Advice on PSU for gaming rig

[djc604]

I need the best PSU that will suite my needs.

I know I shouldn't cheap out on a one, and there are so many out there that seem good, but I need to know whats the word on the street.

Considering that I will be overclocking, my gaming rig are as follows:

Coolermaster HAF 932 Case
Asus P6T X58 ATX Motherboard
Intel core i7 920 CPU
Coolermaster V10 Cooling Fan
Corsair XMS3 Dominator Tri-Channel 3x2GB DDR3-1866 RAM
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium FATAL1TY Champion 7.1 Sound Card
Intel X25-M 80GB SSD
2 X Western Digital Velociraptor 10,000RPM 150GB HDD in RAID 0
2 X XFX GeForce GTX 295 576MHZ 1792MB Video Cards
2 X Swiftech MCR220 Quiet Power Dual 120MM Water Cooling Radiators
4 X Noctua NF-P12-1300 120MM Ultra Quiet Cooling Fan
Swiftech MCP655 12V Industrial Water Cooling Pump
Zalman ZM-MFC2 4 Fan Speed Controller w/ LCD Display

This will be my first build. There are a few more things that I'm adding, but I don't think it will affect the PSU. And of course, I will be using a 30" monitor.

If your wondering, I'm only water cooling the 2 GTX 295's using a Danger Den 295 GPU water block for each although I'm still undecided which water block to get (http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/252256-29-quad-koolance-nx295-water-blocks)
The Coolermaster V10 is for the CPU and RAM. Another thing is that I can fit 2 PSU's in my case for dual PSU goodness

Any suggestions? Need your help!

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Will you be overclocking your video cards also?

 

[djc604]

Yes, as well as the RAM.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

You're looking at a high quality 750 watt power supply.

The Antec Truepower New 750 is a brand new high quality model built by Seasonic for Antec. It's earned an 80+ Bronze certification for efficiency. It can handle your system without any problems and then some. Here is a link to a technical review over at jonnyguru.com:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=140

Another option is the Corsair TX750. It is also an excellent psu designed for high end gaming. Here's a link to the technical review at jonnyguru.com:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=73

 

[theAnimal]

4 GPUs scale poorly. 3x GTX275 would be a much better bang for the buck.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3520

The V10 is also poor bang for the buck. A TRUE would cool at least as well.

My PSU suggestion would be Enermax Revolution85+ 850W. Very high quality and plenty of PCIe connectors.

 

[dragonfang18]

For me it was the more the merrier... Helps with future proofing, so I dont get another PSU...

I went with a Silverstone ZM1200M 1200 Watt power supply with %100 modular wires...
I dunno if you are in a budget though...

 

[djc604]

4 GPUs scale poorly. 3x GTX275 would be a much better bang for the buck.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3520

I have read that article, and I am aware of the poor scaling when going to 4 GPU's. Its just that on my P6T the third PCIE is only 4X which will still bottleneck the system. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Anyway I am planning to play at 2560x1600 for most of the games where the dual 295s shine on, which is my ultimate goal.

If it weren't for my motherboard, I wouldn't even think of watercooling. But since the first 2 PCIE slots are so damn close to each other, an OC with aircooling with those cards is not in my best interests.

and @ dragonfang18 I don't mind spending a little extra dough to futureproof

 

[dragonfang18]

Well 295's are the best so far, dont think you need to OC them yet.

Well, why not buy a 1200W PSU that way you can run the GTX 295's.
295's can take A LOT of heat. Think (not sure) they can take up to 200 degrees Celsius!

Your HAF can cool them. I think the scaling was... x16, x8, x8 if you go triple SLI.

 

[dragonfang18]

Going with 2 GTX 295's (like me!)
I think they would go, x16 and x16 scaling. for both cards, so I think that each gpu will have x8.

 

[djc604]

I was kind of leaning towards a 1200W PSU, but I've read that it's quite excess to what a gaming computer can really output these days. Just trying to optimize each part in terms of specification and spending, in exception to the GTX295's in SLI, as I really don't think there is such thing as "too much GPU power".

I will also have to re-think about my V10, as on other forums xtreme overclockers are using the TRUE which has gotten good reviews everywhere.

