Shopping for PSUs is making me nervous. How to not destroy my PC?

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LiberAnar

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Jul 24, 2013
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I have this 650w PSU I bought from ebay for $20... I've been using it for 2 years naively, not knowing the danger. I'm building my own system now:
Haf 912, i5-4670k, 2x4gb Patriot ram, ASUS Z87-A, 2 HDDs, HD 5770(will upgrade soon).

The last major component is the PSU. Newegg and Tiger Direct have these crazy daily deals, but I don't want to make the same mistake twice.



Calculators show 500w should be good for me. Should I stick to brands like cooler master or corsair? Or is something like ultra not safe? User reviews seem good.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3276574&Sku=ULT-LSP550

Another seemingly good one. Sort of leaning towards it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171082
 
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Novuake
Jip, decent low cost unit, you can OC a little on it too if you want. Just not tooo much. :)
Its a good choice if you are on a tight budget.
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ram1009

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IMHO, you should never stress your PSU beyond 50% of rated capacity. You seem to be one of the few builders who have enough sense to ask for advice on this topic. Mine is to buy the highest wattage QUALITY PSU you can afford. Think of it as an insurance policy. I prefer Seasonic.
 
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Novuake

Novuake

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That is just dumb... So if you have quad SLI then you need a 2000W PSU ? Seriously dude...
 
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LiberAnar

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On sale a tier 3. With both promo and mail in rebate., $37 and extra wattage. Not junk right?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028
 
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LiberAnar

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Thanks for the advice. Your profile pic is awesome btw.
 
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Traciatim

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A good rule of thumb is to look at the 12v amperage for each rail and add it up. The rated wattage on the 12v rail should be equal or at least somewhat near the power supplies rated capacity.

In your examples the Ultra LSP550 550-Watt Power Supply, it lists a single 12v rail at 30 amps which multiplied gives you 360 watts . . . for a 550 watt power supply? Yeah, That's trash.

The cooler master i500 lists a single 12v rail at 38 amps, so 12 * 38 = 456 watts. Getting in the good range. This will probably run your machine for years to come. You may want to see if you can find some reviews of it to see what other people say.

Also in this same range is something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027 the Corsair CX500, which also is rated for 456 watts on the +12 volt lines. Corsair is generally a well respected brand where Cooler Master is kind of known for having some really good gear but most of it is cheaply built.

A little more expensive but well respected is something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027 . . . This Seasonic is rates at 520 watts and it's 2 +12 volt rails are rated at 20 amps, so 12 * 20 = 240, but there are two of them so 480 watts. I used this one just to show an example of how to find the total for the dual rail design . . . personally I like single rail designs but it's all just personal preference.

Keep in mind your machine will most likely be using less than 300 watts even at it's absolute peak, so most power supplies will be able to handle the load just fine.
 
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