is this a good PSU from tigerdirect.

[blackpanther26]

I want a modular PSU where I use only the cables I need. I was looking for one from 750-800watt PSU. here is the one I was thinking of. Is it good for overclocking and all? http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2937372&CatId=2534 And under $200 please if you recomend something differenct.

 

[Kamrooz]

The Ultra X3 is a tier 2 psu, that's a good thing. But ultra does make some bad psu's as well. But this one is a tier 2, honestly though. I think you should nab this one instead.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256022

Slightly more expensive, but has a lot more amperage on the 12 rail, this is also a tier 1 psu. Fantastic buy, modular as well. ^_^

 

[chedrz]

Unless you're planning on adding a second 8800 Ultra, that's gonna be overkill. Anyway, since you asked...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153038

I've got the 700 Watt version, and it's quiet and stable. Ultra PSU's aren't really that good. You're much better off with a brand like Silverstone or Thermaltake, just to name a few. And from personal experience, Newegg's customer service is much better to deal with than Tiger Direct. That's my $.02.

 

[bobbknight]

Cruz on over to HardOCP and check out their PSU reviews, some of the X3's get a thumbs up, but that is not on the list.
Ummmm for $150 you can get a tier one PSU at 750Watts from Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011

 

[blackpanther26]

I was looking at that 700 watt PSU. So the PSU is not really a good one for like overclocking an AMD Phenom 9600?

I want a PSU where I use the cables I only need.

 

[bmf2442]

Ultra's are not that good of PSU. I would go with what Kamrooz suggested. Silverstone is a good brand, along with OCZ, Seasonic, Antec and PC Power & Cooling. Here is an article about the best PSU of 07.

http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3186&p=2

 

[blackpanther26]

ok. How would I knew what is a good PSU to buy?

 

[Kamrooz]

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108088

Stay with that list and you won't be wrong....I would of rec'ed the silencer quad, but since you want modular, that counts it out. PC Power is pretty much the mac daddy of psu's, but pricey, and lack of modular cables, hence why I recommend the Silverstone. Go for the silverstone, it's a great psu.

You're planning to OC a Phenom?...Then don't go too crazy, you won't OC it that much, although you'll have to dump quite a bit of voltage to get it high, high would be considered 300-400 mhz, The Phenom is seriously not a good overclocker, and overall imo not a good processor. For a budget rig, it's decent, but even a q6600 which has been out for ages has the advantage, even underclocked, which is quiet sad. Personally, I'd avoid phenom right now like the plague.

Why not go a intel rig?..You can OC them much farther, and you get a lot more for your money, near a 50% oc from 2.4 to 3.6 ghz is doable on a q6600, talk about massive performance gains. If you plan to OC, and are considering a phenom, you have no reason too, a q6600 is what you want if you plan to OC. May cost a little more, but the performance and OC potential will last quite a few years.

 

[zenmaster]

ok. How would I knew what is a good PSU to buy?

http://www.jonnyguru.com

Hands Down the Best Site for PSU info on the Web.

You should easily be able to find something reviewed there that is worthwhile and in your price range.

 

[aevm]

If you intend to add a second video card get the PC Power & Cooling 750W. So what if it's not modular, it's got more important advantages (5 year warranty, top quality, quiet, long cables). If one card is enough, you could get a Corsair 620HX.

 

[Kamrooz]

zenmaster: I honestly think he's way overrated. If ever making a comparison, compare it with the tier list.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=32

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=60

Good reviews for rosewill units? Give me a break...

 

[zenmaster]

Yes........
A Good Review for a RoseWill Unit.
The RP-500 Version II if I recall from memory.

They don't make any.
They may sometimes OEM a unit that is half decent.

And he never put it on his Tier List.
He simply said RoseWill made one that is not too bad and worthwhile of consideration for the price range.

He also pointed out its flaws.

The ExtremeSystems List is not very reliable IMHO.
The person maintaining it has not really seen most of the PSUs.
The person maintaining it has admitted that Jonny knows far mre than he.
The Extreme List far too often lists by manufacturer and not Models.
When you see a review from Jonny, he closely examines the PSU and all of it' parts.

 

[Kamrooz]

I do agree that they are EXTREMELY detailed. Which is a fantastic thing, every time I'm looking at a new powersupply, I compare it along with the tier list to calm any issues I have in regard to the product. I do visit his site frequently...Gotta love detailed reviews, but I've always been skeptical on some of his PSU reviews. But besides that, still good stuff...The XS list is dated, and not up to date at all, but it still covers a good amount that you'll always run into when purchasing, so pretty much sets your mind at ease. But yea, couple both the tiered list along with johnnyguru's reviews, and you got a winning combination.

 

[blackpanther26]

I already have Phenom Black and I was looking at this one which is the same type as the 1000 watt antech but it's 800 watt PSU. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371009 and I can reach 3GHz if the Vcore is like 1.5v. I wish B3 was out becuase I think that's why Phenom can not be overclocked as good. I can boot at 2.6GHz but my system crashes right away so that is where I think it's my PSU which is limiting me.

