600w Psu ?

[hellknight_lizz]

Hi im getting a new PSU for the ATI 3870 (Powercolor PCS version), and im wondering which one to get?
I HAVE A BUDGET, so, you know i dont need SLI, Turbo charged neon light versions.
1), Is the company EZ Cool any good, and 2), how many amps on the +12v rail should i be looking for? Ive got a core 2 duo system, 1gb ram, 1 IDE 80gb hard drive, getting a sata 200gb drive and 2 case fans i guess are the most basics.
thanks in advance,lizz.

[mjn]

I've never heard of EZ Cool, but it sounds like something you'd find on Ebay.

You can't go wrong with PSU's from Tagan, Seasonic, or FSP.

[miketrim]

Originally Posted by hellknight_lizz

Hi im getting a new PSU for the ATI 3870 (Powercolor PCS version), and im wondering which one to get?
I HAVE A BUDGET, so, you know i dont need SLI, Turbo charged neon light versions.
1), Is the company EZ Cool any good, and 2), how many amps on the +12v rail should i be looking for? Ive got a core 2 duo system, 1gb ram, 1 IDE 80gb hard drive, getting a sata 200gb drive and 2 case fans i guess are the most basics.
thanks in advance,lizz.

I recently had two EZCOOL psu's from Scan and both went bang. I would spend a bit more and save yourself the hassle I had. how much do you want to spend?

[wormvortex]

My PSU has 24A on the 12v rail (I think) though it does have 4 separate ones

[Dragy2k]

hi
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...id=123&subcat=
the above psu above should see you through , the 3870 is not so power hungary as nvidias crop , but i would shop around and save some ££££'s

[hellknight_lizz]

Hmm, i was woried about cheaper psu's blowing /damaging my pc, so i guess it does cost more but your safer.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=408083

My budget is around £40, max about £50. Im ordering after xmas hopefully people will be having sales ect, i noticed the shops have booted the prices up, the 3870s meant to retail at about 140, and the 8800GT i found on google shopping for £250 so thats a bit crappy. Oh im definatly getting the 3870, cos i only have a 4x pci-e slot (dnt worry other people said it runs fine), but nvidia gets bottlenecked by slot speed horrendously. ATI dosent. simple as really.

anyway back to PSU's, the 3870 needs a "450w" or higher psu , i dont need one with SLI/2 gpu connections, and i think that the hiperpower one fits the bill. Its partnered with Nvidia and intel and AMD, so surely it must be a reliable company.

The only thing im scared of is the +12v rail thing, does the amperage get added together, (in this case 35amps) or is one rail for one card, ARGH this is annoying.

Heh, i talk to much, see if you can answer that then :P

[booyaka]

hiper psu's don't have the best of reps but they are ok.

I would check your motherboard firstly as i'm fairly sure that the 3870's still need a x 16 pci-e lane.

otherwise your budget is a bit tight for a good psu.

The corsair range come highly recommended.
best one is the corsair 520W HX but @ £62 it's a bit over budget.

Otherwise check out

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131052...roduct_reviews
Corsair VX450WUK 450W PSU

BAsically they are rebadged seasonics which you can't go wrong with.

[james.miller]

Originally Posted by booyaka

hiper psu's don't have the best of reps but they are ok.

I would check your motherboard firstly as i'm fairly sure that the 3870's still need a x 16 pci-e lane.

otherwise your budget is a bit tight for a good psu.

The corsair range come highly recommended.
best one is the corsair 520W HX but @ £62 it's a bit over budget.

Otherwise check out

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131052...roduct_reviews
Corsair VX450WUK 450W PSU

BAsically they are rebadged seasonics which you can't go wrong with.

the Hx series are built by seasonic. the VX series are channelwell (CWT) and perform pretty much the same, though im not convinced by the build of them, as quite a few of the reviews have pointed out. they dont seem to be screwed together quiet as well.

the psu is the heart of a system. do not skimp on it. by a decent brand only, from the likes of seasonic, pc p&c, corsair, the new enermax units ect. and unless you are intending to run a top end single card liek an 8800gts/gtx or sli, you dont even need a 500W PSU.

I had an entire pc based around a 3.3ghz e6600 c2d and an 8800gtx, and it pulled <400w from the mains and that included the draw of the monitor (22" dell TFT). when you work it out, the actual draw of the components was less than 300watts. yes, thats with an 8800gtx!

BS, where did you hear that. the difference is minimal.

[hellknight_lizz]

The thing about cards being bottlenecked by pci e speed? It was a benchmark i saw somewhere, the results put me off nvidia in a 4x lane...i'll go dig it up might take a few mins ^^

[mjn]

Why would you be putting a PCI-e VGA card in a 4x slot? When all motherboards with PCI-e, have at least one 16x slot.

[hellknight_lizz]

Is a 775-dual vsta by asrock, these clever little things have agp and pci-e at the cost of only a 4x pci e slot. Dont worry on other sites people have said the card itself works, but i just need a new psu to power it at the moment.