Power Supplies

[JAMCAT]

I'm looking into upgrading my PC. Here is what I am looking at:
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor

MSI P55-CD53 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard

POWERCOLOR AX5770 1GBD5-H Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card.

My current power supply is a NZXT pp 500 2.0 (500W I believe).

I know next to nothing about power supplies, so will I be needing a new one to support this?

[karamazovmm]

yes you´ll need a new psu to get the full power of your new rig. Your 12v+ has low amperage, it should have at least 40A to be future proof.

try this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005

[mrcrusty]

yes you´ll need a new psu to get the full power of your new rig. Your 12v+ has low amperage, it should have at least 40A to be future proof.

try this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005

The Corsair TX 650 (ol' reliable) is a great PSU, cheap too, but it's overkill unless you're planning to go crossfire.

A normal system with an HD 5770 doesn't pull anything close to 650w. You'd only need a good 500w-550w power supply to keep that kind of system going.

If you really want something with that much power though, I'd recommend getting an OCZ Z Series 650w PSU. I can't vouch for long term reliability (since it's a relatively new product), but the reviews on it's performance look really good. That, and it's got 80 Plus Silver certification and it costs the same as the Corsair TX 650.

As Mr MM. said, it is more future resistant (nothing's future proof ), especially if you're planning to crossfire the HD 5770.

[mrmouth]

The OCZ looks good, but for same price, I would easily go with the Corsair.

The 80 plus certification is great, but most actually get the certification using loopholes, and that applies all levels (gold-silver-bronze). OCZ is one of those. Regardless of the OEM, OCZ (or any other company aside from the OEM suppliers, like Seasonic, etc, who also actually sell their PSUs) are required to get the certification themselves. So they get the OEM PSU, re-badge it, and perform tests in-house, sending the results to whomever judges certification (I forget who).

The whole 80 plus thing, while agreed upon by all the powers that be, was something that was imposed. And there are all kinds of loopholes that are readily taken advantage of.

Corsair tosses in top-notch capacitors in all their PSUs. They use great OEM manufacturers to begin with, and then shore them up to add longevity and reliability. They are also one of the 'good guys' when it comes to certification. They adhere to all the stipulations, and even go beyond that. If a Corsair PSU is certified 80 plus, it is certified 80 plus under all load levels and temps.

So for the same price, I would always go with Corsair. And for my dime, I still would unless the price difference was substantial. Maybe upwards of $40+

[Shiloh]

I just installed the Corsair 650TX and I've been very happy with it. I do plan to Crossfire my 5770 so I can grow into it a bit. For $70. after rebate I would definitely go for the Corsair.

[karamazovmm]

I didn't put the 500w corsair for the reason that it was some 10 dollars more expansive, and yes I do consider it to be overkill, and knowing people here in the basement there will be a few who would xfire things. Besides there are very few psu lower than 650w that actually provide a good amperage in the 12+.

antec makes marvelous psus and seasonic too, but they don't pull enough amperage from those 12+ for it to provide power for gpus, so they can work flawlessly.

[Roman_Man#3]

antec makes marvelous psus and seasonic too, but they don't pull enough amperage from those 12+ for it to provide power for gpus, so they can work flawlessly.

Corsair uses OEM Seasonic PSUs, and branded Seasonic PSUs are some of the best. This 750 Seasonic has 80 combined amps, which is more than enough for most crossfire/sli configurations. I disagree with your comment on Seasonic, they are some of the best PSUs out there. Antec makes good PSUs with lots of Amps too, you just have to pick the right one, but its the same way with any PSU manufacturer.

[Freddie]

Corsair like many other box shifters use various OEM's for it's PSU's - Seasonic supplies it's mid range PSU's upto 750 watts and Channel Well supplies everything above that. As for 12v amps the Antec TruePower TP-650 can supply 22, 22, 25 and 25 amps on it's 4 12v rails which is ample for an overlocked HD57700 Crossfire setup or an overclocked system with a HD5870 for example.

[karamazovmm]

the seasonic psu actually has 2 12+ rails and those output 40a, each not 80a in total.

