Seasonic s12 or OCZpowerstream

[SnoMunke]

Originally posted by: mordantmonkey

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Let me spell this out for you in kindergarten language....BOB. The OP may be adding components in the future (i.e. more HDDs (RAID arrays), new video cards, more fans, more DVD/RWs, got only knows what else)....it would be wise of him/her to buy the biggest PSU he can afford now and save the trouble of having to buy a larger PSU later (spending more money) when he needs the extra watts...

The problem is that he will probably never even come CLOSE to maxing out a 500W PSU, let alone a 600W one. Both are way, way, way overkill for anything but the very highest-end systems you can build. If he doesn't plan on doing SLI, I don't think he could get close to 500W without a LOT of hard drives in there, as well as a VERY fast CPU.

i am thinking about the future. however just as matthias said. I will NOT be doing SLI. I will be getting a fast dual core, and 4drives. but the 500w should be fine for that upgrade path.

I am not doing SLI either, and I just maxed out my OCZ 520watt PSU...

@ newegg:

OCZ 520watt = $139
Seasonic 600watt= $153

Difference of $14.

Seasonic's construction is a much higher grade. I have both...I can physically see it...

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: SnoMunke
I am not doing SLI either, and I just maxed out my OCZ 520watt PSU...

...with what, a 12-drive RAID array? Unless you are doing heavy-duty overclocking, it would be very tough to get a sustained power draw much above ~300W in a single-CPU, single-GPU system with a few hard drives.

You can easily max out the +12V line on a cheap PSU well before you hit its wattage limits, but that's a different problem.

 

[SnoMunke]

Originally posted by: pcmodem
Yours truly has a SeaSonic S-12 600W

The thing is damn quiet!

Also, the power plugs have these special grips that make it very easy to plug in and pull out of devices, which is very convenient. No more yank-heave-HO to pull a plug out.

There are plugs for PCI-e and SATA drives, so no need to splurge on adapters.

Remember, when buying parts for a new PC, splurge on:
1. excess quality power
2. a highly upgradable motherboard
3. a good case

These three things are the foundation of your PC, everything else is relatively easy to upgrade.



Cheers,
PCM

BOB...another person stating the same idea as I did... is he ignorant as well? If someone doesn't agree with you, does that make them ignorant?

You still haven't answer my question concerning my original statement:

"Listen up BOB...I implied nothing... If you are going to quote me then do it correctly.... I said (and I quote myself), "Go with the biggest PSU you can afford.". HOW can you say that I am implying he should go with the Seasonic?"

 

[SnoMunke]

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: SnoMunke
I am not doing SLI either, and I just maxed out my OCZ 520watt PSU...

...with what, a 12-drive RAID array? Unless you are doing heavy-duty overclocking, it would be very tough to get a sustained power draw much above ~300W in a single-CPU, single-GPU system with a few hard drives.

You can easily max out the +12V line on a cheap PSU well before you hit its wattage limits, but that's a different problem.

actually a 10-drive array...

 

[Bobthelost]

Originally posted by: SnoMunke
BOB...another person stating the same idea as I did... is he ignorant as well? If someone doesn't agree with you, does that make them ignorant?

You still haven't answer my question concerning my original statement:

"Listen up BOB...I implied nothing... If you are going to quote me then do it correctly.... I said (and I quote myself), "Go with the biggest PSU you can afford.". HOW can you say that I am implying he should go with the Seasonic?"

What are you on about? On second thoughts who cares. Your statement was to the effect that he should waste money on a larger PSU that would provide no real world gains or improvement for his circumstances. As such it was pretty bloody stupid, as you'd know if you'd read the thread, where pretty much everyone had agreed that 600W was utter overkill for his planned upgrade path.

If you want to carry this on then please, piss off and get a grip.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: SnoMunke

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: SnoMunke
I am not doing SLI either, and I just maxed out my OCZ 520watt PSU...

...with what, a 12-drive RAID array? Unless you are doing heavy-duty overclocking, it would be very tough to get a sustained power draw much above ~300W in a single-CPU, single-GPU system with a few hard drives.

You can easily max out the +12V line on a cheap PSU well before you hit its wattage limits, but that's a different problem.

actually a 10-drive array...

...my point exactly. Unless you're planning something very unusual, a (good-quality) 350-400W PSU should be more than adequate for a single-CPU, single-GPU system in the foreseeable future.

 

[alpha88]

The SeaSonic 12-600 (or 500) is definately the way to go if you value quietness. I personally own the 600w version, just because I intend to do SLI. 500w is plenty if you don't intend to use SLI.

