Quality PSU with red led and cable management

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gaskell

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I'm struggling trying to find a good PSU with a red LED and cable management. The only ones I have been able to find dont seem to be available here in NZ. It seems I can get a crappy PSU with red LED but thats not going to help.
I know a bit about PSU's but not enough really. I was thinking about 650-750watts its for an i7 2600k, ati 6870, at least 3 hard drives (sata 600) and a sata dvd drive. Cable management would be awesome so I dont have to have all the molex power cables hidden away in places that only just fit them.

Any help here would be great as I cant seem to find anything that looks decent except the OCZ Fatal1ty which I cant find here in NZ.
 
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look, almost garbage PSUs have red led fans Excluding OCZ, if you r looking for a good PSU for your rig so i would recommend a 650 or 750 Watt PSU such as Antec, Corsair, OCZ, Thermaltake, NZXT, PC Cooling Silencer and so.....
so if you took away that idea of using a PSU with red led fan i can recommend to you a specific models for your rig, but actually i have no ideas about what PSUs have red led fans except for OCZ Fatality series

gaskell

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yes, most of what I have found have blue LEDs inside the PSU fan lighting the PSU up blue. There are a few green ones too which is good for Nvidia themed cases. I'm after a red one.

I dont want to void the warranty by opening a PSU and replacing the fan with a different one tho.
 

gaskell

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any ideas about a PSU with no led then? The inside is red aluminium and it has red led fans but with a bottom mounted PSU which will be clearly visible a blue led would look out of place. No led should be fine but I'm not sure which models have no leds and which have leds that are not pictured...
This should be something listed in the features (even tho its not a performance point).
 
look, almost garbage PSUs have red led fans Excluding OCZ, if you r looking for a good PSU for your rig so i would recommend a 650 or 750 Watt PSU such as Antec, Corsair, OCZ, Thermaltake, NZXT, PC Cooling Silencer and so.....
so if you took away that idea of using a PSU with red led fan i can recommend to you a specific models for your rig, but actually i have no ideas about what PSUs have red led fans except for OCZ Fatality series
 
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gaskell

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Fully agree, as I said with the previous post. You pretty much listed my preferences. But any ideas which of those have no LEDs inside them? If its something you dont know then all good, I'll do some more hunting myself.
Cheers for the help so far on this. I might link a few models I find as I continue my search just as a confirmation of a good choice.
 
look, all of them have no leds my PSU is Antec TPQ 850 it's modular PSU and have no led fan here is one of the good friends out there http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153127 it'sThermaltake Toughpower 700w XT, proved so well on all reviews and one of the biggest recommendations, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010&Tpk=corsair%20hx%20750 it's Corsair HX 750W one of the best as well, do not go for NZXT or Antec if price matters to you, good models of those are pretty expensive
 

gaskell

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After looking through what is available to me I have come up with 3 models:
Antec TP-750 http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=MTc2MA==
Corsair AX750 http://www.corsair.com/power-supplies/modular-psus/professional-series-gold-2/ax750w.html
Thermaltake toughpower XT775 http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1264&ID=1943

As far as I can tell these dont have LEDs... well I hope not anyway. The antec is cheapest but at the price range I'm looking at all 3 fit nicely into it. Also no issue with lack of sata power connectors which a lot of PSUs suffer from.
What is your opinion of these 3? I was unable to find an instock source for the models you listed and I fear postage from international sources would be a bit pricey due to weight.
 
well most reviews says that Corsair is being the best at the moment
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4011/corsair-ax750-80plus-gold/8
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=236
Antec the model you mentioned does have a blue led fan, but IMO don't go Antec as this model is not comparable with the other 2 PSUs
Corsair is great PSU if price is not an issue just go for it, and XT 775 is great as well. i guess you don't have to pay extra bucks buying corsair PSU at the time that XT will prove with the same performance, so my recommendations is the XT 775W, read reviews before you buy
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Thermaltake-Toughpower-XT-775-W-Power-Supply-Review/926/10
 

lilotimz

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the Corsair AX models are based off the seasonic X series so it is one of the absolute best in power supplies anywhere. If the price is near each other than always go for the quality one.

Both are good psu's but i'd choose the corsair......
 

gaskell

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yea well it was quality over lighting and without any PSUs offering red LEDs (well none worth even considering) it was a no-brainer.
The corsair HX does look good and priced about the same as the thermaltake altho the blue sticker or paint on the side was the issue.
The AX is about an extra $110NZD over the Thermaltake.

It comes down to this... is the HX that much better over the XT that I can have the big blue label overpowering my otherwise red interior. I'm not so sure but then again if I knew that much about PSUs I would not have made this post

The rest of the system is sussed an sorted.
CPU - i7 2600k
MOBO - Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD4-B3
RAM - G.Skill Ripjaws 2x4Gb 2133Mhz
GFX card - MSI ATI Radeon 6870 Twin Frozr II
HDD's - 2x 2Tb sata600 WD20EARX (green), 1x 500Gb sata600 WD5000AAKX (Blue)
Case - Lian-Li armorsuit PC-P50R
 

lilotimz

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both the thermaltake unit and corsair hx unit is made by CWT so their quality is nearly the same. If the price is nearly the same, then i'd look for the better warranty or price. Usually your preference takes hold here and it's really up to which one you like better.

