Looking for a new, good mid-range PSU

D

dangfx

Gawd
Joined
May 2, 2001
Messages
707
Hello everyone,
So after a number of years, my Antec TruePower 550 unit died (out of the blue!) and I'm looking for something SOLID, something with longevity. Perhaps something in the 600w-850w range, so it will be a LITTLE future-proof. I don't need anything fancy, but I DO want reliability.

Any suggestions? :)
 
Corsair AX-750, $130 after rebate right now. Actually I'd say this is far more high end than midrange, but close enough :p
 
$85 - Seasonic S121II 620 620W PSU
$90 - Corsair 650TX 650W PSU
$100 - XFX P1-650X-CAG9 650W Modular PSU
$126 - Antec Truepower New TP750 Blue 750W PSU
$140 - Seasonc X650 Gold 650W Modular PSU
$150 - Corsair 750HX 750W Modular PSU
 
Hello,

Thank you for the replies. I guess I should have been more specific with the price... honestly, I want to spend as little as possible, without compromising reliability. Definitely under $100 though. I would be fine with going down to 600w if it can bring down the price. I'm not familiar with Seasonic, but I suppose they are good...? How do they rate against XFX? And what about Corsair vs XFX? And I'm trying to stay away from Antec now -- I know their new stuff is probably better/different, but I still can't get over my new gut feelings about them.

Obsidian86,
I would love to be able to RMA my old Antec (and not have to pay for a new one). but I'm pretty sure it's out of warranty. Are there any tricks or suggestions to getting a new one from Antec?
 
You're not going to find a good 750W PSU for under $100; at least not without mail-in rebates. 600-650W is doable. Seasonic is one of the best PSU manufacturers. All of XFX's PSUs are rebranded Seasonics. Whether or not they are "better" depends on which models you are comparing. Corsair sources their units from a few different manufacturers, and again, whether or not their PSUs are better than XFX's depends on the specific models you compare. I don't know why you would have a bad gut feeling about Antec, since it would seem that your PSU lasted you quite a while. The original Truepower line hasn't been manufactured in at least 4 or 5 years, so it looks to me that it had a pretty good lifespan. Antec's current lineup for the most part should be even more reliable.
 
any unit can be stable or crap, is a matter of luck, so that "you get what you pay for" is nothing but bs.


PC&PC Silencer 750 only lasted on my rig 1.5yo and was light use, died when i used a gtx 480 for one month of heavy gaming, then i tried the fabulous Seasonic X750 Gold Plus 80+ efficiency blah blah etc etc...that even [H] recommended.:rolleyes:...


it was a smooth experience until sparks and pop noises came in only 2 months of use... realize these units are not exactly cheap (i paid $200 for that crap) and fail so miserably as $ 20 psu. Hell, i even remember having one that cost me 15 dollars and did not give me any problems for 3 years of course i dont remember the brand cause was generic chinese psu and only 450w so i threw it to the garbage.:D

My point is: when it comes to psu reliability isn't about brands anymore is about luck, period.:( "After all who can beat the grand Seasonic?"
 
iusahell said:
My point is: when it comes to psu reliability isn't about brands anymore is about luck, period.:( "After all who can beat the grand Seasonic?"
Click to expand...

You sure it wasn't an electrical issue in the home? I've seen electrical issues kill quality PSUs before.
 
iusahell said:
any unit can be stable or crap, is a matter of luck, so that "you get what you pay for" is nothing but bs.


PC&PC Silencer 750 only lasted on my rig 1.5yo and was light use, died when i used a gtx 480 for one month of heavy gaming, then i tried the fabulous Seasonic X750 Gold Plus 80+ efficiency blah blah etc etc...that even [H] recommended.:rolleyes:...


it was a smooth experience until sparks and pop noises came in only 2 months of use... realize these units are not exactly cheap (i paid $200 for that crap) and fail so miserably as $ 20 psu. Hell, i even remember having one that cost me 15 dollars and did not give me any problems for 3 years of course i dont remember the brand cause was generic chinese psu and only 450w so i threw it to the garbage.:D

My point is: when it comes to psu reliability isn't about brands anymore is about luck, period.:( "After all who can beat the grand Seasonic?"
Click to expand...

You get "unlucky" with crappy power supplies far more often than with good power supplies. That said, if you keep killing power supplies the problem is perhaps not with the power supplies.
 
Danny Bui said:
You sure it wasn't an electrical issue in the home? I've seen electrical issues kill quality PSUs before.
Click to expand...

