Which PSU should I buy?

Honestly, you'd probably sleep a lot better if you just added 6 more GB of RAM 👍
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It’s a shame you went with that one...

In the section below $100, you'd be much better off picking up both the fortron hexa and this Seasonic (it doesn't actually look like the photo).

Hey there!
So, a few months back, my power supply started giving off this absolutely foul stench. Honestly, the best way I can describe it is like that old electric oil heater that died on me a couple of years ago. Since then, I’ve only dared to turn my PC on twice because I'm terrified the PSU is going to blow and take half my components down with it! My current unit is a Corsair, specifically the TX650W, and here is what else I'm running:

Intel I5 750 XFX Radeon 5850 Black edition Gigabyte P55-UD3
XFX Radeon 5850 Black Edition
Gigabyte P55-UD3
I've also got two Corsair sticks of 2GB RAM, one hard drive, an optical drive, and two case fans in the mix.

I really need some advice here. What should my next move be? Reading through other US forums, everyone says if your PSU starts smelling like death, rip it out immediately and get a new one before things go south. If you could give me a solid recommendation for a replacement that can handle this setup—since I know this Radeon eats power like a teenager at an all-you-can-eat buffet—that would be huge. I'd also love some extra headroom in case I decide to upgrade parts later. Any help is appreciated!

driftingfox11 said:Hey there!
A few months back, my power supply started putting off this absolutely revolting smell. If I had to describe it, it’s similar to that nasty scent from an old electric space heater that died on me a couple of years ago. Since then, I’ve only dared to turn the PC on twice because I'm terrified the PSU is going to pop and take half my components down with it. My current unit is a Corsair, specifically the TX650W, and here is the rest of the build:

Intel I5 750 XFX Radeon 5850 Black edition Gigabyte P55-UD3
XFX Radeon 5850 Black edition
Gigabyte P55-UD3
I also have two Corsair sticks of 2GB RAM, one hard drive, a burner, and two case fans.

So, I need some advice. What should I do? Reading through other forums, everyone seems to say that if you smell something burning coming from the PSU, rip it out immediately and get a new one. I need a recommendation for a replacement that can handle this setup—I know this Radeon eats power like a teenager at an all-you-can-eat buffet—and I’d also like some extra headroom in case I decide to upgrade something later. Any help would be appreciated!

http://www.amazon.com/s?k=corsair+cx+500

swiftfalcon89 said:http://www.nabava.net/trazilica.php?...corsair+cx+500

What about this one? $27 It’s a bit pricier, but looks beefier.

Anyone else got a better suggestion?

I was digging into the Corsair CX series and stumbled upon THIS. Honestly, seeing what people are saying about Corsair power supplies—especially this CX line—really rubs me the wrong way!

I also spotted a Seasonic unit online. What’s the verdict on that one?

Or maybe this XFX option:

My main priority is reliability. I need something that can handle my current build and won't freak out if I decide to toss in another hard drive later. I know I'm being a bit extra, but I really don't want a repeat of what happened to my buddy—his cheap, weak PSU fried half his components. I'm planning to run this rig for at least another 5 years, so I can't take that risk. Thanks!

The Fortron Raider Silver is a much better deal than the $167 CX600. This one is also a solid choice (it uses a Seasonic design, after all). In my opinion, you don't need anything more powerful; you'll still have plenty of headroom here.

Timothy Kim60 said:The Fortron Raider Silver is a $167 better buy than the CX600. And this one is also solid (it's basically Seasonic too). Personally, I don't think you need anything beefier; you'll still have plenty of headroom left over here.

So, I was out in downtown Chicago yesterday grabbing a 550W XFX power supply from Micro Center. Got everything hooked up and it’s running smooth so far. The only thing is, this XFX unit sounds a tiny bit louder than my old Corsair, but honestly, I don't care. As long as it powers the rig, we're good. Maybe the fan noise is just because things are running hot. 😉

But there's one little thing bugging me. While I was plugging the GPU into the PSU, I noticed one of the pins—specifically the contact inside one of those 6-pin connectors—looks a bit recessed, like it didn't seat quite right. The PC seems fine for now; I even pushed it a bit playing Battlefield 3 and it handled it without a hitch. Could that wonky pin actually cause any trouble down the road?

driftingfox11 said:So, I was over in downtown Chicago yesterday and picked up an XFX 550W power supply from Micro Center. I got everything hooked up and so far, everything is running smoothly. The only thing is, this XFX unit seems a tiny bit louder than my old Corsair one, but honestly, I don't really care—as long as it handles the build. Maybe that extra fan noise is just because of this insane heat wave we're having.😉

One little thing is still bugging me, though. While I was plugging the GPU into the PSU, I noticed that one of the pins (specifically the contact inside the pin) on one of those 6-pin connectors looks slightly recessed, like it didn't seat perfectly flush. The PC is working fine for now; I even pushed it a bit by playing Battlefield 3 and it handled it without any issues. Could that wonky pin cause problems down the road?

