Which PSU should I buy?

crimsonstag84 said:So this one—it’s basically just the XTR without any modularity 🙂--which isn't really my thing.

I think I'll just stick with this one though, since I actually need a fully modular setup🙂--cable management matters, after all.

Look, if you grab a GTX 760 now, you can probably flip it in two years and recoup about 50-60% of what you paid. If you take that difference—the extra cash you would have spent on a GTX 770 right now—and just tuck it away, you'll be in a great spot later. When the time comes to sell your old card, you can bundle that savings with the sale price. At that point, you likely won't even need to dig into your pocket to upgrade to a GTX 770; you could probably snag a used one that's only been out for six months to a year for next to nothing. Or better yet, you could jump straight to an 8-series or 9-series card, which will likely pull 20-30% less power and run 10-15 degrees cooler while delivering similar or even better performance...

David Sanders4 said:Look, you grab a GTX 760 right now—maybe find one with a decent warranty—and then in two years, you flip it. I’d bet you could pull back maybe 50-60% of what you paid. Take that extra cash you would've dumped into a GTX 770 and just set it aside. When the time comes to sell the old GTX 760, add that savings to the pile, and honestly, you probably won't even have to dig into your own pocket for a GTX 770—or better yet, you can snag a used one that's only been out for six months to a year. Or, you just jump to the next generation, like an 8-series or 9-series, which will likely sip about 20-30% less power and run 10-15 degrees cooler while delivering similar or even better performance...

You're not wrong. From the tech sites I've been browsing, some people are arguing that upgrading to a 770 over a 760 isn't even worth the headache since you're only looking at maybe 10 extra FPS.

cosmicbadger25 said:I think I'll stick with this one since I really need a modular unit.🙂

http://www.bestbuy.com/power-supply...example

If you're only running a single GPU, why bother with a power supply over $267 (which isn't even in stock anyway)?

By the way, if you're paying cash, you can usually find better deals at smaller local shops.

Even if you decide to use a credit card, ordering from local shops with delivery would probably end up being cheaper overall. 😁

EDIT: By the way, I took a look at your shopping list:
PSU : XFX 650W XTR
MBO: GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3P
Cpu : AMD FX 6300
CPU COOLER : ARCTIC COOLING Freezer Xtreme
MEM: GSKILL 8gb RIPJAW
GPU : SAPPHIRE R7 265X 2GB ( COMING SOON )
HARD: SEAGATE 2TB
CASE: COOLERMASTER CM690 III

It doesn't really make sense to buy from Best Buy, even with financing. And if you're going with the AMD Radeon R7 265, it pulls less power than a GTX 760 anyway... plus, that cooler isn't great, and the case seems kind of overkill.

cosmicbadger25 said:You've got a point there. Looking at some of the tech sites I've been browsing, they suggest the jump from a GTX 760 to a GTX 770 isn't really worth the extra cash, given you're only looking at maybe a 10 fps difference.

By that same logic, you could argue the gap between a GTX 660 and a GTX 760 is similarly slim—roughly 10 fps—yet the price difference remains significant. Besides, you can usually find a used GTX card for half the price. Honestly, even an SLI setup with GTX 660s would get the job done, and you wouldn't even need more than a 550W power supply to handle it.

Timothy Kim60 said:if you're just sticking to a single GPU, why bother with a power supply over $267—not like you can even find one easily anyway

btw if you're paying cash, there are always cheaper shops out there

It should be back in stock soon, or at least by the time I go to grab it—and besides, an 80 Plus Gold modular unit isn't exactly cheap, from what I hear.
I'm looking at this long-term, really—I want a PSU that lasts me several years, rather than buying something cheap now only to have to swap the whole thing out in three years when I eventually pick up another card.
Since I'll be using my credit card here in the States, I might as well invest in something decent now and spread the cost out.
My last build had this annoying freezing issue—I ended up RMAing parts here and there just trying to pin down which component was acting up.
Eventually, a friend of mine picked up that machine, and right now it's sitting at Best Buy for diagnostics; everything is brand new and under warranty, so I honestly have no clue why it keeps freezing.
Anyway, to avoid running into the same headache again, I'm not going to just order through some random online webstore. If anything, I'll probably pay these guys to assemble it for me—that way, I get free diagnostics if things go south later on.

cosmicbadger25 said:You make a fair point. Some of the tech sites I've been browsing argue that upgrading from a 760 to a 770 isn't really worth the money when you're only looking at a measly 10 FPS difference.

