my case is laid out. But i would have no problem getting a thermaltake if i found one that looks like it would suit what i need perfectly.

Thanks for the link MSD it did clear things up a bit on what to look for.

Lasereth · 08-22-2008, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plaid13

Well like i said in the orignal post i am damn near broke but i have a budget of about $100 I think getting a cheap one that wont last as long would just end up costing more in the long run. and i personally cant stand that to waste money like that. Spending $50 now just to need to spend another $80-100 in a year or so is not a good deal when i could just spend a little more now and get one that will last. I would love to be able to afford to just spend $250 on a power supply and not have to think about it but thats just out of the question.

Yeah, except the $41 430w Thermaltake is exceptionally high quality and has 1800 reviews on NewEgg at 5 egg rating. I have one and I'm running a huge LCD, 3 internal HDDs which get video recorded to them frequently and games running constantly, a raptor HDD, dual core CPU, geforce 8, two DVD burners and a soundblaster audigy sound card and the PSU is absolutely perfect.

It may not fit your needs but it's definitely not a low quality PSU. Price does not reflect the quality of a power supply...only the brand and amps reflect the quality for the most part.

BTW a good indicator of a high quality PSU is how many rails it has. Lower rails actually means better efficiency. 2x12v rails is what you want, with as many components plugged into a single rail as possible. Many people believe the opposite of this.

Plaid13 · 08-22-2008, 06:23 PM

How does less rails mean better efficiency? I have just been looking at the amps per rail and the efficiency they rate. I prefer more then 1-2 12v rails because of the way my case is laid out its fairly large and everything is kind of spread out. And i like it that way because it means i can keep it running real cool. Never seen the temp of the processor or MB go over 34C even with a absurd amount of dust in it from being kept on the floor and not cleaned out nearly often enough. I am real picky about being able to keep the cables out of the airflow and dont want to have to have them stretched across the middle if possible just to get power to everything.

I do know that the thermaltake 430 watt is high quality it just dosnt have what i need/want in a power supply.

Vigilante · 08-23-2008, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plaid13

How does less rails mean better efficiency? I have just been looking at the amps per rail and the efficiency they rate. I prefer more then 1-2 12v rails because of the way my case is laid out its fairly large and everything is kind of spread out. And i like it that way because it means i can keep it running real cool. Never seen the temp of the processor or MB go over 34C even with a absurd amount of dust in it from being kept on the floor and not cleaned out nearly often enough. I am real picky about being able to keep the cables out of the airflow and dont want to have to have them stretched across the middle if possible just to get power to everything.

I do know that the thermaltake 430 watt is high quality it just dosnt have what i need/want in a power supply.

"Rails" refers to the number of transformers inside the PSU, not the number of power leads that come out of the PSU case, or the length of said leads.

A bunch of puny transformers means poor design. Sometimes these are combined in a solder block inside to create high available current across all plugs, and sometime they are divided physically, with one going to the ATX plug, one going to the PCI-E plugs, two going to the molex/sata plugs, etc. This is a bad design as well, as they can be overloaded more easily.

So the less transformers you have (rails) the better. 2 large ones are better than 4 smaller ones, and 1 huge transformer is always best. In my experience this is also related to the weight of the supply. Cheaper designs always have several rails, and thus they use the puny transformers. 3 puny transformers does not equal the weight of a large one, so that makes the unit lighter. Likewise, cooling is usually skimped on as well in cheaper models, so the heatsinks are flimsy and lighter. In a more expensive model, you have the massive block of steel transformer and heavier heatsinks to cool the FETs that are moving serious current (current = amperage) through the unit. Combine those facts and the unit will feel like a solid metal brick. For me, if that is not what the unit feels like, it will not work for my rig. It's a generalization, but one that has stood up to all current designs.

08-20-2008, 05:48 PM	#1 (permalink)
Plaid13 I want a Plaid crayon	PC power supply Well I apparently need a new power supply for my pc and I am having trouble deciding what to get. I think i want to get a antec or thermaltake. Pretty sure i need at least 550watts. But i would like to get some extra opinions and maybe suggestions on what model to get. Keeping in mind I am damn near broke and cheap is good but not worth losing quality and thats why i i narrowed it down to those brands. Getting it from tiger direct would be a plus since i live near the warehouse outlet and can just go pick it up there. But Newegg.com works as well simply because they have good prices and a huge selection. My computer is a amd 3700+ on a asus midrange board dont remember the exact model off hand. Has 2 gig of ddr2 ram 2 250gig sata 7200rpm western digital hard drives 1 180gig ide 7200rmm western digital drive a lite on 16x dvd burner and a sony dvd drive a soundblaster 5.1 pci sound card a pci express 16x 7800gt 256mb nvidia video card 1 120mm fan and 2 80 mm case fans Then of course a optical mouse and a usb keyboard. And sometimes a usb flash drive. Pretty sure thats all thats in it thats in it. Any suggestions on what power source would be the best bang for the buck and still be reliable would be a huge help. Would like to keep the price under $100.

