Help me to choose efficient PSU with low power consumption (400-500Watt)

[themachine]

As the topic suggest

I want to change my PSU, around 400-500 watts, but i want to choose the one that would be efficient and would take less power on idle and on load then usual psus

i know its possible, but im not sure how to look at the specs to determine which psu would be power hungry and wich not

 

[C12Friedman]

Currently, efficiency is shown by 80+ Certification. Beyond the standard 80+ certification, there are levels of higher efficiency, 80+ Bronze, 80+ Gold and 80+ Platinum with Platinum being the most efficient. My personal preferance for a PSU is the SeaSonic SS660 XP2 based on reviews found here http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=326 here http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Cases-and-Cooling/Seasonic-Platinum-Series-660W-Power-Supply-Review/Final-Thoughts-and-Concl and here http://hardocp.com/article/2013/02/04/seasonic_platinum660_660w_power_supply_review/9 I mention it spcifically since every now and again it can be found on sale for under $100 - you do pay for the Platinum Cert but it seems you can't miss with that unit.
Note that using a 660W PSU has little effect on power usage which is determined by the power draw of the machine and the effeciency of the PSU you could get a little more into the sweet spot by using a 460W but the SeaSonic Platinum version is fanless (good thing but you pay for that too)and runs about $130 (I've not seen it on sale at all)
There are other platinum units out there but I am becoming more and more impressed with the SeaSonic offerings personally
Hope it helps

 

[themachine]

Hey!

thanks alot for the answer

unfortunetly those PSUs are abit out of my budget

i am kinda looking at the price 40-70 USD and 500wat would do. I checked these and i think they should be alright?

http://www.skytech.lt/nx5000-nexus-psu-530w-12cm-atx-sleeved-cabl-p-9867.html

http://www.skytech.lt/cp9020059eu-modulinis-psu-corsair-500w-plus-bronze-120mm-p-139778.html

aswel this one seems to be interesting:

http://www.skytech.lt/cp9020058eu-modulinis-psu-corsair-430w-plus-bronze-120mm-p-139777.html

and this one: http://www.kilobaitas.lt/Korpusu_mait_saltiniai/Seasonic/PSU_Seasonic_S12II-520_520W_80/S12II-520/CatalogStoreDetail.aspx?CatID=PL_403&ID=380379

Btw these are my specs:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad (Q9400)
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD5750
4gb ram (2x2gb)
MB: ASUS P5KPL
2 HDDs (160 & 750gb)
As for past years ive been using stock PSu that came with the case wich is 400wat asus.

Aswel i have connected these devices that are using bus energy from USB/FW:

Korg Microkey (USB)
Korg NanoKontrol2 (USB)
Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 (FireWire)
Mouse/Keyboard (USB)

For most part everything works fine, just i cant overclock (althought i dont really need that), but i just want to change to more eficient to save more on electricity bill

Now a question a bit out of topic.

I have checked my old LCD monitor im using, its power consumptions are 45w on max brightness (wich is always at max) and im running my pc around 11 hours every day. Now if i need to change on of two things, PSU or Monitor (lets say the one with max 28w consumption) wichh would make more impact on daily use when having in mind to lower electric consumption ?

Yeah i know it might be a weird question, but im not familar with this

 

[C12Friedman]

The Corsair units are popular and the Nexus is a good unit also, I think any of those should work just fine. All are 80+ Bronze Certified so your efficiency will improve (whether an appriciable amount or not, I can't say)