Need advice on new 2012 PC Build

[nickyoung]

You say 2012 build.

The 2700K is on the horizon, you might wait for it.

I'd get a Seasonic or Corsair PSU in the 600 to 750 watt range and save some money.

While it makes sense to save a few bucks where you can, I was actually happy to see someone piecing together a system with a good power supply for once. It's usually the primary thing people skimp on.

Yea. I have 2 dead power supplies sitting on the floor here...

I'll be putting this on a UPS this time around. Power surges down here are frequent.

2012...I like to plan ahead and forgot we were still in 2011.

 

[badger906]

that the only reason i havent bought my nzxt phantom case! as ive told myself i might as well buy a new modular psu as im transferring case (my latest build i put in my old case and used my old coolermaster extreme 650w psu)

then i looked at the price of a decent branded psu and it was the same price as the case... soo i bought a cyborg R.A.T 9 wireless mouse with the money i had saved for the case! funny it was only a few pence cheaper.....DAMN EXPENSIVE MOUSE!!!!

 

[Wishmaster]

I agree on the PSU.
Something like a Corsair 650W would be more than enough.

Or, even up to 850, if you plan on SLI configurations and want a bit of headroom.

But with 560s, I would think a good quality 750W would be plenty, even if you SLI them.
Corasair, Season, antec is what I would look into.

Whatever you choose, just get a good quality PSU. Dont skimp here. Just saying 1000W is way too much, and not at all needed.


1000W is way overkill, unless you plan on running something with insane power draw like 3way SLI GTX 580s.

Im running a 650W in my system now with a 570, which pulls more power than a 560.
The only reson i am going to upgrade mine to a 750 or 850, is because Im planning a SLI configuration is in the near future.

 

[nickyoung]

1000W is way overkill, unless you plan on running something with insane power draw like 3way SLI GTX 580s.

I do not plan to go SLI. I do plan to go fully modular, and keep the wiring clean. So far I am only judging the quality by the 80 plus gold standard.

• Is the Corsair Gold AX650 be considered a high quality PSU still?
• Is AX650 easily enough power for the card below? (Don't want to scrape by...but if it's enough for 1 card then cool)

This will be powering a single Radeon 6950 - min PSU suggested 500W

 

[ignatzatsonic]

There are only a few actual manufacturers of high quality PSUs. Most of the brands you see were not manufactured by the brand. Instead, the brands contract with a manufacturer and slap their name on the product.

Seasonic is a high quality manufacturer and they make at least some of the Corsair units--which exact ones changes over time.

The video card makers have no control over what lousy PSU a given user will have, so they typically overstate the wattage requirements in hopes that will provide some leeway. The average "800 watt" PSU may in fact be under major duress if it had to put out 600 watts consistently.

You might go to jonnyguru.com and attempt to find out who currently makes various units--including Corsair.

 

[nickyoung]

You might go to jonnyguru.com and attempt to find out who currently makes various units--including Corsair.

Wow they have a lot of PSU discussion. Thanks! Will read through it all tonight.

The video card makers have no control over what lousy PSU a given user will have, so they typically overstate the wattage requirements in hopes that will provide some leeway.

I see. So being over the recommended min-PSU requirement really would be quite safe. I'll look more into the manufacturer and components aspect now.

 

[Wishmaster]

If Im not mistaken, the Corsair AX series are the 80Gold rating made by Seasonic. (Would need to double check on this)


And I completely agree with ignatzatsonic.


I was reading at ... I think it was Johnnyguru i could be wrong, that a PSu like the Seasonic 750X Gold could actually power SLI 580s.

And someone mentioned that it was underrated and could peak a over 1000Watts if it had to.

Do not take that as fact, as it has been a while since I was looking into it and may not be recalling it correctly.
But it was something along that line.


Point is, high quality PSUs are not only much more efficient, but often the ratings refer to coninuous power.
And many times, underrated as to what the PSU can actually handle.

Rather than advertising 800W, and not telling you thats what it can handle in short spurts at peak. When in reality it can only safely maintain 400 or 500W continuously.

 

[pparks1]

I've got a Corsair HX620 and it's been a solid PSU for over 2 years now. I do like the modular cabling. I recently upgraded to an eVGA 570 GTX and this power supply is handling that just fine.

 

[Maguscreed]

I have a silverstone sli rated/certified 1000 watt modular PSU in this box, it was purchased at the time the E6850 cpu I have in this box was first released (I mean literally within days of said release), which I believe makes it about 5 years old now. It has shown no signs of wear or age at all. In fact it was properly tested not a week ago and still delivers all power and amps it is rated for and then some.

Yeah, kicking the extra money for a psu is something I am always in support of. This one was nearly 300 bucks at the time of purchase (they've come down since then) and I don't see it as a bad choice on my part even now. If you consider it has at minimum been used roughly 10 hours a day since I've had it. It has a significant amount of operational time on it too. (more recently I have started using at always on since my NAS died)

 

[nickyoung]

Thanks guys. Appreciate all the help.

The Mobo Gamble - I don't want to rule out the possibility of a PCI 3.0 SSD drive showing up in the next 2-3 years that can take advantage of the speeds (basically double PCI 2.0 capacity). A look around shows that leaps are being made, just not apparent in the consumer market yet, but with a PCI 3.0 standard in place, maybe something with be left for the normal folks.

Hence the new P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 (The Gen3 version has PCIx3 support) $10 bucks extra?? = WIN :sarc:

PSU = SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold - With 1 Video Card, and not that many extra components, The 650 gold will do just fine.