what PSU should i get?

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Megamuffin

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Budget R1000

PC specs:
AMD3 MB 880GMA-E45
AMD athlon II x3 455
8 gigs of ddr3 @ 1600
Radeon HD 6850

i know the minimum required to run my pc is about 450-500W. but i upgrade alot so i want a good PSU that i wont need to upgrade anytime soon.
was thinking to get a good coolmaster 750W PSU
 
Even a Corsair CX430 would be good enough for that current PC of yours.

The Coolermaster GX isn't such a good series as you think it is.

The best PSU for under R1k that I know of is the Antec HCG620W.
That 620W non-modular PSU should allow you to run like an i5 2500k @ 4.5GHz + 2x GTX560Ti's.
 
Corsair TX650 is another solid bet, besides the Antec mentioned by Pada.
 
thanks thinking of upgrading to a AMD 4 core CPU and getting a Radeon HD 6870 x2 crossfire going over the next few months
 
Just post here for prices before you just jump in and buy 2x HD6870's for an expensive price.

Currently the best prices on the HD6870's & GTX560Ti's that I know of are:
MSI HD6870 Hawk @ R1899 (incl shipping) - http://www.take2.co.za/electronics-...6870-hawk-1gb-256bit-gddr5-pci-e-9724203.html
MSI GTX560Ti Twin Frozr II @ R2245 (excl shipping) - http://www.wootware.co.za/msi-gefor...gddr5-pci-e-desktop-graphics-card-retail.html

I would strongly advise you to get a big case if you know that you're going for a SLI/CrossFire setup, otherwise you might run into heating problems.
I have the Coolermaster 690 II Advanced, and it is really the smallest case that I can recommend for a dual graphics card setup, and the case isn't that small to start with.

Oh and don't upgrade to a quad core AMD system now. Your motherboard doesn't support SLI/CrossFire in any case, so you might as well just look at an Intel Sandy Bridge setup that has 2x 16x PCI-E 2.0 slots that can run at 8x + 8x.
 
Megamuffin said:
Budget R1000

PC specs:
AMD3 MB 880GMA-E45
AMD athlon II x3 455
8 gigs of ddr3 @ 1600
Radeon HD 6850

i know the minimum required to run my pc is about 450-500W. but i upgrade alot so i want a good PSU that i wont need to upgrade anytime soon.
was thinking to get a good coolmaster 750W PSU
Click to expand...

You only need a GX 650wat for two 6870s. Taking that 750watt will give you plenty of headroom. Good Choice.
 
I think the TX650 is discontinued, which is why you won't be able to find it at many online stores any more.
The Antec HCG620 has a better efficiency than the TX650, and I'd reckon that it should be able to deliver the same amount of power.
 
Last edited:
Pada said:
I think the TX650 is discontinued, which is why you won't be able to find it at many online stores any more.
Click to expand...
The TX650 (In fact all the TX-series, but for the TX950) have been replaced with the V2, so you would now get the TX650V2 if that makes sense. And still comes in at the same price (R880 with us for example)
 
Thanks Nelis.

I see the TX650m is still so new that many shops doesn't have it listed yet, and it costs more than the R1000 budget that Megamuffin gave.

I forgot to mention:
Both the Antec HCG620 & Corsair TX650m has only 2x PEG (PCI-E graphics card) connectors, and you'll need 4 of those for 2x HD6870's!
Both those power supplies are more than capable of powering 2x HD6870's, but then you'll have to make use of Molex to PEG connectors.

The Coolermaster GX750 does have 4x PEG connectors though.
I really can't recommend the GX750 if you're going to draw more than 450W from it - see this review why: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-GX-750-W-Power-Supply-Review/917/7

In the R1300 price range, the Huntkey X7 900W modular PSU would be the best buy.
 
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I have the TX 850W V2 for R1243 from Takealot, I'll never look at another brand of PSU ever again, 5 year warranty FTW :)

If you want to sli/crossfire, rather get something at least 750W to give yourself headroom. From what I've learnt, it's best to spend a bit more and get something that's quite bigger then what you need so that someday, if you upgrade to parts that need lots of power, you can still keep your psu
 
Pada said:
Just post here for prices before you just jump in and buy 2x HD6870's for an expensive price.

Currently the best prices on the HD6870's & GTX560Ti's that I know of are:
MSI HD6870 Hawk @ R1899 (incl shipping) - http://www.take2.co.za/electronics-...6870-hawk-1gb-256bit-gddr5-pci-e-9724203.html
MSI GTX560Ti Twin Frozr II @ R2245 (excl shipping) - http://www.wootware.co.za/msi-gefor...gddr5-pci-e-desktop-graphics-card-retail.html

I would strongly advise you to get a big case if you know that you're going for a SLI/CrossFire setup, otherwise you might run into heating problems.
I have the Coolermaster 690 II Advanced, and it is really the smallest case that I can recommend for a dual graphics card setup, and the case isn't that small to start with.

Oh and don't upgrade to a quad core AMD system now. Your motherboard doesn't support SLI/CrossFire in any case, so you might as well just look at an Intel Sandy Bridge setup that has 2x 16x PCI-E 2.0 slots that can run at 8x + 8x.
Click to expand...

yeah my friend bought the last hd 6870 hawk, hope they get stock again, as i need to 1 order for my cf setup, i actually phoned the MSI distro, they more expensive then take2 o.0
 
Pada said:
I think the TX650 is discontinued, which is why you won't be able to find it at many online stores any more.
The Antec HCG620 has a better efficiency than the TX650, and I'd reckon that it should be able to deliver the same amount of power.
Click to expand...

HCG 620 delivers a lot lower on the 12v rail, by about 60w. Should be fine for 6870 CF, but anything higher and things will be less than ideal. TX650v2 looks better on paper, both Seasonic, both 80+ Bronze, TX has more power, longer warranty.

Slightly OT, but I see that Corsair has a new TX550m. It's apparently made by CWT, so possibly a succesor to the VX550. I hope so. PR blurb says based on TX V2 series, but TX V2 are made by Seasonic. Hmm.
 
Megamuffin said:
Budget R1000

PC specs:
AMD3 MB 880GMA-E45
AMD athlon II x3 455
8 gigs of ddr3 @ 1600
Radeon HD 6850

i know the minimum required to run my pc is about 450-500W. but i upgrade alot so i want a good PSU that i wont need to upgrade anytime soon.
was thinking to get a good coolmaster 750W PSU
Click to expand...

Get the Corsair TX650 V2. Cheaper than the GX750 and better quality.
 
If those Antec deals are still up at Esquire I'd recommend any Truepower branded PSU - the TP-750 for r900 should do you nicely.
 
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