You shouldn't really be hearing that PSU, but maybe it's just because of this crazy heat...

As for the pin issue—I'm not quite sure what you mean, and I can't say for certain if it's normal. If everything is running fine, it's probably okay. But if there's actual damage and you start seeing issues, just RMA it...

Hey there! Greetings!
I’m looking for some advice on which power supply unit I should pick up...
I'm planning to grab a new graphics card, and I'm just sitting here wondering if my current 230W unit is actually going to cut it—or if I'll end up pulling a "lights out" situation on my whole rig.
Here’s what I'm running right now: Processor: Intel Core 2 duo E7500 @ 2.93GHz
Graphics Card: Nvidia ® GeForce ™ GTX650 2048 MB GDDR5-RAM PCIe x16 2x DVI, 2x HDMI
Also, I wanted to get your take on two things—is it overkill to spend a lot on a card for this specific setup? $279 And honestly, is this particular card actually any good?

Zachary Cruz6 said:Hey there!
I'm wondering which power supply I should pick up.
I'm getting a new graphics card and I'm not sure if my current 230W unit will cut it.
CPU: Intel Core 2 duo E7500 @ 2.93GHz
GPU: Zotac NVIDIA ® GeForce ™ GTX650 2048 MB GDDR5-RAM PCIe x16 2x DVI, 2x HDMI
Also, is this card worth the price$279 or is it actually any good?

I'd go with either the Corsair CX430W Bronze or the Silverstone Strider 400 w.

The HD 7770(AMD) is probably the better GPU here; it beats the GTX 650 regardless of those 2GB specs, which honestly don't offer much more than 1GB when you're just running a single monitor.

Hey there—just wondering, how much wattage would I actually need to pull for that 7770 II? And honestly, would a 650 Ti maybe be a better bet overall?

In terms of raw power:

GTX 650 -> HD 7770 -> GTX 650 Ti -> HD 7790 -> GTX 650 Ti Boost -> HD 7850

I think I already mentioned which power supplies would handle any of these cards. It might be easier if you just dropped a link to the store you're shopping at or some local shops you're looking at, then we could just send you the direct links.

crimsonstag84 👍

crimsonstag84 said:In terms of raw power:

GTX 650 -> HD 7770 -> GTX 650 Ti -> HD 7790 -> GTX 650 Ti Boost -> HD 7850

Look, I’ve already given you the rundown on which power supplies will handle any of these cards—it's all about headroom, really—but honestly, it would be a whole lot easier if you just dropped a link to the specific retailer you're browsing or even just a few shops you're considering. That way, we can just point directly to the links for you.

http://www.bestbuy.com
I'm browsing through graphics cards on that site right now.
And I'm trying to stay under the $150 mark.

Zachary Cruz6 said:http://www.conrad.de
I'm browsing through GPUs on that site.
Trying to find something in the $150 range.

You could grab this one, though honestly, it’s going to be a bit of a bottleneck for that dual-core setup.

http://www.conrad.de/ce/de/product/8...MI-DisplayPort

Maybe something like this? Even then, you're still looking at a bottleneck.

http://www.conrad.de/ce/de/product/8...MI-DisplayPort

swiftfalcon89 said:You could grab this one, though it might act as a bit of a bottleneck for that dual-core setup

http://www.conrad.de/ce/de/product/8...MI-DisplayPort

maybe something along these lines—even if that’s also a bottleneck

http://www.conrad.de/ce/de/product/8...MI-DisplayPort

I'm not quite following—how exactly are you thinking this would be a bottleneck????

Zachary Cruz6 said:I don't get why you're talking about bottlenecks here.

Bottleneck... basically means a "narrow neck" on a bottle. In tech terms, it’s when one part is holding everything else back because it can't keep up.

swiftfalcon89 - Why are you linking graphics cards when the guy is clearly just looking for a power supply?

Drew Sanchez82 said:Bottleneck—it’s basically when something is just too tight or restricted.

swiftfalcon89 — Why are you linking him graphics cards when the guy is clearly asking about a power supply?

Ah, I totally misread him. I thought he was hunting for a GPU because he mentioned on that page, "looking for graphics cards around $150."

swiftfalcon89 said:Aha, I actually figured he was hunting for a GPU because his post basically said, "Hey, I'm looking for graphics cards on this page—anything under $150 would work."

Well, I'm actually looking for both.