 

[Kamrooz]

B3 won't help a thing I'm sorry to say. It's the architecture, too daunting of a task at 65nm. Intel didn't rush into a 65nm Quad for a reason, they waited to test out their 45nm product, and plan to use it in their upcoming Nehalem architecture with a native quad. Also, to burst your bubble, it's not your PSU, chances are you've hit the limit, most people are hitting a 2.6/2.7 ghz limit on Phenoms, I claimed selling Black Editions this early on would be pretty much fraud when you think about it, and I was right, what is the purpose of a unlocked multi when you can only gain 300-400 mhz? Phenom is really not worth the money as a quad. As a x2 budget AMD rig, the cpu's have merit, but as a overclocking quad rig, intel is the ONLY choice imo, and many others.

I stated it before and I'll say it again, AMD had quite a lot of chances of pulling in some income with phenom if they could of clocked it high enough, I stated it last year that they better get out faster clocked models before q3/q4, once we go into Q4...the massacre begins when Nehalem Extreme Editions hit market, at that point, those who have experience with pc's or read on upcoming techs, will wait it out for Nehalem. It's going to be a beast.

Regarding the PSU, for your rig, this is OVERKILL, a 700 watt psu would be MORE than enough, even a Corsair HX 620 would be more than enough. I don't know why you really want a new powerful psu...But it's not going to help you get farther on your OC. That, I can guarantee you.

If you REALLY think you need a 700+ watt psu that's modular, just nab this than.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256017&Tpk=da750

Great price for a modular Tier 1 psu.

 

[blackpanther26]

then how come the ES samples of Phenom can hit 3.0GHz. I know they were hand picked but why? If they realsed this CPU with an unlocked multiplier and can't even get more for what you pay for then why have an unlocked chip? Plus could it be that the 790FX chipset is still not mature yet? I know I hate my BIOS I can't seem to find where to enable the TLB becuase the only way for me to enable it is through AOD.

 

[cnumartyr]

then how come the ES samples of Phenom can hit 3.0GHz. I know they were hand picked but why? If they realsed this CPU with an unlocked multiplier and can't even get more for what you pay for then why have an unlocked chip? Plus could it be that the 790FX chipset is still not mature yet? I know I hate my BIOS I can't seem to find where to enable the TLB becuase the only way for me to enable it is through AOD.

Cherry picked Phenoms do OC into the 3.0 GHz Range, but it's VERY rare.

As far as why release a Black Edition? So people will buy it thinking it's some awesome OCing chip, when in reality the most you can hope for is a good 300-600 MHz.

Honestly.. think about it. The fastest bin they have is 2.3 GHz. If they could run at 2.6-2.8 GHz don't you think they'd be selling the Phenoms there rather than selling BEs?

 

[blackpanther26]

well they started selling Black Edition CPU's with the Athlon 64 X2 6400. And there is some rummor about AMD has a Phenom at 3.6GHz but I highly doubt it's a Quad-Core. And Highly doubt it'll come out this year. I say if I were AMD scratch AMD Phenom and the 65nm chips and go with the 45nm chips.

They need a new person in charge of AMD. First off the B3 version of Phenom was supposed to be out by now and they were supposed to be at 2.6GHz. I don't even see a 2.6GHz Phenom by the end of Q2. Right now I'm trying to get my Phenom to brun in at 2.4GHz sence I've noticed you have to brun in a CPU at a different CPU speed. I just took for granate that it'll work at 2.6GHz and set the Multiplier to 13 x 200. So I'll give it a week before I try to reach 2.5GHz again. Plus I'm wondering if it's Windows Vista becuase I had the same problem with my Athlon 64 X2 6000 to get it to go to 3.3-3.4GHz. Where I did get it to boot at 3.4GHz once then all of a sudden BSOD. So I'm going to let it brun in.

 

[Kamrooz]

The limit for the x2's is around 3.3 to 3.4, so no, it aint vista. The limit for phenom is around 2.6/2.7...lol. So unfortunately for you =P.

Regarding the 3ghz ES units, they were just that, cherry picked. But even they were not that great. I remember reading one of the reviews with a ES, it ended up dying before they could finish the second set of benchmarks. Why else do you think AMD previews a 3ghz Phenom at one of their shows but didn't allow anyone to touch it?...They are having mass technical issues with the architecture.

You really should of nabbed a core 2 quad, yes the q6600 might be around 280. But it's a better chip, better performance clock for clock, runs cooler, takes less voltage/watts, and overclocks like a demon on crack. I'm on a q6600 rig I built for a family friend, Oc'ed the sucker in 10 minutes to 3 ghz from the stock 2.4, orthos stable 24+ hours before I stopped it. I ended up just upping the multiplier, it restarted during orthos unfortunately at stock voltage for me (not everyone can get it up to 3ghz with stock voltage). I ended up giving it two ticks above stock cpu voltage, bam, stable 24/7. Great processors.

 

[blackpanther26]

I bought it hopping it would work in my Evga Nforce 590 SLI. No Bios update stuck with CPU. Here is what CPUz says on my 12v rail.

Also I was finally able to get into windows at 2.5GHz do some stress testing with orthos. That went well untill I tried to run 3Dmark06. That is why I think it may be my >72% effecient PSU.

 

[Jake_Barnes]

I'll admit that I don't have time to read the entire thread, but here's two excellent PSU's in the 750 W range that just might be better buys than that Ultra:

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Crossfire Edition)

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Black) EPS12V 750W

PC Power & Cooling makes excellent PSU's (IMHO) - check out the 60 amp rating on the single 12 volt rail.

Note: If this has been posted previously, mea culpa.