Which PSU ?

[barneythedinosaur]

Which PSU to get ?

I need a PSU quite urgent for my AMD board, nothing fancy, 450-500 watt should be fine running a a8 9600 cpu and cheap nvidia gt 710 graphics card, thats it, but at least reliable, i was looking at these because it's the shop up the road from me:

https://matrixwarehouse.co.za/894-power-supply-450w.html
https://matrixwarehouse.co.za/power-supplies/618-huntkey-550-watt-power-supply.html

Is the Huntkey really that much better to go for ie components inside ? Or do you pay for the sensor and bigger fan ?

is the base ezcool psu junk ?

And this one, they say it's got better components inside ?

https://matrixwarehouse.co.za/desktop/1201-antec-basiq-series-500w-psu.html

what should i go for ? or is there a better walk in store in the jhb/roodepoort/randburg area.

 

[WAslayer]

I need a PSU quite urgent for my AMD board, nothing fancy, 450-500 watt should be fine running a a8 9600 cpu and cheap nvidia gt 710 graphics card, thats it, but at least reliable, i was looking at these because it's the shop up the road from me:

https://matrixwarehouse.co.za/894-power-supply-450w.html
https://matrixwarehouse.co.za/power-supplies/618-huntkey-550-watt-power-supply.html

Is the Huntkey really that much better to go for ie components inside ? Or do you pay for the sensor and bigger fan ?

is the base ezcool psu junk ?

And this one, they say it's got better components inside ?

https://matrixwarehouse.co.za/desktop/1201-antec-basiq-series-500w-psu.html

what should i go for ? or is there a better walk in store in the jhb/roodepoort/randburg area.

Definitely go with the antec.. the only reliable PSU from Huntkey is the Jumper series.. stay away from the ezcool..

 

[barneythedinosaur]

thank you i will do that

 

[ponder]

PC International is in Randburg and do Corsair.

 

[Totempole]

is the base ezcool psu junk ?

Yes, also avoid Raidmax.

Both make use of the worst possible components in their entry-level PSUs.

EDIT:

This one seems pretty decent at R569:

https://www.takealot.com/antec-vp500pc-500w-power-supply/PLID41397457

 

[barneythedinosaur]

O man i almost got a Raidmax thank goodness...! At the end I Got the Ant today, the exact one in your link looks like a decent PSU !
Just paid too much for it now that i see your link... Nice looking PSU so far, the new pc build will be tomorrow.

 

[garyc]

There is a PSU hierarchy on Tom's Hardware which lists them from really good down to totally sucks: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

One thing to look out for is if the PSU supports the processor C7 state https://images.anandtech.com/reviews/cpu/intel/Haswell/ULT/c10.png. This has been a standard since the Haswell but lots of the PSUs still do not support it (or are old stock).

Some reasonable PSUs in the 500 to 550W range are:

https://www.wootware.co.za/corsair-cp-9020102-cx550m-550w-80-plus-bronze-certified-semi-modular-desktop-power-supply.html
https://www.wootware.co.za/corsair-rm550x-550w-80-plus-gold-certified-fully-modular-desktop-power-supply.html
https://www.wootware.co.za/cooler-master-rs550-acaab3-gx-550w-80-plus-bronze-certified-desktop-power-supply.html

A cheaper one which is still good:
https://www.wootware.co.za/super-flower-sf-550f14mt-leadex-550w-80-plus-silver-certified-fully-modular-desktop-power-supply.html

 

[Ghost729]

There is a PSU hierarchy on Tom's Hardware which lists them from really good down to totally sucks: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

One thing to look out for is if the PSU supports the processor C7 state https://images.anandtech.com/reviews/cpu/intel/Haswell/ULT/c10.png. This has been a standard since the Haswell but lots of the PSUs still do not support it (or are old stock).

Some reasonable PSUs in the 500 to 550W range are:

https://www.wootware.co.za/corsair-cp-9020102-cx550m-550w-80-plus-bronze-certified-semi-modular-desktop-power-supply.html
https://www.wootware.co.za/corsair-rm550x-550w-80-plus-gold-certified-fully-modular-desktop-power-supply.html
https://www.wootware.co.za/cooler-master-rs550-acaab3-gx-550w-80-plus-bronze-certified-desktop-power-supply.html

A cheaper one which is still good:
https://www.wootware.co.za/super-flower-sf-550f14mt-leadex-550w-80-plus-silver-certified-fully-modular-desktop-power-supply.html

+1

I need a PSU quite urgent for my AMD board, nothing fancy, 450-500 watt should be fine running a a8 9600 cpu and cheap nvidia gt 710 graphics card, thats it, but at least reliable, i was looking at these because it's the shop up the road from me:

https://matrixwarehouse.co.za/894-power-supply-450w.html
https://matrixwarehouse.co.za/power-supplies/618-huntkey-550-watt-power-supply.html

Is the Huntkey really that much better to go for ie components inside ? Or do you pay for the sensor and bigger fan ?

is the base ezcool psu junk ?

