650w or 700w

[Rayzn]

I was looking at a 700w power supply by RocketFish (Best Buy's brand which is pretty good) and a 650w power supply by BFG which I can buy for $10 more ($60) then the other power supply.

I was wondering if I should get the BFG as it is known more and maybe more reliable. I will be running e6600, 6800 gts, and an xfi sound card for my main hardware.

 

[Trevante]

Those both sound like crappy PSU's. If a 700w PSU can be bought for only $50, it's probably not that great of a PSU. What kind of amperages does it have? Being able to supply 700 watts means nothing if it can't provide enough amps to run your components.

And for that rig you described, you don't need anywhere near 600 watts. Assuming 2 harddrives and 2 optical drives, 500 watts will be more than enough. I'd suggest you look into a higher quality 500w PSU from a more well known brand name (Corsair/Seasonic, Enermax, Fortron)

 

[Rayzn]

I forgot to mention those are the prices with my employee discount. I pay what the company pays plus 5%. I believe they were around 150-175.

 

[bitachbutz]

did you know there are 1000 watt psu out now?

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

What are you planning on powering with this PSU? (specs)

 

[Rayzn]

Sorry I meant to put 8800gts, not 6800gts for my video card. The main specs are in the first thread.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Rayzn
Sorry I meant to put 8800gts, not 6800gts for my video card. The main specs are in the first thread.</end quote></div>

Any abnormal amount of hard drives? For a 8800GTS, an E6600, and a sound card, you won't need anything near 700w. Also, keep in mind +12v amperage is what usually gets hit the hardest on the PSU, so it is the main thing to check first to see if a PSU will suffice.

I'd do some reading over at Jonny Guru's. Both his reviews & the forums. Lots of good info over there.

FYI: I have a 620w Corsair powering a E6400, 8800GTS, sound card, PCIe RAID controller, 4 120mm fans, and 6 hard drives, and I'm pulling ~342 watts out of the wall. My specs if you want to see.

 

[Rayzn]

I was told I would need a hell of a good PSU to use next gen graphic cards but that is reassuring. I will check out the voltage next time im at work. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Trevante]

Originally posted by: Rayzn
Sorry I meant to put 8800gts, not 6800gts for my video card. The main specs are in the first thread.

Well what I said still stands. Assuming 2 opticals and 2 or 3 harddrives, a good 500 watt PSU should be fine.

If you're set on buying your PSU's at Best Buy, I'd forget about the measily 50 watt difference and go with the one that has better amperage ratings on its rails (go for something with at least 30A on the 12V rails) and the one that is higher quality. 650 watts vs. 700 watts doesn't matter as much as the quality of the PSU and it's ability to supply those 650 or 700 watts steadily.

 

[Zepper]

Get a higher quality 500W unit instead if they have any. The Antec Neo HE is probably a better choice than either of those.

.bh.

 

[TungFree]

so If I were to get a Q6600 on a motherboard to support it and a HDTV digital PCI card with a video card to support that other card 3 hard drives and 2 DVD burners and USB port attachments or Firewire...

What amperage is safe on the 12 volts?
I now have an Antec blue 480 watts, with 2 hard DRIVES and a DVD burner, with a Logitech webcam and head sets on skype.
Am I under powered?