Rosewill FORTRESS Series 750W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified

[Face2Face]

Does anyone have any thoughts on this PSU? If you would have asked me a year ago about A Rosewill PSU I would have said " No way" but it appears they have stepped up their game.

Either way I am looking for a 750W or Higher in the $120 range. I don't care about modular and this will be going into a Full tower (Long cables needed). I am moving my Dell case and PSU to my server.

[samboy]

I've had the 650w Fortress for 3 months and been running like a charm.........
It seemed to be the best bang for buck with a 20% promotion at Newegg at the time.

[lehtv]

$120 it's definitely not a bad price for such a highly efficient unit.

If you count in rebate, Antec HCP-850 $110 AR is worth a look as well. Review by JonnyGuru 9/10

[TemjinGold]

OP: Are you powering the rig in your sig? Because if money is an issue, buying a 750w may not be the solution.

[Face2Face]

Originally Posted by TemjinGold

OP: Are you powering the rig in your sig? Because if money is an issue, buying a 750w may not be the solution.

Yes I am. I know 750watt is overkill for this setup. I was thinking 750watt because it could handle another 7950 if I ever wanted to... but it may never happen? ultimately I want a PSU I can use for the next 5 years. I can go $140 at the most. No MIR - I don't like them.

Thanks!

[lehtv]

Don't get 750W "just in case", most people who think about Crossfire/SLI as a "contingency plan" end up never doing it with the power supply they bought. As for whether it'd make sense crossfire the 7950 - only 2560x1440 and higher resolutions. If you have no definite plans to go 2560x1440, just get a 500W unit. If you change your mind about 2560x1440 gaming later (e.g. due to better pricing and availability of such monitors), nothing stops you from selling the unit and upgrading to 750W. However, keep in mind that running 7950 Crossfire properly would require you to upgrade the CPU to an overclocked Intel i5, plus a new motherboard. Also, by the time you upgrade the monitor, new GPUs could be powerful enough to handle it without crossfiring.

[Face2Face]

Originally Posted by lehtv

Don't get 750W "just in case", most people who think about Crossfire/SLI as a "contingency plan" end up never doing it with the power supply they bought. As for whether it'd make sense crossfire the 7950 - only 2560x1440 and higher resolutions. If you have no definite plans to go 2560x1440, just get a 500W unit. If you change your mind about 2560x1440 gaming later (e.g. due to better pricing and availability of such monitors), nothing stops you from selling the unit and upgrading to 750W. However, keep in mind that running 7950 Crossfire properly would require you to upgrade the CPU to an overclocked Intel i5, plus a new motherboard. Also, by the time you upgrade the monitor, new GPUs could be powerful enough to handle it without crossfiring.

All good points. I was planing on going Haswell when that comes out. I haven't had a dual card config since my old 7800GT's, so it's been awhile. I will be sticking with 1080P for a while. I was thinking about going for a Seasonic 650 Watt. What do you think about that?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151088

[lehtv]

Originally Posted by Face2Face

I was thinking about going for a Seasonic 650 Watt. What do you think about that?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151088

I think exactly what I wrote above. Seasonic X-660 is an expensive PSU that will handle 7950 crossfire; besides, the Fortress is more efficient, more powerful and less expensive. I'd recommend this:

XFX 550W $60. It's built by Seasonic.

[Face2Face]

Originally Posted by lehtv

I think exactly what I wrote above. Seasonic X-660 is an expensive PSU that will handle 7950 crossfire; besides, the Fortress is more efficient, more powerful and less expensive. I'd recommend this:

XFX 550W $60. It's built by Seasonic.

I would like something a little bigger than 550watt, even though I may not need it.

I may get the SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold - It's pretty cheap now and it's very highly rated. Though the Rosewill is 750watts and has a 7 year warranty....hmm

[lehtv]

I would like something a little bigger than 550watt, even though I may not need it.

Well, it's your money :p.

I may get the SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold - I may get the SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold - It's pretty cheap now and it's very highly rated.

Not at all. It's been as low as $100.

One downside with the Fortress though is that it's not modular, and since this is going into a rig where many of the cables will not be in use and where the case isn't that good for cable management, a modular unit would be much preferred. The best deal I can find is Corsair HX750 at $130 ($105 with rebate). This is the new version that is officially 80+ Gold. 7 year warranty, fully modular.

[TemjinGold]

OP: SLI/Xfire will only ever happen 99% of the time if you do it from the get go. If you don't, you won't ever do it because it will ALWAYS be more cost effective to sell your old card and buy one new card rather than buy a second old card to join. Get whatever size you want but I highly recommend investing in a Killawatt and looking at what you are actually drawing before you do. It may shock you.

Newer stuff like Haswell and the like will go DOWN in power, not up.

[Face2Face]

Originally Posted by lehtv

Well, it's your money :p.
Not at all. It's been as low as $100.

One downside with the Fortress though is that it's not modular, and since this is going into a rig where many of the cables will not be in use and where the case isn't that good for cable management, a modular unit would be much preferred. The best deal I can find is Corsair HX750 at $130 ($105 with rebate). This is the new version that is officially 80+ Gold. 7 year warranty, fully modular.

Thanks for your help, I am going to make my decision soon.

I am going to be getting a Thor V2 Full Tower as well.

[Face2Face]

Originally Posted by TemjinGold

OP: SLI/Xfire will only ever happen 99% of the time if you do it from the get go. If you don't, you won't ever do it because it will ALWAYS be more cost effective to sell your old card and buy one new card rather than buy a second old card to join. Get whatever size you want but I highly recommend investing in a Killawatt and looking at what you are actually drawing before you do. It may shock you.

