A new hope...

[Terru]

Well, less than a week or so after I joined these forums, my PSU died on me :p It must be some strange karma thing for lower tier PSU's

The story is, one morning I went to turn on my PC, and when I pressed the power button the PSU gave a burst of juice, then nothing happened. AFter making sure everything was plugged in nice and snug, I tried again with the same results. So after swapping with a crapo 350w psu which worked, and plugging back and forth, the best result I got out of my cute little super flower was just case fans running and a low frequency rumbles from the PC speaker. Strange...

In any case, it seems this PSU's life in my rig is over. The question then arises, what new PSU to replace it with. If one just looks at my curent config, it is obvious that any decent 400w PSU could do the job without a hitch. However, seeing how my system is about 4 years old, and I am really pining for an upgrade, espcially of the quad core and R600 kind, it would make sense to get a PSU suited for these future needs, would it not?

After spending days trolling these forums and XS, it seems that ultra high end and expensive PSU's are not really required to run today’s most demanding systems, as shown by the Inq' and others. This would suggest that I just need a corsair 620 or the like. However, right now I am running 4 HDD, 6 case fans hooked up to a fan controller and a 30w Psone LCD, along with a regular assortment of standard computer hardware. In the future, I may add 2 more HDD in a raid array, go SLi/crossfire, blah blah blah

This then brings me to my final long winded point. Would it be reasonable for me to purchase, say a Silverstone Zeus 850 or 750 now, or should I really just stick with the corsair everyone is getting. It goes without saying that I intend to OC pretty seriously, hopefully with one of those neat-o Ultra TEC coolers.

Oh, on a final note since I am using a Lian Li PC75B, I need a psu with pretty darn long cables. And is the only difference between the Zeus 850 and 750 just 100w? What about fan orientation and noise, or that really strange electrical noise that Jonny reported? I hope someone else can enlighten me on that, I hope the noise doesn’t interfere too much with my headphones and all.

So thank you everyone who read this far, and even those who did not, your advice is welcome!

[Mantralord]

Nah, anything above an HX620 is overkill. Power requirements haven't really gone up as much as people think, and CPUs are already on the move towards lower power consumption. GPUs nowadays, though, are hotter than ever and are already near the limits of what a slot cooler can do. This is likely to change very soon though. With the move to lower and lower die sizes, it's likely that these dark days of "LOL 700W PSU HURR" are almost behind us. If not, dear God help us.

Just get an HX520. It will last you right up until the point Intel decides to change the ATX standards again. And again. And again.

[GilmourD]

It really depends on exactly what you'd like to upgrade to. Give us a rundown of your future specs. If you're going to run Crossfire or SLI with the top end of this generation from either red or green, then the 620HX will NOT be enough. My rule of thumb for power supplies is to figure out what you need... Then go the next step higher.

[Terru]

This raises the question then: What kind of computer needs a silverstone zeus 850 or equivilant? If a top of the line system with SLi G80's and all can get away with a good 500W, then what is the point?

[SKYMTL]

Hey, another member from Montreal!!!!

[GilmourD]

This raises the question then: What kinf of computer needs a silverstone zeus 850 or equivilant? If a top of the line system with SLi G80's and all can get away with a good 500W, then what is the point?

Each G80 can suck up to about 18 or so amps of 12V by itself, and my 500W ST50EF-Plus only puts out 36A. That doesn't leave a whole lot for the processor, drives, fans, etc. Actually... That leaves nothing.

It really depends on the processor, how many hard drives you're using, how many optical drives, how many fans, and your GPUs.

Like I said in an earlier post... Why don't you tell us what you want to build and we'll recommend something for you. :)

[Terru]

always nice to see another montrealer :p

Ok, I shall outline to you my plans for the future then :)

Starting with the CPU, I am looking at either qx6600, e6600 or fx70 depending on later winter/springtime price and availablity. If it is a single CPU, then I intend to use a TEC based cooler, or an Ultra 120. Videowise, I will be starting out with one R600, with possibilty of another in the future, depending on funds, etc. There are also 6 hard drives, 1 dvd burner, 1 30W front mount LCD screen and 6+ case fans, as well as a dedicated soundcard. This is all going in a very large Lian li PC75B, so long cables are an absoulte must.

So, that is about the rough spec of things to come in the future, thaks for your advice!