 

[croc]

For me it was the more the merrier... Helps with future proofing, so I dont get another PSU...

I went with a Silverstone ZM1200M 1200 Watt power supply with %100 modular wires...
I dunno if you are in a budget though...

Silverstone usually makes a very good PSU, but I think I have an issue with a fully modular PSU in that the main MB power leads are almost always used, so why make them modular? It just adds one more point of possible failure. Serious OCers prefer non-modular PSU's. I also have an issue with PSU's that are too much overkill as the effeciency curves generally taper off somewhere between 50 to 75% of rated load. This not only raises your power bill, but also tends to put more wear and tear on the PSU itself. Jonnyguru (previously mentioned) usually does load / effeciency ratings in their reviews.

 

[cjl]

I'd go for the Corsair HX1000W. I have one powering my OC i7 965 + quadfire 4870x2 rig, and it is absolutely rock solid. It is also modular, which helps a lot with cable management.

As for coolers, i am using (and am quite happy with) a TRUE. It cools quite nicely, despite the rather incredible heat output the i7 is capable of at high overclocks.

 

[dragonfang18]

@Croc Well to make the modular motherboard pin allows you to take it off the PSU side if you need to direct the wire around the motherboard in the back of the case. Its much more convenient.

I dunno about overkill, I thought of that before, but then some other commenter also said the more the merrier. Im not a serious OC'er so thats not an issue. Besides they did say OC too much doesnt make the chip that much efficient either. Like i7 920 was good at 3.66 ghz, any more and it is pointless in power to efficiency ratio.

Here is where I learned it: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-core-i7,2268-12.html

 

[mindless728]

PC Power & Cooling Silencer PPCS910 910W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703022

80+ silver rating

 

[AKM880]

Corsair 850TX - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009&Tpk=Corsair%20850

Real nice PSU, comparable to the one mindless728 posted.

 

[cjl]

Corsair 850TX - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009&Tpk=Corsair%20850

Real nice PSU, comparable to the one mindless728 posted.

I'd go for the Corsair 1000 over the 850, considering that he's looking at quad SLI of GT200 cards with an i7.

 

[Onus]

That PC Power & Cooling looks nice; 80+ Silver...

Consider also an Antec Signature, 850W model.

 

[AKM880]

I'd go for the Corsair 1000 over the 850, considering that he's looking at quad SLI of GT200 cards with an i7.

I didn't see the Quad SLI 295's lol. That Corsair 1000HX is a nice PSU, and its modualr

 

[djc604]

I was looking at the Corsair 1000W. Seems a good one, even toms recommend using it. I would think that the Enermax 850W PSU would be the minimum I should get as the quads reach about ~800 when on full load. good stuff.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

 

[theAnimal]

I was looking at the Corsair 1000W. Seems a good one, even toms recommend using it. I would think that the Enermax 850W PSU would be the minimum I should get as the quads reach about ~800 when on full load. good stuff.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

2 x GTX295 uses around 425W.

 

[djc604]

oops, my bad
I was just checkin trubitars benchies on youtube and saw his system reach about that much. Any reason why his was topping out at that high?

 

[WR2]

Just trying to optimize each part in terms of specification and spending

How does choosing a 1200W PSU over a 850W PSU do that?

 

[cjl]

oops, my bad
I was just checkin trubitars benchies on youtube and saw his system reach about that much. Any reason why his was topping out at that high?

I'm not surprised it topped out that high. Mine uses upwards of 750W at full load (the most I've seen is between 820 and 830 actual power to the components, around 1kW from the wall). I can't remember whether the 4870x2 uses more power than the 295, but I can't imagine they'd be far off of each other. I'd guess that your system will use about as much power as mine, so the 1kW is a good choice.

That's full system power though - the graphics cards alone won't use more than a bit over half of that. Maybe 500W at the absolute most.

 

[dragonfang18]

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/crossfire_vs_sli/

This can help you decide which one you want Crossfire/SLI.

 

[djc604]

How does choosing a 1200W PSU over a 850W PSU do that?

Exactly, that's why I had distanced myself to that idea. I stated in that post that I'm willing to do otherwise.