Need new power supply; tight on money

[Naezo]

Hello, I currently have a Bluestar 680 Watt power supply that I have been told time and time again to ditch and upgrade. I had bought it about a year ago when my previous power supply was killed by my current Graphics card (I didn't really pay attention to the more fine details that go into computers then) and needed something to get back on and do homework and what not. While I know the risks of having a cheep power supply, I never had the money to upgrade it to something that was... safer. It has done me well for the time being (my system doesn't really pull much power at the moment, so it isn't being stressed much), but, i am upgrading my Video card and CPU very soon and I fear for my system's safety.

Basically, I am upgrading from an AMD Phenom II X3 710 to an AMD Phenom II X4 960T BE (which I am hoping to unlock and/or overclock) and a Sapphire (I believe that is the brand) ATI Radeon HD 4850 to a Gigabyte Nvidia GTX 560 Ti. Together they are going to cost me about $300 before rebate, and that really drains my pockets. I'm just looking for a Power Supply strong and reliable enough to power my system for as little cost as possible. Whether is it modular or not really doesn't matter to me; I just want to spend as little money as possible.

System Specs (after upgrades):
BIOSTAR A870U3 AM3 ATX AMD Motherboard
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600
Gigabyte Nvidia GTX 560 Ti
AMD Phenom II X4 960T BE

Also, any advice or articles you can share with me to help me convince my dad that my cheap power supply isn't the best thing to have would be fantastic. He hasn't ever ran into problems with power supplies in the past (they have only (rarely) failed on him after some time), so he doesn't really see the necessity of the regulations and safeties that are always recommended. I really would like to have him on "my side" when I make the purchase.

I'm also hoping to place the order by tomorrow on Newegg, so, if I can get any and all advice before then, that would be great.

 

[JamesSneed]

Power supply units (PSUs) are often overlooked when building a computer system. A poor quality PSU can reduce the life span of a system(as you mentioned your graphics card killing the old one), cause instability, or even worse they can ruin other components. A high quality PSU can help reduce the noise or heat generated at the same time drawing less electricity from the wall.

Your BlueStar is a rebranded EchoStar which tests out to provide about 277watts at 65% efficiency:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6714
This power supply should never be in a gaming PC let alone any PC! That power supply is not UL rated and doest appear to have any power protection.

The PSU calculator http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp shows you need about a 400 watt power supply. In your case I would recommend a 500-650 watt power supply.

You didn't really say what your budget for the PSU is but something like this is of high quality but a fairly low price:

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

Review of the 850 watt version:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=218

 

[Silvune]

At one time I was going to bookmark all the articles I could find which explained why cheap PSUs should be avoided, this is the only one I have ended up getting so far:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/low-cost-psu-pc-power-supply,review-32182.html

Rosewill Capstone 650W 80Plus Gold $100 (10% off promo code)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182071
Or the 550W version.

XFX Pro 650W Core Edition 80Plus Bronze $80 ($30 rebate)
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=59616&vpn=P1650SNLB9&manufacture=XFX

 

[Naezo]

Power supply units (PSUs) are often overlooked when building a computer system. A poor quality PSU can reduce the life span of a system(as you mentioned your graphics card killing the old one), cause instability, or even worse they can ruin other components. A high quality PSU can help reduce the noise or heat generated at the same time drawing less electricity from the wall.

Your BlueStar is a rebranded EchoStar which tests out to provide about 277watts at 65% efficiency:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6714
This power supply should never be in a gaming PC let alone any PC! That power supply is not UL rated and doest appear to have any power protection.

The PSU calculator http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp shows you need about a 400 watt power supply. In your case I would recommend a 500-650 watt power supply.

You didn't really say what your budget for the PSU is but something like this is of high quality but a fairly low price:

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

Review of the 850 watt version:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=218

Thank you for the quick response! This is just wonderful!

And as for price range, I would want to say something around $50-60 mark after rebate/bonuses, but, if I have to stray a bit it isn't too big of a problem for me.

Just one more question, what are your thoughts on OCZ's power supplies? I had been doing a little bit of searching/research myself earlier, and I wasn't too sure.

Thanks again!

At one time I was going to bookmark all the articles I could find which explained why cheap PSUs should be avoided, this is the only one I have ended up getting so far:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/low-cost-psu-pc-power-supply,review-32182.html

Rosewill Capstone 650W 80Plus Gold $100 (10% off promo code)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182071
Or the 550W version.

XFX Pro 650W Core Edition 80Plus Bronze $80 ($30 rebate)
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=59616&vpn=P1650SNLB9&manufacture=XFX

Thank you for the links! I definitely will give the first one a read.

 

[esrever]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

something like this should be sufficient for that. your system will pull about 300 watts and 500 is more than enough.

 

[davcon]

Antec High Current Gamer 620W 48A
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=56788&vpn=HCG%2D620&manufacture=Antec&promoid=1301
OCZ ZS Series 550W
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=62391&vpn=OCZ%2DZS550W&manufacture=OCZ%20Technology&promoid=1301

 

[JamesSneed]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

something like this should be sufficient for that. your system will pull about 300 watts and 500 is more than enough.

I agree with your recommendation after seeing the price range of $50-60 then this is likely the best bet.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027&Tpk=CORSAIR%20Builder%20Series%20CX500

The 430 watt version did test out quite well. I always look to see what Johnyguru or hardocp rate highly as they are the only ones that I know that test PSU's in a proper manner. http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=214

As for OCZ power supplies some are better than others and on the higher end they make some really nice power supplies. Simply take the time to read up on them at www.hardocp.com or http://www.jonnyguru.com For example the PSU davcom recommended, OCZ ZS Series 550W, doesn't fair so well well : http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/12/20/ocz_zt_series_650w_power_supply_review/9


EDIT:
I did a little checking on newegg and they have a pretty darn good PSU on sale in your budget(I didn't expect this to be in your budget). I would recommend this over the just about any other PSU under $60.

SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze 520W

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=185

 

[davcon]

Huh! not even the same series or oem.
The unit i recommended fairs quite well.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=248

 

[Naezo]

I think I am going to go with the Corsair esrever and jamessneed recommended. It is the least expensive after coupons and rebates, and the reviews seem pretty good. Unless there is a reason to not get it, I think I have my new PSU.

I know this is a PSU sub-forum, but, I just have a quick, off-topic question: what are the odds of the current Video cards dropping in price with the new 7970 coming out? Basically, should I wait a week or two to buy the video card (GTX 560 Ti) or should I just buy it now? If I should move this question to the Video Card sub-forum, I will do so, I just figure I should try my luck here since I already have this thread.