Shopping advice for 1200W

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senvae

senvae

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Greetings folks!

I had a 1000watts PSU in my system for a while and apparently that was too much of a stretch for all my USB devices, harddrives, and video cards. Needless to say, it is dying, and now I need to replace it with a much wiser choice.

Here are the two main PSU I have in mind:

1- Thermaltake TRX-1200M TR2 1200watts Modular Power Supply

2- Corsair AX1200, 1200watt modular power supply.

I'm wondering which one is better. On one hand, the Corsair PSU is a brand people brag about being solid, and it has a single 12v rail. I heard that was a good thing, but I'm not sure why. However, a few people have mentioned Thermaltake as a reliable brand (though it certainly doesn't seem as popular as Corsair), and this model in question has 2 12v rails with 60amp each. What would be better for high end video cards like my double GTX280 in SLI, or the pending upgrade to the GTX460 in SLI which I am making in the next few months? I got 120amps in 2 rails for 270$, or 100.4amps in 1 rail for 300$. Where do I go from here?

Help me make the right choice!!

BTW System specs:

AMD Phenom2 955 BE
Asus M4N82 980a chipset Motherboard
Ultra Chilltech CPU cooler (with 5" bay temp monitor)
Thermaltake Spedo Advance Computer case, with 8 fans stock
8gigs of DDR2 RAM (Corsair XMS2 4x 2g each)
2x XFX GTX280 in SLI
Auzentech Prelude 7.1 X-Fi soundcard (using toslink, fiber optic output)
Corsair SSD P256 256G
Seagate HDD 7200rpm 500G
WD Caviar Black HDD 7200rpm 1TB
LiteOn BD-ROM optical drive

USB Devices:

Logitech Dinovo Edge, bluetooth wireless keyboard
Razer Mamba wireless gaming mouse (5600dpi, 1000mhz polling)
XBOX wireless receiver (to transfer xbox360 wireless devices to PC)
Zune with dock (standard, media player with 120g storage)
Logitech Extreme 3D Pro joystick (occasionally)
My wife's photo camera, can't remember the brand (also occasionally)
 
Solution
Shadow703793
I guess Ultra X3 is not a good PSU? It was a 1000watts after all.
Click to expand...
Wattage != QUALITY! The Ultra X3 1kW is decent PSU. Jonny gave it a good review: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=41

By the same token, the Ultra X4 $ucks: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=174

I had a 1000watts PSU in my system for a while and apparently that was too much of a stretch for all my USB devices,
Click to expand...
This has NOTHING to do with the PSU. This is a limitation of USB and you are probably running in to the 500mA limit of the USB. Some boards can support up to 1A but no more. You may want to consider an externally powered USB hub.

Actually, I recall having overheating issues a...
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senvae

senvae

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Actually, I'm no power supply expert but it seems like a few PSU calculator judged that I needed around 1000watts, but the problem is that once the PSU starts to wear down a bit, it might not be able to handle the load. It's also possible that my PSU is simply not a good quality build and started to degrade faster than intended. What I'm hoping to do with a 1200watt is make the task seem easy to my PSU and not a strain. You may have overlooked that my CPU cooler is thermo-electric and comes with a display monitor that attaches to the 5" bays of the tower. I also have a lot of USB usage, and 3 storage drives. I'm hoping this 1200watt idea is going to tackle my needs.

Thanks for the suggestion Reccy, but neither of my favorite PC stores sell the Sapphire, and I have never seen them do PSU before. I'm gonna have to pass.

I wish people could clarify why the Corsair is more favorable. What I am looking to do with this thread is find out which is a better purchase and why. Is thermaltake a bad brand for PSU's?
 
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obsidian86

obsidian86

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and another round of guess that oem
red name?
good oem?
enthusiast class products?

right this way sir

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194046

and a small edit :a 1200 can run 4xgtx 280 sli and a a gtx 460 uses 2/3 of what a gtx 280 uses so i dont know where you got 1200 from,a good 850 will run anything 2 cards right up to the 295/480 class,i suggest get the xfx 850

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207001
 
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reccy

reccy

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Ahhh, that explains why, so maybe hope for it yet anyways, seem to recall Enermax being a good brand anyways..

The Internet site i use dont stock Enermax PSU's.. They stock a limited number.. Buggers :)
 
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Emperus

Emperus

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Out of the two, its always going to be the Corsair.. However, as pointed out by others, it is way too much overkill even with your intended GTX 460 1GB SLI upgrade.. Staying with the Corsair AX series, you can get the AX 850/750 and be tension free.. For a more lower price, the XFX 750W/850W Black Edition can take care of your rig without any problems..
 
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senvae

senvae

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It's weird that my PSU crapped up so badly in such a short amount of time. I guess Ultra X3 is not a good PSU? It was a 1000watts after all.

