Is this 500W PSU good enough?

CPU: E8400 3.0ghz - $199 OC it to around 4GHZ
MB: Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L $90
Fan: Coolmaster HyperTX X2 $30
Vid: Galaxy GeForce 8800 GT OC $160 http://redflagdeals.pricecanada.co [...] YFF6HUFEXV
HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 16MB Cache

I can get a case with a 500W PSU for only $90! Im running only one vid card and the E8400 is pretty effecient, right? Also just one 250gb hard drive and a 500gb external through USB. But at the same time I want to overclock my E8400 to a nice safe level.

This is the case/PSU combo:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicat [...] CatId=1858

I think the link below is the actual power supply but Im not sure.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicat [...] y=V-Series

I really need your expertise because power supplies are where I am most confused.

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Message edited by redfin on 04-30-2008 at 01:18:11 AM

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Power supplies that comes with cases sux.

Ultra most certainly sux the most.

There are reasons why case w/ PSUs are cheap. Top on the list is that the PSU sux.

In case I didn't mention it the PSU sux.

Spend the extra money on a good PSU like Corsair VX series or something made by FSP (Fortron Source) which are relatively inexpensive. Antec sells some decent PSUs, but their quality has been slipping (IMO).

I can think of other good PSU brands, but they are a little more expensive.

^^ what he said.

Reply to esmith7075

Truly great advice!! Thanks!

Now I must decide on a case and power supply. I am under a super budget. Are there any power supplies and cases you could suggest that together are $90-$130? I know thats a tight budget but Im strapped for cash and if I would see better value out of paying a bit more just tell me and include why since I am interested in learning.

Reply to redfin

redfin wrote :

I really need your expertise because power supplies are where I am most confused.

Try thinking of it this way. A case by itself will cost at least $60, probably more, with good cases costing a lot more. Now if the case costs $90 with a PSU, and a bare case costs at least $60, then the PSU can only be a $30 PSU at best. You won't find a good PSU for $30. Look to the tier listings for recommended PSUs, or jonnyguru.com. Don't trust your nice new hardware to a cheap PSU, unless you like throwing away money.

Oh yeah, and what jaguarskx said.

------------------------------ Evil lurks in the databanks as it lurked in the streets of yesteryear. But it was never the streets that were evil.

Over 50. Seen it, done it, can't remember it, but I miss it.
Reply to Sailer

I think that power supply should be acceptable based on average ratings in reviews. Best to think of it as a 430w PSU.
BigBruin review Ultra XVS 600
Techgage review Ultra XVS 600
Ultra has a bad reputation but if that specific power supply is the one you linked it's probably going to get the job done.

Message edited by WR2 on 04-30-2008 at 01:31:02 AM

Reply to WR2

I personally disagree with some of the other folks. I've had ultra power supplies before and the ones I had seemed to be decent units. They may not be the flashiest and do everything, but they did seem to be a decent product. However, if you start overclocking and trying to run SLI and a lot of tasks that will place a lot of strain on it, then you may want to replace it, but it should do for a while at least if your running the system at stock.

Reply to ohiou_grad_06

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/534 - "How Much Power Can a Generic 500 W Power Supply Really Deliver?"

"Our generic 500 W power supply died when we tried pulling 275 W from it, so the maximum amount of power we could extract was 250 W – half the labeled amount!"

Even a branded 300w from Antec or AcBell would hammer that 500w :lol:

------------------------------ Q6600@3510/1560 + TT BigTyphoon+Mod
8gb Kingston 800mhz
Gigabyte EP35-DS3P
XFX 8800GT/512
Reply to apache_lives

I would jamb my computer parts into a wood box rather than buy a cheap PSU.
PCPower 470watt silencer for a psu.
The case is ok, but the ultra 500 watt psu that comes with it is crap.
Ultra has like 2 good PSU's one is the 800 Watt and the other the 1000KW.
Most of the other ultra PSU's are at the bottom of the tier.
Buy the case, sell the PSU on eBay for $45 and get a good PSU, look at the PSU sticky.

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Reply to bobbknight

If your PSU was a PC Power & Cooling PSU then a "Turbo 510" would be about the same as a OCZ 700.

