Which PSU should I buy?

Hey everyone, quick question for you. Do you think an EVGA 550W power supply can handle this build?

AMD FX-8300 + Liquid Cooling Kit
ASUS Motherboard
R9 380
1x8GB RAM stick
2x HDDs

Looking ahead, I’m planning on adding some case fans, another 8GB of RAM, and an SSD. That should pretty much wrap things up—I don't see myself getting into overclocking anytime soon. Thanks.

Which power supply would be the better pick here:

EVGA 600W, Hyper
EVGA 550W Raider
AMD TS Series 550W PSU EasyRail

I'm running an Intel Core i5 and a GTX 970. Since I haven't picked up the 970 just yet, I'm a bit unsure—how many extra connectors will I need to plug into the card? My current 560ti uses two 6-pin cables..

Joshua Patel68 said:Which power supply would be the better pick here:

EVGA 600W, EVGA
EVGA 550W Raider
XFX TS Series 550W PSU EasyRail

For an Intel Core i5-4460 and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970—and since I haven't actually picked up the 970 yet, I'm not entirely sure how many extra connectors I'll need to plug into the card? My current 560ti uses 2x 6-pin cables...

Personally, I’d lean toward that last XFX option. I’m running an ASUS 970 right now, and it just needs a single 8-pin connector—though for other models, you might need 2x 6-pins (don't quote me too strictly on that part). Even if that card pulls about 150W under load, it can definitely spike higher, so having that extra headroom means the PSU won't be struggling too hard. You'll have plenty of breathing room, so there's really nothing to worry about.

Exactly, I'm not sweating the wattage at all—all three options have more than enough juice for this build. My only real headache is double-checking the connectors. I definitely don't want to pick up a unit that's missing an 8-pin, otherwise I'll be stuck hunting down extra adapters...
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 actually pulls even less power than my old 560ti, so my ancient power supply would probably pull through just fine. But honestly, since that thing is 5 or 6 years old, I'm not going to gamble with it when I'm already dropping serious cash on a high-end GPU..

Joshua Patel68 said:Exactly. It’s not about raw wattage—all three options have plenty of juice for this build. My main headache is the connectors. I don't want to pick a unit that's missing an 8-pin, for instance, and then end up hunting down adapters later...
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 actually pulls less power than my old 560ti, so my current PSU could probably handle it, but it's 5 or 6 years old. I'm not risking it when I'm dropping this kind of cash on a high-end GPU..

Just Google which ones have which connectors

swiftfalcon89 said:Hey everyone, quick question—can an EVGA 500W handle this build?

AMD FX-8300+LC-CC-95
GA-970A-DS3P
XFX Radeon R9 380
1x8GB RAM
2xHDD

Looking ahead, I’m thinking about adding some case fans, another 8GB of RAM, and an SSD. That should pretty much wrap it up. I don't see myself messing around with overclocking anytime soon... Thanks.

Anyone got an answer?

Of course it can

Timothy Kim60 said:Of course it can.

Thanks. I was browsing some overseas forums and they were all saying it wouldn't work—claiming it would be running right on the edge and probably unstable...

wiredotter14 said:just look up which connectors they actually have

Alright, I'm going with the XFX; it hits the mark perfectly.

Fixed PCI-E Connectors : 1x 6-pin, 1x 6+2-pin

Joshua Patel68 said:Honestly, I'm leaning toward the XFX—it’s exactly what I'm looking for.

Fixed PCI-E Connectors : 1x 6-pin, 1x 6+2-pin

Look, man, there are plenty of power supplies out there with three or four PCI-E connectors—whether they're 6-pin or 8-pin—so it's really not a big deal. 🙂

swiftfalcon89 said:Thanks, I was reading some international forums suggesting it wouldn't work—that it would be running at its absolute limit and become unstable...

