Recommended upgrade from Seasonic Gold 850w PSU?

A

atarumoroboshi18

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 9, 2013
Messages
284
In my main rig I have a wonderful Seasonic X-850 Gold PSU that has been driving my system for a LONG time and was wondering what(or if) I should upgrade as I've been considering getting one of the 4080 or higher GPUs. Full System Specs as of now:
Ryzen 5800x3D w/ Arctic Freezer 120mm AIO Cooler
ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero Mobo
3080 Founder's Edition
2x16GB Corsair Vengeance RAM
A Variety of Noctua fans
A few SSDs
Seasonic X-850 Gold PSU

I've been driving my system HARD with tons of VR play going on and have never had an issue, but I'm wondering about upgrades and would like some input.
 
It's probably time to relegate the old girl to back up duty for something more modern. PSU components age and eventually fail. It's just a fact of life. Better to head it off than scramble around trying to find a proper replacement last minute.

If you're looking for specific models to get as replacements here are a few of the best you'll find.
Atx 3.0 compliant units.
Seasonic Vertex series.
MSI Meg ai1300 or mpg a1000.
Corsair rmx shift series.
The best reviewed but not available yet. FSP hydro ti pro 1000
https://hwbusters.com/psus/fsp-hydro-ti-pro-1000w-psu-review/11/

Best non ATX 3.0 unit period.
Corsair rmx 1000
Less than $200, reviews will tell you everything you want/need to know.
Seasonic gx/px and prime are all excellent choices but can be very pricey (prime).
SuperFlower leadex series.
EVGA but you have to deep dive the specific unit your interested in. Lots of OEMs.
 
hititnquitit said:
It's probably time to relegate the old girl to back up duty for something more modern. PSU components age and eventually fail. It's just a fact of life. Better to head it off than scramble around trying to find a proper replacement last minute.

If you're looking for specific models to get as replacements here are a few of the best you'll find.
Atx 3.0 compliant units.
Seasonic Vertex series.
MSI Meg ai1300 or mpg a1000.
Corsair rmx shift series.
The best reviewed but not available yet. FSP hydro ti pro 1000
https://hwbusters.com/psus/fsp-hydro-ti-pro-1000w-psu-review/11/

Best non ATX 3.0 unit period.
Corsair rmx 1000
Less than $200, reviews will tell you everything you want/need to know.
Seasonic gx/px and prime are all excellent choices but can be very pricey (prime).
SuperFlower leadex series.
EVGA but you have to deep dive the specific unit your interested in. Lots of OEMs.
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I too am looking to buy a new PSU for my new build(s) and feel that with a handful of potential exceptions (ie Corsair AX1600i, thanks to its over-engineering is comparable with later spec models from what I've read, but between its age and its price its a very niche PSU for those that don't already own one) its best to find an ATX 3.0 compatible model for a high performance system, especially considering high end current gen or next gen GPUs. Unfortunately, the availability of ATX 3.0 PSUs has been delayed, expensive, and lineups have been limited in some regards. To add to what hititnquitit said, you may also want to check out the https://cultists.network/140/psu-tier-list/ list of PSUs, noting the ATX 3.0 compatible units specifically.

For atarumoroboshi18, if you're used to powering a 850w high end PSU and are considering a high end GPU upgrade, I'd definitely consider stepping up to at least 1000w or preferably higher. I've long made 1000w my standard, but for my next PSU I'm targeting 1200-1300w instead to get more coverage. As for rating, you're probably familiar with "80plus" efficiency/quality ratings, but note that in addition there is also Cybernetics efficiency/quality which uses the same "metal levels" as 80+, and also Cybernetics audio levels which use a A++ style grade. Just something to keep in mind as sometimes the stats for Cybernetics efficiency and 80Plus efficiency may differ. Here are some of the ones I'm considering in particular.

Seasonic Vertex - The Vertex line is the new , ATX 3.0 compatible Seasonic family that was brought in to slot in just below the as of yet unofficially announced, likely coming later in the year Prime SYNCRO family. In the US, only available through Newegg it seems and until recently, small quantities. Only the GX series is available now, the 80+ Gold rated ones; supposedly the Platinum rated ones will arrive in "late Q2" which is a bit frustrating, but the Gold are definitely sufficient especailly with the increased demands the ATX 3.0 standard requires of certain parameters. GX 850, 1000, and 1200 are available; for me, the 1200w is most desirable. Overall they seem some of the better ATX 3.0 PSUs of the type, but there are relatively few "serious" reviews but those that exist show them to be quality. Priced aroun d $290, so certainly not cheap.

