What is the best buy psu for mid/high end gaming?

[Stranger1066]

I am currently ordering bits for a new system. I have spent about £480 on CPU, Mobo, RAM, HDD & SDD. I am looking to upgrade my graphics card (probably to a Sapphire HD 6870 1GB GDDR5) I know this is quite a modest spec, however I am looking to upgrade again in a year or so and don't want to buy components twice.

Below is spec I have (but not assembled):

Processor Intel i5 2500k (will eventually upgrade to a top i7)
Motherboard Asus P8P67 LE New B3 Rev
RAM Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1866MHz CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9
Fan Zalman Flower (will upgrade to Antec KUHLER H2O 620 Liquid Cooling)
Graphics Card PNY 9800GT (will soon upgrade to a Sapphire HD 6870 1GB GDDR5 & probably tehn again to crossfire)
PSU ANTEC TRUEPOWER TRIO 430W ATX PSU (????)
Case Antec 900 gaming case
HDD Samsung F3 HD103SJ 1TB internal HDD 7200RPM
SDD OCZ Vertex 2 120GB SATA II 3.5-inch SSD

* Items in bold I bought

I want a PSU that can handle everything I can throw at it and will be able to cope with future upgrades.

I was considering the FSU AU-700. It seems to get good reviews, however, if the truth be told I don't really want to spend over £65, this one hits the scales at nearly £100.

Can anyone recommend anything that is very reliable, that has reliable amps per rail with 3-4 rails.

 

[AdrianPerry]

Generally you want a CPU with a SINGLE RAIL.

A GOOD 500w should power that build no problem. However if you want space for future upgrades (such as SLI) id recommend at least 750w+ ideally 850w+

OCZ 500w Modular(£55): http://www.ebuyer.com/product/192108
Corsair 500w Non-Modular(£45): http://www.ebuyer.com/product/240999
Antec 450w Non-Modular(£40): http://www.ebuyer.com/product/245675

--------------

Corsair HX 850w Modular(£125): http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164951
Corsair TV 850w Non-Modular(£97): http://www.ebuyer.com/product/257234
Antec True Prower 850w Modular PSU(£97): http://www.ebuyer.com/product/129282

All the above are suitable products for your build. Some are within the price range, and some are ovbiously abit higher (for "future-proofing").

2 Key things to look for when buying a PSU are:
1) Single Rail of Power
2) 80 PLUS Bronze/Silver/Gold certified

 

[Stranger1066]

I thought that systems with 3/4 rails had a better power distribution. My mistake. So how does actually affect the power supply. Was looking for a gold ideally. Looks like £100 is probably what I should expect to pay. What psu do you run on yours? And why did you choose that graphics card?

 

[jaguarskx]

Processor Intel i5 2500k (will eventually upgrade to a top i7)

No real point in upgrading to the i7-2600k or whatever the highest model will be when you decide to upgrade. The i7-2600k is only 100MHz faster than the i5-2500k, but it does have Hyper Threading (HT). However, unless you use programs that does take advantage of HT (games do not), then that extra 100MHz will cost you a pretty penny (or pence).

I prefer Seasonic PSUs for their high quality and durability. Seasonic is also an OEM manufacture for some Corsair, Antec, PC Power & Cooling PSUs. They are also the sole OEM for XFX's line of PSUs.

Some people prefer a single rail rather than multiple rails because with a single rail you do not need to worry about balancing your load. And yes, a good PSU is going to cost you around £100.

The Corsair TX 750W V2 PSU - 80plus Bronze is a good PSU that is manufactured by Seasonic and it is powerful enough to allow you to install another Radeon HD 6870 without any issues. Plus it is less than your maximum budget.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/257233

Here's a review if you wish to learn more about the TX 750W V2:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/04/27/corsair_enthusiast_series_tx750_v2_psu_review/

 

[jaguarskx]

Was looking for a gold ideally.

Gold is actually quite expensive, both the actual gold and a PSU rated at 80PLUS Gold. It will push the price of the PSU beyond £100; probably £130 - £150.

 

[hunter315]

Whether the unit has a single 12V rail or multiple 12V rails doesnt make a different 99.9% of the time, the unit has its connectors laid out in such a way that you will never notice the multiple rails unless you try. I wrote up a more detailed explanation a while back
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/306437-28-single-rail-multiple-rails-eternal-question-answered

The 750TX V2 that jaguar linked above would be my pick, its a solid unit, gold and silver rated units are slightly more efficient but the 750TX V2 uses high quality components so it will last you a long time and do its job very well, the silver and gold units are significantly more expensive than it, unless the modular cables are worth the difference in price to you the only other thing they provide is slightly better efficiency.

 

[Stranger1066]

Thanks for the feedback. I may take my sights off gold then. £85 seems a reasonable compromise. I'll watch the prices for a week or so to see if any deals crop up. Thanks.

