Which PSU should I buy?

boldcanyon14 said:What's the budget looking like? What else are you running in the rig? 🙂

ASUS ROG Maximus, Intel B75 Chipset, AM3, 5xSerial ATA II
PointOfView NV GTS450 1024MB 783/3608 128bita, 2xDVI, miniHDMI
Power Supply SEASONIC 430W, SS-430GB, S12, active PFC
DDR3 4GB (2x2GB) Kingmax, 1333MHz, FLFE
HDD Seagate Barracuda 500GB, Serial ATA II, 7200 rpm
Gigabyte mid tower case, no PSU, black, USB, Firewire, 1×120mm fan
Intel Core i7-2600K (3.2GHz, 8MB, 125W)

Just give me some suggestions if you have them. I don't know my limit yet, just nothing absolutely insane. 🙂

This one looks solid to me. It’s got a bit more kick than your current build, which is smart if you're planning on upgrading stuff down the road..
Honestly, there isn't much to complain about here either. I wouldn't touch anything cheaper than this, assuming you can even find anything decent for less money 🙂 here's a review for the second one CLICK

boldcanyon14 said:This one looks solid to me. It’s got a bit more headroom than your current build, which is smart if you want to upgrade later without everything breaking.
And I have nothing bad to say about this one either. Honestly, I wouldn't bother looking at anything cheaper than this, assuming you can even find anything decent at that price point.🙂 Here is a review for the second option if you want to see the details: CLICK

Thanks a lot. That one from Micro Center will work just fine. 🙂

Just a side note here, but EVGA SuperNOVA can be found for roughly $400. It isn’t exactly a powerhouse when it comes to raw wattage—it won't be powering a high-end gaming rig, obviously—but it carries an 80 Plus Bronze certification, comes with a three-year warranty, and has some really solid reviews under its belt. To me, it feels like a fantastic value for anyone putting together an entry-level PC.

Why bother struggling with a more expensive 400W Corsair model when you have this? 😁

Casey Long2 said:Look, totally unrelated to the main topic, but you can pick up an EVGA SuperNOVA for about $45. It isn't exactly a powerhouse, but it carries an 80 Plus Bronze rating, comes with a three-year warranty, and the reviews are solid. To me, it looks like a killer deal for anyone building an entry-level rig.

You might be better off biting the bullet and grabbing a more expensive 400W Corsair model 😁

How do you say "snatched up like free donuts at the office"? When good stuff hits the market at a low price, it disappears before you can even blink.😁 😉

For this build, what’s the best bang for my buck regarding a PSU:

http://www.amazon.com/product/9645

http://www.amazon.com/product/9670

http://www.amazon.com/product/9666

http://www.amazon.com/product/9491

http://www.amazon.com/product/5431

http://www.amazon.com/product/6665

http://www.amazon.com/product/8620

I was leaning toward Corsair or Seasonic... figured I could push the budget up to $233
What do you guys think about this one:

http://www.amazon.com/product/8577

It’s a solid choice, but honestly, you don't really need that much overhead. A 520W Seasonic unit would be more than enough to handle the load—and if I were in your shoes, that’s exactly what I’d go with. 😉

Casey Long2 said:It's fine, but you don't need nearly that much. A 520W Seasonic would be more than enough (and that's what I'd go with)😉

Right, I was thinking maybe even more if I went with Crossfire... but if you say it's plenty, then fine...🙂

Honestly, I wouldn’t even bother sweating the Crossfire setup. People tend to assume they’ll be able to pick up another card just like it for pennies in about a year, but—unfortunately—that’s just not how the market works. Nowadays, hardware prices stay pretty much flat as long as there's demand. Then, once a year or two passes and your current rig starts feeling sluggish, you'll find that for the same amount of cash you'd spend on an old, outdated card, you could actually grab a brand-new one with twice the performance. Besides, Crossfire or SLI never actually delivers double the power, no matter how much companies try to convince us otherwise 😉.

Look, things aren't all bad regarding the Corsair CX430W—actually, they're better than you might think.

The only reason WE are giving Our “ Silver Award ” instead of “ Golden ” is The efficiency—it dips just a hair under 80% when pulling a full 430 W—but it’s still a top-tier recommendation for budget builds, especially once you factor in the cost. We're talking about a unit that goes for only about $45...

The review comes from Hardware Secrets.

I have to say, I’m actually kind of surprised by this power supply. It performs perfectly fine at its rated wattage. It’s honestly much more reliable than those cheap units that claim to offer 400W but can't deliver. You might run into some issues if you try to pull more than 430W, but since that wasn't part of what we paid for, the voltage remains stable. We’re used to pushing a CX400 to hit 500W, but I guess that's why this one is priced lower. 😁

The power supply itself is fine—it just isn't quite enough for $117. Over here in the States, prices are just way too high. This isn't some cheap little budget unit from two years ago; I suppose they cut corners on quality somewhere along the line. It probably only got a decent rating because the price tag was low. They’re listing it at $50, which I guess is a steal for that amount. But for $117? Not even close.

They’re saying it’s $45. That's less than $250 in local currency. But since it actually goes for $350, you're right. Plus, Amazon offers a mail-in rebate, which brings it down to $25—that's actually under $50, so 😬
Man, I can't imagine how much we'd be paying if power supplies were this expensive here 😁

In short, yeah—over here, the price tag is just way too high for what you actually get in the box.
Look, if I'm being totally honest, if I hadn't heard about so many issues with units being Dead on Arrival—just refusing to even boot up—I might actually recommend it. But given the circumstances? I’d much rather suggest a Corsair 400 w for a bit less money; I've personally never run into any trouble with them, nor have I ever heard a single bad thing said about them. 😉

After five years of reliable service, it looks like the fan finally gave out on my old EVGA 400 w power supply. I’m wondering if it’s actually worth fixing. I managed to get the fan out of the unit without any trouble, and in theory, I could swap it for about five or six bucks, but does that really make sense?

Living here in Cleveland, my options for picking up computer hardware are pretty limited. Since I don't have many places to choose from, I'm trying to weigh my options. What would you all recommend:
Corsair CX 430W vs. EVGA A-80 450 w vs. Corsair 400W?

I’ve also been looking at a Cooler Master 360 w, but they aren't stocked locally right now, so I'm not sure if that's a viable path.

If you're positive it’s just the fan and your warranty is already shot, the easiest fix is to just swap the damn thing out... but if you're actually considering a full replacement, check Best Buy; they have this which was actually decent when it was on sale.

That Thermaltake unit is actually a solid choice, though if I were in your shoes—and honestly, for just a few extra bucks—I’d probably stretch the budget a bit and go for the 560W version instead... 🙂

With that promotion, the gap is $33 😁 and honestly, I don't think a 5-year-old rig pulls that much power anyway. 🙂

Good grief, I didn't even catch that promotion 🙂 In that case, I’m definitely grabbing one 👍
Thanks for pointing that out, stormywolf39 🙂

Casey Long2 said:That Logitech unit is a solid choice, though personally, I’d probably stretch my budget a bit for the 560W version—it's only about $5 more... 🙂

If that rig pulls more than 300W, you can take my word for it. When I picked mine up five years ago, I made sure to grab at least an extra 100W of overhead just so I'd have room to upgrade later. Of course, those upgrades never actually happened because, well, money doesn't grow on trees.