Discussion PSU recommendations and power supply discussion thread - Tom's hardware

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Hello, guys.

I am an amateur when it comes to building a PC. I plan to build one in the future. I have got a list of all the parts that I plan to buy except PSU. I am not sure about what PSU I should get. I don't want to spend too much for the one with high power that I don't really need. Any recommended and affordable PSU based on the parts below would be appreciated.

Motherboard: Z370 GAMING M5
CUP: Intel Core i7-8700K
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB (Desktop Memory Model F4-2666C19Q-32GVR)
CPU Cooler: NH-D15S
Graphic Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 SC GAMING ACX 3.0
SSD: Kingston 240GB
Chassis (Case): AeroCool Cylon (Mid Tower Case)
Power Supply: ?????

I don't know if I plan to overclock and/or add another GPU in the future. I just want to know what PSU I should get for the parts I have in mind so far. Thank you. :)
 
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PCNewbieBilly said:
Hello, guys.

I am an amateur when it comes to building a PC. I plan to build one in the future. I have got a list of all the parts that I plan to buy except PSU. I am not sure about what PSU I should get. I don't want to spend too much for the one with high power that I don't really need. Any recommended and affordable PSU based on the parts below would be appreciated.

Motherboard: Z370 GAMING M5
CUP: Intel Core i7-8700K
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB (Desktop Memory Model F4-2666C19Q-32GVR)
CPU Cooler: NH-D15S
Graphic Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 SC GAMING ACX 3.0
SSD: Kingston 240GB
Chassis (Case): AeroCool Cylon (Mid Tower Case)
Power Supply: ?????

I don't know if I plan to overclock and/or add another GPU in the future. I just want to know what PSU I should get for the parts I have in mind so far. Thank you. :)
Click to expand...
Your question would merit it's own topic since this topic here is discussion about PSUs, not for answering which PSU to get.

But to answer your question shortly: any 600W range good quality PSU will do fine. E.g Seasonic Focus+ 650 or any Seasonic PRIME 650. Or when Seasonic units in your store have new names, the look towards: Focus GX-650, Focus PX-650, PRIME GX-650, PRIME PX-650 or PRIME TX-650.

Also, your build needs refining since you can get better performance with same/less money. But this isn't the topic where to discuss it.
 
I would go with a solid 650w PSU just to leave some wiggle room for overclocking or upgrades.
I would prefer to go 80+ gold or higher for a decent build, even though quality is not related to 80+.

Something like:
Seasonic FOCUS GX650/PX650
Corsair TX/RM/RMX 650w
EVGA G3/G2 650w
Antec Earthwatts Gold PRO 650w or Antec High Current Gamer 650w

If in the US here are the my picks at different prices. I wouldn't suggest any of the sub $75 units i see currently on PCpartPicker currently.

$75 - EVGA GQ650w - https://pcpartpicker.com/product/kz7CmG/evga-power-supply-210gq0650
$100 - Antec Earthwatts Gold PRO 650w (Seasonic FOCUS Gold 650w) - https://pcpartpicker.com/product/B9...fied-semi-modular-atx-power-supply-ea650g-pro
$120 - Corsair RMx 750w - https://pcpartpicker.com/product/79...-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-cp-9020179-na

I would really go with the RMx since they are incredably good units, but all are pretty good.
 
I think the Antec High Current Gamer Extreme should be added to this thread as recommended, in addition to the standard HCG models.
I cut some out of what Antec said, but heres a few thing
  • 100% Modular
  • 80 PLUS® GOLD certified－Up to 92% efficient
  • Full-bridge LLC design with a synchronous rectification based on a DC-DC topology
  • 10-year warranty
  • Fluid dynamic fan mode
  • Zero RPM Fan mode
  • Protections: OCP, OVP, UVP, SCP, OPP, OTP, SIP, NLO
  • 100% Japanese capacitors
  • Full power at up to 50c
850w 80+ gold for $115 seems very good for a money.

Antec High Current Gamer Extreme 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

pcpartpicker.com pcpartpicker.com
www.eteknix.com

Antec High Current Gamer Extreme X850 Power Supply Review

We at eTeknix review the Antec High Current Gamer Extreme X850 power supply. The latest release from their highly-popular HCG PSU range.
www.eteknix.com
Probably not as good of a deal as that Riotoro Enigma 850w 80+ Gold Semi modular unit that my friend snagged up for like $85 recently. A whole hell of a lot better than the TT SMART 600w he has now that i will probably buy off of him since I'm an idiot.
 