Any "Ultra" brand is 100% crap and asking for your parts to be fried.
I base that off of using Ultra 500's and had them fail in under 24 hours of burn-in build testings 6 years ago.
They might make a better product now...but I will never use them to find out if it is so.

Many sub $100 USD PSU's are good...but if you OC or just care about the investment that is attached to your PSU I only recomend PC Power & Cooling.
They also sell dirrect for the same price as any online shop.

OCZ may be a "partner" with them but any OCZ PSU is -not- near a PC Power & Cooling PSU.

Silverstone PSU's come close to PC P&C....but still not as good under 100% load on a scope.

The PSU OC'ers use is as much a part as the MB they use...and DFI alawys wins out in the MB department.
Themalright makes the best air coolers,Silverstone makes the best fans and old school Silicon Grease based TIM works basicly the same as Artic Silver does and without the issues it brings with it.

See my profile with 50% OC on air with all stock volts.
The parts you use do matter.

Message edited by ZOldDude on 04-30-2008 at 09:59:57 AM

------------------------------ *While we crash and burn, small, low tech, agrarian societies such as the Hmong in the mountains of Laos will continue on without so much as blinking an eye.*
Reply to ZOldDude

Buy a decent PSU and a dirt cheap case.
Increase the cooling with a combination of drill, jigsaw, dremel, or whatever else you have lying around; and fans!

My next case mod will involve a really long pipe from a tumble dryer and a couple of fans so that i can suck in cold air from outside! (Damned Pentium D!)

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Reply to mi1ez

Here is what I'd buy to keep cost down and still get a quality case/PSU combo. The PSU has 34A on the 12V rails, >80% efficient, and has a 3 yr. warranty. The PCP&C 610w Silencer is a good buy, but for the price of this combo, it's hard to pass up.
$130 - $30 MIR = $100!!!
Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail

Message edited by lunyone on 04-30-2008 at 10:03:33 AM

------------------------------ PSU Tiers
GPU Power
8800gtx w/e6600 OC'd will run on Antec 380w w/27A on 12v rail, PSU!!
Reply to lunyone

mi1ez wrote :

Buy a decent PSU and a dirt cheap case.
Increase the cooling with a combination of drill, jigsaw, dremel, or whatever else you have lying around; and fans!

My next case mod will involve a really long pipe from a tumble dryer and a couple of fans so that i can suck in cold air from outside! (Damned Pentium D!)

Now your talking.
Use of "tools" to remove a case's exit fan grill can boost airflow over 80% and do so for free...even with many years old case's....or even todays newest.
Any exit grill suffers the "air dam effect".

@ lunyone....
The PC P&C 610 is only $109 dirrect from them right now. Newegg had the same price as well.
A fantastic PSU for the price for any OC'er or general user.
Constant 100% 12 volt amp output is above most 800 watt PSU units surge rateings.

Go large or go home is how I pick parts.

Message edited by ZOldDude on 04-30-2008 at 10:24:22 AM

------------------------------ *While we crash and burn, small, low tech, agrarian societies such as the Hmong in the mountains of Laos will continue on without so much as blinking an eye.*
Reply to ZOldDude

bobbknight wrote :

Ultra has like 2 good PSU's....and the other the 1000KW.

HOLY LORD!!!, where can I buy one of those?!?! :lol: :kaola:
My current CoolerMaster PSU has been fantastic, great selection of cables etc.
The only other brand I considered was Silverstone.

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------------------------------ 6000+ Stock, GA M57SLi-S4, XFX 8800GTX's SLi Stock, 4Gb Corsair PC6400 DHX, CoolerMaster 850W, 36Gb Raptor boot drive, 2x150Gb Raptor's in RAID 0 - XFX RAID controller & 300Gb Seagate. PowerBook G4 12" 1.5GHz, Go5200 64mb, 768mb RAM, 80Gb HD, SuperDrive.
Reply to LukeBird

LukeBird wrote :

HOLY LORD!!!, where can I buy one of those?!?! :lol: :kaola:
My current CoolerMaster PSU has been fantastic, great selection of cables etc.
The only other brand I considered was Silverstone.

Silverstone is just one step down from PC Power & Cooling for PSU's (per Scope tests)

They do however make the best 120mm fan...the FM-121 110QFPM and can be found online for $11-19 USD online/in store with a free twist speed controler (800-2400 RPM).