Corsair RM1200x SHIFT - Corsair's Gold rated ATX 3.0 set, the SHIFT means moving the connectivity ports on the PSU from the front to the side; this may or may not be a big deal depending on yoru layout. While the specs and comparisons dont' seem to be quite as high as the Vertex GX series, the Corsair RMx are very close and also offer 1000w and 1200w options. They''re comparable in price if a little cheaper and seemingly available a little more easily.

FSP Hytdro Ti Pro 1000w - One of the few Titanium rated and apparently one of the highest performing ATX 3.0 so far, its downsides are its diminishing returns, high price (one mentioned $350+) and limitation of 1000w. This almost seems a waste to take the time to get a Titanium rating and other factors and limit it at 1000w, but if that's what you're seeking it may be one of the better ones - if you're willing to pay. It is not yet on sale but should be by the end of the month most likely

Superflower Leadex VII Gold - Another well regarded ATX 3.0 model, but at least in the US the ATX 3.0 compatible versions do not seem to be available at major vendors.

MSI Meg Ai1300 - A noteworthy mark in the road that is current ATX 3.0 testing, its easier availability, 80+ and Cybernetics Platinum rating, and option for 1300w models in addition to lower wattage makes it desirable for many, though its price is considerable at $350

There are quite a few others coming onto the scene but it can be a bit difficult to sort out what's truly worth the expense and if its actually available! Oh one quick tip - be very wary of Amazon pricing; a lot of items are not sold by Amazon direct and instead are jacked up prices from 3rd party sellers so just check that out first.. In any case, good luck!
 
Dang, I've always been a Seasonic fanboy, but now there looks like a lot of good PSUs and new companies. Looks like I've still got a ways to go before I choose a new PSU for a powerful system.
 
atarumoroboshi18 said:
Dang, I've always been a Seasonic fanboy, but now there looks like a lot of good PSUs and new companies. Looks like I've still got a ways to go before I choose a new PSU for a powerful system.
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You cant go wrong with Seasonic. CS wise, they are the standard. The drawback with buying right now is all quality atx 3.0 units are overpriced by a ton. If you can wait a year until the crush is met. Prices should have come back down to MSRP at least.
 
NukeDukem said:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BKR439HC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This FSP is good, 1200w, nice and quiet, 3.0, Platinum
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It looks to be a good choice, but I'm attempting to compare "Hydro PTM Pro" ATX 3.0 1200w and the similar "Hydro PTM X Pro" ATX 3.0 1200w - https://www.fsplifestyle.com/en/category/psu.html. - FSP is kind of like Superflower or Seasonic which are OEMs that actually design and fabricate PSUs under other brands (As I recall they made some of the better EVGA units recently including the G7, and Superflower made some of the P and T series) as well as their own and apparently are pretty decent these days. Just be wary about the naming conventions; they have lines that use the same model names and wattages but were a bit older and didn't have ATX 3.0 support. For instance, I could find the PTM Pro ATX 3.0 1200w model at Amazon where Nuke mentioned, but the PTM X Pro 1200w was an older, non 3.0 version from another seller etc. All the reviews I've been able to find on the FSP ATX 3.0 models range from great to excellent so they're probably a solid choice, but I would like to see more comparison between all of those available and particularly the largest 1200w model .

Particularly it seems the X model may be a bit physically smaller and uses a different internal topology (the X Pro uses a half bridge, the Pro uses a full bridge; a cursory check pf a review suggests that the half bridge design is more impressive to maintain the same Platinum efficiency and that usually a full bridge is necessary. I'm not sure how important this is if at all), among a few other differences. It may very well be that the Pro - https://www.fsplifestyle.com/en/product/HydroPTMPRO1200W_GEN5.html - and the X Pro - https://www.fsplifestyle.com/en/product/HydroPTMXPRO1200W_GEN5.html - may mostly come down to the more compact size and either one would be fine if you didn't have a very specific use case, but it would be nice to have a comparison between the two , as well as how they stack up to other ATX 3.0 PSUs.

