Power Usage in New PC Build

[Eidorian]

Sorry if I didn't make myself clear, my statements are all based on absolute worst case scenario, and I have/do use an Earthwatts in my little server machine, the build quality is good, though not as good as my old Seasonic.

I pretty much learned that once you explained your experiences. It's much easier to be civil and hear you out. I agree with you.

OCZ gets something of a bad rap, but I used my ModXtreme for 2 years without a fault. Of those you noted barr, I would select the Corsair if it was for myself, their customer service is usually fairly top notch(had a batch of bad ram from them)

I'd pick Corsair over OCZ as well but I can't complain much about my $49.99 (after rebate) modular OCZ 600W. OCZ even cross ships power supplies so you're not going to be caught without one. I do remember hearing a friend getting one overnighted when they did a RMA.

Though my biggest complaint about my OCZ power supply is the somewhat short 18" cabling compared to the 24" cables that Corsair even provides to the budget 400CX model.

 

[barr08]

Just found this on sale at Newegg. Anyone know anything about the previous generation of OCZ GameXStream? This is an 850w PSU for $70 shipped (after MIR).

I'm really leaning towards this one for the price and wattage. How are the rails on this? Any reason why this wouldn't work well for my situation?

EDIT: Sort of losing interest in this one because of the poor reviews.

Oh, and I wanted to say I appreciate the help a lot, guys!

 

[No1451]

Just found this on sale at Newegg. Anyone know anything about the previous generation of OCZ GameXStream? This is an 850w PSU for $70 shipped (after MIR).

I'm really leaning towards this one for the price and wattage. How are the rails on this? Any reason why this wouldn't work well for my situation?

Oh, and I wanted to say I appreciate the help a lot, guys!

I'd be wary of the light rails on this thing, at load you may run the risk of starving the video cards.

+3.3V@30A,+5V@30A,+12V1@20A,+12V2@20A,+12V3@20A, +12V4@20A,-12V@1A,+5VSB@3.0A

Rule of thumb, never EVER neglect a PSU in favour of saving some cash, it's one of the most essential parts you invest money in when you build. For the $30 you could save, I'd say take the Corsair and the big honking 60A 12v and call it a day.

 

[barr08]

I just purchased the 750w Corsair PSU here.

I think this will do quite nicely. Looks powerful enough, and has universally great reviews. Thanks for the help, everyone!

EDIT: oh no, I just realized that the fan for this PSU is located on the bottom of the unit, but my case houses the power supply at the bottom. Could this be fixed by simply flipping the PSU when installing it?

 

[Bobdude161]

I just purchased the 750w Corsair PSU here.

I think this will do quite nicely. Looks powerful enough, and has universally great reviews. Thanks for the help, everyone!

EDIT: oh no, I just realized that the fan for this PSU is located on the bottom of the unit, but my case houses the power supply at the bottom. Could this be fixed by simply flipping the PSU when installing it?

Very nice choice! I have that one, and it's the best selling (if i remember correctly) PSU on NewEgg. I love it. I only draw, at most 300 watts and 140 watts on average (so my UPS says). Peak watt usage is with 4 internal HDDs, an 860 and a 4850 all working at the same time (file transfer and playing COD6).

Having wayy too much power than needed is something I recommend to anyone who wants their system to last. It helps with control of electrical flow and keeps your system cooler compared to lower wattage PSUs.

Corsair is an excellent brand though I applaud you for choosing them. I was going to get an Earthwatt 500 when I built my system, but saw the reviews and they were not as satisfying.

To answer your question, the corsair should work if your case meets ATX standards. I have the Antec Three-Hundred and it has the PSU on the bottom and the Corsair fits beautifully. Have fun!

 

[barr08]

To answer your question, the corsair should work if your case meets ATX standards. I have the Antec Three-Hundred and it has the PSU on the bottom and the Corsair fits beautifully. Have fun!

Thanks!

So you have yours in upside down? I feel like it would work fine like that, so it's good to hear that you have a similar experience.

Also, I notice that, like myself, you are a lifelong Apple user who recently switched to a PC. Was it for gaming? I love my PC and use it to play games every day. I prefer it over all the consoles. I found myself using XP on my iMac almost exclusively, so when it became outdated, I just decided to get a PC for the savings. It's strange that we went against the trend, ditching Apple while most other people were just discovering them.

 

[Bobdude161]

Thanks!

So you have yours in upside down? I feel like it would work fine like that, so it's good to hear that you have a similar experience.