Well, lets see:
- proper grounding :)
- reliable voltage regulator :)
- heating voltage regulator due to possible over voltage :(

Over voltage could be the reason althought my voltage regulator is working properly i shouldnt have problems because my voltage is being regulated :cool:

CONCLUSIONS
PC&PC 750 weak psu..... Seasonic X750 FAULTY.... my monitor is OK, laptop OK , lcd tv OK. I mean if over voltage was so severe in the house all my toys would be dead by now wich isnt the case:D

How many psu i need to buy to find a good one? 4? 10? this isnt electrical issue this is quality build issue with super cheap caps, transformers and conductive hot glue and i mean conductive cause i remember some article on the net talking about this subject explaining how this glue retained moisture and became conductor:D are you listening HP?:D:D :rolleyes:
 
iusahell said:
How many psu i need to buy to find a good one? 4? 10? this isnt electrical issue this is quality build issue with super cheap caps, transformers and conductive hot glue and i mean conductive cause i remember some article on the net talking about this subject explaining how this glue retained moisture and became conductor:D are you listening HP?:D:D :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

None of which are used in the X-750 or the Silencer 750.
 
Paul_Johnson said:
None of which are used in the X-750 or the Silencer 750.
Click to expand...

OK, so how you could explain this anormal behavior on my units?, both are seasonic because the silencer that i had was seasonic made (i dont think it was made by sirfa) but i tought if i purchase an X-750 i wouldnt have a single problem again ....puff... it was worse...at least the silencer lasted 1.5yo this X-750 not even 2 months, died a few days ago and im in the RMA process
 
Thanks for all the replies everyone!

But to get back on track (sorry), I definitely don't want to spend $100. If that means sticking with a 600w unit, that's fine. My Antec was a 550w, and that ran for about 4 years.

The SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W for $75 plus shipping (mentioned by Danny Bui) is about as high as I'd want to go pricewise. Is this the best for this pricerange?
How does this XFX compare? It's $90, but only $60 after rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207007
How also does it stack up against this Corsair?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004
 
iusahell said:
OK, so how you could explain this anormal behavior on my units?, both are seasonic because the silencer that i had was seasonic made (i dont think it was made by sirfa) but i tought if i purchase an X-750 i wouldnt have a single problem again ....puff... it was worse...at least the silencer lasted 1.5yo this X-750 not even 2 months, died a few days ago and im in the RMA process
Click to expand...

If you are having such a rash of failures from different products all of the sudden in a short period of time perhaps you should look at what has changed or what is common to the environment.
 
dangfx said:
Thanks for all the replies everyone!

But to get back on track (sorry), I definitely don't want to spend $100. If that means sticking with a 600w unit, that's fine. My Antec was a 550w, and that ran for about 4 years.

The SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W for $75 plus shipping (mentioned by Danny Bui) is about as high as I'd want to go pricewise. Is this the best for this pricerange?
How does this XFX compare? It's $90, but only $60 after rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207007
How also does it stack up against this Corsair?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004
Click to expand...

Go with Seasonic despite of my experience:eek: i cant think of a better oem maybe flextronics but thats only available in AX 1200 model from corsair:eek:
 
Paul_Johnson said:
If you are having such a rash of failures from different products all of the sudden in a short period of time perhaps you should look at what has changed or what is common to the environment.
Click to expand...

what changed? = GTX 480 because is a power hog, and mobo i killed tha previous due to thermal grease dot contact in the socket area (i still dont know how it got there, i swear)

everything else is pretty much like it always has been:eek:
 
dangfx said:
Thanks for all the replies everyone!

But to get back on track (sorry), I definitely don't want to spend $100. If that means sticking with a 600w unit, that's fine. My Antec was a 550w, and that ran for about 4 years.

The SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W for $75 plus shipping (mentioned by Danny Bui) is about as high as I'd want to go pricewise. Is this the best for this pricerange?
How does this XFX compare? It's $90, but only $60 after rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207007
How also does it stack up against this Corsair?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004
Click to expand...

That Corsair is not a good buy at all. Too expensive for the amount of power it offers. The XFX PSU is actually made by Seasonic as well. However once you factor in shipping, both PSUs are fairly close in price. So with that in mind, I'd go for the XFX. It's gonna be roughly similar to that Seasonic PSU in price and quality but comes with a $30 MIR.
 
Thanks for your thoughts (although now I have 1 vote for the Seasonic, and 1 vote for the XFX).

Danny-
How do you know (how does one tell) when a particular PSU is made by Seasonic or someone else? Also, are there any other decent, solid, yet very affordable PSUs that haven't been mentioned yet that I should consider?
 
dangfx said:
Danny-
How do you know (how does one tell) when a particular PSU is made by Seasonic or someone else?
Click to expand...
Well a number of different ways really:
- Look at the UL number
- Find a review where they actually took pictures of the insides of the PSU. Sometimes you can easily figure out who the manufacturer is by the layout and component choices of the PSU
dangfx said:
Also, are there any other decent, solid, yet very affordable PSUs that haven't been mentioned yet that I should consider?
Click to expand...
 
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