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Multiple PSU "will it work" questions.

R

Ratha

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 22, 2003
Messages
328
Im in the market for a new build but am on an incredibly tight budget. Looking to take my current machine and repurpose it as a light gaming / 'family room' machine. Would also like to take my current 550w PSU and use it in the new build to save some money if at all possible.

Given its age and the fact that its had an almost 24/7 uptime (even if typically not heavily loaded), im a little hesitant to stick it into a completely new build.. especially considering that i know it works perfectly in my current setup. Funds are very tight but im trying to build a machine that will last about 5 years. Not sure if i should expect another 5 years out of it.

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New system build using old 550w power supply. Would Preferably have a new / quality 550-650w in it but thats impossible to do for ~$50 as far as i know.

Power - Corsair 550w - CMPSU-550VX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004) (Purchased Feb 2009)
Processor - Intel Core i5-4670 Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Quad
Video - AMD XFX 7850 2GB (in current build)
MB - Unchosen Motherboard (Still trying to find a good all-in-one fit)
Ram - Unchosen 8GB (possible 16gb later)
HDD1 - 2TB WD Black
HDD2 - Misc SATA HDD
HDD3 - Misc SATA HDD
DVD-RW
Multiple case fans

-

Old system with a new and inexpensive 430w power supply. Also likely needs a new case. A case + PSU that would service this build for under $50 would be nice, but probably a pipe dream, still looking.

Power - CORSAIR CX430 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026) $40 - $20 rebate
Intel Q9400 2.66ghz
Video - ATI X1900 512mb
MB - Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R
Ram - 4gb Corsair CM2X2048 - XMS2-6400
HDD1 - 250gb IDE HDD
DVD-Drive
CD-RW Drive

(The spare case this setup would go into has no case fans aside from PSU fan. Its very iffy if thats going to work but theres is a slight possibility. A replacement case would be ideal bit dont think that will fit the budget if i need a new PSU for the new build as well.)

-

Suspect that im simply trying to do too much with too little budget here and might be setting myself up for trouble. Any thoughts you guys have would be appreciated.
 
I have no idea whats going on here so ill put my 2 cents in.

Power supplies can last 6 months to 10-15 year just fine. Your 2009 may out last your 2014. Keeping it plugged in and on several hours a week will keep it alive longer, because the caps wont dry out. You want to kill a old tv/pc, just leave it unplugged for a year and then fire it up.

As for a case, free after rebate or $5 shipped fans can be had every day of the week. On craigslist you can find cases for free-$10.

PS: corsair power supplies have gone down hill since you bought yours, so dont feel bad about switching to seasonic or something.

thermaltake TR-500
rosewell RG630-S12
raidmax RX-630SS


If i was putting something in my personal rig and wanted something cheap and reliable, i would not look at power ratings (they are never true) and look at 80+ bronze and active power correction.
 
I have been looking into using 2 power supplies, as long as you do the paperclip trick, and dont power same card from 2 different psu i think it should work. The 550 could cover gpu alone., while 430 does rest of system. I havent found much that says 2 power supplies cannot be used on one card, so that may be doable, but i would avoid it if possible.
 
I have 750w Silverstone that's been through probably 3+ builds since 2007. Still works great. I've also had power supplies die an hour after I bought them. If it works, theres no reason it wouldn't work in the new build unless you exceed the capacity of the PSU. Both builds you listed should be fine with those PSU's.
 
Okay, I agree with all of nightanoles advice, but not his PSU choices.

Friends don't let Friends buy Tt. The Rosewill is an ATNG unit, a OEM I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. Then the Raidmax is an Andyson, also an OEM I won't use.

Find yourself a nice CWT/Seasonic/Superflower based unit, and call it a day.

This Cougar case has a "Passable" PSU in it. Probably be fine for the C2Q system.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811553004
 
Jorona said:
Okay, I agree with all of nightanoles advice, but not his PSU choices.

Friends don't let Friends buy Tt. The Rosewill is an ATNG unit, a OEM I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. Then the Raidmax is an Andyson, also an OEM I won't use.

Find yourself a nice CWT/Seasonic/Superflower based unit, and call it a day.

This Cougar case has a "Passable" PSU in it. Probably be fine for the C2Q system.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811553004
Click to expand...

