power supply with bronze,silver,gold or platinum worth it?

[JustinX]

these PSU's may become expensive but are they really worth it

 

[Skylarz]

Well if you go with XFX/Seasonic's bronze they are good enough to beat most PSUs even if they're gold

 

[Karadjgne]

You'd have to understand what the 80+ is to get a better understanding on your question. But for simplicity, the higher grades are slightly more efficient in power conversion from 120/240v to 12v/5v/3.3v. Also, the higher grades have better ripple, important for extreme OC of ram, cpu and multiple gpus. Extreme. If you are running an average, balanced, even higher-end OC pc, bronze is fine, gold if you are starting to push limits, platinum if you are at the limits and titanium if you are the 0.01% who just plain want to remake limits.

Is it worth it? I'll put my Seasonic M12-II 520w 80+Bronze up against any Corsair Gold except some HX, AX (also made by Seasonic so a moot point) and dare them to beat me for output, ripple, quality of build, quality of components or even reliability.

It's not what the psu claims that's all that important, but who is doin the claiming.

 

[JustinX]

You'd have to understand what the 80+ is to get a better understanding on your question. But for simplicity, the higher grades are slightly more efficient in power conversion from 120/240v to 12v/5v/3.3v. Also, the higher grades have better ripple, important for extreme OC of ram, cpu and multiple gpus. Extreme. If you are running an average, balanced, even higher-end OC pc, bronze is fine, gold if you are starting to push limits, platinum if you are at the limits and titanium if you are the 0.01% who just plain want to remake limits.

Is it worth it? I'll put my Seasonic M12-II 520w 80+Bronze up against any Corsair Gold except some HX, AX (also made by Seasonic so a moot point) and dare them to beat me for output, ripple, quality of build, quality of components or even reliability.

It's not what the psu claims that's all that important, but who is doin the claiming.

so the seasonic wins?

 

[JustinX]

Well if you go with XFX/Seasonic's bronze they are good enough to beat most PSUs even if they're gold

xfx/seasonic are not available in my area...the ones are available are FSP,corsair,antec,thermaltake,cooler master,zalman,gigabyte and silverstone. thats what i know and other brands may be available

 

[Skylarz]

Well if you go with XFX/Seasonic's bronze they are good enough to beat most PSUs even if they're gold

xfx/seasonic are not available in my area...the ones are available are FSP,corsair,antec,thermaltake,cooler master,zalman,gigabyte and silverstone. thats what i know and other brands may be available

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

Check the tiers of the ones you like (choose something in tier 1 or 2)

 

[synphul]

This may not be a complete list, although it's pretty lengthy and I believe has been somewhat recently updated.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-oem-manufacturer,2913.html

You'll find that there are power supply brands and power supply manufacturers. FSP, Seasonic and some others are actual manufacturers. Corsair, Antec, XFX etc are just brands. Usually their 'guts' are made by FSP/Seasonic. It doesn't mean they're all the same since each mfr makes different levels of quality.

The op asked if a higher cost (assuming higher quality) power supply is worth it? Absolutely. Just in the past few days I've seen tons and tons of posts involving power issues. Or people putting together awesome builds with all high end components and then tacking on a $39 psu on sale for $19 with rebate or something. It's really disaster just waiting to happen.

If I had any general advise for people, unless it's a rare deal (black fri on a specific model) - if it looks too good, it is. Typically 550-650w + power supplies worth their weight won't be found for much under $85-130 or so. If going with a $300 cpu and a $350 graphics card and a $200 motherboard, what's $150 for a psu. It's the unglorified backbone to the entire system delivering ample and steady 'clean' (ripple free) power to every one of those high end components.

 

[Karadjgne]

Antec High Current Gamer series (HCG) Semi-Modular, are built by Seasonic. The non-modular HCG are built by Delta, and are the same if not better quality psu. either would be a very good choice.

 

[JustinX]

Antec High Current Gamer series (HCG) Semi-Modular, are built by Seasonic. The non-modular HCG are built by Delta, and are the same if not better quality psu. either would be a very good choice.

actually sr1-blackbird recommend me the antec HCG one which is available in my area

 

[Karadjgne]

Very nice units, and SR-71 gives fantastic advice, so if he recommended the Antec HCG, I'd take it.

 

[JustinX]

Very nice units, and SR-71 gives fantastic advice, so if he recommended the Antec HCG, I'd take it.

its quite expensive in my country but i have to save more money and i know its worth it...especially in the long run

 

[JustinX]

Well if you go with XFX/Seasonic's bronze they are good enough to beat most PSUs even if they're gold

xfx/seasonic are not available in my area...the ones are available are FSP,corsair,antec,thermaltake,cooler master,zalman,gigabyte and silverstone. thats what i know and other brands may be available

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

Check the tiers of the ones you like (choose something in tier 1 or 2)

i didnt know that the antec HCG bronze is better than FSP gold aurum...before i didnt know what to choose because i didnt kknow which is better...they have actually in the same price range

 

[Karadjgne]

I'm happy to see you are taking SR-71's advice seriously. If it helps, consider this. The psu is the heart of a pc. It's the single most important component. It directly influences every other component. Knowing this I have a real hard time understanding why ppl insist on buying the cheapest hunk of junk they can and spending the extra on a bigger gpu. If the psu fails, the gpu is useless, and there is a better than average chance the dead psu also destroyed either the motherboard or the gpu as well.

As a friend of mine put it, 'I'd rather drive a Volkswagon with a Porshe engine, than a Porshe with a Volkswagon engine'

Congrats on a very good choice. Hope you love it.

 

[JustinX]

I'm happy to see you are taking SR-71's advice seriously. If it helps, consider this. The psu is the heart of a pc. It's the single most important component. It directly influences every other component. Knowing this I have a real hard time understanding why ppl insist on buying the cheapest hunk of junk they can and spending the extra on a bigger gpu. If the psu fails, the gpu is useless, and there is a better than average chance the dead psu also destroyed either the motherboard or the gpu as well.

As a friend of mine put it, 'I'd rather drive a Volkswagon with a Porshe engine, than a Porshe with a Volkswagon engine'

Congrats on a very good choice. Hope you love it.

yeah thanks but i feel ashamed after mispronouncing sr-71's name i hope he will forgive me, he does give a good advice