Help needed choosing a PSU

bgil · Post by **bgil** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 11:11 pm

Hello,

I'm trying to do a strange thing - to build a mid-high end gaming computer while keeping it as silent as I can.

The setup should be roughly as follows:

- Intel e4300, which I plan to overclock to 3.0 GHz (should be possible without raising the vCore voltage) + Scythe Infinity
- motherboard - not decided yet, at the moment leaning towards Asus P5K (not sure whether deluxe or not)
- eVGA 8800 GTS 320MB Superclocked + Thermalright HR-03 Plus
- 2x1GB G. Skill DDR2 800 (HZ) ram
- Samsung T-series 500GB HD
- 2 sound cards (SBLive! for games and E-MU 1212 for music)
- 2 optical drives + 1 floppy drive + fans (case - 2x92mm + 1x120mm)
- Antec Solo case (p180 unfortunately doesn't fit under the table...)

From various power draw calculators on the net I get results from 257w to 453w (which is not very helpful), though I'm able to check just the generic versions, so not sure how much these particular details would draw.

So, first question is how powerful a PSU do you think I would need? And second, which one would you recommend? (I've been considering Zalman HP 600w, as for some reason I was led to believe it was ultra-quiet

, at the moment leaning towards one of the Corsairs or Seasonics.)

Thanks. (By the way, if you think any of the cooling components I've chosen are off the mark, please let me know as well.)

burebista · Post by **burebista** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 11:33 pm

At stock speeds, in games, your system wiil draw ~170W DC, so a good brand 400W PSU is enough.
Antec NeoHE 430, Seasonic S-12 430 will be fine.
Or an Antec Earthwatts 380.

kater · Post by **kater** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 12:40 am

Burebista said it all - nothing to add. Maybe that you'll be drawing some 30W more after you OC the CPU heavily. Which means virtually nothing for any of the recommended PSU's.
Depending on your location and availability of brands you could also cosider a similarly strong Be Quiet Straight Power or Dark Power, or Topower P3 U12. No need for that if you can buy an S12 or EarthWatts.
As for CPU cooling - how about a Thermalright Ultra 120 or U 120 Extreme? A tad more expensive but the cooling is also a wee better, not to mention a MUCH better mounting system.
My experience shows you won't need 2 92mm fans in the front - 1 fan @ 5-7V is plenty.
You'll probably have to get rid of the Tricool in the case - Noctua, Nexus or S-Flex are all good choices for exhaust fans. But don't use the Noctua on the CPU cooler - it doesn't like backpressure.

kogi · Post by **kogi** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 12:53 am

Ehh?

Current Spcr recommendations are

Seasonic S12 series
Corsair HX Series

floffe · Post by **floffe** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 1:51 am

kogi wrote:Current Spcr recommendations are

Seasonic S12 series
Corsair HX Series

The S12 was in the recommendation above. The NeoHE has the advantage of having modular cables, and you don't have to go up to the 520W that the Corsair is. It also got the same rating for noise as the regular S12 series (not the Energy+ ones), and let me quote from the review: "The Antec Neo HE 430 earns a strong recommendation", mainly for low-noise rather than very high efficiency.

bgil · Post by **bgil** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 3:50 am

Thanks for the replies!

It's quite a surprise to find out you don't need all those 1200W PSUs

(I read the other thread as well.)

As things seem, I'll probably go for the Antec HE 430W, as I can get it inside a p150 for a very low price. For some reason I could only find M-series Seasonics available in Israel (at least from an online shop survey). As for the Corsair, the only reason now to go for it is as a sort of an investment for future upgrades or new systems which might (theoretically) require more power. (And it is a bit quieter from what I understand.) What do you think?

Thanks also for the advice about the CPU cooler, I've read now some reviews of the Ultra 120 Extreme, and will probably go for it. The price difference is not that big. EDIT: I've read some customer reviews on NewEgg's site, and some say that the HSF sags under its own weight on a vertically installed motherboard, thus not keeping even contact with the CPU surface. I was wondering whether any of you had this problem.

Khrono Devil · Post by **Khrono Devil** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:02 pm

Get very long zip ties and put it around the heat pipes near the end and fix it sumhow to the top of your case ( on my p182 its fixed to the top fan )

Yea 1200W could power 2 - High end systems or 3 - Mid range systems

The Corsair 620HX can power Dual 8800GTX + Overclocked and Watercooled Quad-Core CPU, QX6700 @ 3.5Ghz

If you don't plan on SLi or Xfire then the Corsair 520HX would be all you need.

Heres a review of it http://legitreviews.com/article/462/1/

bgil · Post by **bgil** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:40 am

Thanks, KD.

I've thought already about zip ties, but I'm not sure what to fix them to in a Solo case. In any case, it's a bit annoying that a product requires modding out of the box. On the other hand, the Infinity, which I planned on buying, weighs even more, so I suppose it has the same problem.

I went in the end for the Corsair 520W over Antec 430, which as I understand sometimes needs an RMA or two before working properly.

raziell · Post by **raziell** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 7:58 am

seasonic s12 430W will be more then enough for your setup.

bgil · Post by **bgil** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 4:30 am

Hey, Raziell, nice to see a fellow countryman.

Do you know where the Seasonics can be found in Israel? I tried looking at zap.co.il but it doesn't list any shops where's the S-series is available, just M-series PSUs.

Khrono Devil · Post by **Khrono Devil** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 2:04 am

The Antec Solo has a rail in the perfect spot to fix the HSF with zipties to.
http://www.bjorn3d.com/Material/revimag ... nished.jpg

Its not really the weight of the HSF that causes the problem its how its secured to the board, some are just better than others. I only use zipties as a precaution, I never had any problems with my Tuniq Tower for 3 months but after reading about a couple of people having trouble with their Tower HSF I decided to use zipties just to be on the safe side.

bgil · Post by **bgil** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 11:36 pm

Thanks again, KD. I'll post some pics when I finally get to building that thing.