Looking for a PSU on a budget

[dragoon38900]

Ok, Ive been trying to figure out if my current COOLMAX CP-500T would be able to power my system:

CPU - Core 2 Duo 6600 Conroe 2.4GHz
MOBO - GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3
RAM - CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800
VIDCARD - EVGA 8800GTS 320mb
HD - Western Digital Caviar 250GB 7200 ATA150
2 Case Fans
2 DVD Drives

And I finally concluded that NO it cannot. I even emailed COOLMAX about it and they said:

not enough, this video card will draw 21a by itself single or dual rail. Cp-500 is upto 29a, not enough to support your ram if its 2gb too .

I suggest the cw-650t minimum or ctg-700 and cug-700 max

You can wait till tomorrow or Friday sale with buy.com on our PSU

Also, a person from the forums (mpilchfamily) said:

The CT line from Coolmax are not all that great. If you like coolmax then stick with there CTG line. I would not advise sticking with that PSU when you upgrade to the 8800.

Consider this. Your CPU is the only item that sits on that 1st +12v rail rated at 16A. While the rest of the system's items that needs 12v is on the 2nd rail rated at 18A. Now the 8800 alone will be using about 8A, motherboard pulls about 2, then each drive is pulling about 2A. We also want to add in 1A or 2A for every 2 fans you have in the system and that includes the CPU cooler. So already you are at about 16A with just the basics running under a heavy load. Add in the small power draw of a couple of extra HDDs, and other miscellaneous power being drawn from other items and you are seriously stressing that PSU. You could be looking at peak loads up around 20A to 22A. Granted that peak loads only last a split second but it's still pushing an otherwise mid quality PSU. You might see instability problems due to the PSU's heavy load.

Now my problem is, I am in a budget. I have roughly $90 left in my account,
and I need to buy a new one (including the shipping...thats about a $10 shipping so, I only have $70-$80 to spend). Can anyone recommend me a budget PSU that will be able to run this system. If there is no such thing in that price range, I will need to refund the PSU, and I will only get about $30 back... so by then Ill have about $110 to spend. However, returning it will be my last resort.

Thank you.

 

[doolittle]

how about an Antec Trio 550w, +12v@42A max, can be had for just under $87 shipped from either nextwarehouse.com or securemart.com.

If you push your budget maybe a Corsair CMPSU-520HX, under $99 shipped from securemart.

 

[dragoon38900]

I like the Antec, the Corsair would be nice if Im patient enough to wait for it to return and then refund.

How does the 430W version for the Antec TruePower Trio sound?

Heres details on it in Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103942

But I can buy it for cheaper.

 

[doolittle]

That should work just as well. My TPII-480 is rated for +12v@33A, funny how the 430w trio is just about as powerful

my specs:

opty175 & Scythe SCNJ-1100P
EVGA 133-K8-NF41 & G.Skill F1-3200PHU2-2GBZX (2x1GB 2-3-2-5)

EVGA 8800gts 320mb

3 x hdd's & 1 x dvd
old Gateway 500mhz server case & 2 x 120mm fans & aerocool gatewatch
Antec TPII-480 blue

 

[doolittle]

I just noticed the old (but trusty) Antec TPII-430 for $70 w/ $40 MIR

killer deal if you don't mind taking a CWT over a Seasonic OEM build...

 

[dragoon38900]

Hmm....the TPII-430 looks like it has the same problem that mpilchfamily noted before:

The CT line from Coolmax are not all that great. If you like coolmax then stick with there CTG line. I would not advise sticking with that PSU when you upgrade to the 8800.

Consider this. Your CPU is the only item that sits on that 1st +12v rail rated at 16A. While the rest of the system's items that needs 12v is on the 2nd rail rated at 18A. Now the 8800 alone will be using about 8A, motherboard pulls about 2, then each drive is pulling about 2A. We also want to add in 1A or 2A for every 2 fans you have in the system and that includes the CPU cooler. So already you are at about 16A with just the basics running under a heavy load. Add in the small power draw of a couple of extra HDDs, and other miscellaneous power being drawn from other items and you are seriously stressing that PSU. You could be looking at peak loads up around 20A to 22A. Granted that peak loads only last a split second but it's still pushing an otherwise mid quality PSU. You might see instability problems due to the PSU's heavy load.

I mean, the COOLMAX had max load of 33A on the 2 rails, and they were 16/18. That Antec has a load of 31A, and 17/17... I dont know anymore...