Look, if you browse overseas forums, people constantly recommend a 700-800W unit from brands like Corsair or Seasonic for any mainstream build😬

Not everyone is an expert on power draw, especially the average American popping up in these threads. It might not be a powerhouse designed for loads exceeding 400W, but what you mentioned will handle routine tasks just fine, stays reasonably priced, and comes with a 5-year warranty.

Potential alternatives at this price point:

http://www.nabava.net/search.php?tp=0&q=lc6560gp3
http://www.nabava.net/search.php?tp=...EVGA 550W (I haven't seen many reviews or feedback on this one, but it should be solid enough to get the job done.)

Timothy Kim60 said:Look, if you browse any of the big US hardware forums, people are constantly suggesting a 700-800W unit from brands like Corsair or Seasonic for a standard mainstream build.😬

Not everyone actually understands power draw, especially the average American user popping up in these threads. It might not be overkill for loads under 400W, but what you mentioned gets the job done reliably, stays reasonably priced, and comes with a 5-year warranty.

Some potential alternatives at that price point:

http://www.nabava.net/search.php?tp=0&q=lc6560gp3
http://www.nabava.net/search.php?tp=...EVGA 550W (not much feedback out there, but it should be fine—it'll hold up.)

Thanks. I think I'll go with the EVGA 500W, though if I can swing it, maybe I'll grab the EVGA 600W.👍

Don't sweat it, man. Ever since my first PC, I've stuck with EVGA power supplies. Never had a single issue until they finally bit the dust—first one lasted 4 years, then 5, and the last one went after 5 and a half 😁... I didn't grab an EVGA this time simply because they weren't stocked anywhere in Indianapolis, and paying shipping for a PSU isn't worth the hassle $17... so I ended up going with Antec, but if I could've found an EVGA, that's what I would've grabbed.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Don't sweat it, man. Ever since my very first build, I've stuck with EVGA power supplies. Honestly, I never had a single issue until one finally gave up the ghost. First one lasted about four years, the second went after five, and my most recent one hit five and a half 😁... I didn't pick up an EVGA this time simply because I couldn't find any in stock at the local Best Buy in Indianapolis, and I really didn't feel like paying for shipping $17... so I ended up grabbing an Antec instead. If they'd had an EVGA on the shelf, I would've grabbed it in a heartbeat.

So they weren't problematic, yet all three died on you 😁—or were you just running them into the ground? 😉

Quote : The New Guy

swiftfalcon89 said:Everything was running fine, then all three just died on me at once. 😁 Or did you just force them? 😉

Since the first two got fried by lightning, we're looking at a total loss. 👍

And this last one just died on its own. 😬 Look, it was already used when I picked it up. 😂

I’m actually thinking about grabbing an EVGA 600W for a build pretty similar to mine...
AMD FX 6300
XFX Radeon R9 380
2xHDD+SSD
8GB RAM

It feels like it's finally time to swap out my old Corsair RM500 that's been running for three years now, so I might as well upgrade to something a bit higher quality... A 500W unit would probably cut it, but since I'm already shopping around, I'd much rather put down $17 a little extra...

I did hear some chatter that those EVGA fans can get a bit loud, though... does anyone have any experience with that?

Based on that review roundup link I shared, they’re noticeably quieter than the XFX one.

What’s the deal with the EVGA 500W? Is it actually worth it—or should I just grab a used Seasonic S12II 520 instead? My third and cheapest bet is a used Corsair VX450W. All three would technically get the job done—the real question is just about the build quality.

I'm running this LC POWER unit and it's dead silent.👍 This is actually my second one from the exact same model and brand. My first one died because of a mistake I made 😁. It ran perfectly quiet for two years without a single issue, which is exactly why I went out and bought the same one again!

The NAXN and NAXN Advanced series are pretty low-end and honestly feel kind of cheap.

That Seasonic and the Corsair VX450 are almost identical in quality and look pretty similar, though I guess the Seasonic does have noticeably better efficiency.