Totally Lost on PSU Choice

[Pewpz]

Hey there,

I am building a computer system (first time doing so) and I think I've got everything sorted out - except for a PSU. My current computer is 9 years old and has survived shipping from Australia to North America twice. Everything part on it has been a reliable product - I mention this because it has me spoiled.

I don't want to skimp on a PSU, I feel it's an extremely important part of the system. I don't have unlimited funds but I will spend a bit extra in order to acquire a product that is reliable.

I'm lost on what to choose - every time I read a good review about a PSU my follow up investigation into user reviews makes the item in question sound awful. Coil whine (something never mentioned in reviews I've seen), units going defective after a year or less, DoAs, etc. etc. I understand that bad reviews stand out, and that most happy customers won't post anything but it has me second guessing any choice I make.

My current build is looking like this:

CPU - i7 4770K
GPU - Gigabyte GTX 760
MB - Asus Z87 - Pro
RAM - 16 GB
Cooler - Noctua Fan or Corsair Water (not sure yet)

PSUs I've considered are:

Corsair AX-760
Corsair HX-760
Seasonic G-550
Seasonic G-650
Seasonic Platinum 520 (No Fan)
Seasonic Platinum 660
Rosewill Capstone 550

Lots of issues with coil whine, fan issues, reported failures, etc. across the board and I'm sure that's just standard with any product. Still, it leaves me feeling no more informed about my choices than when I started investigating.

Any input is appreciated, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks!

 

[nsafreak]

Really all of them are pretty strong PSU choices although I'm not quite as fond of the Rosewill. Frankly the Corsair AX seems to be a bit on the overpriced side if you ask me even as good of a PSU as it is. I would probably go with either the Corsair HX-760 or the Seasonic G-650.

 

[lehtv]

Given that choice of motherboard I would get SLI/Crossfire capable PSU.

Massive discount on a Hive 750W $60 AR AP

If you must have higher efficiency then grab XFX 750W Gold for $110 AR (essentially the same as Seasonic X750 KM3). It's nowhere near as good value as the Hive 750W though.

 

[Nec_V20]

Lots of issues with coil whine, fan issues, reported failures, etc.

I have one AX850 and two AX860 PSUs running in my systems and I have had zero of the issues you mentioned above.

I did get lucky with the AX860 and managed to pick the pair of them up (from a reputable dealer, not off the back of a lorry) for just pennies more than the price of an HX-850.

With regard to motherboards my choice fell upon the Gigabyte Z87X-UD5H for my i7-4770k and I am very happy with it.

I modified my Corsair H100i with two Noctua NF-F12 fans and I have nothing to gripe about there.

Of the choices above I would go with the Corsair AX750 PSU.

 

[Meghan54]

Wife's computer has the Seasonic Plat 660...3570k cpu, 6950 gpu. Works fine, no coil whine or other complaints.

Mine has a Seasonic Plat 860 (overkill, I know)....4770k cpu, GTX 780 gpu. Again, haven't heard anything from the power supply at all.

Love both, but have used a Corsair AX 750 without problems. Was another nice ps.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Best on the market right now is the Antec HCP Platinum 850w. OEM = Delta which beats out Seasonic's best.

 

[Z15CAM]

XFX Pro 850W Black Full Modular PSU - I bought mine from NCIX CA for $119.49 on Sale - It's identical to either the Seasonic X850 or Corsair AX850 KM3 designs and Gold yet passes Platinum Specs as 80 Plus - Will do 988.4 Watts under full load and MUCH Cheaper then either Seasonic or Corsair.

Casing and Cable Quality is Superb and it's Extremely QUIET powering an i7 2700K 1.34v at 4.7G's/ Asus P8Z68V-Pro Gen 3/4X4 16GB Samsung MV-3V4G3D-US_DDR3 at 1.25v 1866Hz 9-9-9-24-1T/Samsung 256 840 Pro SSD plus WD Blacks in Raid-0 ...etc. TV Haupage Capture and a Spare Intel NIC. Video Cards various. My monitor is a QX2510 MATTE 2560x1440 @ 120Hz. I'm not much of a gamer and mostly into Encoding AVC 264H/AAC MKV and FLV Hi-Res flics including 4K Video ;o)

It will power any Dual GPU CF/SLI you want. If you don't think you will use all that power buy the XFX Pro 750W Black Full Modular PSU which goes on sale for approx $99 and it's full Platinum. They are both 90% efficiency PSU's.

