PSU: Power Supply Guide for Today's & Tomorrow's Computers

[livingdead]

I've been wanting to OC my system for a while now but wanted to upgrade a few things so cooling won't be a problem. Ordered an Antec 900, Asus Artic Square cooler and a 4890. I also knew I needed a new PSU, luckily I have a friend who works at a Best Buy and was able to get me a BFG Tech GX-550 Modular PSU (http://www.bfgtech.com/bfgr550wgxpsu.aspx) for 50$. My question is, would this PSU be low/mid/high quality for OCing ?

Edit: I'd also like to know if I got ripped off, not sure if 50$ for 550w is worth it ? I really have no clue if this PSU is good or not :S

[Mr.Scott]

It's a mid grade unit with 34 combined amps on the +12. Not knowing the rest of your specs other than the 4890, I can't tell you if it's the right fit for you rig, but for $50 and being modular, good buy.

[livingdead]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, here are my complete specs:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ @2.4ghz (OCing it once I receive my cpu cooler and case)
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe
OCZ Gold XTC 2x512 PC25300 + OCZ Gold XTC 2x512 PC24200 (total of 2GB)
MSI Radeon HD 4890 OC 890/1000
Antec 900
Asus Arctic Square cooler
Good ol win xp pro

Now with the list of my system specs, would the BFG GX-550 run efficiently on this system and what If I OCed my CPU and ram, would it still run efficiently without any problems ?

What if I decided, in the future, to upgrade my cpu,mobo and ram (getting up-to-date models). Would this PSU still be safe to use and efficient ? Or would I need more wattage ?

[Mr.Scott]

You'll be fine with that unit. Even OC'ed it'll be fine. The only problem you'd have is if you went SLI. The wattage doesn't mean as much as the amount of amps on the 12v rail. More amps is better. As for future upgrades, again it depends on what they are. If you upgrade or add on to your system, feel free to come and ask questions before you buy. That's what we're here for.

[livingdead]

Thanks a lot again for taking the time to reply. Once I start OCing, I'll be asking more questions :P. Expecting my shipment to arrive today !

[Mr.Scott]

Originally Posted by livingdead

Thanks a lot again for taking the time to reply. Once I start OCing, I'll be asking more questions :P. Expecting my shipment to arrive today !

Excellent. Just be sure to post OC'ing questions in the proper section. Enjoy your stay here.

[davidhammock200]

Well Mr. Scott, I am very happy to see our Chief Engineer making sure that all is running smoothly.

Many Thanks,
Dave

[Mr.Scott]

I try to do my best, but I'm not the expert. Glad you're back again.

[davidhammock200]

Originally Posted by Mr.Scott

I try to do my best, but I'm not the expert. Glad you're back again.

Thank you, but I have not had & do not have the time to stay current, for now our EOC members & guest must look to our Chief Engineer, JonnyGURU & other experts when the nitty gets to gritty!

[cdolphin]

a couple of small gramatical errors:
it <is> how much amperage that a PSU has on the +12V rail(s) that determines its abilities & classification.

These "Recommended Brands" have are <delete are, insert been>

[eligray]

Since we just got a pointless bump anyways, I have to congratulate Dave and other contributors to this thread.

283,000 views and counting!

[davidhammock200]

Originally Posted by cdolphin

a couple of small gramatical errors:
it <is> how much amperage that a PSU has on the +12V rail(s) that determines its abilities & classification.

These "Recommended Brands" have are <delete are, insert been>

They will always be here, so get use to them.

Requested input is information on PSU's, especially new PSU's, personal experiences are best, but please send links to useful information not already contained in the guide.

Please write a personal review of the PSU's that are working best for you & we will link them in to the guide.

Many Thanks,
Dave

Originally Posted by eligray

Since we just got a pointless bump anyways, I have to congratulate Dave and other contributors to this thread.

283,000 views and counting!

Many thanks, however it is a team effort & could never be done without input from the EOC community.

