PSU for gaming machine

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drevin

n00b
Joined
Apr 28, 2009
Messages
9
Hi,

I'm looking for a PSU for my gaming PC. It should be a quality PSU with a good price-performance ratio. In addition to powering the current rig, it should be powerful enough to allow upgrading to a new GPU later on. I'm not planning to use SLI.

I've been looking at the Corsair TX650 and HX650. The HX650 costs about 25€ more (100€ vs 125€) but has modular cables, 2 years longer warranty and from what I understand, a bit better efficiency. Do you think these are worth the added price, or should I just go with the TX650. Or perhaps something else instead of these two? Also, I've never used a modular PSU before. I understand the advantages, but do they have any disadvantages compared to non-modular ones.

Specs:

CPU: Core 2 Duo E8500 (3,16 GHz)
MB: Asus P5Q Pro
RAM: 2x2 Gb (800MHz)
GPU: GeForce GTX 260 PCI-E
Audio: X-Fi Titanium PCI-E
HDD1: Samsung SpinPoint F1 750Gb S-ATA
HDD2: WD Caviar Black 1Gb S-ATA
DVD: Lite-On LH-20A1L
Case: Antec Three Hundred, 2 fans
 
drevin said:
I've been looking at the Corsair TX650 and HX650. The HX650 costs about 25€ more (100€ vs 125€) but has modular cables, 2 years longer warranty and from what I understand, a bit better efficiency. Do you think these are worth the added price, or should I just go with the TX650.
Click to expand...
Thats entirely up to you actually whether or not those are worth the extra price.

drevin said:
Or perhaps something else instead of these two? Also, I've never used a modular PSU before. I understand the advantages, but do they have any disadvantages compared to non-modular ones.
Click to expand...

Check out the following PSUs:
- XFX 650W PSU
- Antec Truepower New TP-650 650W PSU

No real disadvantages to modular PSUs besides a higher price.
 
For only 25$ more, I would go for the HX650. It's a overall better quality PSU. Firstly, it has four PCIe connectors, so you won't need to use any molex-to-PCIe adapter. Moreover, the noise/ripple levels are lower. Another important difference is the lower value filtering cap: 470µF 400V 105ºC versus the HX650's 580µF 400V 105ºC. As you can see, there is some interesting advantages.

As Danny Bui has told you before, there is no disadvantages at all, but, on the contrary, being modular has some advantages because you will have less amount of cables so the order and the air flow would be better inside the case.

In addition to the TP-650 and the XXX edition 650W, I would take a look to the following ones:

CORSAIR TX750 (by CWT)
ENERMAX Liberty Eco II 620W (modular)
ENERMAX Pro82+ II 625W
THERMALTAKE Toughpower XT 675W (by CWT) (modular)
SILVERSTONE Decathlon DA700 700W (by Impervio) (modular)
 
Thanks for the replies.

I've also noticed that new PSUs have PCI-E 6+2 (8) pin connectors. My current video card uses 2 x 6pin, so how can I make it work with the 6+2 pin ones? Do I need a special cable for that, or just leave the 2 pins unused?
 
drevin said:
Thanks for the replies.

I've also noticed that new PSUs have PCI-E 6+2 (8) pin connectors. My current video card uses 2 x 6pin, so how can I make it work with the 6+2 pin ones? Do I need a special cable for that, or just leave the 2 pins unused?
Click to expand...
just leave the 2 pins unused
 
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