I am completely clueless. which PSU to use

MassConfusion

MassConfusion

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 25, 2009
Messages
148
I am building a computer for the first time and I don't have a clue as to what i will need for a power supply. Any advise would be great.
 
MassConfusion said:
I am building a computer for the first time and I don't have a clue as to what i will need for a power supply. Any advise would be great.
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We don't have any clue as to what power supply you need because of the above mentioned comments. ;)
 
Some idea of what you're doing would help, since we have no idea what size is appropriate without knowing what kind of system you're building.
[H] does quite a few PSU tests, so look through them. They're linked off the hardocp.com home page. Looking around the forum & reading the reviews will give you an idea on which brands are good. Post what you're thinking of getting & people will give you some feedback.

Make sure you get a quality PSU. A dodgy one will cause system instability and many not be able to handle as much power as it's rated for. A really bad one will blow up and take other parts of your system with it. Bad PSUs are particularly fond of killing mainboards, probably because they're directly connected to all the rails except perhaps for -12V (-12V is optional, not all PSUs have it and most boards don't use it). Bad PSUs also like to reboot your system any time the power gets a little off. A really good PSU, OTOH, will deliver full rated power in a 95 degree room during a 90V brownout and won't take the rest of your system with it if it dies.

davidhammock200 said:
Since this is 80%+ Efficient from 120W to 1200W, it is the only PSU I can recommend without more information!:D
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That BFG's a nice unit, but it's not going to cut it for a mystery system. The BFG only has one EPS12V connector (8-pin mobo power). A PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 1200W would be a safer option. It has 2 EPS12V plugs, which he'll need if he's building a system around a SuperMicro H8QM3-2.
 
lol a 1.2kw psu is totaly unnecessary for 99% of cases. if you get a good name brand 600W or even 500 depending on what parts you using youll be more then right. I recommend one of the corsair ones.
 
chrisewaters said:
lol a 1.2kw psu is totaly unnecessary for 99% of cases. if you get a good name brand 600W or even 500 depending on what parts you using youll be more then right. I recommend one of the corsair ones.
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he was kidding. he only posted that since the OP never mentioned what kind of rig he was going to build. i mean who knows, maybe he's going core i7 w/ triple 285's. gotta er on the safe side :D:D
 
sn_85 said:
he was kidding. he only posted that since the OP never mentioned what kind of rig he was going to build. i mean who knows, maybe he's going core i7 w/ triple 285's. gotta er on the safe side :D:D
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Maybe he's across the pond with 230VAC, so he could use one of those 2KW PSU's we've heard tell of! :p
 
Originally Posted by davidhammock200
Please post all of the parts you intend to use.:)
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This was the set up I was thinking of using:
mobo: ASUS Crosshair II Formula NVIDIA nForce 780a
graphics: dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295
audio: Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Prof. Series
memory: 16Gb G. Skill MQ Quad Kit
harddrive: WD Caviar Green 1Tb
DVD Drive: LG 8x Super Multi Blue-Ray Writer
Case: Lian Li PC-P80
Cooling: No clue
 
davidhammock200 said:
Maybe he's across the pond with 230VAC, so he could use one of those 2KW PSU's we've heard tell of! :p
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The only 2kw unit on the market is a Topower which is 2 1kw's shoehorned into a huge enclosure which uses two AC inputs that are supposed to be from 2 seperate circuits.
 
Paul_Johnson said:
The only 2kw unit on the market is a Topower which is 2 1kw's shoehorned into a huge enclosure which uses two AC inputs that are supposed to be from 2 seperate circuits.
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Oh,... probably not a good option...
This was the set up I was thinking of using:
mobo: ASUS Crosshair II Formula NVIDIA nForce 780a
graphics: dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295
audio: Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Prof. Series
memory: 16Gb G. Skill MQ Quad Kit
harddrive: WD Caviar Green 1Tb
DVD Drive: LG 8x Super Multi Blue-Ray Writer
Case: Lian Li PC-P80
Cooling: No clue
Click to expand...
Listed in order of preference.

PC P&C T12 1200W: $500: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703012

BFG EX-1200W: $250: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702015

Silverstone Zeus 1200W: $340: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256038

TT Toughpower (W0133) 1200W: $385: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153054

Enermax 1050W: $291: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194039

Corsair HX1000 1000W: $200: http://www.provantage.com/corsair-memory-cmpsu-1000hx~7CSMC068.htm

Any of these should be fine & include overhead for transient response, cool/quiet operation & OC'ing.
The more OC'ing you are going to do the more power you are going to need.

Search around for best overall pricing (price + shipping + tax).

Best Wishes,
Dave :)
 
davidhammock200 said:
Oh,... probably not a good option... Listed in order of preference.

PC P&C T12 1200W: $500: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703012

BFG EX-1200W: $250: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702015

Silverstone Zeus 1200W: $340: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256038

TT Toughpower (W0133) 1200W: $385: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153054

Enermax 1050W: $291: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194039

Corsair HX1000 1000W: $200: http://www.provantage.com/corsair-memory-cmpsu-1000hx~7CSMC068.htm

Any of these should be fine & include overhead for transient response, cool/quiet operation & OC'ing.
The more OC'ing you are going to do the more power you are going to need.

Search around for best overall pricing (price + shipping + tax).

Best Wishes,
Dave :)
Click to expand...
A 1.2kW or even 1kW PSU is way overkill for those components. A quality 700-800W unit would be plenty, like the PCP&C Silencer 750W, Corsair TX750 or TX850, Antec True Power New 750W, etc.
 
Zero82z is right... even with dual GTX295's you're not going to need more than 750W. If you want to be on the safe side then I'd say get a nice 850W and be done with it. It will support everything in your machine plus a few more hard drives and optical drives.
 
