Which Seasonic PSU to buy?

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Fester

Weaksauce
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Oct 6, 2010
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I have all of the components I need for my first ever PC build. However, I still can’t figure out which PSU to buy. I’ve decided that I want to get a Seasonic platinum series because I’ve heard that they are quite (no coil whine) and they have a good warranty. I’m choosing between either of these two:

660(SS-660XP2)
760(SS-760XP2)

Currently, I’m thinking about the 760XP2 because it’s only around $20 more than the 660 at Newegg. I would appreciate any thoughts on these two models. The most important thing I'm looking for is for it to be modular and not have coil whine.

Here are the PC components I’ve purchased:

HARDWARE

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

Motherboard: ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131821

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card 02G-P4-2678-KR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Internal Desktop Hard Drive Bulk/OEM - WD1002FAEX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

SSD Hard Drive: Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-148-442

Memory: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

Optical Drive: Lite-On LightScribe 24X SATA DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive IHAS424-98 - Retail (Black)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106335

Monitor: Dell UltraSharp U2412M Black IPS Panel 24" 8ms Pivot, Swivel & Height Adjustable LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 2,000,000:1 (1000:1) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824260047

Speaker: DELL UltraSharp and Professional Series 468-7412 10 W 2.0 AX510 Flat Panel Stereo SoundBar http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836260002&Tpk=Dell AX510

Case: Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl w/ USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Silent PC Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352020
 
I would like to mention the New Corsair RM series power supplies as well, they are a very solid power supply that is also quiet very efficient and not that costly for the decent rated units (550-650-850) worth looking into as the internals look to be based on seasonic G series or AXi series
 
For $20 the 760, not needful, but comforting in the aspect of future possibilities.
Though I would likely be sensible..
 
I generally just use Newegg's PSU Calculator and try to be within the 50% utilization range power consumption for maximum efficiency. Sometimes this isn't realistic but I use it as a guideline. In this case your system requires about 500w so I would opt for the 760w model to give you some extra headroom if you ever decide to upgrade to a beefier graphics card. Most people stick with a specific CPU platform but change graphics cards more frequently.

http://images10.newegg.com/BizIntell/tool/psucalc/
 
Rajintek Thermis would also be a great cooler to opt for, it outperforms the evo, and I think yes 500w is reasonable but to give an idea I can run my "power hungry" phenom II x4 955 in an overclocked state with dual 7870 also overclocked on a quality 650, so 760w is not needed a quality 650 will be fine and still give overhead hence my mention of the RM series corsair they will provide that overhead and possibly save a few $ as not needing to get more then you actually need, if OP plans on going dual card at some point but sticking with say dual 670 or dual 760 then 750 would still not truly be needed but will provide that safety margin.
 
I've been using the SS-760XP2 for about two months. It was a little more PSU than I needed, but was available for less than the 660 because of a coupon deal at the time. My 760 has performed flawlessly and replaced an aging Corsair HX1000.
 
Tyler-Durden said:
I've been using the SS-760XP2 for a while. It has performed flawlessly and replaced an aging Corsair HX1000.
Click to expand...

Just got this a few days ago for $100 after rebate. I have read nothing but good things about this unit.
 
The 760 would be a little overkill but for a good deal, cant go wrong if you get one especially if its for a great price. Best Buy had the TX750's on sale for what you could get a TX650 for on Newegg so I went for it even though it was overkill for me. Has never been a problem and it actually paid off cause I got this 8150 that sucks down a ton of juice but my PSU fan never comes on.

Nothing really wrong with PSU overkill so long as you realize youre paying for wattage youll never use but it wont hurt anything.
 
you are not really paying for wattage you will never use(well not directly anyways) though I think I know what you mean, generally you want a psu or any electric motor/generation device loaded 42-73%(or thereabouts) as this is generally their most efficient range, if you get say a 1kw psu but only really use 400w of it then you paid for nothing and are not usually at its best range for loading so you pay more overall :p

Most folks just way overestimate power supply needs, mid range gpu these days in a higher end system your perfectly fine with a 500-550w psu and that leaves quite a bit of overhead provided its not a POS power supply but one that actually can deliver 500-550w, for a high end cpu high end gpu 550-600w dual mid range 600-650 dual high end 700-750w and ultra high end 800-850w.
 
more then enough I wouldn't say that 1920x1200 there will be games that the 660 cannot max it out due to various limitations, I would say a 660Ti or better a 760 or equivalent then this can be more or less said true(having a heavily OC 7870 I can state this as I only run 1920x1080 and there are some games that are just under being capable of maxed) can a 660 comfortably play nearly everything with some settings down, yes for sure, though the 660Ti or better would be the best bet.

Also I would say as a suggestion, Gskill for ram, their ram sinks are less likely to conflict and the ripjaw series are extremely well regarded for many reasons, also for SSD why not Samsung 840? Case Fractal Arc Midi R2 is another suggestion, and power supply coolermaster V series which are also seasonic gold and modular just for another part possibility, also messed on name of cpu cooler I referenced earlier is Raijintek Themis http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Raijintek/Themis/6.html
 
@dragonstongue, thanks for the suggestions but I already purchased all those parts. I only need the PSU and case fans (hopefully that's all I need).

OK, 760 it is then. I was a bit worried because I've read some reviews regarding coil whine but I'm hearing that complaint with every single PSU. I don't really trust Corsair anymore because of the last models that had a huge amount of complaints about coil whine. Now, I've got to go looking for a deal. I freaking missed the $120 deal last month :(
 
well to be fair any psu or any gpu can have coil whine, corsair uses a specific build for their psu and generally are not heavily modified compared to the base they are built on, but I would imagine the RM series being "super quiet" at all times would do their best to avoid the whine as many folks would be sending them back asap.

I am still rocking an HX750 that I got when I got my 6870 which is what now ~3-4 soon, never had an issue with it though I can say when was running both 7870 and my 955 overclocked it got quite warm but handled it very well.

Case fan wise, I really like my cougar ones like this http://www.amazon.com/COUGAR-CF-V12...K0/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_2_0/181-5564676-3372617 very nice airflow that is directed to one side more or less(like a vortex hence name) then there is always http://www.amazon.com/Scythe-Gentle...VO/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_2_1/181-5564676-3372617

there is lots of nice 760s out there would hit tons of reviews to find the perfect one for you, different coolers, overclocking ability etc.
 
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I just got the 760 recently from the $100 sale. It's near silent with no sign of coil noise. Purely awesome psu imho, can't beat the complete top of the line for your system. :D
 
Just got this bad boy installed and so far it is whisper quiet. A steal at $100
 
Talk about confusing, posts going back and forth mentioning "760" as either a PSU or GPU. :p
 
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