Which PSU should I buy?

It’s nothing groundbreaking—there are definitely better options out there—but you can grab an XFX 550W on sale right now:

The build quality and ripple suppression are much better, though I guess everything else is about on par with Antec.

crimsonstag84 said:http://www.bestbuy.com/site/power-supply...

That is a solid deal. Right now, it's the cheapest XFX 550W you'll find in the States.

Power Supply Fortron Raider Silver, 550W

Picked up this XFX 550W. It’s plenty powerful and solid quality. Thanks for the advice. Cheers.

Hey everyone, I could use some advice—I’m probably picking up a new power supply in the next few days. Right now, I’m running a $167—no more, no less. Should I go with the XFX 550W or maybe stick with a Corsair CX600?

In what way is it better? 😬

If you're swapping out that Corsair unit, you might as well go for an 80+ Gold modular one just to make it worth the money.

With your current setup, the HD 7870 and 4670K pull about 250W at full load, so I guess an upgrade doesn't really make sense right now.

Maybe look at something like a Seasonic G-550, though personally, I wouldn't buy it unless it was bundled with a new GPU.😛

Oops, I totally forgot to mention—my SATA cables are starting to fall apart. One of them actually snapped—the bottom plastic bit gave out—so it won't stay seated in my optical drive anymore. I had to resort to using a Molex-to-SATA adapter just to get it working. I’ll probably try to list it on eBay for about $100-$50 since the power supply itself works perfectly fine; it’s just a pain because that broken SATA connector is a total headache. Anyway, I won't drone on too long—I might upgrade my GPU in the near future, so it might make sense to swap the PSU at the same time to handle everything at once. Right now, I'm torn between going with an XFX 550W or a Corsair CX600 🤔
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From what I can see, the Corsair puts out 522W on the +12V rail, while the XFX does 528W. So they're basically identical, right? But wait, isn't XFX using Seasonic components? If that's the case, wouldn't it be the smarter move to go with the Seasonic-based unit? I don't know, I'm no expert 😬

You're really gonna sell that PSU for $50 just because one of the SATA connectors is ripped? You might be losing it, 🤣 what kind of GPU are you even planning to run?

I can tell you right now, I’m a little bit eccentric—it's just how I am 🤣

As for a new graphics card, I honestly couldn't give you a solid answer yet... I have no idea what my budget is going to look like or if I'll end up selling my current 7870. But hey, what are your thoughts on the power supply? If you were in my shoes, which way would you lean? Would you go with AMD or Corsair?

It might be time to let go of that old power supply 😁

If you’re actually in the market for a replacement,
my vote goes to the
EVGA XTR 550 W, Corsair RM series, Intel.
You can find it on CNN.com or Amazon—Amazon is a bit cheaper—but I specifically mentioned Newegg because they really are the gold standard for PC hardware in the States.

Basically, here is what you get for $67 the extra cash you'll spend.
You get a Corsair RM series unit, which makes cable management much less of a headache, and if things ever go south, swapping it out is a breeze.
Intel efficiency (around 89-91%), which should shave about 7-12% off your power bill.
A 5-year warranty (which is 3 years longer than the base version).
Review
I couldn't track down specific data regarding operating temperatures or noise levels.

The EVGA XTR uses a Corsair RM platform, so maybe you could just grab the Corsair RM 550 at a discount store for a few bucks less 😛

I happen to be an exclusive, undercover promoter for Future, so I can only offer my recommendation there. 😉

No way, I'm not dropping $100 on a power supply... I'll probably just go with a "normal" EVGA 550 W

How about these:

http://www.cnn.com/details_product...w-80-gold.aspx

Or maybe this one:
http://www.cnn.com/details_product...evo-520w.aspx

Both offer pretty similar wattage. One has modularity, while the Gold model is way more efficient, though I guess its ripple might be slightly worse.

Even if the platform is reliable, that AMD unit feels a bit dated since you're upgrading with a Corsair CX series.

Last week, I decided to pick up an
EVGA BR series for $135
It comes with a five-year warranty and decent efficiency levels, sitting right around 87-90%
CNET
At this price point, it's a total steal if you aren't obsessed with cable modularity. However, if you really want that feature, that Corsair unit crimsonstag84 suggested is probably your best bet.

Thanks guys 👍

I'll most likely go with the Corsair RM series... honestly, the fact that it's fully modular is a huge plus for me. Besides that—well, I don't have much else to say about Corsair--it's just a solid choice 😁 My only issue is that I can't seem to find a decent review anywhere just to check what the actual 12V rail output looks like..

12V at 40A/480W

I checked in with CNN.com and they have 6 units in stock at their distributors. If I get the order in tomorrow—Wednesday—they should be here. So, most likely, I'm going with that Corsair unit. I just really hope I'm not making a mistake if I decide to upgrade my GPU later on... you know, like picking up an NVIDIA GTX 870 or an AMD Radeon R9 280X. Since the 12V rail offers so much extra headroom—actually about 70W more than what I'm running now—it should be fine, right? 👍

Look, if that guy with the Radeon R9 280X is running a Corsair RM series 360 Gold unit, then you’d be perfectly fine with a Corsair CX series, and those power supplies mentioned above would work even better—especially since NVIDIA cards pull even less power in general...

Honestly, if I were you, I'd just hold out for those 20nm cards. By then, you'll have saved up a decent chunk of change, and the performance-per-watt jump should be pretty massive. Take the NVIDIA GTX 870, for example...

As long as you aren't running CF/SLI setups, you probably don't need to sweat the 12V rail on any decent power supply.😉

That G-360 only puts out 30A on the 12V line, so the AMD Radeon R9 280X is still the better bet here. According to the review over at Tom's Hardware, it can max out at around 430W.