And yet what I find a little odd is that PNY is also the major vendor for nvidia Quadro cards, which are by no means anything close to cheap. And do have a certain reputation in a business setting to uphold.

As far as Evga goes, until someone like Aris says otherwise, I'm going to consider anything new as being the same as the G5, a second rate FSP platform, or possibly worse, since the G5 is supposedly top of the G series.
 
Karadjgne said:
And yet what I find a little odd is that PNY is also the major vendor for nvidia Quadro cards, which are by no means anything close to cheap. And do have a certain reputation in a business setting to uphold.
Click to expand...
PNY makes a lot of video cards, mainly OEMs.

My old GTX1050 2gb was a PNY model that looked identical to a pallet version.

14-133-716-Z01.jpg

palit-ne5105001841-1070f-large.jpg

I thought this card had issues but learnt that it didnt. Actually a pretty reliable card, but they voided my warranty for a sticker.
 
Heh, should talk to Jon about warranty void stickers, he's had numerous reviews on psus where they stuck those idiotic stickers in places that made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Like over screws holding a side plate to the bottom, which wouldn't require removal in the slightest when removing the fan top plate and having full access to the guts. Or on the side plate itself.

You clean a gpu, and a flimsy fan blade snaps. Guess what, that's user abuse and rma is denied, not a warranty issue. Forcing removal of the shroud to replace the fan. Doesn't even matter if you go to a repair facility, break that sticker and warranty is void anyways. You are bent no matter which way you turn. Stupid idea just to let ppl off the hook.
 
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My Corsair CX550m has the sticker in a place you can take the fan out and access all of the guts without removing that screw.

I cannot confirm nor deny removing the fan to clean it and enjoying the look at the guts of my PSU.
 
Aeacus said:
Your question would merit it's own topic since this topic here is discussion about PSUs, not for answering which PSU to get.

But to answer your question shortly: any 600W range good quality PSU will do fine. E.g Seasonic Focus+ 650 or any Seasonic PRIME 650. Or when Seasonic units in your store have new names, the look towards: Focus GX-650, Focus PX-650, PRIME GX-650, PRIME PX-650 or PRIME TX-650.

Also, your build needs refining since you can get better performance with same/less money. But this isn't the topic where to discuss it.
Click to expand...


Thank you, Aeacus, for replying and letting me know. Also, is there a thread/discussion I can go to to ask about my build's refining or I should just create a post about it and ask?
 
would a bad PSU cause this type of crash to desktop while playing games

[SOLVED] - Games Crash to Desktop without any error

I have : 4790K GA H81M-HD3 Sapphire Nitro+ RX 580 8gb Kingston 16gb 1600mhz coolermaster 850w 80+ psu Games were randomly crashing to desktop without any error. I searched over the internet and found a thread on tomshardware to keep event viewer on and did it. so when game crashed I look into...
forums.tomshardware.com forums.tomshardware.com

or a bad psu crash would only result in a system reset ?
 
Karadjgne said:
And yet what I find a little odd is that PNY is also the major vendor for nvidia Quadro cards, which are by no means anything close to cheap. And do have a certain reputation in a business setting to uphold.

As far as Evga goes, until someone like Aris says otherwise, I'm going to consider anything new as being the same as the G5, a second rate FSP platform, or possibly worse, since the G5 is supposedly top of the G series.
Click to expand...
Different story there. I should have explicitly stated that my rant against them was not in relation to those cards. In that area, they have been making those for Nvidia for a long time and is likely their primary bread and butter. The rest of what they do seems more like a second, or third, thought. Certainly they CAN make higher quality products, they just don't. They make OEM level stuff and unlike with automobiles most of the OEM computer hardware is not high quality like OEM automotive. It's more like house brand level.
 
