Power Supply Choice - Gaming Rig

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first@home

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Hey! I need some comments on a great power supply for the money for my home-build. Right now I am considering the Corsair CX600, but was thinking about getting a modular PSU. I wouldn't like to spend terribly too much money on one. But, I also do not want to poop out on the PSU and ruin my build. I was considering the Corsair HX650 as a modular choice.

I was trying to stick with Corsair, as I have heard great about their PSUs. I have read that I need something with at least 40A on the 12v rail. Also, I would like to have at least 600w for this build. There are also plans for a sound card, a wireless NIC, and also a SSD in the future.

My theoretical build is as follows:
CPU:Phenom II X4 840
Motherboard:ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3
Case:Rosewill Challenger
Memory:G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3 1600
HDD:HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000.D
CPU Cooler:Hyper 212 Plus
GPU:MSI R6850
Optical:LITE-ON iHAS-424
Card Reader:Rosewill IM5002
OS:Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
PSU:[INSERT PSU HERE]

Can anyone tell me if either power supply will be viable, and if so which would be the better choice. If not, what modular power supply would you recommend? And, which non-modular counterpart would you recommend? Also, if there are any issues with this build, feel free to bring them up. Thanks.
 
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Stick with the 600w. For the price it doesn't make any sense to buy something 500w or less even though it would be enough power.

Leave yourself some headroom, most psu's are more efficient when not maxed out and you can leave yourself some upgrade headroom for the future.
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first@home

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Thanks for the reply. A buddy of mine is selling me the mobo and cpu together at a nice price for my budget ($100 shipped, with thermal paste.) Do you think there are any bottlenecks* with that combination of parts?
 
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first@home

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Thanks a lot for your help. Any one else have any comments about modular vs. non-modular? Also, any comments on my PSU choices and their viability for my build.
 
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I used modular and it really didn't seem to be any neater than non modular, I mean I still needed most of the cables, the ones you don't need most modern cases have a place to hide them.

I like my case neat but I'm not going to win any prizes for wire management, that's for sure. I mean who cares? Hide or wire tie the ones you don't use and wire tie the ones you do use together neatly.
 
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first@home

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Thanks a lot guys. At this point I believe that I will stick with buying the Corsair CX600. That is, unless someone brings up an issue with it being unable to power the 6850 in a stable manner. As it only has up to 40A on the +12V rail, and I have read that this card requires 'at least' 40A.
 
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Outlander_04

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The 6850 , even overclocked , will draw around 150 watts , which is about 12 amps .

The Tomshardware system builder marathons have successfully used the Antec 380 green a number of times to power computers with even a 6870 .
Total system draw of your computer is going to be around 250 watts
 
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first@home

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Thanks for your reply! :)

At the price of the Corsair, wouldn't it be a viable choice, though I know it is slight overkill. Considering AMD recommends a 500w PSU for a build including this card, I wanted to be safe. The Antec 380 green has 32A on its 12v rails if I remember correctly, but this card is said to need at least 40A.

As for the case, what are the issues of the Challenger? And what perks do the Antec Illusion have when weighed against it?

I was considering replacing this build's GPU with a crossfire setup when I moved the 6850 to another computer as well. I forgot to mention this earlier, sorry. Would the CX600 be suitable then?
 
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first@home

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You have made a valid point. I will add the antec psu to my list, as its price difference is noticeable, especially on my budget. Thanks for the help.
 
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Outlander_04

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that starts to make sense .

I think AMD recommend 450 watt minimum for the 6850 . But keep in mind that power supplies are not rated in any standard way and many cheap junk brands rated at 500 watt can produce that at peak load only and will pretty much catch fire and burn your house down if you continuously load then to more than half of that .
A 6850 will be around the safe limit for one of those junk 500 watt psu's .

But what it actually draws is much less
 
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Splendid
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Stick with the 600w. For the price it doesn't make any sense to buy something 500w or less even though it would be enough power.

Leave yourself some headroom, most psu's are more efficient when not maxed out and you can leave yourself some upgrade headroom for the future.
 
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