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: rise4310

Originally posted by: Janet Reno
Seasonic...no question.

 

[SnoMunke]

Originally posted by: Bobthelost

Originally posted by: SnoMunke
BOB...another person stating the same idea as I did... is he ignorant as well? If someone doesn't agree with you, does that make them ignorant?

You still haven't answer my question concerning my original statement:

"Listen up BOB...I implied nothing... If you are going to quote me then do it correctly.... I said (and I quote myself), "Go with the biggest PSU you can afford.". HOW can you say that I am implying he should go with the Seasonic?"

What are you on about? On second thoughts who cares. Your statement was to the effect that he should waste money on a larger PSU that would provide no real world gains or improvement for his circumstances. As such it was pretty bloody stupid, as you'd know if you'd read the thread, where pretty much everyone had agreed that 600W was utter overkill for his planned upgrade path.

If you want to carry this on then please, piss off and get a grip.

I glad you know what I was implying or what effect my statement was supposed to have since obviously I didn't have a frickin' clue.

Go pound sand BOB. Is that clear enough for ya? No need for you to infer to what I might be implying.

 

[SnoMunke]

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: SnoMunke

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: SnoMunke
I am not doing SLI either, and I just maxed out my OCZ 520watt PSU...

...with what, a 12-drive RAID array? Unless you are doing heavy-duty overclocking, it would be very tough to get a sustained power draw much above ~300W in a single-CPU, single-GPU system with a few hard drives.

You can easily max out the +12V line on a cheap PSU well before you hit its wattage limits, but that's a different problem.

actually a 10-drive array...

...my point exactly. Unless you're planning something very unusual, a (good-quality) 350-400W PSU should be more than adequate for a single-CPU, single-GPU system in the foreseeable future.

Check this out. PSU Selector

350-400watt PSU? I disagree...

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: SnoMunke
I glad you know what I was implying or what effect my statement was supposed to have since obviously I don't didn't have a frickin' clue.

Go pound sand BOB. Is that clear enough for ya? No need for you to infer to what I might be implying.

Both of you -- chill out before a mod has to get involved, please.

He disagreed with your advice that the OP should "buy the biggest PSU he can afford". There's no need to take this stuff personally.

 

[Bobthelost]

*drops it*

Night all.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: SnoMunke
Check this out. PSU Selector

350-400watt PSU? I disagree...

LOL. I hope you meant that to be funny, because:

a) there are major problems with the questions that thing asks, and:

b) it's on a PSU manufacturer's website. Of course, they would never EVER possibly overestimate power requirements and tell you to buy a much more expensive PSU than you really need.

 

[SnoMunke]

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: SnoMunke
I glad you know what I was implying or what effect my statement was supposed to have since obviously I don't didn't have a frickin' clue.

Go pound sand BOB. Is that clear enough for ya? No need for you to infer to what I might be implying.

Both of you -- chill out before a mod has to get involved, please.

He disagreed with your advice that the OP should "buy the biggest PSU he can afford". There's no need to take this stuff personally.

You call "Thank you snomunke for being utterly ignorant of the subject matter at hand." to be a proper method of disagreement? I don't mind when someone disagrees with me...I actually find it enlightening since things may be pointed out to me that I didn't see in the first place.

What Bobthelost's statement lacked was a measure of mutual respect. And instead of calling him an @ss from the beginning, I gave him plenty of chances to explain his lack of respect, and he failed to respond. So yeah, I DID take it personally.

 

[SnoMunke]

Anandtech recommends 500+ watt PSUs...you want to disagree with them as well?

 

[SnoMunke]

Bobthelost,

Hey man, thanks for the PM and apology. No hard feelings... take care and good luck!

 

[Rockhound1]

Here is a link to the best prices that I have found for Seasonic S-12 PSUs Link

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I dont know if you've made your decision yet, but my opinion is the S12 600W is a lot better. Checking up on noise, voltage regulation, that was my PSU of choice (with Antecs coming in a close 2nd). This PSU is reliable, and DAMN good.

You're not buying 600W because you NEEd 600W. You're buying for rail stability. You may not need 600W, but who cares? If there's a good deal, jump on it.

 

[Tostada]

Originally posted by: SnoMunke

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: SnoMunke
I glad you know what I was implying or what effect my statement was supposed to have since obviously I don't didn't have a frickin' clue.

Go pound sand BOB. Is that clear enough for ya? No need for you to infer to what I might be implying.

Both of you -- chill out before a mod has to get involved, please.

He disagreed with your advice that the OP should "buy the biggest PSU he can afford". There's no need to take this stuff personally.