08-20-2008, 08:25 PM	#3 (permalink)
LoganSnake We work alone Location: Cake Town	I have Thermaltake in my old computer and an OCZ in my new one (this one specifically: http://www.ocztechnology.com/product...m_power_supply). Both are excellent brands. __________________ Maturity is knowing you were an idiot in the past. Wisdom is knowing that you'll be an idiot in the future. Common sense is knowing that you should try not to be an idiot now. - J. Jacques

08-20-2008, 08:49 PM	#4 (permalink)
Reese Delicious	I'm guessing you built the computer or had it built? Seems so, but just making sure it's not a Compaq or HP because they have special power supplies. __________________ “It is better to be rich and healthy than poor and sick” - Dave Barry

08-20-2008, 09:44 PM	#5 (permalink)
Plaid13 I want a Plaid crayon	ah yeah i built it myself like 2-3 years ago. -----Added 21/8/2008 at 02 : 29 : 39----- Well the toughpower line from thermaltake is all beyond my budget so thats out of the question. and if the cheaper lines from them are crap i suppose i will avoid them. I have never heard of OCZ but I dont exactly keep up on whats what in the computer hardware world. Are they pretty high quality? I expect whatever i get to last around 3 years of heavy use. But i really cant afford to get something expensive. Has anyone else used OCZ power supplys in the past? From the looks of it that ocz stealthxstream would fit my needs if the quality was up to par. Last edited by Plaid13; 08-20-2008 at 10:29 PM.. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

08-21-2008, 04:32 AM	#7 (permalink)
Vigilante Broken Arrow Location: US	What's your hardware and what's your budget? That should be the first question. I'll give you what I use, which runs a highly overclocked intel Q6600 (3.6GHz daily speed), 8800GT, 2GB of ram, 2 drives etc: Newegg.com - SILVERSTONE SST-ST56F 560W ATX 12V 2.01 & EPS 12V Power Supply 100 - 240 V FCC, CE - Power Supplies It's using over 400 watts under load per my kill-a-watt meter, but runs flawless The OCZ stealth line I think is one of the newer (lighter weight) PSUs. As such, I wouldn't use it for a power hungry machine, if you have one. You say heavy duty, so I would recommend what I know works great. Mine can run with 4 instances of folding@home running 24/7, plus whatever else I may want to do. The silverstone zeus is built like a brick, it's solid. __________________ We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. -Winston Churchill

08-20-2008, 05:53 PM	#2 (permalink)
shakran Tone.	Thermaltake is a good brand, but be sure you get the Toughpower line. The Purepower line is purecrap. another one to look at would be sparkle. As far as your budget, with power supplies as with most things, you get what you pay for.

08-21-2008, 04:28 AM	#6 (permalink)
Lasereth Knight of the Old Republic Location: Winston-Salem, NC	This is what I would get since you're "damn near broke." Thermaltake 430w $41 If you want to spend a bit more (though you don't need to): Corsair 450w $70 Thermaltake 550w $80, modular Enermax 400w $80, modular PC Power and Cooling 500w $85 Like I said before, you could easily get by with the $41 Thermaltake PSU. If you wanted to get a more powerful PSU, any of the others are very high quality. 2 of them are modular (meaning you can take off any cable from the PSU that you don't use) but that's just a preference.

08-21-2008, 11:27 AM	#9 (permalink)
Vigilante Broken Arrow Location: US	Well fack. That's what I get for posting at 7AM. Jesus tapdancing Christ. /slaps forehead I still stand by the PSU though. I have never had one as strong as this for its given wattage and price. __________________ We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. -Winston Churchill

08-21-2008, 02:58 PM	#10 (permalink)
Redjake I'm a family man - I run a family business. Location: Wilson, NC	Lasereth already mentioned it, here is your clear winner: Newegg.com - Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W ATX Power Supply 115/ 230 V - Power Supplies Get this and be done with it. It will power your set up easily, you don't need 550W at all. EDIT: It now has a $10 rebate - you gotta do this. $30!!!!!!!! __________________ Off the record, on the q.t., and very hush-hush.

