A new power supply for C2D & NV GF 9800GTX+

dglad4

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Jul 1, 2009
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Hello all,

I am after a new power supply for my system before I go for a new motherboard cause I know I will choke this old Antec 380W I saved out of the bin from a dead system. Anyway, I'll give you my PCs specs (This is when its finished. At the moment its a mix of old and new parts but I'll give you the finished cause it will obviously draw more power).

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (3.00GHz, 1333MHz, 6MB, LGA775, Going to be overclocked to 4.0GHz if possible but around that [can get 3.66GHz on stock fansink]
GPU: GIGABYTE GV-N98XPZL-1GH (NVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX+, 1GB GDDR3, PCI-Ex16)
RAM: 4x 2GB DDR2 1066MHz Blocks (Unsure of brand as of yet but heard good of Corsair)
HDD: 2x 160GB Seagate SATAII to be put in RAID0
ODD: Pioneer SATA 4x BluRay Burner
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R (Intel P45 and ICH10R chipset)
EXTRAS: 2x Mini UV Neons, Looking into Thermaltake BigWater water cooling

Also, because of the water cooling I want to keep noise as low as I can. I've done a bit of research and think that the Antec Earthwatts 500W would be good but apparently it is a bit noisy. The Antec TruePower 550W is apparently a lot quieter and sounds like it would handle overclocking better. The price is whats keeping me back on the TruePower. But I'm confused on what to buy. I think maybe Antec cause the 380W I'm running on is doing really well pulling my GeForce considering the cards manual said it needs a minimum of 450W system power. I have also done some stupid things with the power supplies I've had and this one's defiantly a goody. I've ruined capacitors and melted cables (lol) and Antec seems the go for me but I need to know which one...

Any suggestions are welcome.

Thankyou,

dglad4.
 
Solution
Antec EA500 is no doubt a very high quality PSU...
If the noise is a concern, then I would suggest you look into the Corsair 450VX...It costs less than the Antec EA500 and can run that setup with the 9800GTX+ without issues...
And Corsair PSU are known for their solid construction and are pretty silent too...
Corsair 450VX
$59.99
($39.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate Card )
Free Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003

But if you want some headroom and want to run more powerful cards in the future, then you can consider the Corsair 550VX
$89.99
($69.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate Card )
Free Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004
Antec EA500 is no doubt a very high quality PSU...
If the noise is a concern, then I would suggest you look into the Corsair 450VX...It costs less than the Antec EA500 and can run that setup with the 9800GTX+ without issues...
And Corsair PSU are known for their solid construction and are pretty silent too...
Corsair 450VX
$59.99
($39.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate Card )
Free Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003

But if you want some headroom and want to run more powerful cards in the future, then you can consider the Corsair 550VX
$89.99
($69.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate Card )
Free Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004
 
Solution
You're in luck. I checked a few of my references. The 9800GTX+ only uses between 52 and 117 watts so it does not need a high wattage power supply. The Corsair VX450 gkay09 mentioned would be a good choice for your system.

You mentioned overclocking. That will increase power requirements but not as much as most people think.
 

dglad4

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Jul 1, 2009
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Okay, well I have decided to go for the Corsair VX-450 PSU after more research. I found that using the Antec PSU calculator gave me a total of 291W!! I was shocked to see that much energy efficiency! Well, it is a 45nm CPU and 65nm GPU so I guess they don't need much power. Anyway apparently to pull my setup off the Corsair power supply the fan only makes aroung 23 decibels of sound which is good news. My desktop is currently over 35db I reckon (The Zalman fansink is the worst offender) so having the noise lower when I get the water cooling will be a treat. The water cooling will get rid of that Zalman GPU and stock Intel CPU fansink (even though it really isn't very noisy but its gotta go for OC!) and it has variable fan speed which is good :)

So that's settled, Corsair VX-450 for me!

I would like to thank everyone who contributed towards my decision on my new PSU.

Thankyou,
dglad4.