[SOLVED] Best 850W PSU for around 100$?

[Leo948]

Hello guys, could you suggest me the best options for a 850W PSU for around 100$? (if possible gold ones, but any other good option is ok, just I would like to avoid bronze) If you have anything slightly above the price, like 10$ more, suggest anyways. If you think that for that price I can't find any decent 850W PSU, then please suggest some 750W.

 

[DSzymborski]

There's no good 850W PSU around $100. At $100, you can just squeeze near a good 750W one.

PCPartPicker Part List

Power Supply: Antec Earthwatts Gold Pro 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $104.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-28 21:24 EDT-0400


The question of course is if you need this much power and what the value of the parts you're protecting.

This is the least expensive 850W PSU I'd consider.

PCPartPicker Part List

Power Supply: Corsair RM (2019) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($139.93 @ Newegg)
Total: $139.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-28 21:22 EDT-0400

 

[Leo948]

There's no good 850W PSU around $100. At $100, you can just squeeze near a good 750W one.

PCPartPicker Part List

Power Supply: Antec Earthwatts Gold Pro 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $104.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-28 21:24 EDT-0400


The question of course is if you need this much power and what the value of the parts you're protecting.

This is the least expensive 850W PSU I'd consider.

PCPartPicker Part List

Power Supply: Corsair RM (2019) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($139.93 @ Newegg)
Total: $139.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-28 21:22 EDT-0400

This is the build: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3tkDCL
Only difference is that now I have an Asus Strix 1080Ti and will buy the 3070 FE later. For now, my PSU is an LC-Power LC6650 GP4 650W
So this one is garbage? https://www.bpm-power.com/it/online...fTbB35NjRltrT2GbJ9B_ev1MX-bEBaWYaAhsDEALw_wcB

 

[King_V]

The amperage output specs look good on paper, but I wouldn't trust LC-Power. LC-Power themselves don't trust it, given the only 3 year warranty.

The first link in my signature gives some very good advice as to what to choose and what to avoid. You'll also note that LC Power is on the Wall Of Shame in that link.

 

[Leo948]

The amperage output specs look good on paper, but I wouldn't trust LC-Power. LC-Power themselves don't trust it, given the only 3 year warranty.

The first link in my signature gives some very good advice as to what to choose and what to avoid. You'll also note that LC Power is on the Wall Of Shame in that link.

The lc power I got now has been suggested me by a guru of this stuff lol, guess I'll have to change it anyways. Guess I'm gonna go with the antec above. Do you think I can hold my 650w for a little bit without any serious risk?

 

[King_V]

I am assuming the existing one is past the warranty period?

I'd be very uncomfortable using it on any system that I cared about keeping in good shape.

That said, I agree with what @DSzymborski implied - that you likely don't really need 850 watts.

What are the full specs of your PC currently? And, am I correct in that you only plan to upgrade the GPU, and are keeping everything else the same?

 

[DSzymborski]

The lc power I got now has been suggested me by a guru of this stuff

Well, the guru turned out not to be one!

 

[Leo948]

Well, the guru turned out not to be one!

I guess so, I'll replace it as soon as I possibly can, this thread made me anxious lol

 

[Leo948]

I am assuming the existing one is past the warranty period?

I'd be very uncomfortable using it on any system that I cared about keeping in good shape.

That said, I agree with what @DSzymborski implied - that you likely don't really need 850 watts.

What are the full specs of your PC currently? And, am I correct in that you only plan to upgrade the GPU, and are keeping everything else the same?

