PSU for a gaming machine

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haris25

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May 3, 2013
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Hi everyone, Needed your help with the selection of a PSU. The ones available in market are Cooler Master GX series and the Corsair VS series.

I will be needing a 650 WATT power supply. Although the card, that I have selected is a GTX 660Ti which requires a 450Watt PSU but as part of planning for the future I will be going for a 650 WATT PSU. 650 watt products in my market include the
Corsair VS 650
Cooler MAster GX 650.

I wont be using a SLI or Crossfire setup or overclocking. As such I wont buy a 750W or higher PSU.

Needed you help.
 
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most of the bronze and some silver PSUs efficiency drops very badly for PSUs of any wattage. So getting a smaller PSU in the 400W - 600W range does not protect you against loss of efficiency at low loads.
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But it does. Where does 80 start testing? At 20%. What is 20% of 500W? 100W. Where does a system with a CPU and 7950 idle? That's right. See the point I was trying to make? Yes, gold and above PSUs are more efficient over a higher range. Usually. But most silver and below aren't. So if you are worried about the idle range then you can't go big as you'll be sub 80%. I'd like to point out that even if you are 3% more efficient, how long would that take you to pay off the extra you needed to pay to get the 850W unit? I'd love to talk about that but I already said I'm out. Only chimed back in to talk about idle load. (Yes, the graph is machine at idle, just sitting at desktop.)

So, stop suggesting what OP can not buy.
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This is a pet peeve of mine. (Mine, not toms hardware or BoM) people foreign to USA who come in looking for something, but refuse to tell us what is available where they live. If this is you, look around you, get the info, ask us which is best. We shouldn't be wasting our time telling you to buy something that isn't available where you are, or is but at a much inflated price.
 
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Hi everyone,
Sorry for the late response I was studying for my exam as a result i did not review your opinions. The options regarding the PSUs that are available in Pakistan are as follows:
1. Cooler Master GX 550, 650, 750 watt
2. Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 600 and 1200 watt
3. cooler master silent pro m2 620, 750 and 1000 watt
4. corsair gs 700 and 800 watt


Other manufacturers particularly antec and thermaltake have psus are above 1000 watts.

please note my configuration will be an i5 3570k, gigabyte mobo ga z77x ud5h, corsair vengeance 8gb, gou nvidia gtx 660 ti. a 500 gb hard drive.

 
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Yes I understand your point - you are going by the bronze and silver ratings. However, what I am going by is the reviews of especially bronze rated units (silver units are a toss up). The bronze rated 450W - 500W units don't do well at all with a 100W draw (they pretty much suck) - regardless of their bronze rating. Silver starts to improve and you have to read the individual reviews to see how they are doing at 100W draws.

I see what you mean about idle but I am not sure why you are saying it. How often are you just letting your computer sit at idle? Why are you concerned about idle draws? I never have my computer at idle - never. If I am not using it I put it to sleep or I turn it off. I am trying to understand why idle current draw levels are relevant to our conversation.

You are well spoken, I just don't understand your big picture point. The problem with going with gold or platinum level PSUs in the 450-500W range is that they are expensive and they limit what you can do if you do decide you want another GPU or if you add some HDDs and another optical drive and some fans for example.

You pay a premium for the smaller PSUs that are in the gold / platinum range and there are not many available. The cost difference between a gold 550W and a gold 650W is usually negligible. So the 650W is the better choice because it gives you more headroom and both will produce equal efficiency at low wattage draws. The key is that you have to go by actual reviews and not their bronze-silver-gold ratings. If a 750W or 850W gold is on sale, all the better because they also will produce very good efficiency at low wattages and they give you a lot more flexibility and headroom. My build runs at 88% - 92% efficiency all the time with the HX 850 and a single GPU and the PSU only cost $144 on sale.

Thanks for your posts, they make me think.

