Corsair vx450W or OCZ 550W Fatal1ty

[sam_wade07]

Asrock ALIVE NF6G-VSTA Motherboard
AMD Athlon X2 5200 2.7ghz
Palit 9600gt
1 CD Rom and 1 LITEON DVD Writer
Kingston 2gb RAM
Samsung 160gb Hard Drive

which is better for my rig?

[davidhammock200]

Corsair vx450W:beer:

[sam_wade07]

but i'm thinking about more headroom on the 550w...i'm a little worried on 450w..is too little..

[davidhammock200]

but i'm thinking about more headroom on the 550w...i'm a little worried on 450w..is too little..Wattage is a useless form of measurement.

The Corsair 450W is under-rated at +12V@33A & is designed & built to higher quality standards.

JonnyGURU Recommended: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story3&reid=64

And I doubt that your system will ever pull on a continuous basis more than about +12V@22A.

[sam_wade07]

so what you mean is amps are more important than wattage?

[davidhammock200]

so what you mean is amps are more important than wattage?Voltage times Amperage Equals Wattage.

Modern computers draw the vast majority of their power from the +12V rail(s), so the +12V amperage is our #1 power concern.

The quality of that power is very important to the function & longevity of your system, the Corsair has proven beyond any doubt its ability to provide very high quality power, even if pushed beyond its stated capacity.

[mdk777]

If you were looking at the OCZ because it was cheap with the MIR:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194034

Much, MUCH better quality than the OCZ. :D

Price is a good deal if you are willing to send in the MIR.:)

[sam_wade07]

thanks a lot..

[sam_wade07]

so why is it that corsair 450w has bigger amps but only 450w?

[mdk777]

What he is saying is that the total wattage is only one measure of a power supply. The quality, distribution, and uniformity of that wattage are as important if not more important. Since your system will not push the 450 watt power supply, it is better to buy quality.

If you want to buy on total wattage, fine: but why did you ask then?:)

[davidhammock200]

The Corsair is a better designed & higher quality PSU than the OCZ.

[Zap]

so why is it that corsair 450w has bigger amps but only 450w?

It doesn't matter if you talk about watts or amps. What matters is WHERE those watts or amps go to.

PSUs are typically "rated" in total watts. This means the wattage that all the voltages it provides are added up for the final rating (which can also lead to some fudging of data). The thing is that most cheaper or crappier PSUs are based on older designs which tend to put out more 3.3v and 5v, and less 12v. The problem is that modern computers using PCI Express graphics cards use a lot more 12v and a lot less of the other voltages. Thus, with two PSUs "rated" at the same number of watts, one may be great for a modern computer while the other one can falter. In a typical modern computer the CPU power circuitry and the graphics cards all need +12v power, and that accounts for probably 70-90% of the power used by a modern gaming rig. So, if a gaming rig needs a 550W power supply (let's say overclocked quad core with overclocked GTX 280) it will need around 450W of that in pure +12v power.

I'm making up numbers to make a point, so take the lesson to heart, not the particular examples I gave.

[muddocktor]

In case you are worried about the Corsair unit powering your system, then don't worry. I've run mine with much more load than that system of yours will pull with no problems at all. I had it powering a Q6600@3.6 and an overclocked 6800GT vid card and it ran 24/7/365 like that for several months crunching Seti before I powered down the majority of my systems this summer.

[sam_wade07]

thanks a lot...