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ *While we crash and burn, small, low tech, agrarian societies such as the Hmong in the mountains of Laos will continue on without so much as blinking an eye.*
Reply to ZOldDude

ZOldDude wrote :

Silverstone is just one step down from PC Power & Cooling for PSU's (per Scope tests)

They do however make the best 120mm fan...the FM-121 110QFPM and can be found online for $11-19 USD online/in store with a free twist speed controler (800-2400 RPM).

I already have 3 120mm fans, so I think thats enough for the moment! :lol:
PPC & C aren't available as far as I know in the UK either. And I will only ever bother with modular PSU's now.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ 6000+ Stock, GA M57SLi-S4, XFX 8800GTX's SLi Stock, 4Gb Corsair PC6400 DHX, CoolerMaster 850W, 36Gb Raptor boot drive, 2x150Gb Raptor's in RAID 0 - XFX RAID controller & 300Gb Seagate. PowerBook G4 12" 1.5GHz, Go5200 64mb, 768mb RAM, 80Gb HD, SuperDrive.
Reply to LukeBird

LukeBird wrote :

I already have 3 120mm fans, so I think thats enough for the moment! :lol:
PPC & C aren't available as far as I know in the UK either. And I will only ever bother with modular PSU's now.

Modular is for Jhoney + Suzzy builders who car about looks or follow reviews.
Real builders and OC'ers know better than to use modular PSU's becuase of the fualts/issues they bring with them.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ *While we crash and burn, small, low tech, agrarian societies such as the Hmong in the mountains of Laos will continue on without so much as blinking an eye.*
Reply to ZOldDude

ZOldDude wrote :

Modular is for Jhoney + Suzzy builders who car about looks or follow reviews.
Real builders and OC'ers know better than to use modular PSU's becuase of the fualts/issues they bring with them.

Never had any problems with my modular ones, so I'll stay in that camp!
What sort of mess are the cables going to be like out the back of a non-modular 850W PSU? :lol:
I don't care how my PC looks inside, I don't have a clear side window etc. I care what comes out to the monitor, how noisy it is and how cool it is. Modular aides the last two, as it creates better airflow (not having a big bundle of unused cables) which in turn lets fans turn down a notch. What's not to like about that?
What exactly is a "Jhoney + Suzzy builder"? I'm not an OCer (which seemingly makes me a non-enthusiast on here! :non: ) so I guess I'm a "pretend" builder then... :sarcastic:

------------------------------ 6000+ Stock, GA M57SLi-S4, XFX 8800GTX's SLi Stock, 4Gb Corsair PC6400 DHX, CoolerMaster 850W, 36Gb Raptor boot drive, 2x150Gb Raptor's in RAID 0 - XFX RAID controller & 300Gb Seagate. PowerBook G4 12" 1.5GHz, Go5200 64mb, 768mb RAM, 80Gb HD, SuperDrive.
Reply to LukeBird

When comparing my PC P&C 750wt to my TT Toughpower 700wt and TT Toughpower 850wt, I find that all do the job very well. The Toughpowers are modular, which means no unused cables to tuck away and possible causes of airflow problems, but better yet for me is that their larger fan is a lot quieter. There is surely a difference between good quality modular PSUs and poor ones, though, and that should be kept in mind. If you check out the reviews of a PC P&C 750wt and a Toughpower 750wt at jonnyguru.com, he rates it as equal to the PC P&C, so there is a non-biased opinion worth considering.

------------------------------ Evil lurks in the databanks as it lurked in the streets of yesteryear. But it was never the streets that were evil.

Over 50. Seen it, done it, can't remember it, but I miss it.
Reply to Sailer

^
I like to stick with PCP&C, but I think the modular PSUs (especially the TTs) have gotten a worse rap than they should have. I think a lot of the issues are end-user error with cables not fully plugged in, and/or being forced into the wrong ports.

Reply to Lord Gornak

I bought the OCZ StealthXStream 600W because it is in tier 2 of PSUs according to I believe Toms Hardwares charts. It is based on the same GameXStream unit and it was tested and revised by PCP&C.

Reply to redfin

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