 
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Here is a review of the GS 700: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Corsair-GS700-Bronze-Power-Supply-Review/1617

It does meet its bronze rating for efficiency and more importantly it is a VERY stable PSU so it won't burn up your expensive components. The 700W power supply is more than enough for your build.

At 160W draw, the unit is over 85% efficient so it does well at low wattage draws.

I would choose the Corsair unit over Cooler Master simply because Corsair backs all of their products better than any other component supplier I have dealt with. If you have a problem with your unit, Corsair will make it right - other suppliers often are difficult to reach and make you jump through hoops.

Other posters on this thread might have some experience with the Cooler Master PSUs, I have not used one.
 
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Seeing as you're overseas I'd double check the warranty. I've heard they can change depending where you live.

Looks like the Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 600 is ok.

http://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/cooler-master-silent-pro-gold-600w-power-supply-review/4/

Flong, I see your 85% at 160W and raise you 90% at 150W 😉

I tried to find a review of the cooler master silent pro m2 620, didn't see one on the first few pages. You already have a review of the GS700, and I would avoid the GX line from CM.

My person vote is whichever is cheaper between the Silent Pro Gold 600 and the GS700. Either should be fine.

 
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I don't know your budget, haris25, but for a little more you can get Corsair TX850 here http://www.czone.com.pk/power-supply-corsair-power-supplies-corsair-enthusiast-series-tx850-80-plus-certified-power-supply-pakistan-p.1614.aspx

In case you need more suppliers look here http://www.pakgamers.com/forums/f67/links-all-pakistani-computer-shops-27122/
You are already third person from Pakistan here for me, so I know your suppliers.

Corsair GS 700 is more than enough for you, all wattage above this is overprotection, really this is the cheapest online I saw so far and it is available http://galaxy.com.pk/corsair-gaming-series-gs-700w.html

FYI. You really don't need 660TI, 660 would do just fine, 660TI is just a bit stronger than 660, but this is your choice after all.

 
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Come to think of it, if we can change parts why are you getting the UD5H? I considered it, but went with the UD4H. Dual NICs is nice, but if one fails you should be able to buy a PCI/e NIC for much less then the UD5H costs over the UD4H. At least you can over here in the USA. My system has the UD4H, 3570K, and the 7950.
 
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Hi,

You said that the UD3H does not support Crossfire or SLI setups. Please note that I visited the Gigabyte website for this board. It says that the board has support for 2-Way Crossfire and SLI setups. (PCIeX16 and PCIeX18). http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4153#sp.

What does this mean and how is the UD5h different from Ud3h in terms of Crossfire and SLI setups.


 
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My mistake. I could have sworn when I was looking at boards that the UD3H was a single PCIe x16 slot board. I remember considering the UD5H because it was the cheapest board that had dual NICs. But I wasn't willing to spend the extra money ($175 instead of $140) to get it. Does the UD5H get you anything that the UD3H doesn't offer? That UD3H looks like a lot of board to me.
 
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If the Silent Pro Gold 600 is available it is worth a look - gold rated PSUs are usually the best choice, but check the professional reviews to be safe. However, the silent pro m2 620 is a bronze rated unit and so be very careful if you cannot find any reviews. Bronze units are notorious for having serious problems and so never buy a bronze unit without checking the professional reviews.

I have never owned a Cooler Master PSU and so I have no first hand experience with them. However I have two Corsair PSUs and several other Corsair components. Twice I have had problems with Corsair components and twice Corsair resolved the problem with a single phone call.

For example, I had a problem with their Corsair Force 120GB SSD I had purchased and they upgraded me to the Corsair Force GT 120GB for free. At the time the Force GT (which has better nand memory) was nearly twice the price of Force non-GT. I was stunned at how good Corsair's customer service is. Corsair really backs their products and so I have not problem recommending them to others.

474545 is right about checking overseas' warranties. I would be worth a call to Corsair and Cooler Master to see if they honor the warranties where you live and see if you can get service from them directly. It may be too expensive to ship a defective unit back to the manufacturer in the country you live in. When you call the manufacturer they will tell you if they service area you live in.
 
