PSU in a country with weird prices and non-existent availability

[Kai Dowin]

Hello!

A few years ago I skimped badly on my PSU and now I'm repaying that mistake. The poor Corsair CX430M unit is going bonkers after having to feed an AMD R9 380 and a Haswell i5 for two years. Strange sounds, random restarts and everything.

Finding a good PSU for my rig would be not much of a deal in most places. Even if you can't find the best possible unit, you can't really go that much wrong with so many choices available. Unfortunately, that's not the case in the country I live in. Options are scarce and prices are high.

Here's my configuration:

Core i5 4690
AMD Asus Radeon R9 380 Strix
1x 8GB DDR3 ram stick
2x sata 240GB SSD
1x 5400 RPM 1TB HDD
1x 140 MM fan on the front

I selected a few units that might be suitable for the configuration above. Would you be so kind and give a direction on which one should I pick? I thought something between 550W and 650W would be a sweet spot for me. I think these PSUs are my best bets in their price range. Prices are in US dollars.

As a baseline, a Corsair RM650i costs around $225.

• 
  EVGA 650GQ (650W, 80 Plus Gold) - $158
  Corsair TX650M (650W, 80 Plus Gold) - $133
  Thermaltake Smart Pro RGB (650W, 80 Plus Bronze) - $127
  Corsair TX550M (550W, 80 Plus Gold) - $122
  EVGA 750BQ (750W, 80 Plus Bronze) - $120
  EVGA 600B (600W, 80 Plus Bronze) - $99

I really would like to keep it below $135, but I could make a stretch and get the EVGA unit if it's much better than Corsair's TX650M.

There's also the option suggested by a friend of selling my R9 380 and buying a GTX 1060 whilst keeping the CX430M PSU. That would cost me around $160. He says my current PSU will live just fine with a more frugal GPU.

What do you think?
Thanks you very much.

 

[Isokolon]

If it really is the 2017 TX650M with gold efficiency you're good.
The old TXM was kinda junk, the 2017 TXM is fairly decent.

The Thermaltake Smart Pro is acceptable, EVGA B & BQ are trash (well not really trash but barely better than your old CXM)

The TXM is a 2017 upgrade (grey/black letters on the unit) of the old TX (yellow/grey letters)
Uses a modern design, Japanese capacitors although some midrange and safety features seem proper implemented. It's not without fault but seems alright for the units available to you.

As 1060 prices are kinda crazy right now
And Corsair CXM430 often starting to fail after 2-3 years I'd keep my card for now and get a decent PSU instead.

 

[Kai Dowin]

If it really is the 2017 TX650M with gold efficiency you're good.
The old TXM was kinda junk, the 2017 TXM is fairly decent.

The Thermaltake Smart Pro is acceptable, EVGA B & BQ are trash (well not really trash but barely better than your old CXM)

The TXM is a 2017 upgrade (grey/black letters on the unit) of the old TX (yellow/grey letters)
Uses a modern design, Japanese capacitors although some midrange and safety features seem proper implemented. It's not without fault but seems alright for the units available to you.

As 1060 prices are kinda crazy right now
And Corsair CXM430 often starting to fail after 2-3 years I'd keep my card for now and get a decent PSU instead.

Oh, I see. It is indeed the 2017 TX650M, grey letters and all. Model number also matches with Corsair's website.

As for the CX430M failing after three years, that gave me the chills. I think I'll go for the TX, then.