This was the set up I was thinking of using:
mobo: ASUS Crosshair II Formula NVIDIA nForce 780a
graphics: dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295
audio: Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Prof. Series
memory: 16Gb G. Skill MQ Quad Kit
harddrive: WD Caviar Green 1Tb
DVD Drive: LG 8x Super Multi Blue-Ray Writer
Case: Lian Li PC-P80
Cooling: No clue
Click to expand...
Of course the 2X GTX295's require the most power, in +12V amperage as usual.

nVidia certifies these PSU's for Quad SLI with twin GTX295's, lets look at them & see what is important & why.

PC Power & Cooling T12W 1200W Rated@50C World Class PSU!
+3.3V@24A,+5V@30A,+12V@100A,[email protected],[email protected]
Specs: http://www.pcpower.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=T12W

Silverstone DA1200
+3.3V@40A,+5V@40A,+12V@90A,[email protected],[email protected]
Specs: http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_spec.php?pno=da1200&area=usa

Seventeam ST-1200E-AF
Max Combined: +12V@90A
3.3V@40A, +5V@40A, +12V1@20A, +12V2@20A, +12V3@20A, +12V4@30A, [email protected], +5VSB@4A
Specs: http://www.seventeam.com.tw/product_contentx.php?theme_select=5russian&cid=94&pid=493#spec

NVidia SLI Certified PSU's: http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

So all have +12V@90A+. The PC P&C 1200W is the most expensive at about $500 & the other 2 are difficult to find in the USA.

Question? What wouldn't nVidia certify sub +12V@90A PSU's?

For GTX285SLI (2X 285) which have only 1-GPU each, nVidia still certifies only 1000W+ PSU's with +12V@80A or more!

nVidia is not in the PSU business, however they know that their highend cards will be used in highend systems & probably OC'ed.
nVidia does not want the performance of their GPU's limited by sub-standard PSU's!

Based on the published test from several well regarded sources we can determine that without any OC'ing, we need a minimum of about +12V@60A and this leaves little if any room for transient response or cool/quiet operation.

Paul prefers to load a PSU to 40% to 60% of rated capacity for transient response & cool/quiet operation, so +12V@150A to +12V@100A.

OKW is happy with 30% overhead for transient response & cool/quiet operation, so +12V@86A.

I don't believe anyone who knows their posterior from a hole in the ground would suggest less than 20%, for overhead for transient response & forget about cool or quiet operation, so +12V@75A.

And we know that OC'ing can increase power requirements by 10% to 30%+!

From experience, I know that the Corsair HX1000 with +12V@80A@50C will do the job & that the noise from the GPU & case fans will more than "drown out" the PSU's fan, so we are back to my original recommendations:

PC Power & Cooling T12W 1200W Rated@50C World Class PSU!
+3.3V@24A,+5V@30A,+12V@100A,[email protected],[email protected]
$500: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703012

Thermaltake Toughpower W0133RU 1200W [Modular]
Max. Combined: +12V@99A Rated@50C
+3.3V@30A,+5V@30A,+12V1@20A,+12V2@20A,+12V3@36A,
+12V4@36A,[email protected],[email protected]
$385: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153054

BFG Tech EX-1200 BFGR1200WEXPSU 1200W [Modular] World Class PSU!
Max. Combined: +12V@98A 1200W Rated at 40C
+3.3V@30A,+5V@30A,+12V1@40A,+12V2@40A,
+12V3@40A,+12V4@40A,[email protected],[email protected]
$250: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702015

SILVERSTONE ZM1200M 1200W 1200W Rated at 50C World Class PSU![Modular]
Max. Combined: +12V@95A Can be used as a Single Rail
+3.3V@28A,+5V@30A, +12V1@17A,+12V2@17A, +12V3@17A,+12V4@17A,
+12V5@17A,+12V6@17A, [email protected],[email protected]
$340: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256038

ENERMAX REVOLUTION85+ ERV1050EWT 1050W World Class PSU![Modular]
Max. Combined: +12V@87A
+3.3V@25A,+5V@25A,+12V1@30A,+12V2@30A,+12V3@30A, +12V4@30A,
+12V5@30A,+12V6@30A,[email protected],+5VSB@5A
$291: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194039

CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX 1000W Rated@50C [Modular] World Class PSU!
Max. Combined: +12V@80A (Perfect +12V Rail Distribution = Single Rail Performance!)
+3.3V@30A, +5V30A, +12V1@40A,
+12V2@40A [email protected], [email protected]
$200: http://www.provantage.com/corsair-memory-cmpsu-1000hx~7CSMC068.htm

These provide the overhead we want for OC'ing, transient response & cool/quiet operation!

The new BFG EX-1200 is by far the best choice for the power/cost ratio, but they are sold out until the end of April. I am sure Jon will update us as soon as the new ones are ready to ship.

Be sure to "shop around" as prices, rebates & special offers change rapidly.

Another option might be the Antec "specials" that have 2-PSU's pre-installed in one case, but I have never used them, so no recommendation is possible.

Be very careful as to taking advise, Paul has posted excellent reviews here at [H]ard, Jon, OKW & company have professional reviews at JonnyGURU and excellent additional information is available at AnandTech, PC Perspective, X-Bit & several others. But, there are many children who read much & due to lack of personal experience, understand very little, who love posting advice!

It is far better to have too much PSU, than too little &
the idea of powering $1000+ of GPU's, in a $3000+ system with a sub-$100 PSU is just plain nuts!

Also Alex has created the ONLY PSU Calculator worth using at Outer Vision eXtreme.

Best Wishes,
Dave :)
 
Just get a tuniq 1200 and be done, mine works fine. I cant hear it at all.
 
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