08-21-2008, 05:13 PM	#11 (permalink)
Plaid13 I want a Plaid crayon	I have looked at a few of those online power supply calculators and they all seem to say i need 500-550 watts. I have a tendancy to keep the cpu pegged at 100% useage for a good chunk of the day. from gaming and making copies and compressing dvds and that sort of thing. Dont think it would be a good idea to get a power supply that just barely has enough power and spends most of its life working near 100% pretty sure that would just kill it faster then normal. Also tend to do things like run the OS off the first drive play a game off the second while listening to music thats onthe third drive. So all three drives will be working at once. Would rather have extra power then not quite enough. Better to be safe then sorry and all that. And i could still have a little room for expansion. In the next year or so i would like to upgrade to a dual core processor and board. And most likely a better video card at some point after that. Doubt i would ever bother running two video cards though. I had a antec 550watt for the last few years in it and it seems i have worked that thing to death. at least i hope thats the problem or this is going to be a lot more expensive of a fix then i had hoped. I am currently looking over reviews for the ocz gamextream 600watt OCZ OCZ600GXSSLI GameXStream 600-Watt ATX Power Supply - SLI-Ready, SATA-Ready at TigerDirect.com Just from looking over the forums for them it seems there answer for any problems is hey we will send you a new one. Sounds like a pretty good company as far as warrenty policy goes. Last edited by Plaid13; 08-21-2008 at 05:15 PM..

08-21-2008, 06:29 PM	#12 (permalink)
Vigilante Broken Arrow Location: US	Antecs are not the best nowadays. They were several years ago but the quality died back. They have since picked up the pieces and started making decent ones again, but my experiences with them in the past make me look elsewhere. OCZ is a good brand depending on the model. My wife's E6600 system has a 500w stealthXstream, and it is NOT a beefy unit. It feels like one of those rosewill PSUs or something, light duty transformer and smallish heatsinks. I do not like the way that feels, but it has been stable on a non-overclocked rig, so whatever. One thing to consider though, is if you are not an overclocker or if this rig is used for work/livelihood (hence no overclocking there either) then a 600w OCZ would probably last you a good while even at 100% CPU usage over time. It just wouldn't last me a good while because Q6600s are power hungry beasts, especially OCed. If you do go with the OCZ, then you will easily be ready for a dual-core intel in the future. FYI newegg has a rebate on the OCZ model you want: Newegg.com - OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI 600W ATX12V Power Supply 100 - 240 V CB/CE/CSA/UL/FCC - Power Supplies more up front, but 80 after the rebate. __________________ We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. -Winston Churchill

08-21-2008, 08:52 PM	#13 (permalink)
Plaid13 I want a Plaid crayon	yeah i looked at the stealthxstream line orignaly but they are the budget minded units they make and when the gamer line is only a little more i think its worth while. At least going by what the company says its supposed to be a much higher end unit. Yeah saw the rebate from newegg and i have considered getting it from there just to save a few bucks in the end but... i live near the tigerdirect warehouse outlet so its so much easier to just drive in and pick one up. and in the rare case i get one thats dead out of the box it just makes it so much easier to return it for a replacement. Not to mention its faster to get the computer up and running once i decide for sure what i want.

08-22-2008, 03:47 AM	#14 (permalink)
Redjake I'm a family man - I run a family business. Location: Wilson, NC	Buy what you want, but the Thermaltake is plenty. Trust me, a lot of us know a ton about PSUs - we've blown enough to populate a small country. The quality of the PSU is infinitely more important than the wattage. Right now, I have a Core 2 Duo E6750, 4 GB of Corsair XMS RAM, GeForce 8800GT 512 MB, a 750 GB SATA HD, a 120 GB SATA HD, 2 x LightScribe DVD-RWs, and 6 internal fans. This is way more power consumption that your current setup, and it's all powered by a 400 watt Enermax power supply. I game pretty hard on it, which is arguably just as intensive as compressing/rendering and burning media. In today's market the wattage means nothing, it all comes down to the voltage on each rail and the quality of the manufactorer. But spend your money how you want, if you want to waste it on overkill, go for it. __________________ Off the record, on the q.t., and very hush-hush.

