Reliable PSU

[rzezagar]

Hello,
My GPU is really old and I'd like to swap it. Here are my specs:

Gigabyte p35-DS3R
Intel C2Q Q6600 (4x 2,4 MHz)
4 GB RAM (4x1GB, mixed speed)

I'm going to swap my GF 8600GT to GF GTS250

I have some custom cooling on the CPU, so I would like to overclock it a bit. Currently, my PSU has 400W of power. It's the cheapest and a quite dangerous one... So I want to replace it, too.

I was wondering if 400W will suffice to run the new config or should I go for the 500W?
Here are the possible candidates (I can get them in my city, but if you have other suggestions I'd love to hear them):
• Antec VP-450 450W ATX 12V v2.3
• Enermax ENP450AGT 450W
• SeaSonic SS-400ET 400W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.91 80 PLUS
• OCZ-CXS500W-EU CoreXStream

Thanks in advance!

 

[rzezagar]

I've just checked this thread and it seems that 450W should be enough, however I'm concerned about the power consumption of the core 2 Quad.

 

[Silvune]

I would choose between the Antec VP450 and the Seasonic SS-400ET.
Review for the VP450:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Antec-VP450-Power-Supply-Review/1487

Review for SS-400ET:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2697/30

TBH I can't decifer Katzer's voltage regulation graphs, apart from them all being in spec. But it shows ~50mV of ripple on all three main rails (+3.3, +5 & +12V), whereas the VP450 has ~70mV on the +12V rail and ~20mV on the +3.3 & +5V rail.
Hardware Secrets shows the VP450 with quite good voltage regulation and having fairly high peak efficiency.
Personally I think I would choose the Antec VP450.

The Enermax NAXN Basic 450W (ENP450AGT) is based on CWT's GPA design, which uses very poor quality capacitors (worse than those found in the VP-450 and SS-400ET), so I would recommend avoiding that.

The OCZ CoreXStream 500W hasn't been tested by a well known/reliable review site yet, as far as I know at least. It also looks to be a low end design, so it needs a positive review before it could be recommended.

 

[rzezagar]

Thank you for the advice!

I've already made the purchase.
I bought Antec VP550 just in case if I need extra power someday. It's really worth the money. It's really frightening to compare the old PSU with the Antec: the quality of the latter really stands out of the chinese crap I had before.

I did some overclocking for both the CPU and my new GPU (GE GTS 250). It's perfectly stable, in contrary to my previous power supply, which had just enough power, and even a little OC crashed the PC.