[RealityRush]

Why isn't the Enermax Revolution85+ 1200W on that list?

[davidhammock200]

Originally Posted by RealityRush

Why isn't the Enermax Revolution85+ 1200W on that list?

Enermax as a brand is recommended & the Revolution series is highly recommended, but that specific PSU came out after the last update of the PSU Guide. I'm sure it will be included in the next update.

[Primordial]

Thanks for all the great posts people.
I bought the Corsair with knowledge of you guys thanks again.always a learner-

Hi all,I also just purchased a new PSU yesterday waiting for Derivry. Decided for the "Corsair HX 1000W" mainly because I want to XFire 4870`s and Watercool CPU and Gpu`s amongst other things. I believe they are stable across the board .
Q6600 @3000 with ProLimateck Megelyhelems cooler
GA EP45-DQ6 Mobo 4x case fans 2x intake 2x EXhaust 120mm/2x 95mm exhaust
8x GB Corsair 1066 @1112 and Arctic Cooing Fan Module
1x MSI 4870 t2d1g (O.C.)790/1100
2x 500GB Samsung HD`s
2x DVDWR
1x Card reader
5x Case fans 120mm
2x side 95mm fans
1x HD Cooler fans
2x 60mm fans
1x Usb E-Sata/10 used usb`s/memsticks ect:
3x Monitors/1x 1920x1200 BenQ/
2x 17"Phillips Brilliance(10 years old)
1x usb WiFi ADSL
Modded heavily ThermalTake Soprano Case

Upgrade
no tv card
no second 4870
no watercooling
no Blue-Ray

[davidhammock200]

It is very hard to go wrong when choosing any Corsair PSU & that goes double for the HX "Professional" series!

[davidhammock200]

History:

In the beginning God made all PSU's with a Single +12V Rail, this was from the beginning & continued until Man insisted upon more +12V amperage to power ever more power hungry (& hotter running) CPU's, so Man modified (corrupted?) God's design thus was created the first Dual Rail PSU's, where one +12V Rail powered only the CPU through either the 4-pin ATX or 8-pin ESP connector & the other +12V rail powered everything else. Man was happy & all seemed to be well.

Now the GPU's saw that when the CPU's demanded more & more power, they were rewarded with their very own +12V Rail. Reasoning that they were just as important as the CPU's the GPU's began to demand more & more power, too.

To make life easier for OEM's there are various standards that have been negotiated, agreed to & published to cover just about all aspects of computer design, that is why all ATX mobos have the same mounting holes & fit in all ATX cases, the same holds true for PSU design & GPU power requirements, however many OEM's don't mind bending or even breaking these standards when it helps them to get ahead of their competition & earn bigger profits.

No sooner had Man become satisfied with his new dual rail PSU's, than they began to fail when used with the most power hungry GPU's. This was because Nvidia had gone well beyond the official published standards as to how much +12V amperage GPU's were allow to use and because these GPU's had to share their one +12V rail with everything in side of the box, except the CPU's ATX/EPS +12V power connector, all on a +12V rail that by the existing standards was current limited to 18A.

Since PSU's with a single +12V rail don't care where the amperage (power) is used, these Nvidia Power Hogs worked perfectly with Single Rail PSU's as long as they were big enough, having enough amperage on their one +12V rail.

The PSU world divided into two (2) camps, one lead by PC P&C who "repented" & declared that all "high performance" PSU's must have a Single +12V Rail. PC P&C who up until that time had many PSU's with 3 or 4 rails, discontinued them & has forever since offered only Single Rail PSU's.

It is hard to say who lead the second camp, but I am going to give the credit (or blame) to Enermax. In the Enermax camp more rails were added, existing specs were changed & new specs were added, soon PSU's were available with up to 6-rails (I have heard of PSU's with more than 6X +12V rails, although I have never seen one or its specs) and the new ATX/EPS specifications adopted covered 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6 rail PSU's.

