Good cheap psu

[misfitkid86]

hi all! i wanted to ask you guy's if the power supply that im thinking of going with is decent, what i'm looking at is a: RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-730SS, it's not 80plus rated but has other nice features like being modular and crossfirex support. i'm building a gaming rig with a hawk edition msi 7870, 8gb of ram, i5-3570k, and a z77 motherboard. this psu's counterpart: RAIDMAX Blackstone series RX-700AC is 80plus rated but is less powerful and not modular. i really just want the best rather cheap psu i can get, should i buy a less powerful one from a different brand, or will both of these be fine!? thanks for your time!

 

[Deemo13]

Raidmax does not make very good power supplies.

What is your budget? Buying a cheap power supply is not a very good option at all. Its the one place you really don't want to skimp.

 

[misfitkid86]

so i'm trying to build a rig for around $700 i'm buying it on black friday so hopefully whatever i buy goes way down in price, what brands should i look for? and if i plan to both overclock and eventually have two 7870's how low a wattage can i get?

 

[misfitkid86]

ok found an ocz 700w with similar specs (80plus bronze, modular, crossfirex) it's $90 and $60 after rebate. better choice?

 

[assasin32]

Brands I personally prefer are Antec, Corsair, PC Power & Cooling (you don't hear about them often but when I was doing my research into PSU's these were highly regarded, this was before 80+ certified really took off, I have their 700w PSU and it's working like a charm for the past few years), OCZ I am a bit iffy on it depends on which PSU but that may be just a personal preference it's better to ask someone else on that brand

Thermaltake I had bad experience with, lots of bad experience so I can't recomend them.

Avoid Rosewell/Raidmax, even if you get one free I wouldn't use it unless it was for a paper weight.

More than likely you will see Antec, Corsair, OCZ, on sale on black friday I can pretty much guarantee it. Other brand are a bit iffy on if you see a sale on, so I would focus on those brands and whatever other name brands other people bring up to do a quick amount of research on.

Also don't forget your local computer stores on black friday I know I picked up an Antec 900 at one late in the day (really who will camp out for a local mom and pop computer store) for $60 a few years ago same price Newegg was selling them for.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Seasonic and XFX are also very good. You want at least 650W for 2x7870 I think. Some of OCZ's PSUs are good, others not so. Their newer Z-series is good by memory, but the SomethingxStreem was unable to deliver all wattage or something.

 

[misfitkid86]

Seasonic and XFX are also very good. You want at least 650W for 2x7870 I think. Some of OCZ's PSUs are good, others not so. Their newer Z-series is good by memory, but the SomethingxStreem was unable to deliver all wattage or something.

ok, the one i have tabbed is a modextreme, it does have a four egg rating out of nearly 1000 on newegg so maybe it's something older? but it's 700w so it seems like you think that should be plenty.

 

[misfitkid86]

Brands I personally prefer are Antec, Corsair, PC Power & Cooling (you don't hear about them often but when I was doing my research into PSU's these were highly regarded, this was before 80+ certified really took off, I have their 700w PSU and it's working like a charm for the past few years), OCZ I am a bit iffy on it depends on which PSU but that may be just a personal preference it's better to ask someone else on that brand

Thermaltake I had bad experience with, lots of bad experience so I can't recomend them.

Avoid Rosewell/Raidmax, even if you get one free I wouldn't use it unless it was for a paper weight.

More than likely you will see Antec, Corsair, OCZ, on sale on black friday I can pretty much guarantee it. Other brand are a bit iffy on if you see a sale on, so I would focus on those brands and whatever other name brands other people bring up to do a quick amount of research on.

Also don't forget your local computer stores on black friday I know I picked up an Antec 900 at one late in the day (really who will camp out for a local mom and pop computer store) for $60 a few years ago same price Newegg was selling them for.

ok cool, yeah i love the local stores, but i live in portland oregon and for some reason i can't find many local computer retailers other than your typical holes. does raidmax just have a crap reputation for how long their psu's last, or is it just that you don't get what you pay for? corsair seems to be the best rated but they demand a premium, i suppose i can just see what my wallet can withstand for something along the lines you've told me on black friday!

 

[Someone Somewhere]

The ModXStream is a badly designed PSU, as it has only 552W on the +12V rails. Plus it's very old. Review from 2008! says it failed to do full load in testing. The standards for a good PSU have gone up since then too. http://www.hardocp.com/article/2008/11/12/ocz_700w_modxstream_pro_power_supply/

EDIT: Ignore Newegg reviews. They're full of uninformed ignorant people that (often) base their reviews on their impressions of the product eg looks rather than actual performance. You don't know a bad PSU until a)it fails or b)you stick an oscilloscope on it.

 

[cats_Paw]

Unfortunatelly, there is no such thing as GOOD+Cheap when it comes to PSUs.

Good PSUs have expensive componenets. THats why they are more expensive.

I always, to everyone, suggest NEVER to cut costs in PSUs. everything else can be changed later on and hardly will die taking with itself another componenet. Except the PSU. If its bad, it can destroy your entire PC.

