Cheapest PSU for my needs, please recommend

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marley1

Supreme [H]ardness
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Jul 18, 2000
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Hey guys -

I soon will be building a new computer, within a few months, and powersupplies usually dont change much tech for a while.

I will be running a dual core setup, with a 7800, 5 harddrives in a raid, a pci card, dual optical drives, sli maybe in teh future. Need to have 5 SATA power cables, and that jazz.

So i assume i need atleast a 550watt if not more.

Whats the cheapest psu that will fit my needs. Are their any for around 50 bucks? I will not be overclocking if that matters.

All i do with computer is game, office, online, etc, dont care to overclock or anything like that

Thanks,
Dan
 
if you can wait and scrape together another 50.00 you can buy the PC Power and Cooling Silencer 470 for 99.00
 
I would highly recommend that you supply yourself with at least $100 for your PSU given a system such as that.

You should never attempt to cut costs by lowering the price range of your PSU.

Not only do you need to power everything in your system, but you also need your system to be stable and healthy. Sub-par PSUs running all that equipment will likely fail, and they may bring half your system with them to the grave.

Your system may draw close ~500 watts of power at maximum load with SLI, and you never want to run a PSU at maximum load. So you should look for a quality 550watt PSU.

Antec
Enermax
Fortron
OCZ
PCP&C
Seasonic
Sparkle
Tagan
Zippy/Emacs

All of the above companies make quality PSUs.

Can you be more specific about your needs? Do you need a quiet PSU? Do you need a modular PSU?

I would recommend the 600 watt version of the Seasonic S12 series.

Found here at newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817151025

nVIDIA SLI Certified
Excellent efficiency
Active PFC
Great power and rails
Incredibly quiet

If will cost ~$167 with shipping, though, and this PSU is not modular.

It also may not have five SATA power connectors. (I am not sure.)

The only PSUs I can think of, off the top of my head, with five SATA connectors are those by PCP&C. The PCP&C 510 watt PSU (lowest that you should go to handle your system) also costs >$200.

EDIT: The Seasonic S12-600 has four SATA power connectors. You will need to either use an adaptor, or you can replace one of the 4-pin molex connectors to achieve five SATA power connectors.
 
marley1 said:
Hey guys -

I soon will be building a new computer, within a few months, and powersupplies usually dont change much tech for a while.

I will be running a dual core setup, with a 7800, 5 harddrives in a raid, a pci card, dual optical drives, sli maybe in teh future. Need to have 5 SATA power cables, and that jazz.

So i assume i need atleast a 550watt if not more.

Whats the cheapest psu that will fit my needs. Are their any for around 50 bucks? I will not be overclocking if that matters.

All i do with computer is game, office, online, etc, dont care to overclock or anything like that

Thanks,
Dan
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I would not recommend any of the $50 units for your rig. A good-quality 550W power supply unit will cost you at least $100. And any so-called "550W" PSU which costs anywhere close to $50 really cannot deliver anywhere close to 550W with acceptable ATX12V-spec tolerances at typical PSU internal operating temperatures - at best, they will deliver only about 350W of real wattage. (That's because the typical $50 PSU rates their claim at an internal operating temperature of only 25°C, which can only occur if the ambient room temperature is below 10°C.) In fact, a $50 PSU would barely operate a rig with the same core components as your rig but with only a single hard drive.

Furthermore, total wattage isn't as important as the maximum rated amperage on the +12V rail (or maximum combined +12V ampreage on a multiple-rail PSU). That $50 PSU will always fall short of the 34A minimum that a rig like yours requires even at stock speeds (remember, 5 hard drives will eat up much more current than a single hard drive) at even the maximum ATX12V regulation tolerance of +/-5% and an internal operating temperature of 40°C to 50°C.
 
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