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3tkDCL this is the actual build, (the 650W LC power is the only thing missing) I just replaced a Ryzen 1800x and the MSI X370 PRO CARBON with 10700k and the z490. Then I'll get the 3070 FE, that I think also requires less power than my 1080ti strix

 

[Juular]

So it's LC Power LC6550 GP4 or LC8850III Arkangel ? Regardless, both are based on the Great Wall platform also used in Corsair TX-m (with some modifications perhaps), i'd say it's more than fine for RTX3070 assuming it would be aroud 250W power draw and not as transient-heavy as RTX3080.
Here are reviews for GP4 :

80-Plus-Gold-Netzteile im Test: Enermax Revolution X't II gegen LC-Power LC6560GP4 (Seite 3)

80-Plus-Gold-Netzteile im Test: Enermax Revolution X't II gegen LC-Power LC6560GP4 / Technik / Gehobene Auswahl bei den Kondensatoren

www.computerbase.de

Review LC-Power LC6560GP4 Series - Razorman.net , Reviews Hardware

Seguimos analizando productos del fabricante LC-Power que nos ha enviado la fuente de alimentacion LC-Power LC6560GP4 Series , una fuente ATX V2.4 con una

www.razorman.net

And for Arkangel III :

850-Watt-Netzteile im Test: Sieben Modelle von 80 Plus Gold bis Titanium (Seite 4)

850-Watt-Netzteile im Test: Sieben Modelle von 80 Plus Gold bis Titanium / Technik

www.computerbase.de

Don't judge a PSU by it's brand, whether it's some unknown stuff like LC-Power or more popular brands, it can be good or bad regardless. The only concern is the consumer support of LC-Power but since you already have it, why not keep it ?

 

[King_V]

@Juular - my questions/concerns would be: 1 - what sort of modifications? For cost savings? What did they skimp on? and 2 - if it's the same platform, why the 3 year warranty, vs 7 years for the Corsair TX-m?

@Leo948 - as for your part list. The CPU you've chosen, as I understand it, on the most extreme CPU heavy loads, can consume up to 250W of power, though, for gaming, I imagine it's more like 200W or less. The GPU when pushed to the maximum might consume maybe 230-240W (the 3080 and 3090 consumed a little more than their official rating under load, so I assume the same for the 3070).

Combined with everything else, I would assume your worst-case scenario is probably about 600W of power draw. A high-quality 750W from a reliable model would give you more than enough headroom to cover even the worst-case usage with your system.

 

[Juular]

what sort of modifications?

I don't know, we can probably just ask Jon ... @jonnyguru, if TX-m is stock platform or not and whether parts list for these two LC-Power PSUs in the articles resemble GW's stock choices too.

if it's the same platform, why the 3 year warranty, vs 7 years for the Corsair TX-m?

Because they can/can not, warranty length isn't a sign PSU quality.

 

[jonnyguru]

I don't know, we can probably just ask Jon ... @jonnyguru, if TX-m is stock platform or not and whether parts list for these two LC-Power PSUs in the articles resemble GW's stock choices too.

There is no TX-M "stock platform". This was originally a Corsair exclusive and leveraged from the CS-M platform. But I will say there is plenty of room for cost down in a TX-M.

EDIT: Right off the bat I can see a number of cost downs. The fan. The bridge rectifier. The capacity of the bulk caps..... God knows what else.

 

[Leo948]

So it's LC Power LC6550 GP4 or LC8850III Arkangel ? Regardless, both are based on the Great Wall platform also used in Corsair TX-m (with some modifications perhaps), i'd say it's more than fine for RTX3070 assuming it would be aroud 250W power draw and not as transient-heavy as RTX3080.
Here are reviews for GP4 :

80-Plus-Gold-Netzteile im Test: Enermax Revolution X't II gegen LC-Power LC6560GP4 (Seite 3)

80-Plus-Gold-Netzteile im Test: Enermax Revolution X't II gegen LC-Power LC6560GP4 / Technik / Gehobene Auswahl bei den Kondensatoren

www.computerbase.de

Review LC-Power LC6560GP4 Series - Razorman.net , Reviews Hardware

Seguimos analizando productos del fabricante LC-Power que nos ha enviado la fuente de alimentacion LC-Power LC6560GP4 Series , una fuente ATX V2.4 con una

www.razorman.net

And for Arkangel III :

850-Watt-Netzteile im Test: Sieben Modelle von 80 Plus Gold bis Titanium (Seite 4)

850-Watt-Netzteile im Test: Sieben Modelle von 80 Plus Gold bis Titanium / Technik

www.computerbase.de

Don't judge a PSU by it's brand, whether it's some unknown stuff like LC-Power or more popular brands, it can be good or bad regardless. The only concern is the consumer support of LC-Power but since you already have it, why not keep it ?

