Is it new PSU time?

[Painman]

EG651P-VE EPS12V 550W PSU. 36A single rail. It's still holding up, but I get the feeling I'm reaching its comfortable limits:

Q6600 @ 3.2 on 1.325v
4*2 GB @ DDR855 1.8v
ASUS P5Q Pro
SB X-Fi
GTX 260 c216 65nm @ 729/1458/1242 stock volts
3 SATA HDDs
2 IDE Opticals
Laing D5 pump @ 50% speed
3 Yate Loon D12SL-12
3 40-60mm Delta fans @ ~7 volts

System is rock stable as of now, but the PSU does warm up and ramp up its fans with a load put on it.

Things I may want to do:

-Step up the 260 to a 285 (40A recommended)

-OC the CPU a bit more.

This is a 3+ year old PSU, not super high efficiency (~70% IIRC) though it's served me very well. Aside from the obvious benefits of getting something that's more efficient, and has plenty of modern connectors, I feel it may just be time for some more headroom... I'm not sure how much more I should add (if anything) to this aging PSU's duty cycle.

I'm looking at the Corsair 650/750W units or the Antec Earthwatts 650W as possible replacements. The Corsair 750W is overkill, but it's not much more $ than the 650, and buying an overkill PSU for a few more $ turned out to be worthwhile the last time around.

TIA.

 

[speedfreak]

it would be advisable to get a new psu, yeah i'll go with corsair's 620W. but if you have the dough go get the 750W so the psu wont have a hard time feeding the system.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Painman
-Step up the 260 to a 285 (40A recommended)

Those two aren't super far apart in power draw.

 

[Painman]

This is... tempting

Google shopping referral link to MWave

$108 - $10 instant coupon - $20 MIR + $11 and change ground shipping... TX750W for just under 90 bucks.

Hmm.

I wish SPCR had a review of the 750W... I don't mind if the fan makes a bit of noise under load, but it must be silent otherwise.

 

[Painman]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: Painman
-Step up the 260 to a 285 (40A recommended)

Those two aren't super far apart in power draw.

Yeah, it's about an amp, or an amp and a half difference. Could go up depending on OC. Doesn't sound like much, but I feel like I'm nickeling and diming this PSU already.

 

[Painman]

I picked up a Corsair TX650w from Egg. It'll be here Thursday, and I'll be rerouting some of my WC stuff @ the same time that I do the PSU install. May as well do both at the same time, and I really do want to relocate my D5 pump.

Perhaps it was unnecessary from a pure wattage consumption standpoint, but I'm happy with this choice. Less noise, less heat, cleaner cabling that has the connectors I need vs. using a bunch of adapters to achieve the same solution. The extra efficiency may very well let the PSU pay for itself if I use it for a good while. And I probably will; I'm not a multi-GPU kind of guy.

I ultimately rejected the idea of buying the TX750w (even though I could have had it for another $10) due to noise considerations... the 650 is on SPCR's short list, while the intel I dug up on the 750 didn't "sound" so promising. I don't really fancy the idea of replacing the sole source of motor noise in my PC (its PSU) with another.

Looking forward to installing the new PSU, and delivering myself from cable adapter hell... if it lives up to its rep for silence, I'll be very happy indeed.