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520HX or 620HX?

V

VGplay

Gawd
Joined
Jun 12, 2006
Messages
1,008
I've been collecting parts for a new computer for a few weeks now, and only have the RAM and power supply left to order. I know what RAM I want, but I'm having some trouble deciding on a power supply.

I really like the Corsair units and want a modular power supply, so I'm looking at the HX series. I have the money for the 620w version, but I'm not sure if I would really need it. I will never run a dual-card setup, just a single 8800GT. I will be upgrading my video card in about two years, but I can't imagine power requirements will change too much. Anyways, here's my system specs:

Q6600 (plan to overclock to over 3ghz)
Tuniq Tower 120
Gigabyte P35-DS3L
G.Skill 2 x 2gb DDR2 1000
eVGA 8800GT 512mb
3 x Seagate 7200.10 320gb SATA Hard Drives
Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic
DVD-ROM Drive
DVD-RW Drive
3 x 120mm Case Fans

I'm fairly certain the 520w would be enough to power everything, but how close to capacity would I be? I plan on adding another hard drive before the end of the year, if that matters much. I suppose general advice would be to get the 620w and not have to worry, but the $30 difference is quite a bit when you have a limited income. :(

Thank you very much.
 
I think the 520HX would do fine for you but the 620HX would be better in terms of hitting top efficiency loadwise. But also remember that you will almost never be maxing out your powerpull (all cores at 100% and 3dMark running at the same time comes close) so really the 520HX would be fine IMO :)

edit: where have you been shopping pricewise?
 
ClubIT. $108 shipped for the 520HX before rebate and $149 shipped for the 620HX before rebate. I don't count rebates in price, I just consider them a nice surprise in a month or two.
 
Since hard drives hardly need any power at all (about 10W), there's no need for you to worry - even if you get an extra hard drive. Your computer should work just fine using the HX520, even though I'd recommend you to buy the 620W version (if you want to upgrade in the future, those extra Watts will be useful).
 
Hell, I'm using a VX450 to power almost the same rig:

Q6600 @ 3.4ghz w/ Tuniq Tower 120
Gigabyte P35-DS3L
2x 2GB OCZ Gold DDR2800, 2x 1GB OCZ Platinum DDR2800
Asus EN8800GT 512MB @ 650/950
2x 320GB Seagate 7200.10 PATA
2x Samsung SH-203B 20X DVD-R/RW
2x 92mm fans (front)
1x 120mm fan (rear)

And I'm pretty sure there is plenty of juice to spare. You'll be fine with the HX520.
 
Since Corsair rates at 50C and other manufacturers rate at 40C (unless they state otherwise, assume 40C) you can basically add another 5-7% to a Corsair PSU's wattage rating if you're runing below 50C.
 
VGplay said:
ClubIT. $108 shipped for the 520HX before rebate and $149 shipped for the 620HX before rebate. I don't count rebates in price, I just consider them a nice surprise in a month or two.
Click to expand...

or longer... ;)

I too am looking. I have been reading that some of these OCZ power supplies have power flux...
 
kent said:
Since Corsair rates at 50C and other manufacturers rate at 40C (unless they state otherwise, assume 40C) you can basically add another 5-7% to a Corsair PSU's wattage rating if you're runing below 50C.
Click to expand...

Not neccesarily 40c is not always the case and assuming that for a lot of power supplies is a gross over exaggeration of their ability. As for getting 5-7% more capacity by running cooler.....no not neccesarily since many power supplies are capped at their maximum output.
 
The Corsair multi rails act as one rail (if too much power is being drawn from one the others "step in").
 
Actually, the multiple rails on the Corsair 520HX and 620HX are misprints. The Corsair 520HX and 620HX are in fact single rail designs. It's just that by the time Corsair realized that their mistake on the labels, it was already too late to change the labels. So they left them as it is since it was prohibitively expensive to reprint all those labels.

So you don't have to worry about the multiple rails of the Corsair being a problem since they do not have multiple rails, just a single rail with plenty of power. However, a good quality PSU with multiple rails can handle your setup.

And yes the Corsair 520HX would be enough for your system. Not too sure about the power load but I doubt it'll be extremely or slightly stressful
 
Would I need to go with the 620HX to power 2 EVGA 6800 video cards, a Q6600, and 1 raptor in a Antec p182 case?
 
Danny Bui said:
Actually, the multiple rails on the Corsair 520HX and 620HX are misprints. The Corsair 520HX and 620HX are in fact single rail designs. It's just that by the time Corsair realized that their mistake on the labels, it was already too late to change the labels. So they left them as it is since it was prohibitively expensive to reprint all those labels.

So you don't have to worry about the multiple rails of the Corsair being a problem since they do not have multiple rails, just a single rail with plenty of power. However, a good quality PSU with multiple rails can handle your setup.

And yes the Corsair 520HX would be enough for your system. Not too sure about the power load but I doubt it'll be extremely or slightly stressful
Click to expand...

What is your source for this info?
 