Also, I notice that, like myself, you are a lifelong Apple user who recently switched to a PC. Was it for gaming? I love my PC and use it to play games every day. I prefer it over all the consoles. I found myself using XP on my iMac almost exclusively, so when it became outdated, I just decided to get a PC for the savings. It's strange that we went against the trend, ditching Apple while most other people were just discovering them.

It's right side up. I think there's only a couple centimeters between the bottom of the case and the PSU and that would not be very good if it was upside down, airflow being restricted and all.

My initial reason was for gaming. I sold my unibody macbook in October to get a gaming PC. Cool thing was is that I barely spent past $875, the price I sold the MB for.

But there were some underlying reasons as well. I think I was just getting burned out with Apple stuff. Also I'm going into the IT field quite soon and I needed to submerge myself in Windows if I wanted to be proficient at it. I gained a lot of great experience just by putting the system together.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Windows 7 though. I love Windows in general in that I can tweak about almost anything within the GUI and not have to look up commands to type into Terminal or download a third party app to just change my hibernation settings. It's just not till 7 came out that I could fully come out of the PC closet, thanks to it's Mac-like stability, beauty and security. Speaking of security, make sure to create an admin account and then a standard user account for daily use, that helps with protecting your system even more.

But for now Apple is second choice for me. It's not an option for daily use. I might go back to Mac sometime in my life, but not in the near future.

Good to hear someone else is on the same boat that I'm in. I was known as "the Mac Guy" who painted an Apple logo on his Apple room wall. For people to hear that I switched to PC was unheard of. Do people look at you funny when you say you switched?

 

[No1451]

I just purchased the 750w Corsair PSU here.

I think this will do quite nicely. Looks powerful enough, and has universally great reviews. Thanks for the help, everyone!

EDIT: oh no, I just realized that the fan for this PSU is located on the bottom of the unit, but my case houses the power supply at the bottom. Could this be fixed by simply flipping the PSU when installing it?

Usually, yes that will work just fine, just make sure that it is able to draw air.

@bobdude, I got in hot water cause I went from exclusively Windows to a mix/match. Many of my friends were not at all impressed

 

[jav6454]

I just purchased the 750w Corsair PSU here.

I think this will do quite nicely. Looks powerful enough, and has universally great reviews. Thanks for the help, everyone!

EDIT: oh no, I just realized that the fan for this PSU is located on the bottom of the unit, but my case houses the power supply at the bottom. Could this be fixed by simply flipping the PSU when installing it?

Yes, that PSU has been popular among gamers. Great choice. The only con it has, is that since it's non-modular, the whole cable management thing will be an awful task.

 

[TechieJustin]

Yes, that PSU has been popular among gamers. Great choice. The only con it has, is that since it's non-modular, the whole cable management thing will be an awful task.

Actually, having the power cables "modular" adds resistance. You want as few connectors as possible.
If you take ten extension cords, connect them in a line, each connection will heat up. Heat = wasted power.

 

[barr08]

It's right side up. I think there's only a couple centimeters between the bottom of the case and the PSU and that would not be very good if it was upside down, airflow being restricted and all.

So yours doesn't have the fan on the bottom of the PSU? The specs on this item told me that it was.

Good to hear someone else is on the same boat that I'm in. I was known as "the Mac Guy" who painted an Apple logo on his Apple room wall. For people to hear that I switched to PC was unheard of. Do people look at you funny when you say you switched?

Yes, I was always the guy who defended Apple as a company and the Macintosh hardware/OS. This was, of course, before they got very popular, so I was always on the losing end of the arguments, just because of sheer numbers

THEN they all thought it was weird that I switched to a PC while they were buying their Macbook Pros and iMacs.

 

[Bobdude161]

So yours doesn't have the fan on the bottom of the PSU? The specs on this item told me that it was.

No worries. The fan's on top. See attachment.

Yes, I was always the guy who defended Apple as a company and the Macintosh hardware/OS. This was, of course, before they got very popular, so I was always on the losing end of the arguments, just because of sheer numbers

THEN they all thought it was weird that I switched to a PC while they were buying their Macbook Pros and iMacs.

That's exactly what happened with me.

EDIT: Sorry I said it was right side up. I got mixed up.

 

[Eidorian]

No worries. The fan's on top. See attachment.

That's exactly what happened with me.

EDIT: Sorry I said it was right side up. I got mixed up.

If you look at NewEgg's pictures of the OCZ power supplies I linked you'll notice the fan is on top but the labeling on the sides is upside down.

 

[barr08]

No worries. The fan's on top. See attachment.

If you look at NewEgg's pictures of the OCZ power supplies I linked you'll notice the fan is on top but the labeling on the sides is upside down.

I guess that's what I get for not paying enough attention. Thanks guys!