If 1000watts is still plenty of power, would anyone say I should get the HX1000 from Corsair? I thought the reviews seemed incredibly positive.

Edit: Actually, I recall having overheating issues a while ago because I had a Mid-Sized gaming tower with those 2 GTX280 and that PSU, and not enough fans in it. Maybe that fatigued my PSU and it started dying a year later... I wonder if that's the reason it died so soon. Good thing it has a lifetime warranty. I thought it might have been a power issue since it started acting up precisely at the same time I installed my SSD drive.
 
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Shadow703793

Shadow703793

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I guess Ultra X3 is not a good PSU? It was a 1000watts after all.
Click to expand...
Wattage != QUALITY! The Ultra X3 1kW is decent PSU. Jonny gave it a good review: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=41

By the same token, the Ultra X4 $ucks: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=174

I had a 1000watts PSU in my system for a while and apparently that was too much of a stretch for all my USB devices,
Click to expand...
This has NOTHING to do with the PSU. This is a limitation of USB and you are probably running in to the 500mA limit of the USB. Some boards can support up to 1A but no more. You may want to consider an externally powered USB hub.

Actually, I recall having overheating issues a while ago because I had a Mid-Sized gaming tower with those 2 GTX280 and that PSU, and not enough fans in it. Maybe that fatigued my PSU and it started dying a year later... I wonder if that's the reason it died so soon.
Click to expand...
That is a good possibility. It could also be that your home electrical system $ucks. I assume you are using a UPS or surge protector?
 
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senvae

senvae

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Yes, I am using a good quality surge protector, but I moved during this time and had the same issue at both place. I wouldn't think the electricals in this place sucks, maybe a bit old, but nothing extraordinary.

The USB thing is news to me, I thought USB devices could make more of an impact than that.

I'm thinking of going with the Corsair HX1000 now, anybody thinks I should still gun for the AX1200?
 
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Y

Yargnit

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The HX1000 will be plenty for what you are doing and is also a very good PS. Unless you plan to 3-way SLI GTX480's the AX1200 is huge overkill. (Even then the HX1000 could handle 3 480's, it would just be right at the limit)

2 460's can run fine on a quality 650w, 750w if u have a lot of HDs and other stuff and want to play it extra safe.
 
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senvae

senvae

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According to every single review on page 1 and 2 of my google search for Corsair HX1000 review, the HX1000 IS one of Crosair's finest moments. Unless they are so awesome that this pales in comparison with their other PSUs.
 
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obsidian86

obsidian86

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look on jonnyguru.com.and google hx1000 not turning on .the hx1000 has the most rma's for corsair
 
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reccy

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My first point of action would be to buy an external powered USB Hub, and remove all but Keyboard and Mouse from PC to Hub.
This will help alittle if not alot and will not break the bank to at least trying this opition to see if this helps settle your PSU a little.

Second, Try getting the PSU Rma'd if under warranty, if not, then The HX1000 is a good'un for your needs.
 
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senvae

senvae

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Don't worry people, my Ultra X3 will be RMA'd and installed in my secondary computer as soon as the upgrade is complete. In the meantime, I bought a HX1000, it was on sale at one of my online stores for 40$ off, sale ended last night. I want my next PSU to be more versatile for future upgrades and etc, plus the online PSU calculators I found seem to fluctuate between 800-1050 watts recommendations. Money matters, but it's not a large issue since I was ready to pay 300$ for the AX1200. I probably saved about 100$ thanks to everyone's help.

When I tried to search google for "HX1000 RMA" or "HX1000 not turning on", I found a few forum posts, but nothing alarming. I couldn't find that particular RMA issue on jonnyguru either, except one forum thread. But I don't consider a couple of forum threads an alarming thing. I'm sure if the chances of getting a bad HX1000 was so high, they would have pulled it off the shelves or someone would have said something that would appear on google. I appreciate your help nonetheless Obsidian86, thank you for the heads up.

I want to thank everyone for the load of info. I hope this freeze/power off issue will be resolved with this new PSU.
 
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rand_79

rand_79

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my q6600@3.4ghz 8gig ram 5hdd's dvd
msi hawk 460@900mhz
5 usb devices :p
7 case fans including a 200mm and rest are 120's
24" lcd monitor(non led backlit)
cable modem, router, 8port gigabit switch
my idle load is 164 watts @ the outlet..

max load observed has been ~~365 watts@ the outlet
subtract 40watts for the monitor and other non power supply accessories
= 325x.82= 270~~watt power supply load.

I agree your power supply was not underpowered.

get something quality by seasonic, pc power and cooling, enermax, or corsair
seasonic is probably the least talked about amazing manufacturer of power supplies.
 
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