I found my Antec Earthwatts 450 couldn't support a Core 2 6320, 3 SATA hdd, 1 optical, 4GB RAM, and a GTX 470. I upgraded to a PC Power & Cooling brand Silencer MK II 750W PSU and it's been pretty good. Main thing I notice, other than my system being able to start, is that it's so quiet sometimes I have to check to make sure it's still on.
it should work out because now it works on 400W chieftec power supply without a problem (maximum load, it is very rare i may add, it gets around 60%-70%) so 450W should be enough.. i dont need that much HDDs because i have home server for storage and backups.. i dont use optical drives for some years now, i consider optical media to be unreable, with digital distribution, fast internet, widespread of NAS, cheap and large usb flash memory, usb HDDs etc. i rarely use optical media.
i never plan to do crossfire or sli, because single mid range card like GF gts450, or GF gtx550Ti is enough for all the gaming i might do.
mostly im worried not about W, but quality. there is some cases where burning PSU took down motherboard and other components as well.
A bad supply can really trash the works! The first 700w of the same lasted until it died from early 2007 until 2010 right when this case was planned out. The next one tripped a 20am four plug wall outlet despite how good the surge protection on the power strip was taking the new board along with it.
I spotted the Corsair TX750 at a good price when going to look for something else and bought a second for spare at the time. I would never put in any 1000w deal however! I could easily run a great Crossfire setup with the one in use.
The extra drives and the need for those few more connectors was the main reason for anything over 600-650 to start with in case I expanded any further on the case. The supply still seems to be running cool and quiet after 2+yrs. however suggesting I made a good choice on it.
The quality factor of course is always the first item on the list and why I mentioned always looking over the specs when going to pick one out from the various makes. Efficiency and good regulation are things to look for regardless of how large or small the supply is.
got my PSU today after installing it woks without a problem is silent, dont have coil whine that some cheaper PSU have and and cooling fan is silent at light load.. my system at light load draws around 120W from wall so that means at 80+ efficiency i think it should be around 85%, so PC uses around 95watt at light load internet, mail etc.
so far everything is good.. but thats only few hours testing.
Very good! Hope it lasts you a long time!
I just the new 7 Pro case up and running with the CX600 and not one problem. You wouldn't even know it was running except for the leds.
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