JonnyGURU was among the first to declare that the total number of +12V rails was not an important consideration in selecting a PSU. Single vs. Multiple +12V rails: The splitting of the +12V rail. And as PSU's meeting the new ATX/EPS specs became the standard in the marketplace, even I agreed that 95% of the time the number of +12V rails really wasn't all that important, that it only became a prime consideration if the system to be powered was very unusual in its power requirements, like powering a TEC, large numbers of HDD's, strange GPU configs used for F@H, etc.

The original reason for deviating from the Single Rail PSU was the CPU demand for more +12V amperage.

Then (at the time) the ever-increasing demands by the GPU(s) for more +12 amperage drove us back to the Single Rail PSU.

As these GPU demands peaked & stabilized, Enermax & Jonny lead us to the belief & understanding that the total number of +12V rails was no longer a primary issue, to which I have always added "95% of the time".

Present Day:

Now here we are today, Sunday, November 8, 2009 & today you can successfully power most any system (95%), with most any PSU design. 1KW to 1250W models are available with from one rail (PC P&C) to 6-rails (Enermax) & high quality sub-500W PSU's are available with 1-rail to 4X +12V rails. Everyone is happy, so why am I writing this?

Attack from the Future!

I have it on very good authority that GPU power demands are about to explode once again!

Apparently the ATI 5870 X2 will either exceed the highest existing ATX/EPS specs, or ATI is going to have to under clock it, however this is not the big deal, the big deal is the Nvidia Fermi, it seems that all versions of this GPU that result in severely beating the 5870 require LOTS MORE +12V amperage even for a single GPU card than the existing ATX/EPS specs permit and will require more +12V amperage than the OCP (Over Current protection) will allow on a single +12V rail on most of today's multi-rail PSU's!

Unless my sources are completely wrong, which I see as being only wishful thinking, we are all headed back to God's original design, the Single Rail PSU!

Please post anything that either confirms the power requirements of these new, soon to be, GPU's or better yet disproves them.

Best Wishes,
Dave

ADDED:

Which PSU's are Single Rail?

All PC P&C PSU's are single rail, as are all Corsair PSU's except the 1000HX, however given the design of the Corsair 1000HX,
it should not be effected, as its per rail OCP doesn't kick in until after 40A.

Here is a list of 37 "Known Good" Single Rail PSU's from a Corsair 400W at $30 AMIR to the PC P&C T12ESA 1200W at $560.
The list includes OCZ's newest & "Proven Good" Z Series Gold, some ""Proven Good" Silverstones & BFG's excellent, award winning 450W.

[Sherif846]

Dave, I read most of your posts regarding psus, but need to ask you, what do you think of these 2 babies? I think I have not seen in your list any Ultra products

http://www.ultraproducts.com/applica...371&CatId=5115

http://www.silverstonetek.com/produc...1200m&area=usa

The first one is probably the only one with such a high wattage 1600 W. As for the Silverstone Zeus, it has an adjustable 12 v rail, so u can merge them into 1 single rail or keep them multi rails.

Also, What is your opinion, modular or non modular psu? Is what is written in pc&p website "PSU myths exposed" true about modular ( adding resistance to the loop+the connections can get damaged)?

I am thinking of a new build:
- core i7
- exvga classified x58 e760 , want to start overclocking
-3X2 GB Ram
-2 HDD SATA
-2 X 260 + Geforce 9600 for PhyX
-DVD+ Blue ray drives
-2 Loops of water cooling, 2 rads, 2 pumps
- one pcie sound card ( high end)

Thanks

P.S. Sorry I posted this question in Zudakai's thread, i did not know there is this BIG thread here for Dave

[Mr.Scott]

The Silverstone PSU is top quality, the Ultra.....not so much, unless they changed their ways recently. The modular PSU's are no different in reliability than any other PSU's with permanent cables. The rumors about the modular cables are crap.
Sorry, I'm not Dave, but your questions are pretty easy.