Need a new PSU for dual 7970's!

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stevelopez91

Weaksauce
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Dec 17, 2011
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Hey guys, just got a new XFX R7970 Black Edition this past Thursday. My rig is currently undergoing a remodeling, and I'm in the market for a PSU. Currently I'm running an i5 2500k @ 4.5ghz w/ a hyper 212+ evo (push/pull), asus P8Z68-V LX, 16 gb Kingston 1333 (should have just got 8 gigs @ 1600, but Cyber Monday had a steal of a deal for $45 16gb@1333), 500gb seagate 7200rpm, an asus dvd drive, all enclosed in a Lian Li Lancool PC-K62 (5 case fans). My current power supply worries me though; it's an Ultra 650 LSP,so I want to invest in some peace of mind. I'm really only considering Corsair and Antec at this point and only modular. I do intend on snagging a second 7970 down the line, so I want to future proof my build. As of right now this is what I was looking at. Let me know if it's reasonable for my hardware please!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

Corsair HX 850W.

Anyways, this is my first post, so cheers ;)
 
Save some money and get a 950TX, bigger supply, great power supply and strong enough to handle anything. And shit, probably cheaper than that HX.
 
I'd say go for a Hx950

pretty expensive, but will bulldoze anything you throw at it. 850 seems a little low.

plus, HX is modular

(Jealous of your build btw)
 
ShuttleLuv said:
Save some money and get a 950TX, bigger supply, great power supply and strong enough to handle anything. And shit, probably cheaper than that HX.
Click to expand...

He wants modular. TX is not modular.

computersmakemeQQ said:
I'd say go for a Hx950

pretty expensive, but will bulldoze anything you throw at it. 850 seems a little low.

plus, HX is modular

(Jealous of your build btw)
Click to expand...

There is no such thing as a HX950. The next line up in the HX series is the HX1050.

@ OP:

Your system only needs a good 750 watt power supply. Since you plan to crossfire 7970s, but haven't done so yet, I would wait for a good price on a 750-850 watt power supply. The Seasonic X750 goes on sale for ~$120 about once a month, and is probably the best bang/buck PSU you can get in that wattage range. I've also seen the Antec HCP850 drop to ~$150 range, which is better than the HX850.
 
Well, Newegg is having a deal on Corsair PSUs:

15% off w/ promo code EMCNHJN69, ends 2/16

Other than that, if you've ordered anything from the recently they've been sending out some coupons. One I got was 20% off of Kingwin platinum PSUs.
 
The Corsairs might be having 15% off deals, but the prices have been jacked up, so it's not that great of a deal.
 
850 would probably be fine for less aggressive clocks/stock speeds, but I'd probably step up to an HX1050 or similar unit.

A note on the HX series: it's not FULLY modular. Look at the pictures on Newegg. There are some cables that aren't modular...the motherboard power supply cables and a pair of PCIe power cables. This was fine by me since all of the non-modular cables are required for use, but you may have other preferences. In a grommeted Corsair case (or similar) you barely notice them; plus you only would need to use the modular parts for whatever is leftover.
 
HX 850 will be fine for aggressive overclocks on air, and probably on water too.
 
Tsumi said:
.

@ OP:

Your system only needs a good 750 watt power supply. Since you plan to crossfire 7970s, but haven't done so yet, I would wait for a good price on a 750-850 watt power supply. The Seasonic X750 goes on sale for ~$120 about once a month, and is probably the best bang/buck PSU you can get in that wattage range. I've also seen the Antec HCP850 drop to ~$150 range, which is better than the HX850.
Click to expand...

Great advice. After looking at the Seasonic X line, I did develop an appreciation. I figure I'll play the waiting game and snag either the HX, X, or HCP depending on whichever takes the biggest price dip.
 
Look at the Corsair AX power supplies as well. They use the Seasonic X platform.
 
Just my luck guys. Last night I was playing some battlefield 3, and I smelled a faint smell of burning coming from my rig. Right away I checked my temperatures and saw everything was below average. Before it even occurred to me to check the power supply, the computer turned off. Right away I knew my power supply had failed. About three seconds after the computer shut down, the computer tried to boot itself up and next thing I know, the power supply literally lit on fire. The power cord was completely on fire and luckily I put it out before anything in my house could catch on fire. This is just ridiculous considering the power supply was only about six months old. And not only did it die, but it tried to take my house down with it. Now I'm stuck using my iPhone to purchase the new power supply to pick up tomorrow. Just my luck.
 
The power cord being on fire can be an indication of a faulty power supply, or faulty power outlet, or a faulty power cable, or any combination of those 3. It's most probable that the power cord was faulty and could not handle the amperage running through it.
 
Well considering the power supply sparked and was not working after that, I'd assume it was a combination of both. Either way, it's in the past now; just picked up my hx850 today and I'm liking the performance of it. So so much better. Temperatures in my case went down a great amount and it's so much quieter. Not too mention modular. Never going to buy ultra again.
 
BTW power cords have amperage ratings. Just because it plugs in doesn't mean it will work. Hence why a high end PSU will come with a power cable thats twice as thick as lets say a monitor. Try to pull all that current through an underrated cable and you can start a fire.
 
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