PSU Advice

[Gredival]

I'm looking to start building a new tower. I'm going with the i920 and an XFX Radeon HD4890.

My current PSU of choice is the CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W. This seems like the best value for the buck as the 650W from Corsair is only $15 cheaper but the 850W is about $70 more.

I've heard that 750W is overkill, and I'm inclined to agree. But I've also heard horror stories about non-efficient non-name brand PSU's not being able to pump out enough juice.

Does anyone know of a reliable 650W PSU that can run this CPU and card and also has enough of a price drop to justify the downgrade?

[Minions]

I'm looking to start building a new tower. I'm going with the i920 and an XFX Radeon HD4890.

My current PSU of choice is the CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W. This seems like the best value for the buck as the 650W from Corsair is only $15 cheaper but the 850W is about $70 more.

I've heard that 750W is overkill, and I'm inclined to agree. But I've also heard horror stories about non-efficient non-name brand PSU's not being able to pump out enough juice.

Does anyone know of a reliable 650W PSU that can run this CPU and card and also has enough of a price drop to justify the downgrade?

Shoot for using 1/2 of whatever PSU you choose. That's the general consensus, Modular is always something to shoot for as well, seeing as it helps airflow (assuming you are doing an air cooling build).

[Kryssan]

The PC Power and Cooling Silencer 610W is able to do what you want. But the price will be about the same at Newegg currently, considering rebates (normally would be a bit cheaper but the Corsair unit has a nice rebate on it atm). The PCP&P has better rail amperage and sound levels as well (funny, considering the higher wattage rating... the Silencer is 610W continuous, 670W peak, I wonder if Corsair's listing is continuous or peak. I couldn't find anything specific. Used to be the PSU corps would list peak values as the value of the PSU, so you had to take amperage of the rails and efficiency ratings into account to figure out what you really needed to buy... amps is always overlooked, even now - guess people forget that KW loading on a DC circuit is based on amperage?). Never used Corsair for power supply, so I don't know how they hold. I've always gone for PCP&P or TT for PSUs. Generally I stick with PCP&P because I've never had an issue with any of their units, almost always outlast the computers they're with.

[Minions]

The PC Power and Cooling Silencer 610W is able to do what you want. But the price will be about the same at Newegg currently, considering rebates (normally would be a bit cheaper but the Corsair unit has a nice rebate on it atm). The PCP&P has better rail amperage and sound levels as well (funny, considering the higher wattage rating... the Silencer is 610W continuous, 670W peak, I wonder if Corsair's listing is continuous or peak. I couldn't find anything specific. Used to be the PSU corps would list peak values as the value of the PSU, so you had to take amperage of the rails and efficiency ratings into account to figure out what you really needed to buy... amps is always overlooked, even now - guess people forget that KW loading on a DC circuit is based on amperage?). Never used Corsair for power supply, so I don't know how they hold. I've always gone for PCP&P or TT for PSUs. Generally I stick with PCP&P because I've never had an issue with any of their units, almost always outlast the computers they're with.

They are pretty damn good, rated best overall last year. I've had no problems with the ones I've had.

[Solefald]

• Newegg.com - Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7" Power Supply - Power Supplies
• Newegg.com - Antec TruePower New TP-750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7" Power Supply - Power Supplies
• Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Power Supplies (has $20 mail in rebate if you didn't notice)

[Amastacia]

The PC Power and Cooling Silencer 610W is able to do what you want. But the price will be about the same at Newegg currently, considering rebates (normally would be a bit cheaper but the Corsair unit has a nice rebate on it atm). The PCP&P has better rail amperage and sound levels as well (funny, considering the higher wattage rating... the Silencer is 610W continuous, 670W peak, I wonder if Corsair's listing is continuous or peak. I couldn't find anything specific. Used to be the PSU corps would list peak values as the value of the PSU, so you had to take amperage of the rails and efficiency ratings into account to figure out what you really needed to buy... amps is always overlooked, even now - guess people forget that KW loading on a DC circuit is based on amperage?). Never used Corsair for power supply, so I don't know how they hold. I've always gone for PCP&P or TT for PSUs. Generally I stick with PCP&P because I've never had an issue with any of their units, almost always outlast the computers they're with.

The 610 Silencer is quite nice.

So is Corsair's HX620 modular (but getting a little long in the tooth). It's about the same price as well.

Be careful with Newegg prices atm. They had a lot of weekend deals on that have expired and not all pages have been updated yet. Make sure you actually click through to each PSU's product page for the price.

And generally speaking, Corsair's PSU offering is strong. Most of their supplies are top-tier along with the good Antecs (Signatures, etc.) and PCP&C.

If I were looking for new PSUs right now, I'd be looking at the PCP&C Silencers, good deals on Antec Signatures, and any of the Corsair HX (modular) power supplies. The new HX850 is totally bonkers, one of if not the best power supplies on the market in the under-1KW range.

HUEG LIEK XBOX EDIT:

www.jonnyguru.com

Whole pile of really good PSU reviews, if it helps.

[Octavious]

On my recent build I used a CORSAIR 850 HX Modular, and it was very nice for the midtower case I used. If I had not gone modular, I'd run into some cable management issues with my case. I would choose a PSU that you can expand upon (personal opinion). The 850HX supports tri-sli among other things and I would like to upgrade to that sometime without having to buy another PSU. As someone has also mentioned, the airflow is much better since I don't have extra cables I have to worry about routing behind the case. Lastly, as far as I've read CORSAIR rates their PSU's very conservatively.

Some PSUs from non-big brand names can come rated at 500W but in reality they could only do that for 45sec on the north pole submerged in nitrogen. I would suggest looking at corsair.com/psufinder, and using it as a baseline to kind of guide your decision. I can definitely say corsair makes some quality power supplies and I have also heard great things from a good friend who swears by PCP&C.

tl;dr -> in my opinion, look into cost/what you hope to expand to/how long you want to use the PSU/case size and cable management.