Mezoxin said:
would a bad PSU cause this type of crash to desktop while playing games

[SOLVED] - Games Crash to Desktop without any error

I have : 4790K GA H81M-HD3 Sapphire Nitro+ RX 580 8gb Kingston 16gb 1600mhz coolermaster 850w 80+ psu Games were randomly crashing to desktop without any error. I searched over the internet and found a thread on tomshardware to keep event viewer on and did it. so when game crashed I look into...
forums.tomshardware.com forums.tomshardware.com

or a bad psu crash would only result in a system reset ?
Click to expand...
If the issue would be with PSU, either the PC reboots since power is cut to it's components or PSU goes sky high and possibly taking other components with it.

Game(s) crashing to the desktop isn't PSU's issue. For example, i too have a game that crashes to the desktop but my build is powered by Seasonic PRIME 650 (80+ Titanium) PSU. For my own case, i know that the issue is with the game itself.

Did read the topic and as far as i can tell, OP has issue with his GPU and/or it's drivers. Moreover due to the fact that OP's troubles began when he bought a new GPU. Interesting thing is that OP used Asus RX 580 with 500W unit problem free. But for some reason, he bought Sapphire RX 580.
My questions would be: did the old GPU die? If not, is he running Crossfire? Was the Sapphire RX 580 brand new or used? Is his Win legit or pirated? Is his games legit or pirated? He has OC'd his GPU, might want to downclock/remove OC and try again.
 
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PSU can cause pretty much ANY problem you can experience, regardless of the hardware involved. If a thing can happen because of any given hardware component being faulty or not working correctly, then that same thing can happen with a faulty power supply because a faulty or weak power supply can cause ANY hardware component to not work correctly and can therefore mimic the failure of that hardware component even if it isn't actually faulty.

Keyword being "can". It doesn't mean it will, or that it IS, in any given situation, the problem, but it sure as heck CAN be almost without exception as far as symptoms are concerned.
 
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CTD is most commonly a script error, either causing a driver error or being caused by scripting conflicts or driver conflicts. The single most common program I can think of that this happens to is Skyrim, as soon as you start adding mods. You get one script saying something goes here, and another saying the same thing, so end up with a conflict, and most likely a freeze or CTD. With 170 mods, I have to be quite careful as to which is added, which is removed, load order, conflicts etc or possibly suffer constant CTD.

Games can and do comprise of many different scripts, all of which are tied to drivers of some sort in one way or another. Can be audio, Lan, cpu, gpu or OS.

From everything I've read up on this, it's an OS issue with build 1903 and the Adrenaline drivers (Win10CE driver conflicts, really?) related to higher performance Rx models. The older Asus model was by all accounts pretty reference, Sapphire are almost never as they like to push the OC.
TDR fix. That's the most common workaround that seems to work, but doesn't always. It doesn't fix the exact issue, that's on Sapphire/amd to figure out what Microsoft has done, it happened Alot to nvidia after CE was initially released.
 
i had a coolermaster masterwatt 750 in my old rig, it would make a weird gargling/snorting noise once in a while, particularly when i put load on the system.
 
Sorry, but that's not all that surprising. The only CM worth their salt is the V series, the rest are just ok and worse. It's not that they don't survive, I've got a really old CM G600 that still works, it's that everything about them is seriously mediocre. Build, quality, outputs, longetivity. Mediocre. And then they throw in the MW lite, at a cheap price, and ppl are expecting a lot more than they get, because it's CoolerMaster.
 
Say it like it is. Cooler master makes cheap products. There is a reason that you can get many of their cases, power supplies, fans and other hardware so cheap. It's because they ARE cheap. Not that they don't HAVE some few better models here and there, but overall, cheap. And by cheap I don't just mean the price.

We have a moderator here that specifically says, "Friends don't let friends buy Cooler master products".

Plus, I suspect that the few decently tested units they DO still sell, are mostly cherry picked. I fully believe Cooler master is guilty of dealing cherry picked units out for review and so it's inevitable that they get a few mediocre reviews rather than outright dumpster fire unit results for them all. I'd buy a Cooler master case, a few specific models anyhow (And in fact HAVE, in years past) but I'd never buy a Cooler master power supply these days.
 
they also make comparitively reliable cheap fans , thier fans outlive other fans in the same price range atleast that is my experience , My hyper 212+ fans and the other 120MM fans from cooler master i had that were running 24/7 outlived my old tx-750 psu fan and my raven r03 200mm fans ,
 
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