.. and now power supply advice wanted!

So I got an HD7770 and the PSU in the Dell T3400 isn't up to powering it (2
x BSOD = time to pull it out!) and it appears that the issues that have been
plaguing me with my main heavy iron are down to sagging PSU rails -
something that has likely been causing problems on-and-off for a couple of
years. :-/

So I'm in need of a new >500W PSU at an affordable price, a good, reliable
unit that isn't going to cost my other arm and leg. The unit I'm replacing
that is flakey is a 700W AcBel. I'd need similar wattage as the CPU is a
QX9650 quad core 3GHz, I'll be running the HD7770 (up to 100W) and may one
day need a thirstier graphics card - plus I like headroom. Electronic
components last much longer if they're only being used at 60% or their rated
capacity or so.

Informed advice wanted please. From experience I've learned that it's no
good reading US sites about PSUs as it's rare that we have access to the
same models as they review - and what's worse is there's quite a bit of
re-badging with PSUs.

So if anyone has experience with a current model that fits the bill (and
perhaps a site selling it) I'd like to hear it.

Again, thanks in advance. I'm getting quite out-of-touch w/r/t current
hardware.
--
</Shaun>

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief has a
cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1).

 

However, what kind of rating is that? I seen a 202 HP engine that you would
need a large truck to transport. This engine, ran 24/7 close to this power
output for day after day and yawned at the thought of an rebuild.

The latest issue of APC (the magazine) has an article entitled, Performance
gaming for under $900

They picked a Antec NEO520C ECO 520 power supply.

The article says that one should never skimp on the power supply.

Their system has GTX760 or HD7870 video cards.

 

Thanks for that, it looks quite affordable too. I'm just waiting to see how
a few things shake out and then I might order one.

Cheers. Yeah, when it comes to PSUs I like a recognisable name brand. handy
to know that Aywun is rubbish.

Best,
--
</Shaun>

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief has a
cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1).

 

OK, thanks.

I agree - the PSU I'm replacing wasn't exactly cheap but it seems it's still
in need of replacement. At least that's the most benign mode of failure for
a PSU (data corruption due to rails sagging when writing to HDD).

Cheers,
--
</Shaun>

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief has a
cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1).

 

Great - it's always good when two people can benefit from the same research.

--
</Shaun>

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief has a
cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1).

 

As funds are currently a little low I've put one of these at the top of my
shopping list (before food and toilet paper <g>) and will get one as soon as
I can.

I borrowed a 500W PSU for a short time and it's now running my QX9650 rig
with the HD7770 quite well. It seems that all of the little glitches that
I've had on-and-off over the years but hadn't been able to completely
eliminate can now be put squarely at the feet of the PoS AcBel 700W PSU
(Product No. ATX-700CA-AB8FB, Model No. PC6024) that's been in the PC from
new.

Damn! All this time when I've had occasional glitches I've thought that the
overclock might have been too high... Or there were too many HDDs in there
on the one rail (it claims 3 x 12V rails)... Or that the RAM wasn't
seated..... I barely considered that it might be down to the high-wattage,
not cheap PSU made by a company who used to make the OEM PSUs for IBM not so
long ago!

Thanks again.

LOL, I've got an issue with the resolution in the game I play now. I've
posted it to alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (after getting no joy in the
Path of Exile forums). I may as well post it here as well - you never know
your luck....

Cheers,
--
</Shaun>

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief has a
cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1).

 

I recently started to have power problems with my old 550W Truepower
Antec, and so I did a bit of research, and I ended up with this Seasonic
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=412787

Apparently Seasonic make a lot of high end (gamer/enthusiast-targetted)
PSU for many other brands, but also market under their own name with a
comparatively low profile. I'm very happy with mine so far, by now it
runs a Geforce 780 since last month without the slightest glitch.
Clearly, at ~$300 this is not a cheapie, it probably pays to look at
reviews of whatever other model is under consideration and compare
stats. Power consumption and efficiency were clearly a consideration for
me, since my box only gets turned off for 1/2 a day once a fortnight or
so.
There are specialist review sites out there that show various curves for
the behaviour of different psu, which gives one a good basis for
comparison. 's what I based my final choice on over my previously
favoured brands of Enermax and Antec.

h.t.h., -P.

