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$300 between a case and PSU!!?

M

Maestro2U

Weaksauce
Joined
Aug 10, 2005
Messages
76
It's been a year and a half since my last upgrade (sidegrade really, haven't been happy with it), and the current case and psu prices are catching me off guard for the models that I'm leaning towards. I'd appreciate your guys' opinions on whether the PSU's I like are really necessary.

With no preference for one or the other:

Seasonic SS-650HT ($160)
&
Corsair HX620w ($170)

I'm going to build a system around either an E6300 or E6600 on an ASUS P5B-E. I use a single hard drive, and am building it with 2gigs ram (Geil 2x1G, 1.9-2.1v recommended). All video upgrades will be based around a single card solution (currently a 7800gt will work fine for another 6-12 months while dx10 cards drop in price). I use a sound card, dvd/cd rom, and dvd/cd writer.

Right now I'm looking at putting it all in an Antec P180, so I'm aware I'll also need a 24pin cable extender to reach the motherboard. I'm going to ask about the case seperately though here .

If the most I would want to do with it is overclock slightly on air, add another 2gigs of ram, a 2nd harddrive, or *gasp* be able to use it for the next system I build, are those overkill, just right, bare minimum, or God forbid not enough?

Are there better alternatives?

Thanks for the help.
 
The Corsiar for the most part the same power supply as the Seasonic S12 except for being modular, as a matter of fact Seasonic makes it for Corsiar. Silent PC Review looked at both power supplys.

Corsair review

Seasonic review

I am using the Corsair HX620W personally and it as served my needs quite well. My current rig is an eVGA 680i, E6400, 2GB (2x1GB) OCZ OCZ2G8002GK, BFG 7950GT, 2 SATA hard drives, 2 optical drives, and an M-Audio Delta 1010 sound card. I have had no problems at all but I have not done any overclocking as of yet. As an added bonus both power supplies are extremely quiet. I can't help you with the case though as my rig currently exists in a 4U rackmount.
 
i have the seasonic m12 600 watt psu, and it reaches my mobo connector without an extension. and my connector is at the top right of the mobo. it goes all the way to the top of the case, with slack to spare. and i have a p180b too. pick up the seasonic unit. the corsair is a seasonic anyway (IIRC)
 
Seasonic S12 500W or Corsair 520W is more than enough for your needs, save yourself some cash. Even Seasonic S12 380W would be great for thar rig, but take S12 500W model in case of future upgrades.

Both of these PSUs are excelent, top quality products (both are made by Seasonic). If you want modular PSU take Corsair, otherwise take Seasonic.
 
@ raynman: Thanks for the links to the reviews, and for mentioning that they're both very quiet. That's what I'm going for with the P180 case to allow for all 120mm fans.

@ Falls Included: Thanks a ton, you just saved me the price of an extender :D

@ BBowermaster: Ah that hurts. Hopefully by aiming for an end of February build date I can wait long enough to see another rebate close to that amount. Thanks for the info.

@ umbolo: I'll check into those models, but unless they are <$75 I'll probably stick with the 600-650W range just for the future upgrades. Processors have gotten more efficient, but not video cards. I don't need modular, so Seasonic may be what I wait for.
 
Maestro2U said:
@ umbolo: I'll check into those models, but unless they are <$75 I'll probably stick with the 600-650W range just for the future upgrades. Processors have gotten more efficient, but not video cards. I don't need modular, so Seasonic may be what I wait for.
Click to expand...
That's true, but 500W will be enough for your upgrades, believe me. It's more important to buy quality, stable PSU than one with high nominal wattage. For example, Seasonic S12 380W is better than some 500W or 600W PSU's. If you're concerned about future upgrades, S12 will easily power QE6800, 8800GTX, 4MB of ram and several hard disk. Do you plan higher upgrade than that? (besides I doubt that cards that come after 8800GTX will need much more power, GPU's will start to follow efficiency trend too).

You can take S12 600W, but you'll pay for something you'll never use. Just an advice.
 
What I mean by future upgrades is that not only will I be upgrading my video card in the next year, and possibly adding ram as well, but I'd love for this to be a solution for my next build in 1.5-2 years. Am I wasting the money on that gamble?

Hmmmm, now you're making me think. I will have to consider whether I really think a power supply will meet my needs at that point, if newer better ones will be available for cheaper by then, and whether a more reasonable 'tailored' PSU is just better since I sometimes end up donating old pc's to family.

Thanks for the ideas, any more thoughts?
 
First of all, it's hard to tell what will happen in future. 2 years is a long time in IT industry, just look at some 2 years old hardware magazines to see what I mean. That said, given current trend in hardware production, it might happen that your next rig will need LESS power, since more and more hardware manufacturers are starting to think about power efficiency.

You'd be overpaying PSU and getting more power than you need, and it might turn out that your next rig will need 1000W to function for some reason. In that case you'd have too expensive and too powerful PSU now, and still would have to buy new PSU later. It's not good idea, that's all.

Also, I don't think you'll need to change your complete rig in 1.5 years. You could eventually add more ram, new graphic card and Kentsfield processor (and Seasonic S12 500W would be just fine for that).

If I were you, I wouldn't base my decision on what my next rig might need, and possibilities of transferring older components into new rig. Anyway, PSUs are hardly that expensive that you couldn't afford new PSU appropriate for your next rig. Buy what you need and what you'll be able to use now, maybe leave some room for possible upgrades and that's it.
 
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