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Hi,
Wont the 700W Corsair PSU be too much. I wont be either overclocking or using a crossfire/sli setup. Please note that I asked many of my friends and they were satisfied wth the performance of their Cooler Master PSUs. What do you say.
 
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What do you say should I go with Ud3h or Ud5h. The Audio hardware of the ud5h looks superior to the ud3h. Should i wait for the price to drop as the new z87 series will be appearing later in June or should i buy any if these two boards.
 
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No the GS 700 performs very well at 160W draw providing 85% efficiency (which is great for a bronze unit). So it will work very well for you. You need to check with the manufacturers to see if they will honor their warranties where you are at. You are looking at bronze units (in your list) and they have a tendency to have problems (from all manufacturers).

Don't go by your friends, check professional reviews. With bronze units sometimes you are playing Russian roulette and your friends might have gotten lucky. You might not be so lucky.

It sounds like from other posters that the GS 700 is the cheapest PSU also - but double check pricing. Corsair often has great sales.
 
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One final in question regarding the Corsair GS 700. What effect will it have on electricity consumption. I also need to consider the effect on my power bills
Click to expand...

That's why I suggested the Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 600 as its even more efficient then the GS700. Trust me, its a better PSU.

What do you say should I go with Ud3h or Ud5h. The Audio hardware of the ud5h looks superior to the ud3h.
Click to expand...

It probably is, but do you even have speakers to take advantage of it? Having a great soundcard is meaningless if you don't have any good speakers that can replicate what the soundcard is putting out. I would get the UD3H and save the money. Spend it on a better GPU, or monitor, etc.
 
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Hi,

I will be going for the UD3h and investing the savings in another component. I needed your advice regarding the Nvidia GPU. Please note that I will be using my old Compaq LCD monitor which has a max resolution of 1600X900. If i buy the GTX 660 will I be able to use the GPU with a DVI to VGA converter.
 
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I checked the EVGA GTX 660Ti images on the EVGA website. It has a DVI-D and DVI-I ports in addition to the HDMI and DisplayPort Slots. Please correct me if I am wrong, I should make sure that I am buying the correct DVI to VGA converter.
 
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DVI-D only contains a digital signal. This means the common adapter won't work. It will work in the DVI-I port. That's the Integrated one that contains both the digital and analog info. DVI-I => Adapter => Monitor will work fine. If you want to use the DVI-D port you'll have to go straight into the monitor. DVI is common on monitors these days so it shouldn't be an issue.
 
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474545 is right that the Cooler Mastster 600 Gold is more efficient. It appears to be a very good unit. The more efficient that a PSU is the less electricity it uses.

However the review for the GS 700 show it is also very efficient, especially for a bronze rated unit. You probably won't see much of a difference in you power bill with either unit because the Cooler Master is probably about 5% more efficient than the Corsair GS 700.

If the Corsair GS 700 was unstable, I would agree that the CM 600 Gold is the best choice. However, the professional review found it to be very stable in their testing and so I like the GS 700.

Both units are a good choice based on the professional reviews but I prefer the GS 700 because of Corsair's customer service and warranty.
 
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Bought the processor (i5 3570K), ram (4gb Corsair Vengeance), hard drive (Western Digital 500Gb) yesterday. Buying the mobo tomorrow. Please note that one of the representatives of the shop recommended the ASUS P8 Z77 VLK mobo instead of the Gigabyte GA Z77X UD3h. What are your thoughts on this.

Furthermore, the cooler master silent pro gold 600 watt is not available and the only cooler master PSU available in the market is either the COoler MASter GX series or the Corsair GS series.

 
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For the basic home user, probably nothing. Biggest diference you'd see is the UD3H has more plugs on it. (extra PCIe x16 plug, mSATA, etc)

If memory serves, the GX isn't good. I'm not sure about the GS, do they even have one? The Corsair is probably your best bet.
 
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