the 650w gp4 is the one I own now. The archangel III I would have liked to buy, since for that price (110 euros) it looked a good deal to me, but I honestly know nothing about PSUs, so I asked here sicne there's for sure people with more knowledge than me. As I said, my gp4 was suggested to me by an incredibly experienced person, so I always thought that it was a very good PSU. Now I got all these informations from this thread and I don't really know what's the ''final result'' of the discussion. Is my PSU good or bad? Is the archangel III good or bad? Should I go for the Antec suggested above instead?

 

[Leo948]

There is no TX-M "stock platform". This was originally a Corsair exclusive and leveraged from the CS-M platform. But I will say there is plenty of room for cost down in a TX-M.

EDIT: Right off the bat I can see a number of cost downs. The fan. The bridge rectifier. The capacity of the bulk caps..... God knows what else.

So my LC Power LC6650 GP4 650w is good or should I change it? And what about the Archangel III? Should I go for the Antec Earthwatts Gold Pro 750 W instead of the Archangel III 850w? (considering that they have the same price)

 

[King_V]

So my LC Power LC6650 GP4 650w is good or should I change it? And what about the Archangel III? Should I go for the Antec Earthwatts Gold Pro 750 W instead of the Archangel III 850w? (considering that they have the same price)

If it were my system, I would keep the system use to a minimum until getting a new one. I'd be more comfortable with this Corsair RMx 750W, at $5 less than the RM850.

The Antec in question is based on the Seasonic Focus platform. Worthwhile, but there are one or two reports now that Seasonic's PSUs might get tripped on the Ampere cards. Though, the one link I saw referred specifically to the RTX 3090. There's very little info yet though on this.

Normally I'd be just fine with a Seasonic Focus or something that uses the same platform, but that issue has me SLIGHTLY worried (pending more info).

 

[Leo948]

If it were my system, I would keep the system use to a minimum until getting a new one. I'd be more comfortable with this Corsair RMx 750W, at $5 less than the RM850.

The Antec in question is based on the Seasonic Focus platform. Worthwhile, but there are one or two reports now that Seasonic's PSUs might get tripped on the Ampere cards. Though, the one link I saw referred specifically to the RTX 3090. There's very little info yet though on this.

Normally I'd be just fine with a Seasonic Focus or something that uses the same platform, but that issue has me SLIGHTLY worried (pending more info).

Corsair is 140€, so definitely out of budget. Yeah, for sure I will not overclock anything while I have this one. Also from what I heard, Z490's auto voltages are pretty high, so I will just set them to 1.25V once they f'ing decide to deliver CPU and mobo.

 

[King_V]

Corsair is 140€, so definitely out of budget. Yeah, for sure I will not overclock anything while I have this one. Also from what I heard, Z490's auto voltages are pretty high, so I will just set them to 1.25V once they f'ing decide to deliver CPU and mobo.

I tend to be a bit hyper-cautious about PSUs. That said, I think it's more accurate to say that the Corsair is in-budget, but the RTX 3070 will be out of budget for a little while longer than anticipated.

Still, there's not much info (yet) about potential Seasonic problems with Ampere, so the Focus or Antec Earthwatts 750W should be fine, particularly given that the 3070 consumes less power, so probably less likely to cause whatever issues may be proven to exist or not.

 

[Leo948]

I tend to be a bit hyper-cautious about PSUs. That said, I think it's more accurate to say that the Corsair is in-budget, but the RTX 3070 will be out of budget for a little while longer than anticipated.

Still, there's not much info (yet) about potential Seasonic problems with Ampere, so the Focus or Antec Earthwatts 750W should be fine, particularly given that the 3070 consumes less power, so probably less likely to cause whatever issues may be proven to exist or not.