Newer stuff like Haswell and the like will go DOWN in power, not up.

Yeah - you make sense. I know my current rig doesn't draw much power - A 550 watt would be fine I suppose. I think a 650 Watt for me would make me feel the most comfortable.

[Eureka]

Your setup will draw under 500W for sure. I remember anandtech measuring a total system with 6950s crossfired and it only hit around 500W. Don't overbuy and stop worrying about the future; when the time comes there will always be better options, and it's usually best to just do it all at once (monitors/gfx/power).

[TemjinGold]

Originally Posted by Face2Face

Yeah - you make sense. I know my current rig doesn't draw much power - A 550 watt would be fine I suppose. I think a 650 Watt for me would make me feel the most comfortable.

Don't buy into marketing hype about how much you need to feel comfortable. My system peaks at under 300 watts from the wall (from the wall is higher than what your PSU needs to produce for your system). With only one 7950, you will use maybe 50% of a 550watt.

[Face2Face]

Originally Posted by TemjinGold

Don't buy into marketing hype about how much you need to feel comfortable. My system peaks at under 300 watts from the wall (from the wall is higher than what your PSU needs to produce for your system). With only one 7950, you will use maybe 50% of a 550watt.

So this? XFX 550W $60. It's built by Seasonic.

http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=596...X&promoid=1285


I wonder if it's cables are long enough for a full tower? I guess - I could get a better CPU cooler with the money left over.

[lehtv]

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...Story&reid=225

20+4-pin ATX connector (550mm)
1 4+4-pin ATX12V/EPS12V (550mm)
1 8-pin ATX12V/EPS12V (550mm)
1 6-pin PCIe (570mm) 1 6+2-pin PCIe (600mm)
1 SATA (2 cables w/ 3 connectors) (550mm+130mm+130mm)
6 SATA (1 cable w/ 3 connectors) (370mm+130mm+130mm)
3 5.25" Peripheral Power Connector (1 cable w/ 3 connectors each) (550mm+130mm+130mm) 3 5.25" Peripheral Power Connector (1 cable w/ 3 connectors each) (370mm+130mm+130mm) 3 3.5" Drive power adapter (+140mm)
2

The EPS connector will most likely need an extension to be comfortably routed around the motherboard tray. The rest should be fine.

[Face2Face]

Originally Posted by lehtv

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...Story&reid=225



The EPS connector will most likely need an extension to be comfortably routed around the motherboard tray. The rest should be fine.

Cool. Thank you very much for the help.

[TemjinGold]

If you're cool with rebates, this is a monster deal:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2290153

Nevermind, too late...

[Zap]

Anandtech puts a single Radeon 7950 at 289-309W from the wall with an Intel CPU. Your CPU might add another 20-50W depending.

I've seen Kill-A-Watts as cheap as $16 on hot deals. Best. Investment. Ever.

Originally Posted by lehtv

One downside with the Fortress though is that it's not modular, and since this is going into a rig where many of the cables will not be in use and where the case isn't that good for cable management, a modular unit would be much preferred.

This is another reason to buy the wattage you actually need. More wattage than you need will always result in more cables than you need.

Originally Posted by TemjinGold

OP: SLI/Xfire will only ever happen 99% of the time if you do it from the get go. If you don't, you won't ever do it because it will ALWAYS be more cost effective to sell your old card and buy one new card rather than buy a second old card to join. Get whatever size you want but I highly recommend investing in a Killawatt and looking at what you are actually drawing before you do. It may shock you.

Newer stuff like Haswell and the like will go DOWN in power, not up.

I know it says what others have said, but this puts it very clear and concise.

[Jstn7477]

I don't own a Rosewill Fortress but I have a Rosewill Capstone 550w (Gold) and it is perfect for my 3770K 4.3GHz and 1.05GHz 7950 (used to run a 2600K perfectly fine which of course has a higher power consumption). I don't shy away from Rosewill either anymore since many of their PSUs use decent OEMs, but they still have some unsavory low end ones like the Stallions or the ancient RV350.

[Face2Face]

Originally Posted by Jstn7477

I don't own a Rosewill Fortress but I have a Rosewill Capstone 550w (Gold) and it is perfect for my 3770K 4.3GHz and 1.05GHz 7950 (used to run a 2600K perfectly fine which of course has a higher power consumption). I don't shy away from Rosewill either anymore since many of their PSUs use decent OEMs, but they still have some unsavory low end ones like the Stallions or the ancient RV350.

I am impressed with the specs on the Rosewill Capstone and Fortress series. Their quality appears to have improved - I guess they are using better OEM's like you said.

[Face2Face]

Originally Posted by Zap

Anandtech puts a single Radeon 7950 at 289-309W from the wall with an Intel CPU. Your CPU might add another 20-50W depending.

Good to know. Thanks for the info.

I think I will get this one - http://www.amazon.com/P3-Internation...pr_product_top

[Face2Face]

If I was to pick up a Killawatt meter. Whats the best way to test a max wattage scenario?

Furmark and Prime 95 at the same time? Or just run a game like Farcry 3 for a little bit?

[Zap]

Originally Posted by Face2Face

I am impressed with the specs on the Rosewill Capstone and Fortress series. Their quality appears to have improved - I guess they are using better OEM's like you said.

I forgot who they are using for the Fortress, but the Capstone OEM is Super Flower. Very excellent! Fortress is a different OEM, maybe ATNG?