atarumoroboshi18 said:
Dang, I've always been a Seasonic fanboy, but now there looks like a lot of good PSUs and new companies. Looks like I've still got a ways to go before I choose a new PSU for a powerful system.
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hititnquitit said:
You cant go wrong with Seasonic. CS wise, they are the standard. The drawback with buying right now is all quality atx 3.0 units are overpriced by a ton. If you can wait a year until the crush is met. Prices should have come back down to MSRP at least.
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Agreed. You can still buy from Seasonic and they continue to make some great PSUs, including the ATX 3.0 compatible lineup. Though yeah, definitely take time (if you have it) to look at some of the other offerings and compare, look at thorough reviews, and the like. The biggest issue as hititnquitit mentioned is price, but that's somewhat universal and will not be remedied particularly quickly, most likely. At least you can be sure that you'll be getting a high quality PSU to last for many years (a 10 year warranty is expected on high end offerings) , for what you end up paying!
 
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RanceJustice said:
It looks to be a good choice, but I'm attempting to compare "Hydro PTM Pro" ATX 3.0 1200w and the similar "Hydro PTM X Pro" ATX 3.0 1200w - https://www.fsplifestyle.com/en/category/psu.html.
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Yes, as far as I can tell the "X Pro" is a smaller form factor. However the updated ATX 3.0 version is not yet available for sale. I specifically linked to the newer ATX 3.0 "Pro" model. The older "Pro" was highly reviewed (https://www.anandtech.com/show/17343/the-fsp-hydro-ptm-pro-1200w-psu-review). Like you said, FSP is an OEM like Seasonic and SuperFlower. I had not heard of them either, but the reputation is solid.

I have had this particular ATX 3.0 unit powering my high end system since November. It's been great. Silent. Eliminated coil whine issues I had running the 4090 on an older EVGA unit. The build quality is excellent. At $290 the unit is not cheap, but you do get what you pay for.
 
atarumoroboshi18 said:
I've been driving my system HARD with tons of VR play going on and have never had an issue, but I'm wondering about upgrades and would like some input.
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Gaming won't actually be that hard on your PSU, usually. Agree with the others that it's time to retire it, but do really think about how many watts you actually need. A wall meter is handy in situations like these.
 
Niner21 said:
Another vote for this PSU. Mine has been great so far powering a 4090 for months.
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Well dang, I just checked and the lowest price on there is for a brand new unit AND it came with an additional %30 off coupon. Said screw it and bought it for about ~$210 shipped. Can't wait to get it as it'll be the last old part in my system to be fully updated.
 
atarumoroboshi18 said:
Well dang, I just checked and the lowest price on there is for a brand new unit AND it came with an additional %30 off coupon. Said screw it and bought it for about ~$210 shipped. Can't wait to get it as it'll be the last old part in my system to be fully updated.
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Nice! You'll be happy with it. Just MAKE SURE you bought the updated ATX 3.0 PCIE 5.0 version and not the older model which is still selling around the price you paid. The box is even the same, but yours should have the gray covering on the end with the updated specs listed.


41nK2GyuxUL._AC_.jpg
 
Always get the most watts that seems reasonable to you considering the cost and the modern technology. If your build requires 850w it doesn't matter whether you get an 850w or a 2 Kw PSU. Except that the 2 Kw future proofs you for X amount of time.
 
NukeDukem said:
Nice! You'll be happy with it. Just MAKE SURE you bought the updated ATX 3.0 PCIE 5.0 version and not the older model which is still selling around the price you paid. The box is even the same, but yours should have the gray covering on the end with the updated specs listed.


View attachment 565584
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Will definitely double check. Gonna be the first 1000+W PSU I've ever had, so definitely want to make sure I get what I paid for.
 
Never heard of FSP... Not saying they're bad. I've never had issues with EVGA or Seasonic PSU. That being said, I ran a Rosewill (newegg) power supply for a number of years with no issues either. I also run mini-box.com PICO-PSUs on all my appliance builds, router, NAS, etc and they are also rock solid. Been using them for probably 10 years now.
 
OFaceSIG said:
Never heard of FSP
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I didn't either, but I did a lot of research on them and they are mainly an industrial power supply manufacturer. They looked to get favorable reviews everywhere I looked so I decided to jump on one since at the time an ATX 3.0 PSU was hard to come by. The 10 year warranty didn't hurt either and was on par with the more popular PSU makes out there.
 