What is there to disagree with my opinion on the seasonic psus? just because they have a much higher wattage model that won´t serve the op, and let´s remark this, it was a very new psu.

The latest review of antec (can´t remember the brand) 750w only had 20ish A in the 12+ hardly dedicated for gaming, since a 5870 to be confortable you have to have at least 40a. and a 8800 needs to use 24a.

[Roman_Man#3]

the seasonic psu actually has 2 12+ rails and those output 40a, each not 80a in total.

But if you know what you're doing, you'd plug a PCI-E connector from each rail into your cards, which would get them 80a. Heres a 380w one with 36a, more than a corsair 450vx.

What is there to disagree with my opinion on the seasonic psus? just because they have a much higher wattage model that won´t serve the op, and let´s remark this, it was a very new psu.

I'm disagreeing with your statement that they don't provide enough power for GPUs, they provide more than enough power.

[karamazovmm]

good for you

[Freddie]

Your both wrong. 62 amps combined rail for the 750 model which is still plenty of juice for today's top cards, more important with PSU's is to read reviews that test the stability of all the rails on a PSU, Seasonic consistently score 100% in these sorts of tests hence why I always recommend them.

[HansDuet]

[karamazovmm]

Yes I actually took the time to visit the seasonic site also, and there are only 3 models that can provide the power needed.

in this case 40a

[mrmouth]

Ive always found Seasonic PSUs, sold under their name, very underwhelming. And the prices they go for are kind of head scratching.

Back when I bought my Corsair HX620 (now famous, original Corsair PSU) 3+ years ago, the Seasonic OEM it was built off of was maybe $10 more, with lower specs. Like I said, Corsair actually does some beefing up after they acquire them. The best Japanese capacitors for the job, making an already quiet, very reliable PSU, substantially beefier. And the best part is they are almost always cheaper by $10. Hard to imagine that anyone would buy a straight-up Seasonic anymore, unless you lived in Asia maybe...

Part of the deal with CWT was a result of the need for more options. The same caps are tossed in all CWT OEM's. And aside from being a bit noisier than Seasonic, they have proven to be no less reliable. There were some minor growing pains early on, with small things that nobody would have noticed (shielded cables, etc), but CWT quickly brought their OEM's on par with Seasonic.

[Freddie]

Do you know what caps the Corsair uses? I thought both PSU's used aluminum electrolytic capacitors which were rated for 105c. The biggest difference between those two models is Corsair uses a single 120mm fan whereas Seasonic uses a 120mm and an additional 60mm on the back that's where the additional premium most goes (this is on the modular 600 watt range of PSU's).

[mrmouth]

JohnnyGuru took apart two, and found that one M12 had the same secondary caps as the HX620, and that the other had inferior Ostor secondary caps, and a Hitachi primary. Many others reported the same thing when opening up their SS, which were from previous production runs.

The SS that did have identical secondary Nippon caps (still a Hitachi primary), was dated from the same production block as the re-badged Corsair HX620. So the idea was that even if you wanted to pay $10-20 more for the M12, for some reason, chances are you were going to get a PSU with the inferior caps. And aside from that, Corsair always uses a Nippon primary as well.

Based on history (most manufactures, used Ostor or other inexpensive caps, until the last few years, including SS) the general consensus was that Corsair gently nudged SS into using those better caps, as Corsair was at that point still negotiating with CWT (and Fore Point) for the first of the TX series. And that overall, Corsair really nudged the entire premium PSU market into using Nippon secondary caps.

Even today, when reviewers pop them open, it seems to be hit or miss as to what caps the SS, non-OEM will be running. It could simply be a case of SS using caps based on in-house stock at that moment. But obviously they cannot really do that when they are contracted with Corsair.

And then there is the issue of every Corsair, built on a SS OEM, performing better in extreme conditions. Hot box testing, etc. Even in cases where the secondary caps are the same. There are apparently other subtle differences in components, but nobody really ever goes into what those are. The SS caps never really blow, but cannot be pushed as far.

Corsair is also really pushing the use of solid caps (conductive polymer) now. But that will only come on the 1kw+ line, sometime in the future.