The 520HX is pretty much fine for any pretty logically sized non-SLI system. The 620HX is my recommendation for SLI systems even though you can usually run them on the 520HX without an issue.

Watts are overhyped IMO. Most of the desktops I have built for myself do not pull more than 200-300 watts and all have been pretty powerful machines with lots of stuff in them.

The Corsair units deliver what they say they do, and thus are better than many other units that have hundreds more watts than them.
 
Fry's: $70 after Rebate. Can pickup in-store as well.

http://shop1.outpost.com/product/5278267?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

I have a similar question. I already have a 520HX, and was considering to acquire an additional psu sometime soon. I was originally interested in a Seasonic (around 300-400w), but for this Corsair (which is a Seasonic, I believe) My case has two psu cages (to allow 2 or 1 psu).

1) Would having a higher wattage psu generate more power, even at idle time? or whatever power is used is whatever that is transferred? (Sorry if this is an easy question)

I have almost everything here, except 5 more optical drives:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad (Q6600)
Motherboard: Asus P5K Premium
RAM/Memory: 4 x 2 Corsair Dominator (DDR2-800/PC-6400)
Video Card: X FX GeForce 7300GT 256mb Dual-DVI < 8800GT really soon
Primary Drive: 1 x Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD
Secondary Hard Drives: 6 x 250gb Maxtor Diamond Plus SATA-I Hard Drives
Optical Drives: 7 x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA Drives

Creative E-mu 1212M Audio Card + Daughter Card (PCI)
Sonnet Tempo e4i Raid 4-Port SATA Card (PCI-Express)
Belkin 3-Port Firewire 800 Adapter (PCI)
IOGear 2-Port SATA Adapter (PCI-Express)
SIIG Expresscard Adapter (PCI-Express)

USB Bus Powered 120gb External Hard Drive


Stock cooling, stock fans.


Thanks for your time, I appreciate it. Your guidance would really help me on this decision, and the future performance of my rig.

*I was thinking of getting a Smaller wattage PSU (like a 330w Seasonic) to only power the 7 optical drives and turn on that particular PSU when the time of duplication is needed. I wonder if 330w would suffice 7 optical drives?
 
hrmm... not sure about your situation with how much juice you'lll suck up. i just vaguely remember that there were people with shuttles runnin 8800gts and dual core or quadcores or something with them small shuttle psu's. but if you're lookin for a deal the 520hx is on sale at fry's for $69 after $30 mir. link down there.
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1261727
mail in rebates are always a pain but $99 for a new 520hx ain't too bad of a price. they may be out of stock though... check your local frys if you have one. maybe they have the same sale, maybe...
edit: oops... gramarye beat me to it. ;p
 
520 powers the rig in my sig fine, but when i upgrade to super high end parts its going to have to go into the server.
 
Danny Bui said:
Actually, the multiple rails on the Corsair 520HX and 620HX are misprints. The Corsair 520HX and 620HX are in fact single rail designs. It's just that by the time Corsair realized that their mistake on the labels, it was already too late to change the labels. So they left them as it is since it was prohibitively expensive to reprint all those labels.
Click to expand...

Not quite. They do actually have multiple rails, but the rails are interconnected so as to support each other if one rail is overloaded. So in essence, they are multi-railed but act as a one rail design.
 
daviasdf said:
Not quite. They do actually have multiple rails, but the rails are interconnected so as to support each other if one rail is overloaded. So in essence, they are multi-railed but act as a one rail design.
Click to expand...

The HX650W and HX520W are single transformer single 12v rail units. The rails were never limited by an OCP circuit. So in essence they are single rail units acting as single rail units that were labeled as multirail units by Seasonic so they would not have to get re certified by the UL in a different class of products.
 
VGplay said:
I've been collecting parts for a new computer for a few weeks now, and only have the RAM and power supply left to order. I know what RAM I want, but I'm having some trouble deciding on a power supply.

I really like the Corsair units and want a modular power supply, so I'm looking at the HX series. I have the money for the 620w version, but I'm not sure if I would really need it. I will never run a dual-card setup, just a single 8800GT. I will be upgrading my video card in about two years, but I can't imagine power requirements will change too much. Anyways, here's my system specs:

Q6600 (plan to overclock to over 3ghz)
Tuniq Tower 120
Gigabyte P35-DS3L
G.Skill 2 x 2gb DDR2 1000
eVGA 8800GT 512mb
3 x Seagate 7200.10 320gb SATA Hard Drives
Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic
DVD-ROM Drive
DVD-RW Drive
3 x 120mm Case Fans

I'm fairly certain the 520w would be enough to power everything, but how close to capacity would I be? I plan on adding another hard drive before the end of the year, if that matters much. I suppose general advice would be to get the 620w and not have to worry, but the $30 difference is quite a bit when you have a limited income. :(

Thank you very much.
Click to expand...

The 520W PSU will do the job perfectly. Look at my specs and the PSU I'm running this off without any issues whatsoever. People have a tendancy to overwatt their systems, when it's the 12v rail amp rating that is the most important thing.
 
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