Me, i'd take the corsair because i know most if not all the corsair units i've ever seen work as they state it should work but have not seen thermaltake be that reliable many of times.
 
Well, I looked up that Thermaltake Toughpower XT 775W. This review was VERY good: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=182
So that PSU is fine.

Out of curiousity, what do you plan to do with this build?

If it's for gaming, you should spend less on the CPU and RAM and more on the GPU.

You'd do better getting an i5-2500K, 4GB (2x2GB) 1600CL8 DDR3, & a Radeon 6950 2GB. But if you're not gaming, then fast RAM and an i7 have their purposes (although many of those purposes might include an SSD).
 

gaskell

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Its an all rounder:
Gaming
bragging :p
data storage
home entertainment center (movies/music etc.. will be hooked into a 42inch and a 22inch)
burning/ripping/encoding video/audio
The only reason I went away from SSD was I heard they have a short lifespan and the outrageous cost when a raid config would be better ($wise)

The 500Gb will be OS+progs
the 2 2Tbs will be 1)movies/tv shows/etc... and 2)general data storage (isos etc..)

Also the higher end CPU+RAM means higher resale value down the track (expected around the 3-4yr mark as my current system), I expect the Gcard will be upgraded within 2 years to keep current.
 

gaskell

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But I have the fastest 1155skt cpu. How can I improve it?
Also the ram is the fastest I can get. I would have liked a CL10 or CL9 but the CL11 was the only option in 2133Mhz and the speed is more relevant than the latency.
 
I meant the opposite. I meant you ARE spending an extra $100 on the i7-2600K versus the i5-2500K and $50 more on RAM versus more mainstream stuff. But in 3 years, you'll still only be selling it for $400. If you saved the $150, you would sell it for $370 in 4 years. I just mean the return for resale isn't beneficial.

It's like putting a pool in your backyard. Buy it to use it because you'll never get your money back on resale.

But my bottom line is this:

If you use it for gaming, spend 1/3 your budget on graphics. 1/4 at a minimum. That's what will really affect your gaming performance--not your CPU (so long as your CPU is adequate) or your RAM (well, to a certain extent).

If it's just for bragging rights, then get the i7 and fancy RAM because it really doesn't matter. But I'd still aim higher on the GPU (GTX 560Ti's have been as low as $190).
 

gaskell

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Ahhhhh got ya. Now that makes perfect sense. I hear ya.
The reason I'm going for a lesser Gcard is at the moment I run a 4890 and the only game I cant run maxed graphics @ 1080p is GTA4. Everything else runs sweet as on all maxed settings. even the latest witcher2 and fable3 so I cant seem to justify the added performance. That and I plan to sell off the gcard and upgrade probably to an 8000 series as soon as its released unless I suffer performance issues (which I doubt).
I'm definitely an ATI man myself so the only options (to me) are the ATI products. Nvidia do hold the spotlight with the fastest card I believe but I just found less issues with CCC for additional displays.
I'd rather go MSI than sapphire or gigabyte for my Gcard so that left me with the option of 6870 or below as all MSI, XFX, HIS etc.. seem to be sold out here.
I think the i7 will be more attractive than an i5 in 3-4yrs time. Higher price now DOES indeed mean higher loss through depreciation but will mean a more attractive system.

as you said about the 1/3 budget for graphics. Thats generally a rule I stick to. The only exception is how well my old Gcard is performing and the difference in performance gain from 4890 to the 6870.

As an after note this system will also be a display model as well. This is why the looks were important. The MSI Gcard looks great and will do fine for at least 12months. Oh and the fancy ram... ITS RED! :p Should look nice in the black/grey themed mobo and silver Gcard all inside a nice black case with red insides. Maybe I should up some pics after its finished.

Cheers for the advice though (even tho I'm not taking it right now). It is good advice but unfortunetly the headswell factor overrides the sense :D
 
I bought fancy RAM, so now that I get it's not about the budget but what you feel like buying--get whatever you feel like. I was trying to do a black and red thing and it only halfway panned out.

I don't know anything wrong with Sapphire or Gigabyte graphics cards. But I understand choices are limited in NZ.
 

gaskell

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Sapphire is like the low end version and i've heard a lot of issues with gigabyte Gcards. Strange considering how good their mobo's are. Currently My system is silver/black with blue led's but its a core2 so time to scrap it an go with something better. My car is custom sprayed red/black and after searching through PC cases for a whole day I settled on the lian li PC-P50R which is red/black. So I knida want to theme it all with the case.
My head turner I currently have is a customised raidmax sagitta case, its still pretty standard although I removed all the paint off the clear window and etched a big dragon into it. Took me 7hrs but it came out nice. Selling my current sys for a grand NZD and its almost been paid for fully (only 2 more payments and its theirs to take away) hence why I'm rebuilding. This new build is going to cost me around 3 grand NZD, my core2 cost me 2 grand when i built that jan 2008.
 
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