You call "Thank you snomunke for being utterly ignorant of the subject matter at hand." to be a proper method of disagreement? I don't mind when someone disagrees with me...I actually find it enlightening since things may be pointed out to me that I didn't see in the first place.

What Bobthelost's statement lacked was a measure of mutual respect. And instead of calling him an @ss from the beginning, I gave him plenty of chances to explain his lack of respect, and he failed to respond. So yeah, I DID take it personally.

Well, Bob is a jackass. You're not going to get any mutual respect there. At least he usually has a pretty good idea what he's talking about, unlike most jackasses on this forum. I kinda like his style.

 

[Tostada]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
I dont know if you've made your decision yet, but my opinion is the S12 600W is a lot better. Checking up on noise, voltage regulation, that was my PSU of choice (with Antecs coming in a close 2nd). This PSU is reliable, and DAMN good.

You're not buying 600W because you NEEd 600W. You're buying for rail stability. You may not need 600W, but who cares? If there's a good deal, jump on it.

The S12 600W really isn't a lot better. Look at the specs on SeaSonics:

380W: 3.3v=22A, 5.0v=21A, 12v1=10A, 12v2=15A
430W: 3.3v=30A, 5.0v=30A, 12v1=14A, 12v2=15A
500W: 3.3v=30A, 5.0v=30A, 12v1=17A, 12v2=16A
600W: 3.3v=30A, 5.0v=30A, 12v1=18A, 12v2=18A

The 380W is strong enough for most people, even for overclocking, since modern CPUs are taking their power from the 12v2 rail.

The 430W is significantly better than the 380W in other areas, especially for people with tons of hard drives. It's 40% stronger on every single rail except 12v2 (which already has 15A, which is enough to overclock a dual-core CPU without worries).

The 500W isn't much of a step up from the 430W. It has a stronger 12v1 rail, which I think might be where most of your modern video cards are drawing their power. 12v1 is also where your hard drives pull when they spin up. You might want to get the 500W if you've got an SLI setup with several hard drives, but it's not going to help you overclock.

The 600W is pretty much just for people with an extra $39 burning a hole in their pocket.

 

[Tostada]

Originally posted by: SnoMunke
Anandtech recommends 500+ watt PSUs...you want to disagree with them as well?

AnandTech's a little questionable when it comes to certain areas. The first things that come to mind are hard drive reviews and PSU recommendations.

I'm particularly concerned by their almost deliberately misleading statements about power draw on video cards. In the most recent article, they are using an OCZ 600W PSU at far below an efficient level for a PSU that large. Those PowerStream PSUs are down to 70% efficiency or less when they're at such a ridiculously low load. Systems drawing 123W from the wall? With a 600W PSU? Then the actual draw is below 100W. You don't put a 10% load on a PSU then read the wattage at the wall and pretend it means anything.

 

[SnoMunke]

Originally posted by: Tostada

Originally posted by: SnoMunke

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: SnoMunke
I glad you know what I was implying or what effect my statement was supposed to have since obviously I don't didn't have a frickin' clue.

Go pound sand BOB. Is that clear enough for ya? No need for you to infer to what I might be implying.

Both of you -- chill out before a mod has to get involved, please.

He disagreed with your advice that the OP should "buy the biggest PSU he can afford". There's no need to take this stuff personally.

You call "Thank you snomunke for being utterly ignorant of the subject matter at hand." to be a proper method of disagreement? I don't mind when someone disagrees with me...I actually find it enlightening since things may be pointed out to me that I didn't see in the first place.

What Bobthelost's statement lacked was a measure of mutual respect. And instead of calling him an @ss from the beginning, I gave him plenty of chances to explain his lack of respect, and he failed to respond. So yeah, I DID take it personally.

Well, Bob is a jackass. You're not going to get any mutual respect there. At least he usually has a pretty good idea what he's talking about, unlike most jackasses on this forum. I kinda like his style.

:laugh:

 

[SnoMunke]

I read somewhere that although the OCZ PowerStream does have adjustable rails, if a user does adjust the rails, it voids the warranty... nice bait and switch...

 

[Snakexor]

OCZ FTW

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: SnoMunke
Anandtech recommends 500+ watt PSUs...you want to disagree with them as well?

Essentially, yes. It's one thing if you're building an SLI system or you are extremely likely to upgrade to SLI in the next 6-12 months. PSUs don't go bad and should hold onto most of their resale value, so there is little sense in overspending now when the same thing could cost less in a year if you decide you need it then.

There is no reason IMO to spend an extra $50-100+ on an overpowered PSU for a system that doesn't need it.