Seasonic S12 380w or 430W

anthrex

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jul 7, 2004
Messages
1,873
Currently my set-up doesn't require much power, but since it seems like my current psu is failing. So I'm looking for a quiet and good psu that is priced under $100. So far it seems that the seasonic S12 380w and 430w series seems to be the best option for me and from what I can tell they will do fine.

I guess what I am looking for is if either of these two would suffice for my next rig which I'll probably be building whenever the socket m2s come out. It'll probably look something, or at least draw similarly to the specs below. (don't laugh at the specs I just want something that would be able to run all these things)

Athlon 64 X2 4400+
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI
2x512mb ddr 433
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA NCQ ST3160827AS 160GB
7800gt
2 optical drives
4 case fans
fdd
and some other usb related devices

Thanks in advance
 
Both PSUs should work out fine for you.

How soon are you planning to upgrade?
 
If you have the 7800GT video card, I would get the 430 W PSU. You never know if that extra 50 W headroom might come in handy and the price difference is probably pretty small.
 
i'm thinking of upgrading a little sooner than I'd hope because my computer seems to be failing, which from what I can tell might just be psu problems,
so i think i'll go with the 430w version i'll probably order it pretty soon unless anyone gives me a better solution
 
davidhammock200 said:
Neither! Although the 430W might work, it is a little under-powered for your 6800GT with a combined +12V of about 24A.

nVidia recommends a min of +12V@26A, so get the 500W or for future SLI the 600W.

Seasonic: http://www.seasonicusa.com/products.php?lineId=9

500W, $125: http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...aaa43f654dfed6c3eb5650c166f6&products_id=3153

600W: $132: http://www.case-mod.com/store/seaso...att-atx-power-supply-91405-p-1580.html?src=fr

I think nVidia recommends 26 amps to cover their asses because of people with inefficient PSUs and ones that rate their rails way higher than they're actually capable of. Just my theory.
 
davidhammock200 said:
Neither! Although the 430W might work, it is a little under-powered for your 6800GT with a combined +12V of about 24A.

nVidia recommends a min of +12V@26A, so get the 500W or for future SLI the 600W.

Seasonic: http://www.seasonicusa.com/products.php?lineId=9

500W, $125: http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...aaa43f654dfed6c3eb5650c166f6&products_id=3153

600W: $132: http://www.case-mod.com/store/seaso...att-atx-power-supply-91405-p-1580.html?src=fr
Seasonic is a good PSU brand and I wound up buying the S12-600 over a month ago for $124 shipped from ewiz.com. So far so good, although my system is pretty lightly loaded (3200+ Venice CPU running at stock speed, 1 6800GT video card, 2 optical drives, 2 HDDs, and a few fans and USB devices). I doubt I'm even using half of what the PSU can support, but I like the 80+% efficiency a lot. :)
 
hmmm
I don't know if my current budget can allow that, being a college student is expensive, but if truly necessary I can go as high as the 500w. I am not at all looking at creating an SLI rig so I won't be getting the 600w.
So would it really be necessary to get the 500w over the 430 for my next rig?
 
anthrex said:
hmmm
I don't know if my current budget can allow that, being a college student is expensive, but if truly necessary I can go as high as the 500w. I am not at all looking at creating an SLI rig so I won't be getting the 600w.
So would it really be necessary to get the 500w over the 430 for my next rig?
500W for Seasonic is plenty good for you. I've sometimes seen it for $105 at places like ewiz.com. I was going to buy that, but the price went up to $124, which was the same price as the S12-600, so I grabbed the bigger PSU. :D

Even the 430 W should be good enough unless you plan on dong heavy overclocking and throw 4 HDDs in the system.
 
A good PSU is a long term investment that can serve through several upgrade cycles if it is properly choose.
The Seasonic S-12's have a 3yr warranty.
Always buy at least 1-level higher than you need right this second. ;)
 
well currently 350w is more than what my current set-up needs. and it seems like the s12-500 is at $97 at ewiz.com so it just barely fits right into my budget. i think i'll probably go with it
 
anthrex said:
well currently 350w is more than what my current set-up needs. and it seems like the s12-500 is at $97 at ewiz.com so it just barely fits right into my budget. i think i'll probably go with it
Good luck w/ it! At that price, I would've probably saved $27 and have taken the S12-500 as well. (I got the S12-600 for $124 shipped). However, ewiz.com is currently showing the S12-500 for $124; they're known to change the price of Seasonic PSUs (and I assume other products) quite often.
 
if you go through froogle.com the price is lowered to $97 even when you add it to your cart and check out
 
lol i thought I was so cool when I found it, but it looks like the people at FW found it out before me :(
 
anthrex said:
if you go through froogle.com the price is lowered to $97 even when you add it to your cart and check out
Ahh, I see, thanks. But shipping adds an extra $13 (UPS ground to NJ), which kind of kills it. When I bought the S12-600, ewiz.com offered free shipping.
 
Got an S-12 600 for 105 shipped... :D ewiz may be unreliable but they got good deals...
 
operaman said:
Got an S-12 600 for 105 shipped... :D ewiz may be unreliable but they got good deals...
Wow, that's a great deal! :cool: When did you order it and is yours the new revision?
 
Back
Top