Best PSU for this system?

[The Internal]

Greetings,

I've already started to purchase parts for my first new build in... a very, very long time (my main system is currently an Athlon 64 x2 socket 939 system!) I'm still a bit on the fence on the motherboard and the power supply.

I'm looking for something that's silent, ridiculously stable, and will last far past it being outdated. I'm under the impression that a 750 watt is probably what to go with, but the reviews I've seen seem to indicate that it's a 1000 watt platinum King-something-or-other brand or the Seasonic Platinum 1000 watt that are currently the most stable / clean / best damn PSUs in general. Will I need to buy a 1kw unit if I want the BEST and QUIETEST PSU out there? If not, what is the most likely PSU to both never make a peep acoustically, and have insanely stable and clean power?

Basic internals:

Intel Core i5-3570K
Z77 SLI/crossfire capable motherboard (undecided)
Asus Geforce 670 GTX TOP (unless someone knows of a quieter / better 670)
4x4GB Samsung DDR3 1600
Samsung 830 256TB SSD
WD Caviar Black FALS 1TB HDD
blu-ray burner

I'll probably SLI this system eventually, but for now, it's just a single card. I'd like to be able to SLI it without upgrading the PSU in the future.

 

[Xeth]

There's 850W versions of both of the PSUs you mentioned (Kingwin Lazer and Seasonic Platinum). Those should be more than enough for SLI 670's. I'd go with Seasonic personally because of the better brand and crazy 7 year warranty.

 

[The Internal]

Are the 850 watt units you are referring too significantly better than, say, the Seasonic X gold 750 watt?

 

[pwrusr]

I'd go for either a 750-850watt gold rated PSU.
For 750:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139016
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087
For 850:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151102
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139015
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151111

I like the corsair units for their fantastic "flat" peripheral cables (molex and sata) that are much easier to route in a case vs the seasonic cables that are much stiffer in comparison. But you could likely flip a coin with any of the above and come out just fine.

Also I'd look into another GTX670 as the Asus cards seem to be having issues out of the box with crashing/artifacts. Either a evga gtx670 ftw or a gigabyte gtx670 are good choices. Really depends on what your wants are with noise and how the card exhausts it's hot air.

 

[Tsumi]

650 watts will be able to run that system in SLI overclocked. The 670s aren't the power hungry beasts that the 5xx series were.

That said, I would go for a 750 watt power supply. If you can wait, the Seasonic X750 goes on sale for $110 on Newegg every other month it seems, and the value can't be beat. Most 650 watt power supplies don't have 4 PCI-E power connectors, and I personally don't like using adapters, but that's just personal preference.

 

[grambo]

I have a similar system. I went with the Seasonic X-760 because it was on sale for $119 at NCIX (normally closer to $200 up here in Canada). But yeah, a good 650W is more than enough, I just wanted capacity for SLI down the road. Don't have a kill-a-watt but I bet my system is pulling 300-350W tops from the wall when I play BF3.

 

[The Internal]

Do the suggested PSUs have the same degree of quiet and power stability that the top end 1kw models do though? I'm currently looking at the Seasonic 860 watt since it seems to beat the pants off of nearly everything else, according to multiple reviews (and costs accordingly).

 

[The Internal]

thanks for the thoughts on the Graphics card, pwrusr. I've been a little nervous about the Asus after seeing so many bady reviews on Newegg... though I do wonder if it was a software issue more than a hardware issue. I'm currently leaning towards the tri-fan Gigabyte since it's apparently on par with the Asus for noise level (I needs me some silence) and only takes up two slots.
I'm giving the Corsair 750 watt a serious look, as well as the Seasonic X650, but am having a hard time eliminating the Seasonic Platinum as the top choice, considering all the priase it's gotten.

 

[pwrusr]

Do the suggested PSUs have the same degree of quiet and power stability that the top end 1kw models do though? I'm currently looking at the Seasonic 860 watt since it seems to beat the pants off of nearly everything else, according to multiple reviews (and costs accordingly).

I take it you're talking about this PSU?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3891137&SID=rewrite

If so then yeah, not too much else can top that. should even be able to run tri-SLI gtx670 with that power supply if needed.

 

[Tsumi]

Do the suggested PSUs have the same degree of quiet and power stability that the top end 1kw models do though? I'm currently looking at the Seasonic 860 watt since it seems to beat the pants off of nearly everything else, according to multiple reviews (and costs accordingly).

I have found that under normal load conditions in a properly ventilated case, even an older, less efficient design utilizing a 120mm or larger fan is completely silent. I have a Seasonic M12D 750 watt powering a 6990 in AUSUM mode (draws more power than SLI 670s) and an i7 920 at 4 ghz (probably draws double the power of the 3570k overclocked). I have yet to hear my PSU fan spin up.

How fast the PSU fan has to spin is mostly a function of how hot the internals get. A more efficient design puts out less heat, so the fan is able to work less to keep the power supply at the same temperature. Under your load conditions, as long as you get a 650 watt or larger quality power supply, you will never hear it.

And yes, the smaller capacity models have the same quality as the larger models, just the larger capacity models either have more components, or have components rated to handle higher loads. Honestly, power supplies today have gotten so good it's hard to differentiate them. All quality power supplies operate within ATX specs, and most of them by a substantial margin. There's really no need for tighter regulation, as computer components are built to handle those kinds of tolerances.