Another Seasonic 850 (ATX 3.0 PCIE 5.0 version) and you'll be happy from the peace of mind. My 850 coasts with a similar build and hasn't seen above 500w's
 
atarumoroboshi18 said:
Well dang, I just checked and the lowest price on there is for a brand new unit AND it came with an additional %30 off coupon. Said screw it and bought it for about ~$210 shipped. Can't wait to get it as it'll be the last old part in my system to be fully updated.
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Wait, you got the 1200w ATX 3.0 Platinum version for $210 on Amazon? Where did you find the 30% coupon? I'm looking at the one fulfilled by Amazon (Prime friendly) and from ShopFSP and its at $280-ish. Still a good price, but for $210 I'd likely be buying immediately!
 
RanceJustice said:
Wait, you got the 1200w ATX 3.0 Platinum version for $210 on Amazon? Where did you find the 30% coupon? I'm looking at the one fulfilled by Amazon (Prime friendly) and from ShopFSP and its at $280-ish. Still a good price, but for $210 I'd likely be buying immediately!
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Yeah, no idea. I clicked the other sellers and saw the lowest price one with a low price and it had a check box for a %30 off coupon for a brand new unit and just went for it. Should be here tomorrow from the tracking # info, so we'll see if I got scammed or something.

Amazon PSU Purchase.JPG
 
Well, the box was slightly beat up, but it has all the tell-tale signs of being brand new and it has the gray wrap around announcing it's new PCIe 5.0 ATX 3 features. Wrapped in plastic, and still has the seal on it's opening. Looks like I got super lucky and I'll be putting this into my main rig this weekend. (Paper was to cover up the shipping label)

Edit: What a bizarre coincidence. one of the channels I subscribe to just posted a video building a super overkill system using the identical PSU that I just got.
 

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Great that you're all having good experiences so far! To let anyone know, anyone interested in the PTM X Pro 1200w ATX 3.0 / PCI-E 5.0, It is now available on Amazon as well direct from ShopFSP! As of yesterday, it was around $310 + $10 shipping, so I wrote to them to ask if it would be available via Prime anytime soon like the standard PTM Pro and Hydro G Pro. The rep responded quickly and said that the X model just showed up and as such it would take more time for Amazon to be able to offer them Prime and whatnot, probably in a week or two. On a whim, I mentioned that I knew a user who got a fantastic deal with a discount coupon and was wondering if they had anything planned like that for the X series. Mentioning that the coupons must have been from Amazon direct and/or from some 3rd party seller w/ Amazon fulfillment, she mentioned she couldn't quite offer the 30% discount that one lucky user in this thread got, however they would be discounting the X model today!

As of now there are two options for the PTM X Pro 1200w ATX 3.0 / PCI-E 5.0 model - One is a $289 w/ a delivery date for me between May 5th and May 8th direct from ShopFSP, and (if you go to other sellers etc..) the ShopFSP + Fulfilled by Amazon version is $299 + Free Prime Shipping but with a fulfillment date of May 22-24th (which goes along with what the rep said about it taking a couple of weeks to get into Amazon fulfillment I am guessing). As best as I can tell, this is is the best deal on this newly arrived PSU (Newegg seems to have been discounted a little as well, to about $299 + "special shipping" that depends on location ) so anyone interested, keep an eye out!
 
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No reason to upgrade IMO. I ran a 4090 on a 750 watter with no issues at all. I only upgraded to a 1200 because I thought maybe if I had a natvie 12vh connector, it would unlock higher power targets on my 4090... It didn't.
 
WilyKit said:
No reason to upgrade IMO. I ran a 4090 on a 750 watter with no issues at all. I only upgraded to a 1200 because I thought maybe if I had a natvie 12vh connector, it would unlock higher power targets on my 4090... It didn't.
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True, but the Seasonic 850 PSU that I had was with me for a LONG time, powering my main build over many updates. Since I was able to get a high-end, brand-new, current spec PSU for a reasonable price, may as well use it and keep my 850 as a backup for the future. Been updating my main rig with all sorts of high-end, power hungry components, so a new PSU is no brainer.
 
Here we go, finally got a pic of the checkbox coupon. Looks like this puts the PSU at $226 barring taxes from the same company I previously purchased from. No idea how long this will stay after posting this though.
 

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This thread reminded me that I have been using my current Seasonic-built 850W PSU for almost 13 years. Definitely grabbing a new PSU when I build my next system.
 
Seasonic is amazing. I'll probably be using either a Seasonic or an EVGA power supply, depending on the build, for the remainder of my life.
 
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