Modular or Non-Modular PSU?

[Gregadethhh]

I've finally got all the components I need for my rig I just have to settle on the PSU and considering I've already received excellent feedback and advice on these forums I thought I'd ask you guys.

I'm torn between:
Arctic Power Pro 850W (Modular)
http://www.ebuyer.com/229935-arctic-power-pro-850w-modular-14cm-fan-psu-4x-pci-e-8x-arctic-pro-850w-cm

or

Corsair GS series 800W (Non-modular)
http://www.ebuyer.com/263997-corsair-800w-gs-series-psu-cmpsu-800guk

my spec list:
NZXT Phantom Case
ASUS P8P67 Pro Rev 3.0
Corsair Vengeance 8Gb (2x4Gb) 1600MHz DDR3 CL9
Intel i5 2500K
WD 1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6Gb/sec 32mb Cache 7200RPM HDD
Sapphire HD6950 2Gb DiRT3 Edition
LiteOn 12x Blu Ray Drive
Sony Optiarc 24x SATA DVD Drive

Appreciate any suggestions!

 

[Silvune]

I wouldn't even consider an Arctic Power unit. Mostly because I know nothing about it, you shouldn't buy PSUs that you (or anyone else) knows nothing about. Until I see a positive, competent technical review for it I'm going to assume that it's junk.

The Corsair GS 800 is good enough if you don't mind it not being modular.

You've got a large enough case to not need a modular unit to keep things tidy. But if you can afford one I'd still get one.

You don't need an 800W PSU, you could easily power your system with a 750W or 650W PSU, depending on how much 'buffer' you want, or if you want to upgrade GPUs in the future.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6950-crossfirex-review/14
This shows a system with an i7-965, which is much more power hungry than any Sandy Bridge CPU. They drew 473W at the wall. Take 10-20% off to get their actual system power draw and I think you have a realistic worst case scenario for what your system would draw under maximum load (with two 6950s).
~426W only stresses a good ~750W PSU to ~57%.
~426W only stresses a good ~650W PSU to ~66%.
I've assumed that you want to add another 6950 in the future, because of the motherboard and the large PSU.

So I'd like to suggest the Thermaltake Toughpower XT 775W 80Plus Bronze/Silver Modular £80
http://www.ebuyer.com/234914-thermaltake-toughpower-xt-775w-modular-psu-4x-pci-e-8x-sata-tpx-775m
The Toughpower XT *75 range is known for having ~1% regulation on the 12V rail.

Or the Adata HM 750W 80Plus Bronze Modular £75
http://www.ebuyer.com/261367-adata-hm-series-750w-80-plus-bronze-psu-8x-sata-4x-ahm750bzceu

 

[iam2thecrowe]

totally agree with the above. You should be able to find a decent OCZ modular unit for a similar price to the corsair. They get good reviews.

 

[bucknutty]

I have used both modular and regular. Both work and one type is not better than the other. Having less wires is nice but most cases these days have an area above/below the PSU or behind the MB tray to hide the extra wires. I would not pay extra for modular if that was the only difference.

 

[Gregadethhh]

I wouldn't even consider an Arctic Power unit. Mostly because I know nothing about it, you shouldn't buy PSUs that you (or anyone else) knows nothing about. Until I see a positive, competent technical review for it I'm going to assume that it's junk.

The Corsair GS 800 is good enough if you don't mind it not being modular.

You've got a large enough case to not need a modular unit to keep things tidy. But if you can afford one I'd still get one.

You don't need an 800W PSU, you could easily power your system with a 750W or 650W PSU, depending on how much 'buffer' you want, or if you want to upgrade GPUs in the future.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6950-crossfirex-review/14
This shows a system with an i7-965, which is much more power hungry than any Sandy Bridge CPU. They drew 473W at the wall. Take 10-20% off to get their actual system power draw and I think you have a realistic worst case scenario for what your system would draw under maximum load (with two 6950s).
~426W only stresses a good ~750W PSU to ~57%.
~426W only stresses a good ~650W PSU to ~66%.
I've assumed that you want to add another 6950 in the future, because of the motherboard and the large PSU.

So I'd like to suggest the Thermaltake Toughpower XT 775W 80Plus Bronze/Silver Modular £80
http://www.ebuyer.com/234914-thermaltake-toughpower-xt-775w-modular-psu-4x-pci-e-8x-sata-tpx-775m
The Toughpower XT *75 range is known for having ~1% regulation on the 12V rail.

Or the Adata HM 750W 80Plus Bronze Modular £75
http://www.ebuyer.com/261367-adata-hm-series-750w-80-plus-bronze-psu-8x-sata-4x-ahm750bzceu

Much appreciate the information! Between the Thermaltake and the Adata HM is there any significant difference or would it be down to personal preference? I intend on overclocking the GPU and CPU and I intend on adding another 6950 in the near future would that make a difference to power consumption?

 

[Uther39]

These are also excellent units,
850W XFX Pro, Modular, 80 PLUS Silver, 88% Eff', SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, 135mm Quiet Fan
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/850w-xfx-pro-modular-80-plus-silver-88-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-135mm-quiet-fan

 

[Uther39]

Or for your use the cheaper...
750W XFX Black Edition, Modular, 80 PLUS Silver, 88% Eff', SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, 135mm Fan
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/750w-xfx-black-edition-modular-80-plus-silver-88-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-135mm-fan

 

[Silvune]

Much appreciate the information! Between the Thermaltake and the Adata HM is there any significant difference or would it be down to personal preference? I intend on overclocking the GPU and CPU and I intend on adding another 6950 in the near future would that make a difference to power consumption?

Like I said, the power consumption for a system with two 6950s is unlikely to be over ~425W, thus 650/750W would be perfectly fine.
Yes I think it probably is personal preference which one you would choose, as there aren't any significant differences that I can see. They are both build by CWT btw. The Thermaltake probably has slightly higher efficiency, it definitely excels at 12V regulation, not that the regulation on the Adata would be poor. They are even the same size.

Cable configs for both units:
Thermaltake Toughpower XT 775
20+4pin ATX motherboard
8pin CPU 500mm
4pin CPU x2 640mm
6+2pin PCIe x4 500mm
4pin peripheral (otherwise known as Molex) x6
15pin SATA x8
More details in review:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=182

Adata HM 750 80Plus Bronze Modular
20+4pin ATX motherboard
4+4pin CPU x2 600mm
6+2pin PCIe x4 600mm
4pin peripheral (otherwise known as Molex) x4
15pin SATA x6
There are more details for this unit at Adata's website:
http://www.adata.com.tw/index.php?action=product_specification&cid=4&piid=93

 

[iam2thecrowe]

the adata got a good review http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AData/HM-650W/8.html but between the two i would get the thermaltake toughpower, they are a really good PSU and live up to their name.

 

[Gregadethhh]

is overclocking going to require more power or should 775W do the trick? (I think I've settled on the ThermalTake PSU)

 

[Silvune]

Doubtful.

 

[Gregadethhh]

cool that's Silvune, really appreciate the advice you've given me

 

[festerovic]

your name is awesome Gregadethhh.

That is all.