Which PSU should I buy?

crimsonstag84 said:You could always grab the MSI gaming version—it’s got an extra year of warranty and a slightly beefier cooler than the Dual-X OC Sapphireov model.

I’ve been doing some digging online regarding the whole gtx 760 vs r9 270 x. debate.
Some people are insisting the gtx 760 is the smarter play since it's faster right now, while others argue that going with the Radeon might be better in the long run—apparently, once Mantle rolls out, it could give a massive 40% performance boost, potentially leaving NVIDIA in the dust.

cosmicbadger25 said:I've been doing some digging online comparing the gtx 760 and the r9 270 x.
Some people suggest grabbing the gtx 760 because of its raw speed, while others argue that going with the Radeon might be the smarter play since Mantle could eventually roll out and provide a 40% performance boost, potentially leaving NVIDIA in the dust.

Well, if Mantle actually becomes a thing, we’ll probably see another hardware generation shift before then. Personally, I'd only opt for the gtx760 if I specifically wanted to use hardware physX, which shows up in about ten major titles like Metro or Batman. Performance-wise, the gtx760 is a bit stronger than the r9 270 x, but nothing groundbreaking; both will likely perform similarly in Crysis 3. To put it in perspective, the r9 270 x performs more like a GTX 660—they're in the same ballpark price-wise. The GTX 660Ti just isn't worth it right now.
In the short term, you can't really go wrong with either choice (and by short term, I mean an 18-month window). For anything longer than that, I suspect whatever you pick in that $500 range, roughly $100+/- , will hold its own against the test of time. So... my advice? Try to get through this period as cheaply as possible. Maybe look for a used GTX 660 or an HD7870/7850 if you can find them for around 1000/$267

David Sanders4 said:Look, if Mantle ever actually becomes a thing—which is anyone's guess—hardware will probably shift again within a generation anyway. I’d only grab a gtx760 if you specifically wanted to mess around with hardware physX, which shows up in maybe ten titles—Metro, Batman, that sort of stuff. Honestly, the gtx760 is slightly better than an r9 270 x, but nothing life-changing; they'll both perform pretty much the same in Crysis 3. The r9 270 x is more in line with a GTX 660 performance-wise, and they sit in the same price bracket. The GTX 660 Ti is a total rip-off right now,
so you won't really make a huge mistake with whatever you pick in the short term—and by short term, I mean maybe 18 months tops. For anything longer than that, any card in the $500 range, roughly $100+/- , should hold its own for a while. Just try to get through this period as cheaply as possible—maybe find a used GTX 660 or an HD 7870/7850 if you can snag one for under 1000/$267

Alright, thanks for the input..

I never buy used gear—my last card was a 7850, so I'm not looking to repeat that experience.
Maybe I'll just go with the Dual-X OC Sapphireov Sapphire r9 270 x dual x. I heard it comes bundled with the original Battlefield 4, so I might try to flip the game for half the retail price and squeeze out a little profit.😉

A buddy of mine mentioned today that I should probably just hold off for a bit—suggesting it might be smarter to wait for the radeon r9 280 to hit the shelves here in the States.
It shouldn't end up being much more expensive, and it’s supposed to outclass both the gtx 760 and the r9 270 x.

I'm trying to figure out if the > is actually going to cut it for a > paired with an >. Right now, I'm running some mystery unit that claims to be 500W, though honestly, I wouldn't trust it for a second. Games run okay, but the moment I fire up > combustor, the whole rig just dies on me.
Edit: I’m pretty sure the power supply is the culprit here, especially since my old 7750 didn't give me any of these headaches.

It definitely will, but honestly, for that kind of money—or even less—you could grab an XFX Pro Series Core edition 80 550 w instead. Just make sure you check out retailers that offer a solid 5-year warranty here in the States, like you might find with a Fortron Raider sa 550 w (which also carries that 5-year guarantee)

I’d go with either the CX600 or that Fortron Raider sa 550 w because the xfx one is basically $233 garbage. Honestly, I’d just grab it at Best Buy since it’s right down the street from me.

