Corsair VS 450 vs. Corsair VS 550 vs. Cooler Master E-600

[Guest]

Hi!

I'm going to buy a new PSU, and I doubt between these three models:

- Corsair VS 450

http://www.corsair.com/us/power-supply-units/vs-series-power-supply-units/vs-seriestm-vs450-450-watt-power-supply.html

- Corsair VS 550

http://www.corsair.com/us/power-supply-units/vs-series-power-supply-units/vs-seriestm-vs550-550-watt-power-supply.html

- Cooler Master E-600. I couldn't find the link to the Cooler Master website, but trust me, it exists (and costs about 40 euros):

http://appinformatica.com/imf/fuentes-alimentacion-cooler-master-e-600-atx-pfc-activo-2g.jpg

I have an Intel Core i3 3220 with Gigabyte mobo, 4 GB of RAM and no dedicated graphics card.

What do you recommend?

Thanks!

 

[ronintexas]

You might want to consider the Corsair CX 430/600

http://www.corsair.com/us/power-supply-units/cx-series-psu/cx-series-cx430m-modular-atx-power-supply-430-watt-80-plus-bronze-certified-modular-psu.html

http://www.corsair.com/us/power-supply-units/cx-series-psu/cx-series-cx6000m-modular-atx-power-supply-600-watt-80-plus-bronze-certified-modular-psu.html

The 430 should be more than enough for your rig...and only about $10 difference in price to get Bronze certification....

 

[bucknutty]

The i3 3220 is a 55 watt part. The board ram and drives will probablly pull another 50 watts or so.

What video card do you have? Anything bigger than a 350 might be a waste.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your replies. It MUST be one of the ones listed. At the moment, I have no dedicated graphics card, but maybe I'll buy one in the near future. However, I'm talking about a basic entry-level card, nothing expensive.

 

[bucknutty]

A basic card like a HD6450 only draws around 20watts. A midrange $125 US card like a HD7770 draws around 100 watts.

So even if you add a card chances are your computer will never need more than 200-300 watts. All the psus you listed are good brand names and all would be way more than needed. I would get whichever PSU is least expensive.

 

[Brett928S2]

OCZ

 

[Guest]

The thing is, I've been reading some reviews, and they say that VS is almost crap.

What do you guys think?

 

[Guest]

Thanks. The key question here is that I must choose between one of the PSUs listed above, or a "generic" one. With "generic" I mean a PSU from a brand which is not a "big one" (Corsair, Cooler Master, Antec...). And for that price range, I think Corsair VS would be fine, but some comments I read say that it's for asian markets, etc. In fact, no actual reviews, just comments of that kind.

So, a Corsair VS would be better than a generic one?

 

[ronintexas]

I would place more trust in the names Corsair, Seasonic and Antec (there are a few others) than a generic no-name brand, or even in brand names like Cooler Master.

I am not slamming Cooler Master - they make good products, just not as good of a PSU as Corsair, Seasonic and Antec. They make excellent fans and cases....I use their fans and cases in many builds.

 

[toyftw]

I would place more trust in the names Corsair, Seasonic and Antec (there are a few others) than a generic no-name brand, or even in brand names like Cooler Master.

I am not slamming Cooler Master - they make good products, just not as good of a PSU as Corsair, Seasonic and Antec. They make excellent fans and cases....I use their fans and cases in many builds.

Actually, you can slam CM on PSU's as a lot of em are terrible, 11 of em
on the johhnylucky.org Lemon List, there were more but discontinued models
brought it to 11. So, hopefully the OP will remove CM PSU's from his consideration

 

[Guest]

Well, at the end, I could order a Corsair CX 430 V2, this one:

http://www.corsair.com/builder-series-cx430-v2-80plus-certified-power-supply.html

What do you guys think? Is this better than Corsair VS?

 

[Guest]

the corsair CX have good reviews as budget models, it would be my personal choice over the VS (assuming budget feasible)

I see.

The only think is that I'm a bit worried about possible whining/buzzing sounds. The previous PSU I had produced a high pitch noise even when the computer was off. As I can read, even Corsair models such as CX have this failure. What do you think are my chances to get one with this noise? 5%? 15%? 50%? How common is this issue?

 

[ronintexas]

I have built several computers using this power supply (25+). All were quiet. For most computers that require less than 400W of power, this is the one I always recommend and use personally.

 

[toyftw]

I see.

The only think is that I'm a bit worried about possible whining/buzzing sounds. The previous PSU I had produced a high pitch noise even when the computer was off. As I can read, even Corsair models such as CX have this failure. What do you think are my chances to get one with this noise? 5%? 15%? 50%? How common is this issue?

Hi - I think your concern is reasonable, but you run that risk with
all budget/opening price point units to some extent.

To avoid/significantly reduce this possibility you need to spend more
& get a model higher up the food chain, enthusiast/prof series.

But, at the budget level Corsiar & Antec are your best bets.

Tom

 

[arnoldlouie]

I have a corsair vs 450 and it's quiet I guess. I have a low power gpu hd 7750 so i can't say if it's loud under full load. It's been running okay for a month now. I bought it cause it's the cheapest corsair powersupply. I took the risk.. I've seen one review for this psu but don't have the link anymore. It says the efficiency is about 75-85 something like that. I guess it's pretty good. It has the same warranty with their expensive psu's. Also it's oem is CWT same with their other psu's. I'd recommended antec vp350 or vp450 in addition to your choices. These two have good reviews and always used by tom in their budget builds. Go with Corsair.. Just because it looks better than others. When you open your case you have that black psu with the word corsair in it and makes it look expensive. Hehehhe.