[GilmourD]

always nice to see another montrealer :p

Ok, I shall outline to you my plans for the future then :)

Starting with the CPU, I am looking at either qx6600, e6600 or fx70 depending on later winter/springtime price and availablity. If it is a single CPU, then I intend to use a TEC based cooler, or an Ultra 120. Videowise, I will be starting out with one R600, with possibilty of another in the future, depending on funds, etc. There are also 6 hard drives, 1 dvd burner, 1 30W front mount LCD screen and 6+ case fans, as well as a dedicated soundcard. This is all going in a very large Lian li PC75B, so long cables are an absoulte must.

So, that is about the rough spec of things to come in the future, thaks for your advice!

Considering that you're stuffing quite a bit in there and there's a possibility of going Crossfire... I would very much recommend something up there in power, like the Silverstone Zeus 850 or something equally up there. You're seriously looking at dual socket Athlon FXs... Those don't merely sip the juice. They guzzle it down. If that's your aim, no way are you getting by with the 500 watter you mentioned before.

Of course, don't go only by me. Somebody else should chime in here. :)

[Bun-Bun]

Well ill let you know what I am doing. I am currently building a C2D E6600 and plane to overclock it. With it will be a 8800GTX (also overclocked), on a Asus Striker Extreme, X-Fi, DVD burner, 2 HD's, watercooling (2 18w pumps), a few LED fans and some panaflos, and a couple cold cathodes. I am going to be putting this on a 600w GameXtreme PSU. However in the future I will be upgrading to SLI G80's, QX6700. At that time I will be upgrading to 850w Thermaltake Toughpower (unless something better comes out that meets my criteria...)

Hope that helps :D

[Mantralord]

Why not just get a 1KW while you're at it then. Remember guys, headroom! Screw global warming, wasting power, unnecessary speed gains, the efficiency curve, and worthless Internet prestige. World of Chatcraft must run the way it was meant to: at 400 fps. You need headroom!

When the aliens come down and put humanity's spitefulness and arrogance on trial, at least you'll have "headroom!" as a defense.

[GilmourD]

Why not just get a 1KW while you're at it then. Remember guys, headroom! Screw global warming, wasting power, unnecessary speed gains, the efficiency curve, and worthless Internet prestige. World of Chatcraft must run the way it was meant to: at 400 fps. You need headroom!

When the aliens come down and put humanity's spitefulness and arrogance on trial, at least you'll have "headroom!" as a defense.

Well, exaggeration might not be needed here. Nobody said he needed to go that far. However, no way he's going to get by on a 500W PSU with two Socket F dual core (maybe quad) processors and R600 Crossfire. I dare you to try it when it comes out if you don't believe me. Only post your results from that machine. LOL

[Mantralord]

Well, exaggeration might not be needed here. Nobody said he needed to go that far. However, no way he's going to get by on a 500W PSU with two Socket F dual core (maybe quad) processors and R600 Crossfire. I dare you to try it when it comes out if you don't believe me. Only post your results from that machine. LOL

I'll do it if you buy the hardware for me.

[jonnyGURU]

I'm not 100% with the 1kW units that are out there yet (either problem with noise or efficiency or crossload, etc.) but do feel the Zeus 850W is the best thing out there right now. Wait a couple months and there will be more, though. :D

[Oklahoma Wolf]

The Zeus 750W and 850W are my own personal favorites also. Love Zippy too, but at this point they really need to work on the noise issue if they want to keep targeting the home consumers.

[Terru]

The thing is, normally I would of waited and gone for the system all at once. THe problem is, my current system is running at half capacitiy, with a crapo spare ATX power supply lying next to my open comp doing all it can to power it. My options are to buy a cheap-ish lower end PSU for the interm, or to get a decent one and keep it when it comes time to upgrade. This is my dilema. I don't really feel like dropping over half the price of a zeus 850 on a decent lower wattage PSU, and then having to get a new one in a few months when my new system pulls in. Any thoughts?

[GilmourD]

The thing is, normally I would of waited and gone for the system all at once. THe problem is, my current system is running at half capacitiy, with a crapo spare ATX power supply lying next to my open comp doing all it can to power it. My options are to buy a cheap-ish lower end PSU for the interm, or to get a decent one and keep it when it comes time to upgrade. This is my dilema. I don't really feel like dropping over half the price of a zeus 850 on a decent lower wattage PSU, and then having to get a new one in a few months when my new system pulls in. Any thoughts?

Like I said before, just get a Zeus 850. You'll be rockin'. :)