If that's your perspective, then the r9 270 is definitely the best buy here.

For instance, once this becomes available

the price point and the cooling solution are top-tier.

crimsonstag84 said:Even if he uses a credit card, buying from local shops here in the US with delivery would probably end up being cheaper anyway.😁

EDIT: By the way, I saw what you're planning to pick up:
PSU : XFX 650W XTR
MBO: GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3P
Cpu : FX 6300
CPU COOLER : ARCTIC COOLING Freezer Xtreme
MEM: GSKILL 8gb RIPJAW
GPU : SAPPHIRE R7 265X 2GB ( COMING SOON )
HARD: SEAGATE 2TB
CASE: COOLERMASTER CM690 III

There’s really no point in buying from Best Buy—even on credit—and if you're getting the R7 265, it pulls less power than the GTX 760... that cooler isn't anything special, and honestly, the case is overkill.

I don't get why you're saying that cooler isn't much—I've checked reviews and everyone raves about how quiet it is and how well it cools. And why would that case be unnecessary? It's actually great for airflow, plenty of room, and perfect for cable management.

Timothy Kim60 said:if you look at it from that angle, the r9 270 is a total steal

say, once this actually hits the shelves here in the States

the price point and the cooling setup are top-tier

Isn't that roughly in the same ballpark as this R7 265x they're offering?
How much faster is it really compared to the 265x?

Maybe around 20%...

cosmicbadger25 said:Isn't that card in a similar tier to this R7 265x that comes with the build?
How much faster is it compared to the 265x anyway?

I haven't heard of the R7 265X—I know the standard R7 265, which is just a rebranded HD7850, whereas the r9 270 is a rebranded HD7870, making it significantly more powerful. It really all boils down to how much that 265 ends up costing; my estimate is at least $367. You should definitely dig through a few reviews

Here is the cheapest model currently available (Sapphire)
http://www.diskont24.com/product.php?productid=132800

You can find the Twin Frozr version here
Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLQrZseRlew

The X version

Only the R7 265 actually exists, he probably just got mixed up 🙂

Yeah, that r9 looks pretty solid too. You guys definitely gave me some food for thought here. 🙂

Timothy Kim60 said:I haven't heard much about the R7 265X—well, I know this one—it’s basically just a rebranded HD7850, whereas your r9 270 is a rebranded HD7870, which makes it the stronger card. It really just comes down to what the 265 ends up costing, though my gut says at least $367. You should probably dig through a few reviews
.
Here’s the cheapest model I could find (it's a
Sapphirehttp://www.diskont24.com/product.php?productid=132800
).
You can grab the Twin Frozr version here .
Check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLQrZseRlew.

And here's the X version

I'm watching the video right now, and honestly, the performance is almost neck-and-neck with the GTX 760. But it's way cheaper. Interesting enough, I guess.

cosmicbadger25 said:I was just watching a video, and honestly, the performance is nearly identical to the GTX 760. Plus, it's way cheaper. That's pretty interesting.

The GTX 760 holds a slight edge in raw power. You might see this 270/X catch up or even match it in specific titles that are heavily optimized for AMD, but I really question whether the GTX 760 is actually worth $167 paying more for. Historically, cards in the $433 range have always been that perfect sweet spot—the ultimate best buy.

cosmicbadger25 said:I was just watching the video, and the performance looks nearly identical to the gtx 760. Plus, it's significantly cheaper. That's interesting.

Don't take those presentations as gospel. They almost always showcase a hand-picked unit designed to push the FPS numbers higher than what you'll actually see on average hardware.

Yeah, I definitely need to sit down, look over everything, and really chew on this for a bit before making any moves. Thanks for the help and the advice, everyone.

Looks like I’m finally pulling the trigger on the r9 270 x.
I'm leaning toward a Sapphire model—but since they have three different versions floating around—toxic, vapor-x, and dual-x—I’m wondering what the actual breakdown is between them?
Some of them come with more than 2GB of VRAM, and I'm not sure if that's actually worth obsessing over, so besides the cooling setups, what else is actually different?

You could probably go with the MSI gaming version; you get an extra year of warranty and I think the cooler is a bit better than the Dual-X OC Sapphireov.