I welcome your list of below $50 power supplies (regardless of wattage). I just picked out the ones that havent nuked on me (hell my favorite is still ULTRA). Id love a list of Cheap power supplies for casual builds vs "wut has the biggest rebate this week" approach.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6168/rosewill-fortress-platinum-450w/6
 
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Looks like a bag of mixed thoughts so far.

nightanole: Thanks for the info and a couple of units to look at, will have to dig into those and see what info i can find about em. What should i be looking for in an affordable power supply? I dont -need- modular cables or wrapped cables, even if they can be nice, and most power supplies come with all the connectors id want. You mentioned mainly checking to see that it was 80+ bronze certified and that it had APC. The 20 dollar after rebate corsair 430w fits that bill does it not? What kind of quality changes are we talking about with corsair over that time period that i should be concerned about? If something like that would run my Q9400 build safely then its hard to beat 20-40 bucks when you have to count pennies to make the budget.

EDIT: With regards to craigslist, thats probably not much of an option around here and the spare case that i was thinking about trying the Q9400 in is from ~1999 and has only a single place for a fan in the bottom front of the case. I cant actually see how one is supposed to mount one in there however, its a pretty terrible case for all intents and purposes. Will dig into it a bit more to see what i can see. If a $5 fan and a $20 dollar PSU would do the necessary job that would certainly fit the bill better than a 50-100 on a case and PSU.

Jorona: Would you mind clarifying your position on those power supplies, what makes them undesirable? Is there any such thing as a "nice CWT/Seasonic/Superflower based unit" for someone on a pretty strict budget? I looked around at a few Seasonic PSU's and cant tell what makes them different than any other PSU. Some places have good things to say, some have bad, and comparing specs does not realistically help.

PSU shopping was always something i hated doing, especially when a ~500w PSU ranges from $45-110 and manufacturer claims dont always represent real world data much of the time. Reviews vary per unit and from site to site in such a way that its nearly impossible to make any useful comparisons especially if you are not shopping for that item within a few weeks or months of a review.
 
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I have had no issues finding Corsair PSUs with reasonable prices. I would not say that all Corsair PSUs are bad now, but there have been models that are not as good as others. The CX430 in particular has been very good to me and it is very budget friendly.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=214

I'm not sure if they changed OEMs, but the older version of the CX430 was great. I'm pretty sure that's the one I have.

I concur with ymic that the CX430 should be capable of handling the power requirements of the new build.
 
ID say go for the $20 after rebate corsair. Ive been running 2 for the past 90 days with no problems. Im not sure if i would INVEST in a corsair ($100+) but $20 for a modern powersupply cant be beat.
 
Ratha said:
Looks like a bag of mixed thoughts so far.

nightanole: Thanks for the info and a couple of units to look at, will have to dig into those and see what info i can find about em. What should i be looking for in an affordable power supply? I dont -need- modular cables or wrapped cables, even if they can be nice, and most power supplies come with all the connectors id want. You mentioned mainly checking to see that it was 80+ bronze certified and that it had APC. The 20 dollar after rebate corsair 430w fits that bill does it not? What kind of quality changes are we talking about with corsair over that time period that i should be concerned about? If something like that would run my Q9400 build safely then its hard to beat 20-40 bucks when you have to count pennies to make the budget.

EDIT: With regards to craigslist, thats probably not much of an option around here and the spare case that i was thinking about trying the Q9400 in is from ~1999 and has only a single place for a fan in the bottom front of the case. I cant actually see how one is supposed to mount one in there however, its a pretty terrible case for all intents and purposes. Will dig into it a bit more to see what i can see. If a $5 fan and a $20 dollar PSU would do the necessary job that would certainly fit the bill better than a 50-100 on a case and PSU.

Jorona: Would you mind clarifying your position on those power supplies, what makes them undesirable? Is there any such thing as a "nice CWT/Seasonic/Superflower based unit" for someone on a pretty strict budget? I looked around at a few Seasonic PSU's and cant tell what makes them different than any other PSU. Some places have good things to say, some have bad, and comparing specs does not realistically help.

PSU shopping was always something i hated doing, especially when a ~500w PSU ranges from $45-110 and manufacturer claims dont always represent real world data much of the time. Reviews vary per unit and from site to site in such a way that its nearly impossible to make any useful comparisons especially if you are not shopping for that item within a few weeks or months of a review.
Click to expand...

First off, I take back what I said about that particular Tt. It's apparently now CWT based, and not an older FSP design. The CX430 is also a nice CWT based unit. For its price it usually can't be beat.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151076&ignorebbr=1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817494002&ignorebbr=1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817116018&ignorebbr=1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182066&ignorebbr=1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171084&ignorebbr=1

There acouple nice units right in that 50 buck ballpark.

The reason I say Seasonic,CWT, or Superflower is because 90% of the platforms they put out are solid. ATNG has acouple units that are good, but also a fair lot that aren't. Andyson is even worse. Do they both put out some gems? Yes, but for the most part, I don't like sifting through shit.

Almost everything Seasonic puts out is solid, Superflower nearly as good. CWT is a step down, but still usually damn good units.
 
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