 

[misfitkid86]

The ModXStream is a badly designed PSU, as it has only 552W on the +12V rails. Plus it's very old. Review from 2008! says it failed to do full load in testing. The standards for a good PSU have gone up since then too. http://www.hardocp.com/article/2008/11/12/ocz_700w_modxstream_pro_power_supply/

EDIT: Ignore Newegg reviews. They're full of uninformed ignorant people that (often) base their reviews on their impressions of the product eg looks rather than actual performance. You don't know a bad PSU until a)it fails or b)you stick an oscilloscope on it.

ok good to know, i do approach reviews with a grain of salt, i've found a 750w corsair that seems good, how is antec? found one budget priced psu with everything i want it's the Antec EarthWatts EA-650 any word?

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Antec PSUs are generally pretty good, though that one has another review from 2008: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=110

You seem to find pretty ancient PSUs.

 

[wr6133]

Antec PSUs are generally pretty good, though that one has another review from 2008: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=110

You seem to find pretty ancient PSUs.

Someone has a good point try to find current models

as for OCZ I personally like them I think they offer good value but you need to know what you are looking at

OCZ ZS series are good for a budget builder (least they are priced well here in the UK) http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=248

OCZ ZT are ok if you want a cheaper modular however they are not tier 1 (but the prices usually make up for that) http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=295

OCZ Fatal1ty are good performers but lose on value and function
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=278

Stealthxstream2 are still around cheap sometimes and are also not a bad buy http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/OCZ-StealthXStream-2-600-W-Power-Supply-Review/1058/10

however the earlier stealthxstream had issues so dont confuse them.

there is a super cheapo corexstream around as well I have no experience with it and can't find reviews so thats one to avoid I would say.

ModXstream is another to be careful with different wattage models were different so in 1 series there are some decent and some cr@p PSU's

 

[misfitkid86]

Antec PSUs are generally pretty good, though that one has another review from 2008: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=110

You seem to find pretty ancient PSUs.

haha, yeah...... i'm totally new to this so my knowledge base is a tad lacking, maybe i should look for the newest stuff first and see what's there....

 

[toyftw]

haha, yeah...... i'm totally new to this so my knowledge base is a tad lacking, maybe i should look for the newest stuff first and see what's there....

Hi - what Cats Paw says is true - no 'good cheap PSU's', the usual quality suspects are Seasonic, Corsair, XFX, Antec, Enermax,
and to disagree with another post Rosewill, especially their Superflower built Capstone series and their
Fortess series are quality value units, with multiple positive reviews from respected review sites.

Tom

 

[misfitkid86]

Hi - what Cats Paw says is true - no 'good cheap PSU's', the usual quality suspects are Seasonic, Corsair, XFX, Antec, Enermax,
and to disagree with another post Rosewill, especially their Superflower built Capstone series and their
Fortess series are quality value units, with multiple positive reviews from respected review sites.

Tom

cool, yeah i had seen here on tom's that some of the rosewill are ok, they often are on the more affordable side, this corsair i found seems good, and everyone seems to agree that they make good stuff so i think i'll just stick with that, don't feel like having my first ever build be a bomb! thanks everyone for the input, can't wait for the real sales to start!

 

[toyftw]

cool, yeah i had seen here on tom's that some of the rosewill are ok, they often are on the more affordable side, this corsair i found seems good, and everyone seems to agree that they make good stuff so i think i'll just stick with that, don't feel like having my first ever build be a bomb! thanks everyone for the input, can't wait for the real sales to start!

Hi again misfit - which Corsair?
I ask because there's two 750w models in the enthusiast series, both are good,
the v2(newer) is presumably the better of the two, and is usually cheaper(more sale prices)
Corsair resourced it from Delta to Seasonic (the v2 version).

Tom

 

[giltyler]

Unfortunatelly, there is no such thing as GOOD+Cheap when it comes to PSUs.

Good PSUs have expensive componenets. THats why they are more expensive.

I always, to everyone, suggest NEVER to cut costs in PSUs. everything else can be changed later on and hardly will die taking with itself another componenet. Except the PSU. If its bad, it can destroy your entire PC.

That advise is so true I learned the hard way
Seasonic
XFX Corsair would be the ones to go for.

Cheap Power Supply read this
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/psu-manufacturer-oem,2729-2.html

 

[misfitkid86]

Hi again misfit - which Corsair?
I ask because there's two 750w models in the enthusiast series, both are good,
the v2(newer) is presumably the better of the two, and is usually cheaper(more sale prices)
Corsair resourced it from Delta to Seasonic (the v2 version).

Tom

CORSAIR CX Series CX750, which doesn't sound like either............ uh, i seem to be failing hard at this!.......

 

[wr6133]

Any of these will run your build with headroom to spare

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

 

[toyftw]

CORSAIR CX Series CX750, which doesn't sound like either............ uh, i seem to be failing hard at this!.......

No - not failing. Nothing wrong with the CX750.
With that said the last link in wr6133's suggestions is a good deal
on a quality PSU, the TX650 v2(the exra $10 off expires today 10/26),
it'll net to $56 incl shipping.

Tom

If $56 is too much reply right away, I'll look for others before I leave fo the gym

 

[misfitkid86]

No - not failing. Nothing wrong with the CX750.
With that said the last link in wr6133's suggestions is a good deal
on a quality PSU, the TX650 v2(the exra $10 off expires today 10/26),
it'll net to $56 incl shipping.

Tom

If $56 is too much reply right away, I'll look for others before I leave fo the gym

yeah they all look good, although the cx750 isn't that much more money and might let me crossfire in the future, i thank you all for your help, and now have a decent base of knowledge to make a decent purchase.