And this one, they say it's got better components inside ?

https://matrixwarehouse.co.za/desktop/1201-antec-basiq-series-500w-psu.html

what should i go for ? or is there a better walk in store in the jhb/roodepoort/randburg area.

Since you want quality, R1k+ prices you're looking at. What you'll also notice is that these come with long warranties and have certified efficiency ratings. The modularity is also a nice addition, since it makes you're rig a bit more flexible and helps with cable management.

I have a Corsair VS650, which I bought 4 years back, before I became wise to the PSU heirarchy. Luckily, It's a decent PSU and It's been serving me well, so I have no plans to replace it.

For your rig, spending R1k+ on a PSU seems like overkill. I'm not sure what issues you've had before that you're specifically looking for reliability, but I'd say look at the cheapest stuff from established brands, like that Antec Totempole suggested.

 

[wizardofid]

O man i almost got a Raidmax thank goodness...! At the end I Got the Ant today, the exact one in your link looks like a decent PSU !
Just paid too much for it now that i see your link... Nice looking PSU so far, the new pc build will be tomorrow.

Raidmax has in recent times cleaned up their act, even people like FSP have stepped up to the plate, problem is at the entry level side of PSU's with the exception of delta, Seasonic, and flextronics, which all have highend PSU's in the 500watt range but which you pay for. Yes you may not need a 750 or even 800 watt PSU, price wise it costs more, but generally is where you would find the better quality PSU's, as the cheaper manufactures can't afford to make a "cheap" 750 watt or more PSU.

You are better off shopping in this range, then buying a bare min requirement PSU. People still insist on buying bare min wattage, there is nothing wrong with getting a 750 or 850 wattage PSU, a little overhead isn't the worst idea.....

 

[sajunky]

You are better off shopping in this range, then buying a bare min requirement PSU. People still insist on buying bare min wattage, there is nothing wrong with getting a 750 or 850 wattage PSU, a little overhead isn't the worst idea.....

While I do agree what you wrote before, this one looks like an easy way. If your maximum power requirements are around 50% of the PSU capacity or less, you are lowering your safety and efficiency. It is the best to setup around 80%-90%.

When looking for affordable PSU in the low wattage space, I would chose the lowest rated PSU of the reputable range.

By example when looking for 450W PSU, I would chose Corsair RM which is produced in the wide range (450-1000W) by Channel Well Tech. The lowest rated unit carries the same protection system as more powered members. However it needs extra verification whether the cheapest unit really belongs to the same design family, 750W model do not.

 

[wizardofid]

While I do agree what you wrote before, this one looks like an easy way. If your maximum power requirements are around 50% of the PSU capacity or less, you are lowering your safety and efficiency. It is the best to setup around 80%-90%.

When looking for affordable PSU in the low wattage space, I would chose the lowest rated PSU of the reputable range.

By example when looking for 450W PSU, I would chose Corsair RM which is produced in the wide range (450-1000W) by Channel Well Tech. The lowest rated unit carries the same protection system as more powered members. However it needs extra verification whether the cheapest unit really belongs to the same design family, 750W model do not.

Safety ?! How, where and who told you that. You need to brush up on your efficiency grading for PSU's, tested for certification, has to pass efficiency tests at various load in particular the stand out 50% efficiency, in other words, if it's rated for 80% efficiency it has to provide 80% efficiency up to a 100% load no matter what the reasonable load is.

Overhead is always good especially if you are planning on using the psu for awhile, additionally, while a PSU may have the same model name doesn't mean it's produced by the same company, you are aware corsair doesn't actually produce there own PSU's, they have OEM's like CWT, seasonic and at one point FSP, especially there lower end PSU's.

Lowerend even budget PSU's have one thing in common, they use the age old double forward design or even a mixture of double forward and group regulated designs.The design it self isn't all that efficient you will be had pressed to find a gold rated PSU sporting a double forward or group regulated designs.

So if you do your research and confirm the certification of the PSU which you can look up on an online database, don't settle for any thing less then a gold rated PSU you should be good in general, transient filtering on both socket and boards inputs is already a step in right direction, proper cooling fins, decent fan, tier 2 caps on secondary side is okay, tier one caps on primary side is a must, any thing else you don't buy it.

Fact of the matter is corsair has been dropping the ball as of late, especially with their budget range, they have started using cheaper manufactures for their PSU's.....so not worth it at all. 500watt PSU range it's delta, seasonic, flextronics or GTFO, the quality just isn't that good on either FSP, CWT or any of the local brands we get here, they are the bare min of what a PSU should be and do, if they do any less it would become a rock..

Gold rated 750 watt range, gives you a better chance of getting a decent PSU, with a decent topology

You are aware I am still rocking a raidmax 850AE, I got nearly 5 years back, power failures, brown outs, and god forbid dust it's still alive, and my power requirements have gone down with nearly 50% or more in the last two years, and there has been no "safety" issues because I am only using 150watt of the available 850watt I have....Seriously ?