Tyler Castillo14 said:I'd go with either the Corsair CX 600 or that Fotron unit since the XFX is almost $233 the same price. Personally, I'd just grab it at Best Buy because it's right down the street from me.

Where exactly is $233??? http://www.nabava.net/search.php?tp=0&q=xfx+550

http://www.nabava.net/search.php?tp=...janje+Raider+S

I would definitely opt for one of those two mentioned above.

If you look above $167, you'll also see some Gold-rated options (like the Fotron Aurum or an EVGA SuperNOVA).

My bad, I messed up the copy-paste there—the AMD card is actually what's failing. Thanks for clearing that up.

Hey guys, can someone tell me if this PSU is gonna cut it ( Rest of the build is an Intel Core i3, 12GB RAM, a 120GB SSD, a 1TB WD Green, and a Sapphire R7 260X 1GB OC. Thanks 🙂

northernbison64 said:Hey everyone, can someone let me know if this power supply will be enough (http://www.amazon.com/product_info.php?c...oducts_id=3798)? The rest of my build is an Intel Core i3, 12GB of RAM, a 120GB SSD, a 1TB WD Green, and a Sapphire R7 260X 1GB OC. Thanks! 🙂

It will. By the way, do you already own this PC or are you still planning the purchase? Using an APU alongside a dedicated graphics card doesn't really make much sense.

I actually already have it. I ended up picking up components later on, so I ended up stuck with this APU setup... So, can this power supply handle this build without breaking a sweat, or should I just grab something beefier?

It should work fine, though you'll probably need a case where the PSU sits at the top since the CPU cable might be too short otherwise—unless you're working with a low-profile mATX case. Also, I think it only comes with a 4-pin EPS cable for the CPU, so if your motherboard requires an 8-pin, you’ll likely need an adapter.

northernbison64 said:I actually already have it. I ended up buying components separately later on, so that's how I ended up with this APU setup. Basically, can this power supply handle this configuration without any issues, or should I go out and grab something more powerful?

It’ll handle it just fine, though you'd honestly get much better value if you grabbed the AMD Radeon while it's on sale—it's significantly more robust, noticeably higher quality, and comes with a 5-year warranty. It's a total best buy.

Grab a Corsair VX450 and you'll be set; by the way, the price is under $100. Plus, that Fotron unit is actually quite solid—you won't regret it.

Man, I could really use some help here... I just picked up a Gainward NVIDIA GTX 770, but I totally spaced on checking my power supply first. Turns out my current PSU is pretty weak—which is kind of weird if you ask me, but hey, mistakes happen, right? So, I’m hitting you guys up for advice... what kind of power supply should I grab to actually handle this thing? Thanks!

Corsair CX 600

Intel Core i5 3570

Gigabyte B75M-D3H

Are you running a Corsair CX 600? That should handle an NVIDIA GTX 770 without breaking a sweat—honestly, even my 360W unit manages to push an NVIDIA GTX 770 and an Intel Core i5 3570 just fine.😉

If you're actually thinking about picking up the CX 600, there might be some better options out there, I guess.

Alright... let me ask you something—could the motherboard just be too weak for this GPU? I’m telling you, here’s what’s happening with my rig... as soon as I plug the card in, I can't even get into the BIOS and the computer won't boot into Windows at all. We tried swapping in some old, beat-up card and everything works perfectly fine, but the second I put the new one back in, it’s the same damn story.

Man, sounds like the GPU might be dead. Have you tried plugging it into a different PC yet? I know, it's a stupid question, but did you actually double-check that all the power cables are fully seated?

I think I might be right, but honestly, I'll have to double-check... and just a heads-up, everything was running fine for about two weeks—aside from the fact that Windows took forever to boot up, but I was still using it for pretty much everything... no buzzing, no weird noises, nothing... then, like two days ago, it pops into my head that maybe I should try pulling the CMOS battery out of the motherboard, you know, just to see if that helps? Well, after I did that, the thing wouldn't even let me into the BIOS, let alone boot the system itself.