08-22-2008, 04:30 AM	#15 (permalink)
Plaid13 I want a Plaid crayon	Hum i may be wasting money on overkill but... in the last 8 years through multiple rebuilds and countless upgrades i have gotten by with a total of 3 power supplies... this will be my 4th. And if you have blown enough to populate a small country... perhaps you may not be the right person to take advice from. But i do appreciate all of the info and opinions i can get. Quality and expandability on a budget is the real ideal goal. The best bang for the buck is what I am looking for not just the cheapest thing that will work with a good brand name. I have been reading many reviews on many different power supplies and the thermaltake ones do look good. But dont have the expandability for the price range im looking for on most of the models they make. Even if that 430watt thermaltake would power what i have it only has 2 sata connectors. Thats a real downfall. Its also only 60% Efficiency when all of the newer models are almost all 80% Over time that will pay for itself in power saving costs. Needing to upgrade a power supply just because i need more hard drive space is never a good thing. Just not worth buying a dated power supply to save a few bucks when my budget can afford something better.

08-22-2008, 05:08 AM	#16 (permalink)
Vigilante Broken Arrow Location: US	Redjake, you have to remember he plans to upgrade with this PSU as well. In that case, 600w known good units are as low as you want to go, because you never know what you may want down the road. Hell he may want a quad core at some point if he does CPU intensive stuff, and the OCZ600 will do the job, while the 430w would die in a week. Also, current matters on each rail (voltage can be tweaked either by a trim pot on the rail inside the unit, or added on the voltage sense lines if needed), as well as the number of rails. The goal is less +12v rails and more amperage per rail, ideally being 1 rail with a massive amp rating. Not to say that 4 rails is bad, but if I could choose between 4 rails @ 60A total and 1 rail @ 55A, I'd go with 1 rail. That way you have less of a chance of overloading one rail, depending on how they branch (or combine) the rails at output. If you want to know what a well-planned PSU can do, I have a quad Q6600 2.4GHz overclocked to 3.6GHz (can run 4GHz, but not daily), 2GB Crucial on a Abit IP35 Pro, 8800GT, 10k raptor, 250GB sata drive, several 120mm sanyo denki fans, all watercooled. I ran folding@home for months, dual SMP instances which means full 100% CPU load and heavily taxed memory. The PSU output was a little warm, but not hot. If a 560w PSU can do that, you know you have the right PSU. The great part? The PSU was not an upgrade, it was left over from the system before . That's why he should get a 600w+ unit, because you never know that the next system will be. __________________ We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. -Winston Churchill

08-22-2008, 06:00 AM	#17 (permalink)
Plaid13 I want a Plaid crayon	exactly I want the part to last untill the basic format of it is changed. last power supply i had to get wasnt because the old one was dead but because of the need for the newest motheboard and pci express power jacks.

08-22-2008, 06:42 AM	#19 (permalink)
Lasereth Knight of the Old Republic Location: Winston-Salem, NC	It sounds like you're not really "damn near broke" if you can afford the $100 PSU so I would definitely get a $80ish 500w+ PSU if you're scared about wattage or efficiency. The Thermaltake 430w would be fine but I can understand if you want the PSU to be fully upgradeable with a new system. I still stand by the 550w Thermaltake or PC Power and Cooling PSUs I linked above.

08-22-2008, 09:13 AM	#20 (permalink)
Plaid13 I want a Plaid crayon	Well like i said in the orignal post i am damn near broke but i have a budget of about $100 I think getting a cheap one that wont last as long would just end up costing more in the long run. and i personally cant stand that to waste money like that. Spending $50 now just to need to spend another $80-100 in a year or so is not a good deal when i could just spend a little more now and get one that will last. I would love to be able to afford to just spend $250 on a power supply and not have to think about it but thats just out of the question. That 550 watt thermaltake is one i have been looking at but the whole modular thing seems pointless since i would need all the wires. Just seems like one more possible problem point. And only having 2 12v rails might be a bit annoying with how my case is laid out. But i would have no problem getting a thermaltake if i found one that looks like it would suit what i need perfectly. Thanks for the link MSD it did clear things up a bit on what to look for.

08-22-2008, 06:23 PM	#22 (permalink)
Plaid13 I want a Plaid crayon	How does less rails mean better efficiency? I have just been looking at the amps per rail and the efficiency they rate. I prefer more then 1-2 12v rails because of the way my case is laid out its fairly large and everything is kind of spread out. And i like it that way because it means i can keep it running real cool. Never seen the temp of the processor or MB go over 34C even with a absurd amount of dust in it from being kept on the floor and not cleaned out nearly often enough. I am real picky about being able to keep the cables out of the airflow and dont want to have to have them stretched across the middle if possible just to get power to everything. I do know that the thermaltake 430 watt is high quality it just dosnt have what i need/want in a power supply.