What do you mean the 3070 will be out of budget for a while longer? Are you talking about being in stock? I know that I will not be able to get it anytime soon, probably I'll get it basically around Christmas or early 2021, but I don't understand what has it to do with the price. It costs 519€ and for sure I won't buy it from those douchebags (forgive me the term, but that's what they are) that buy them with bots to resell at a higher price like on stockx. The PSU is something I didn't calculate to buy at first when I decided to upgrade the PC, so that's why I don't really want to go for a high end one. I know that's important, but at the same time I don't think that's necessary to have the best of the best, since my system isn't the best possible as well. Anyways I never had a problem with my actual one, that bought 3 years ago for 75€. I do want to get something better than it, but I don't really want to spend double the price, so if the Antec is a good choice, besides that lack of infos, I guess I'll go for it. Anyways, I would need to wait to sell my Ryzen 1800x and my MSI X370 GAMING PRO CARBON before buying the 3070, so that I can use the PayPal credit to buy it (I could buy it without waiting to sell those, but I don't like having money on PayPal balance)

 

[Juular]

Is my PSU good or bad? Is the archangel III good or bad? Should I go for the Antec suggested above instead?

It appears to be decent, if anything, don't swap it for Arkangel III as they seem to be identical. I'd just wait until you get RTX3070, test it with it, if it works fine then keep it unless you'll be comfortable with spending money for a better PSU from more known brand like Corsair or Seasonic (assuming they would be proven to be working fine with RTX3070).

 

[Leo948]

It appears to be decent, if anything, don't swap it for Arkangel III as they seem to be identical. I'd just wait until you get RTX3070, test it with it, if it works fine then keep it unless you'll be comfortable with spending money for a better PSU from more known brand like Corsair or Seasonic (assuming they would be proven to be working fine with RTX3070).

Oh, but as I said to @King_V I don't think I will be able to get it until end of the year/early new year. If you think I can go on then I'll wait to see how they work with the 3070. I guess I'll keep an eye on the price of the 750W corsair while waiting and if I get a good offer I'll buy it. Otherwise, we'll see how the Seasonic (and so the antec from what I understood by this discussion) works with the 3070.

 

[King_V]

Basically I was saying that the priority should be for a good PSU. I didn't know what your timeframe was, or anything, and I was concerned that maybe you were prioritizing the GPU over the PSU.

But, all that aside, I think going easy on the system for now with the existing PSU might not be a bad idea, and see how things hash out with reports on the Seasonic PSUs with Ampere. And since you're looking for getting the GPU in the end of 2020 to beginning of 2021 time frame, you have time to keep an eye on prices for PSUs.

 

[Leo948]

Basically I was saying that the priority should be for a good PSU. I didn't know what your timeframe was, or anything, and I was concerned that maybe you were prioritizing the GPU over the PSU.

But, all that aside, I think going easy on the system for now with the existing PSU might not be a bad idea, and see how things hash out with reports on the Seasonic PSUs with Ampere. And since you're looking for getting the GPU in the end of 2020 to beginning of 2021 time frame, you have time to keep an eye on prices for PSUs.

I mean, I do am prioritizing the GPU lol (I mean that if I could buy the 3070 immediately I would), but I'm basically forced to wait for all those reasons, so it would be stupid to not do that

 

[jonnyguru]

I don't know, we can probably just ask Jon ... @jonnyguru, if TX-m is stock platform or not and whether parts list for these two LC-Power PSUs in the articles resemble GW's stock choices too.

Ok. You need to get it COMPLETELY out of your head that those LC Power's are ANYTHING like the TX-M. I talked to a guy last night. The LC-Power isn't even the same PCB, never mind not the same components. It's a single layer PCB (TX-M is dual) with all cost down components. The only thing that is similar between the two is where they place the components. Nothing more.

 

[Leo948]

Ok. You need to get it COMPLETELY out of your head that those LC Power's are ANYTHING like the TX-M. I talked to a guy last night. The LC-Power isn't even the same PCB, never mind not the same components. It's a single layer PCB (TX-M is dual) with all cost down components. The only thing that is similar between the two is where they place the components. Nothing more.

Alright then, I guess I'll see how the 3070 behaves when it comes out, then if there isn't anything weird, I'll go for the Antec EA750G or the Corsair RM750X if I find it on discount