What power supply? Plus a cooling question.

thehiddenpriest

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Hi all,

I'm currently running (without a PSU - looking to purchase on Monday) an AMD Phenom II 955, 4gb G.Skill 4gb DDR3, Asus M4A88TD-V Evo mobo, gtx 460 or ATI HD5830 (not sure on the gfx yet). Plus 3 hard drives and an optical drive.

My main question is how much will I be looking at on the power front? 600w was my planned area to look into however the only problem is I've got a £65 budget for this item. I figure I can get a half decent model for this but most seem to be pushing my budget. Ones I've seen in my price range are the 550w Corsairs not sure whether to go CX or VX/TX! Or the OCZ psu's any advice would be great!

As for the cooling question.. I've currently got one intake fan at the front of the case (came installed on my Coolermaster elite 430) I've got a Coolermaster hyper 212 HS. I'm looking at adding a exhaust at the rear so the CPU fan will be blowing air straight into that however would it be better to add either an intake/exhaust on the side or top of the case to help with the graphics cooling? I want this to be well cooled and not have any excess fans doing a whole lot of nothing to help keep it cool. Currently the CPU runs at around 30/35C idle however the lower section of the case (bare in mind this was without the intake connected) was hitting much higher - I realise the intake + graphics cooling will help this - I was using the IGP which was heating up so damn much.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.


Oh! I plan to overclock in the future so having a nice power overhead would be good, similarly for the cooling I'd like it to stay around this level and not really get higher than 55 (which it currently hits on load)
 

thehiddenpriest

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I've already got mine set up like that with it blowing air through the HS and out the exhaust area. So you don't recommend adding any other fans then? Or would top fans still be a good option?
 

thehiddenpriest

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Just found the Corsair CX600 for a really reasonable price £54, would this be a decent PSU? Or should I look at going a little more expensive? I'm not bothered about having a modular PSU cause I've got loads of cable ties to keep everything as tidy as possible. Empty HDD and optical drive bays make really good cable tie locations!
 

thechief73

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Hello thehiddenp​riest, The PSU that you have listed will do you just fine. Also the options that JackNaylorPE
has listed are good choices, but since you are in the UK you most likely will not find the rebates for those models and the prices may be higher, but it would not hurt to look them up and check.

Here is a good article on PSU's that Tom's just published yesterday that you may want to give a read.Who's Who In Power Supplies: Brands, Labels, And OEMs

Basically, any Seasonic or Corsair PSU will give you the close to, if not the best parts and build quality you can find. One other thing if you are concerned about it check how long the warranty is on the PSU's you are looking at, 5 years should be normal some go up to 7, just a thought for peace of mind.
 

thehiddenpriest

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Hi again Chief,

The builds coming along really well now! Will probably go for the corsair as the OCZ's seem to be very hit and miss in terms of reviews. The one I've got currently is good but who knows if the next will be as good. Thanks for the advice, corsair it is!