 

[AdrianPerry]

Personally i bought an XFX Black Edition 750w Power Supply. And I have a Gigabyte 560Ti OC graphics card.

My reason behind the PSU was it was a good offer, its 750w, silver rated and cost me about £80. Its more than enough to run my current build and should be plenty when i go SLI aswell.

My reason behind the graphics card was again because of its price vs. performance. I was on a budget of about £800 and with the GTX 560's overclocking capability it was great in terms of price + performance. The card set me back about £190 and the next jump up was the GTX 570 at about £260 however my card is overclocked to match the performance of a stock 570 anyway.

Looking back, i probably should have sprung for the 570 just to make that SLI in the future blast out even more performance, but never mind What i have should be plenty to run games maxed out for a good while.

 

[Stranger1066]

Hunter that's a great explanation. Certainly helped me alot.

 

[Stranger1066]

Personally i bought an XFX Black Edition 750w Power Supply. And I have a Gigabyte 560Ti OC graphics card.

My reason behind the PSU was it was a good offer, its 750w, silver rated and cost me about £80. Its more than enough to run my current build and should be plenty when i go SLI aswell.

My reason behind the graphics card was again because of its price vs. performance. I was on a budget of about £800 and with the GTX 560's overclocking capability it was great in terms of price + performance. The card set me back about £190 and the next jump up was the GTX 570 at about £260 however my card is overclocked to match the performance of a stock 570 anyway.

Looking back, i probably should have sprung for the 570 just to make that SLI in the future blast out even more performance, but never mind What i have should be plenty to run games maxed out for a good while.

I had heard it rumoured that some of the XFX PSU's were very basic and a not as reliable as some of the other manufacturers. Is this an urban rumour and is unfounded? or is there some truth to it?

P.s I now have USB 3.0 ports on my new Mobo, however my Case (original antec 900) has some USB ports at the top. Would I get any increase in performance if I plug the case ports into the USB3 rig, or are they only USB 2 ports and will only run at their standard rate whatever I plug it into. (I think its the latter, but no harm in checking?)

 

[Stranger1066]

Apologies for blank quote box. Just playing with buttons and didn't check before I submitted

Will keep my eye out for best buys. It seems there are quite a few good ones out there and I just need to wait for an offer to enable me to buy one.

 

[AdrianPerry]

As far as im aware XFX Black Edition is among some of the top PSU's out there. Frequently see TOMs users recommending them. The "Core Edition" is the more basic one, but still they are good quality PSUs

 

[hunter315]

The higher wattage XFX units have had some very good reviews by the qualified review sites, jonnyguru has actually reviewed their whole line up, all but a few did exceptionally, the 450W core unit was a bit lack luster and the 650W modular unit had some strange ripple when under a load pattern that cannot be done with a real computer. The Black Edition/XXX 850W and 750W units are great performers and comparable to the Corsair HX 850 and HX 750
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=165
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=184

 

[Stranger1066]

Great reviews. I agree with the shame about the green issue jonnyguru has (only cos my pc is black with blue LEDs. Any one know abbot my noon USB 3 question? Or should I post that elsewhere?

 

[Stranger1066]

Stupid iPhone and autocorrect.

 

[AdrianPerry]

The new XFX version of the power supplies dont come with the green bits. Mine came totally black i ordered it under the impression it was green which didnt bother me too much but when it arrived was like a black gun-metal finish, really nice

 

[hunter315]

The new ones have the black fan that the more recent model use so there is no nuclear green fan on them anymore which is nice.

As for your USB 3 question, USB 3 ports have extra connections inside the connector, those are what separates them from USB 2 connectors so plugging the front panel connectors into the USB 3 header isnt going to increase their speed at all if they are just USB 2.0 ports.

 

[Stranger1066]

Thanks. That's brill.

 

[Stranger1066]

I've just bought the corsair tx 750 v2. It was on offer at £79.99 and I bagged a £5 discount taking it to £75. Whilst more than I had originally looked to pay it there were too many good reviews to make me think of investing another £25. I'll put the saved money towards a new blu ray drive instead. Thanks again all. You've all been really helpful.

 

[AdrianPerry]

Glad you got it sorted Corsair is a great brand so im sure you'll be more than pleased with it

+rep for opting for a Blu-Ray drive aswell I did the same for the sake of "future-proofing"

 

[obsidian86]

I've just bought the corsair tx 750 v2. It was on offer at £79.99 and I bagged a £5 discount taking it to £75. Whilst more than I had originally looked to pay it there were too many good reviews to make me think of investing another £25. I'll put the saved money towards a new blu ray drive instead. Thanks again all. You've all been really helpful.

good choice and just to clear up a few things


xfx do make good psu's or more that but they are all made by seasonic and rebranded to xfx

the corsair tx v2 series are internally identical to the xfx core editions