 

[doolittle]

Well he is calculating for the worst-case scenario and it is highly unlikely that situation will be seen in real-world usage.

Take my setup, it is a bit more demanding with 3 hdds and a fan controller, and the TPII-480 specs say +12v1 and +12v2 @ 18A each. My system passed the 12-hour prime burnin and the ATItool artifact scan for 12 hours each. I have no problems running 4 to 6 hour gaming sessions at all.

I would not have a problem recommending the TPII-430 for your system since you have a more power-efficient CPU, one less hdd and no fan controller.

 

[enforcerfx]

That should work just as well. My TPII-480 is rated for +12v@33A, funny how the 430w trio is just about as powerful

my specs:

opty175 & Scythe SCNJ-1100P
EVGA 133-K8-NF41 & G.Skill F1-3200PHU2-2GBZX (2x1GB 2-3-2-5)

EVGA 8800gts 320mb

3 x hdd's & 1 x dvd
old Gateway 500mhz server case & 2 x 120mm fans & aerocool gatewatch
Antec TPII-480 blue

Sorry to get offtrack on here, but nice touch up on the case doolittle. Looks big as hell.

Back to the subject: The 430w Antec you have listed would be fine to haul what you need. 8800GTS sounds like a good idea.

Good luck.

 

[dragoon38900]

Okay, Im now having doubts that my PSU will not be suffice enough (in other words, I think It will be suffice). I noticed the email I recieved:

not enough, this video card will draw 21a by itself single or dual rail. Cp-500 is upto 29a, not enough to support your ram if its 2gb too .

I suggest the cw-650t minimum or ctg-700 and cug-700 max

You can wait till tomorrow or Friday sale with buy.com on our PSU

had incorrect information. He actually mistakened the 400W model for the 500W model. I emailed him back, and he responded:

You are right, sorry about that

Yes, this is sufficient enough

Im seriously doubting that I should even bother buying a new PSU. I will have to wait for my order, and the I shall see if it works.
Doolittle, you said that your system passed certain tests. How do you do these tests? Will I be able to test them? I need a way of finding out if the PSU is good or not.

(I mean seriously, if you recommended the Antec TPII-430, which has lower 12V rails, lower load Amps, and lower watts than the COOLMAX cp-500t, then I dont know why the COOLMAX wont work. PLUS, doolittle has a TPII-480 on his MORE demanding 8800gts system, which looks like has about the same specs as the COOLMAX...)

 

[doolittle]

How do you do these tests? Will I be able to test them? I need a way of finding out if the PSU is good or not.

For CPU/memory, Prime95 is still the standard. It requires a custom setup for dual core testing. GPU cores really heat up with ATItool's "scan for artifacts" utility, and gets a pretty good cpu usage as well. I usually force my virus scanner to run, and fire off the artifact scan. 12 hours and I am satified...

In both cases, check your temps / stats with your mobo health utility, speedfan, or Core Temp. I usually compare the voltage readings with a decent multimeter. If you have not used one in the past, it is not that difficult.

The OEM for that coolmax, according to the UL "E144195" listing is Sirtec (which is not bad, they also make certain thermaltake purepower units) - I would rank them right along with some cooler master, hipro, thermaltake and epower/topower units... not bad budget picks. Antec, FSP, Xclio, Seasonic, etc. are more expensive, more reliable and are less likely to have any issue - I most always perform a more extended multimeter testing on the budget units when I first power-on, the latter brands I mentioned I don't even bother until the load tests. It's difficult to recommend a budget unit, have someone get it and it's DOA for them, we get blame and bad reputation so quality units are recommended 9 times out of 10

A quick google search of that unit, I found a few folks using it with their 8800 GPUs, and it does not seem to have a complaint of premature failure so that is up to you, it should work out well. The $20 MIR practically seals the deal

 

[dragoon38900]

Go with this nice little Enermax PSU.

It's 485W and offers a max of 32A on the combined +12v rails. It's got dual rail with 22A and 20A ratings on the rails. Plenty of fex room for a nice mid-high end system.

Which Enermax are you talking about. I found about 3 different ones that are all 485W (all around the same price too). The Enermax Enermax Noisetaker II EG495P 485W I can get for $84 Free Shipping, which fits my budget like a glove. Is that a good model? Or were you referring to something else?


So basically, the problem with the COOLMAX is that it may not be reliable?