Which Power supply?

I am in the market for a power supply, something beefy so it lasts me through a few upgrades (of other components). That demands it is a) reliable b) has long cables to reach to all the components, even the graphics cards that are ever increasing in size (My current mobo takes 4 - and it wasn't even expensive!) It will go into Antec 300 case.

After rejectinmg Hi-Power, I am down to 2 models:

Aopen Extreme Series 880W Modular PSU (12CM fan, 4x 12V Rails, 9x Sata 4x) 20+4pin Main Power Connector
4+4pin ATX12V Connector
6x molex peripheral connectors
9x SATA Connectors
4x PCI-Express Connectors - 2x 6pin and 2x 6+2pin

Artic Power X-Power Pro 950W GTX Extreme Modular PSU
Universal 24pin(20+4pin) Main ATX Power Connector x 1
EPS 12V 8 pin connecto rx 1
4 Pin+12V Power Connectorx1
4 Pin floppy connector x 1
4 Pin Peripheral connector x 7
5 Pin Serial ATA Power Connector X 8
6Pin PCI-Express connector x 2
(6+2) Pin PCI-Express connector x2

I am getting a bit restless, haven't made my mind about it for over two months now and the money is burning in my pocket.

 

I would go for a Corsair 1000 Watt possibly. Could you give us your ful system specs?

 

I'm now looking into this since the one I was going to buy seems to have been discontinued. While serching for a psu to run:
AMD X2 6000
2gb ram
Sapphire Vapor x 1gb Radeon HD4890
2HDD
1 Optical drive
Antec 900 case with 3 120mm fans + 1 x 220mm (I think) fan

While looking I'm thinking I'd like a 550-600w with 2 12v 20+A rails, then I got to reading.

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showpost.php?p=1615995&postcount=234

Very interesting and makes sense but I would like to know what some of you guys think of the single rail theory?

BTW, I'm not trying to hijack your thread, I was going to make a new one but figured this info might be of some use to you.

 

Okay when it comes to PSU one of the best sites is:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/index.php

Places were the world's mad high end enthusiasts hang out (good to search for the best hardware because guys there push stuff till it breaks):

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/index.php

Long story short:

- PC&C can and often make the better PSU's
- If you want something for future proofing your looking at a 1000W+ (1k) unit
- Many enthusiasts love Corsair HX series and the Corsair HX1000W is very popular with high end users.

Here is a discussion from some of the world's best OC's about several 1k units:

http://i4memory.com/f60/1kw-psu-recommendations-4527/

They mention the:

Silverstone OP1000-P 1000W

Corsair HX1000 Power Supply

I would definitely be including both of these in the decision making process.

Hope this helps.

 

I can ask around a bit if u want with the Aussie OC team (world champs for some records), they know me from forums, etc.

 

This debate started quite some time ago and the conclusion I came to at the time was a single 12V rail was preferred and mandatory if you are oc'ing [which I do].

The psu which I use is an OCZ Powerstream 520W [single 12v 36w rail of course] and has adjustable voltages ie the psu has 3 knobs at the back to increase/decrease voltages [if required].

Last thread I read on this topic a few months ago stated that psu manufacturers would return to the fold soon and produce single 12v rail psu and that this multi rail design was a temporary aboration.

I have had good experiences with OCZ and Enermax. Antec on the other hand have been iffy.

Here a link to a useful psu calculator

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

Good Luck

 

I did look at the 1000W supplies but they are beyond my price range as I realised I need at least two, preferably 3 Win 7 licences! :*** Here are my specs:

Video card MSI (Radeon) 4830; Motherboard Asus M4A78 (only one PCI E x16 slot); 4GB DDR2, Processor AMD Phenom X3, HDD 500GB Sata & 80GB IDE, CD-RW/ DVD-R/floppy drives (for transferrin data into CDs) from old tower; Case antec 300. Maybe later will upgrade to Blu-ray R/RW when prices drop, now backing up to external HDD. Looking to buy full HD monitor at some point...

 

CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 $109USD After rebate

 

A very personal opinion is get the best you can afford and be ahead of the next upgrade.
Corsair is a top reliable brand.

 

I do like Corsair, just taking them out of the box they look nicely built and five year guarantee shows they are have confidence for their own product - but they also cost more... so I went for cheaper makes - bur do you recon neither of my choices are any good?

 

I am sorry but i do not know either of those so it would be unfair to comment.

Just one easy point to remember is a PSU should be heavy so light models are not good quality.

 

That's one of the problems of buying online, you can't really inspect what you are buying... Well, I suppose I'll take the risk and go for the Arctic Power as it's slightly more powerful and got more connectivity, unless I have more time to research their wares before I buy. (I'm swamped right now, working 7 days a week.) Maybe I can squeeze in a few moments and visit one of the sites suggested by Bold Eagle.

Just to comment about single rail... When I researched components for my son's PC a year ago, I stumbled across a claim that ATI cards in crossfire demand single rail. This was confirmed in another website that quoted ATI saying this themselves. In the end I bought single Radeon 4870 However, I'm sure there are people who use modular PSUs with no problem. The thing is, the cables are much thicker now, with all that casing around them and graphics cards are getting silly sizes: it's much more difficult to keep the innards of the pc tidy than before, despite some cases having notches for attaching them.

 

I have 3 Nvidia GTX cards 250-260-295 and the 295 does need a single rail but the modern PSUs cater for that i have two Antec PSUs a 750 and a 1000 both have cables dedicated to the GPU so no problems at all.

the 750

http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=NzI4

and the 1000

http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=NTk=

 

I looked ages for a suitable PSU for my son's pc and finally found a single rail one that even stated being crossfire certified (the back of it was red, too!) - only to find that it didn't have the cables for two graphics card!! Now I read the specifications more carefully and ignore any labels etc. If I had known I would have sent it back, but my son started building the machine so much after the components arrived that it was too late. His PSU is only 750W, which was quite a lot then. I might swap it to something more powerful once I'll get round to building my first linux machine (if ever I have the time to learn: lets face it, even the latest Ubuntu needs the odd command line now and then, to get this softwre or that driver working!)

 

Look just be careful, bigger isn't always better, especially when it comes to a PSU as it can be one of the most critical components in a system.

I did a bit of a google on one of those PSU's you listed and it "wasn't pretty".

Frankly you can buy a 600W quality PSU that will outperform 750w "dodgy built".

With that said I was able to by a decent 430w budget PSU for the missus PC that "does the job" for what she needs.

 

Look here for reputable brands and other information:

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=208143

Just remember that a PSU is one of the most critical components in a computer. If you purchase a cheapo one, it is more likely to die, and sooner, and more likely to take other components with it than compared to a more expensive one.

 

I think with budget nd unbranded components it's down to luck. Touch wood, I have never had any problems, apart from my friend's computer that was built to specification; after a couple of years it became a temperamental about starting, especially after thunder storms and resulting power cuts, which our area attracted (we were on a hill with TV relay station). Luckily the only thing that ever got fried was a dial-up modem during one thunder storm - that taught me about surge protectors, especially ones that protect the modems as well.

My current area is also prone to power cuts but I'm not sure if I can plug my router into a surge protector or does it have to go directly to a wall... I haven't got it out of the packaging because my house isn't ready yet and my current place has no phone line (neither does this town have cable). I just wish I could have faster than 2 megabits max. It's ok for most things but some stuff takes ages to download and I'm not talking about videos either.