 

Thanks for the reply. That's a mighty nice looking PSU - Seasonic sticks in
my mind from the days when I used to read a lot more hardware reviews, when
I was more actively building computers so needed to be informed. They always
did well in tests. Depending on the model in the top 60 - 95% of PSUs
tested.

However that's a bit rich for my blood. After EMBs reply regarding the
CoolerMaster I looked at their range, then at Ascent as they're where I
usually buy my gear - and ended up with this one;

http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=418191

PB Tech had it too but at a higher price than Ascent. I decided to spend a
litle more of the bank's money and get one with a bit more power and a
5-year warranty

I emailed them first and told them it's a QX9650 with four RAM sticks, two
optical drives and up to four HDDs - one fixed Velociraptor and three SATA
bays that have mainly 2TB HDDs swapped in and out of them. Often all bays
are full and files being copied for hours. I also said it currently had an
HD7770 but I'd be keeping the machine for a while yet <touch wood> and may
put a video card in later that requires a bit more power so woyuld like a
bit of headroom (but that I don't use high-end watt-suckers).

They replied saying they'd enquire of the supplier and a couple of hours
later emailed saying that it should suit - that it can deliver 585W all day
long. So far so good.

Yes, my most current knowledge of PSUs says that there's only really one
brand that would be a better choice than Seasonic going by the best PSU
review sites and that (the PC Power and Cooling Silencer) was unavailable in
NZ when I last checked.

One thing I'm really pleased about is that it seems that PSUs no longer go
for multiple 12v rails (both of our new ones have a monolithic single 12v
rail). What a stupid idea that was! I remember reading about the AcBel I had
(3 x 16A / 12v rails) and how to tell which of the PCIe video connectors
was on it's own rail... Back in the day the PC Power and Cooling PSU that
won all of the tests was one of the few PSUs that had a monolithic 12v
rail - something like 60A.

Also both of those PSUs use Japanese electrolytic capacitors (although I
dare say the Seasonic uses better quality ones).

(A couple of the sites I used to reference when I was looking at PSUs:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?108088-Official-XS-Power-Supply-Ranking-Phase-I
http://www.jonnyguru.com/ )

Cheers,
--
</Shaun>

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief has a
cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1).

 

Interesting and yet the website says its rated at 650 watts. Shows that one
does need to state how long you want to draw that power from it.

 

Oh, I learned years ago from reading in-depth PSU reviews that the obvious
(a 650W PSU delivers 650W continuous) certainly isn't true at all. (Those
two URLs that I posted are about the best places to start on teh whole webz
if you want to know about computer PSUs.)

The good news is that it seems that Cooler Master started to get Seasonic to
OEM manufacture their better quality retail PSUs a couple of years back.
While I'm not 100% sure that my Cooler Master V650S[*] PSU *is*
Seasonic-made I know it's big brothers in the 'V' range are
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story2&reid=350 and
it's more than likely that it too is. <fingers crossed> It comes with a 5
year warranty (in NZ) anyway.

[*] AFAICT the 'S' in it's name is for 'Semi', as in Semi-modular. The
motherboard wires are permanently connected to the PSU. Only the wires for
peripherals are modular, with four plugs / sockets with ribbons of Molex /
SATA plugs on them.
--
</Shaun>

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief has a
cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1).

 

Buy you don't have any way of testing that, its all guess work..

 

Yeah, that's a good rule. What I've learned from reading the sites I
mentioned is that most PSUs run most efficiently at around 50% capacity.
Alas I'm not in a financial position to buy a PSU capable of twice the
maximum draw of my system. Otherwise that Seasonic-built Cooler Master V1000
would be in my computer case right now.
--
</Shaun>

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief has a
cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1).