Seasonic M12II-620 or Corsair CMPSU-650HX

[SamWoodcock]

Seasonic M12II-620 (£79):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095

Corsair CMPSU-650HX (£83.5):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012

I'm looking at both PSU's to buy for my next build. I was originally going for the Seasonic, but the Corsair PSU has recently dropped in price on Amazon.co.uk, so there is only a £5 difference (they're still both a rip off compared to US prices =(

Basically, which PSU is better for the money and why?

Or should I splash the cash and go for this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004DRZI4Y/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE?
Is it worth the £40 more?

Thanks!

 

[Rugger]

What are your system specs/planned build? Any crossfire/SLI? Overclocking? If you're not doing CF/SLI, then you don't need that much PSU. A good quality 500-550W PSU would be sufficient and the XFX Core 550W is a great deal at under 50 quid with free shipping: http://www.amazon.co.uk/XFX-P1-550S-XXB9-PRO550W-Edition-Supply/dp/B004RJ8EKI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1342029957&sr=8-2

Both of the above PSUs are made by Seasonic and use the same base design. The HX has a 7 year warranty...that might be worth a few quid, but you'd be happy with either one.

 

[SamWoodcock]

I'm going to have a micro-ATX build with a i5 3570k CPU. I will probably overclock slightly, but not by a huge amount.
My GPU will be a Radeon HD 7850, which is apparently very efficient with a low power draw, but I will likely overclock it a fair bit to reach GTX 570 performance (hopefully)

I could possibly use crossfire in the future as my mobo will support it, but in reality I'm not a serious PC gamer. Do you think 550W would allow for two HD 7850's in Crossfire?
In any case, it will probably be a few years until frame rates drop significantly for me and the need for crossfire arises, so I could always buy another PSU.

Other specs:
- 8gb ram
- One SSD and one HDD
- Minimum 4 case fans, possibly 8

Would that PSU be sufficient? How does the quality compare to a Seasonic PSU?

Thanks for you help!

 

[SamWoodcock]

Is that XFX PSU modular? I just realised that I forgot to ask for modular because my case is micro ATX and I don't want to impede airflow with extra cables. Or would it not be much of a problem? This is my first build to I'm not to sure.

 

[amuffin]

The HX is a better model than the Seasonic one.

The seasonic one is about equiv with the TX series, but the HX is an overall better PSU.

It's also made by seasonic!

 

[SamWoodcock]

The HX is a better model than the Seasonic one.

The seasonic one is about equiv with the TX series, but the HX is an overall better PSU.

It's also made by seasonic!

Brilliant, thanks for the info! I guess for the extra £5 it is well worth it, being a better model with 7 year warranty.
Just need to decide between that or the lower power suggestion from Rugger now.
Thanks!

 

[Rugger]

The HD7850 sips power. A system with a single HD7850 requires a 450W PSU with at least 25A on the 12V rails and one 75W 6-pin PCIe power connector. A system with two HD 7850s running in two-way crossfire requires a 600W PSU with at least 35A on the 12V rails and two 75W 6-pin PCIe power connectors. Amperage on the 12V rails is more important than the total wattage rating of the PSU; the vast majority of power is drawn from the 12V rails by the CPU/GPU. The XFX Core 550W has 44A on the 12V rails and is electrically sufficient for running two HD7850s in CF mode. It also has sufficient PCIe power connectors for running that setup.

The XFX Core PSUs are manufactured by Seasonic and are high quality PSUs with a 5 year warranty. It is a full ATX PSU so just verify that your case accepts ATX PSUs and doesn't require a SFF or Pico PSU. The PSU is not modular. Extra cables can restrict airflow, but they creative placement/hiding of cables minimizes impact (i.e. place behind mobo panel, stuff into unused drive bays).

 

[SamWoodcock]

The HD7850 sips power. A system with a single HD7850 requires a 450W PSU with at least 25A on the 12V rails and one 75W 6-pin PCIe power connector. A system with two HD 7850s running in two-way crossfire requires a 600W PSU with at least 35A on the 12V rails and two 75W 6-pin PCIe power connectors. Amperage on the 12V rails is more important than the total wattage rating of the PSU; the vast majority of power is drawn from the 12V rails by the CPU/GPU. The XFX Core 550W has 44A on the 12V rails and is electrically sufficient for running two HD7850s in CF mode. It also has sufficient PCIe power connectors for running that setup.

The XFX Core PSUs are manufactured by Seasonic and are high quality PSUs with a 5 year warranty. It is a full ATX PSU so just verify that your case accepts ATX PSUs and doesn't require a SFF or Pico PSU. The PSU is not modular. Extra cables can restrict airflow, but they creative placement/hiding of cables minimizes impact (i.e. place behind mobo panel, stuff into unused drive bays).

Thanks for the info! My case is an InWin Dragon slayer Micro-ATX case, which is geared towards small form factor gaming, so I'm pretty sure it can hold full ATX PSU's and full length GPU's too.

That XFX PSU looks like a very good choice and I'm seriously considering it over the HX-650. If it were your build would you dish out the extra £30 for the Corsair, or just stick with the XFX? Also, can you comment on the efficiency of the XFX PSU and it's noise? The Corsair is bronze 80+ and is apparently very quiet.

 

[SamWoodcock]

Also my case apparently has really good cable management, with slots behind the mobo to fit extra cables etc. As I've never built a system before I don't really know how many cables I will have to tidy up. Would they be much of a problem, or is it not an issue after being tidied away? I was only looking for modular before just for the neatness, but now I'm starting to reconsider.

 

[zloginet]

Either of those Power Supplies will give you exactly the same results.

 

[lilotimz]

XFX Core PSU's are of a slightly lower quality compared to the OG Seasonic units. The HX is based off a seasonic design that is superior to that of the S12II/M12II series and , some say, is nearly comparable to the Seasonic X series.

In terms of quality, XFX Core -> Seasonic S12II/M12II -> Corsair HX.

 

[SamWoodcock]

Thanks for everyone's help!

I think it will have to be the Corsair HX650 that I go for; I was really tempted by the XFX because of the price, but I think the extra money is worth the 2+ years warranty, a better design and modular cables.

 

[Rugger]

Great PSU - enjoy it!