Highly recommended by me ;o)

Cooler - Noctua Fan or Corsair Water (not sure yet)

As for a CPU Cooler on your i7 4770K/Asus Z87/ suggest the Fractal Midi R2 Case with minor mod to mount a Corsair H100 140x30x280mm AIO within the case for about $120, that is internally off set on Top clearing the the MB and Ram for Push Pull Fans if necessary. Either the 280mm H100 or NZXT Kraken X60 ($140) All-in-One will do. Both use dual 140mm fans on a 280 Rad but the Spacing is 5mm diff which easily mounts either on the Top or Front of a Midi R2 Case. The Fractal Midi R2 leaves lots of options for Air or Water Cooling using Big 140mm Dia Slow Revving Quiet Fans. The Fractal Midi R2 case can be had for under $70 on sale and more versatile then the BitFenix Shinobi or any Corsair case for that matter when it comes to price/performance. My I7 2700K cruises at 36C and rarely hits 67C under full load when encoding Video with all 8 cores Maxed Out. It's amazing one can build a Hi-Bit-Rate 2hr DVD 720x480 Res 400Mb Flic in under 10 minutes today that looks great at 2560 x 1440 - Even if you just Screen Capture a portion of your screen - Then there is 4100x2300 Res 35 Mbps 4k Video - I'm blown away with what we can do on our PC's today

Either the XFX PRO 750 or 850W Black Edition Full Modular KM3 Design will give you a PSU to launch you into the future for a reasonable price.

Gotta say "lehtv"" Roswell 750 recommendation is a good deal but consider the XFX for $10 more and a much better KM3 PSU.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/arti...Edition-Full-Modular-Power-Supply-Review/1716

 

[isawthedevil]

Consider xfx psu!

 

[Demoralized]

I like my EVGA Supernova 750 gold. Been solid with both crossfire and SLI.

 

[Murloc]

corsair is a solid choice and I've never had any noise problems.
It broke after like 5 years for no reason at all but with any PSU there's always going to be a probability of failure, certain brands are better but it's not 0 and it could always be you receiving the defective one.
Then angry customers will write about this on the internet, and you can't infer statistics by reading random negative reviews.

 

[lehtv]

Gotta say "lehtv"" Roswell 750 recommendation is a good deal but consider the XFX for $10 more and a much better KM3 PSU.

The Rosewill Hive costs $60 AR AP while the XFX unit costs $110 AR. That's not $10 more, that's $50 more.

 

[Z15CAM]

Rosewill HIVE Series HIVE-750 750W Bronze at Newegg.CA is $120 regular and on sale for $100. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16817182133

XFX Pro 750W Black Edition Platinim at NCIX.CA regular $140 and $120 after rebate. However, I've seen it as low a $100.http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=78946&vpn=P1750BBEFX&manufacture=XFX

We never see the prices our American neighbours see - Free Trade don't exist for Canadians. So that's not $50 more but $20 more and you get a KM3 Platinum 750W Fully Modular PSU.

 

[Torn Mind]

It is impossible to get a manufacturing process with 100% defect-free rate. Or, in other words, out of all units of a particular line of PSUs are shipped out from the factory, there is not a single process that can insure every single one of them is defect-free. However, the failure rate can be reduced or increased depending on the specific way they are manufactured and handled. The DoAs, disaster stories, etc are representative of a proportion of the total population of PSUs. Good companies will make batches with mostly problem-free units whereas the crappy ones will have more manufacturing errors or the unit is a poor unit by design.

And even the best units could be down by some transient variation(brownouts, etc); up to a point, it becomes more economical to invest in a separate so-called line conditioner or a second power supply as a hedge for failure rather than putting all of your eggs in one basket.

There are a whole host of things that can down even a good power supply prematurely, and those things do not mean that the PSU can't perform its primary job properly when it was still alive, which is to convert AC to DC within the proper voltage specifications. Naturally, the better supplies also have the circuitry to turn the PSU OFF when something wrong happens.

 

[lehtv]

@ Z15CAM

How do you know the OP is Canadian, and how do you expect me to know it ...?

 

[ronss]

my next psu will probably be seasonic...they build really good psu,s,...