A10-7850k/MB Combo at Micro Center, need help choosing RAM

[Insert_Nickname]

Yes that CX430 would run, with help of that connector, an R9 270X, but say a year down the road when say 290x's and low end i7's are cheaper, I'd be a bit sceptical of using a 430 Watt PSU.

Don't be. I'm rocking just fine on a 450W Antec. My system is a 3770non-K@4.3GHz, full-size ATX mainboard, 16GB RAM, a HD7870, two HDDs, an SSD and an ODD. It's barely breaking 230W at full load. Measured at the wall, so it's including PSU (in)efficiency. What you want to pay attention to are how many amps you can pull from the 12V rail. Anything over 35A is fine for a single GPU system.

The only place you'd need a 500W+ unit is for SLI/Crossfire systems. Ideally you want a PSU that's rated at twice the power your system uses. Simply because most PSU are most efficient at 40-60% load. It can actually be counter-productive to choose a too high wattage PSU, because you sacrifice efficiency at low idle loads.

 

[crockman]

Don't be. I'm rocking just fine on a 450W Antec. My system is a 3770non-K@4.3GHz, full-size ATX mainboard, 16GB RAM, a HD7870, two HDDs, an SSD and an ODD. It's barely breaking 230W at full load. Measured at the wall, so it's including PSU (in)efficiency. What you want to pay attention to are how many amps you can pull from the 12V rail. Anything over 35A is fine for a single GPU system

kk, That Corsair CX-430 is rated at 32A on the 12V rail. So it is a bit below your target of 35A.

Would that CX-430 safely run an i5 4670k/MSI Z87 MB, 16GB RAM, R9 270X, 1 x1TB HDD ?

The only place you'd need a 500W+ unit is for SLI/Crossfire systems. Ideally you want a PSU that's rated at twice the power your system uses. Simply because most PSU are most efficient at 40-60% load. It can actually be counter-productive to choose a too high wattage PSU, because you sacrifice efficiency at low idle loads.

Being Crossfire wont be done anytime soon with this build, if ever at all, then I guess it really doesn't make sense to spend the extra dollars on that 500Watt EVGA.

 

[lehtv]

Would that CX-430 safely run an i5 4670k/MSI Z87 MB, 16GB RAM, R9 270X, 1 x1TB HDD ?

Yeah, but you'd need to use an adapter for the second PCIe connector. I'd prefer to avoid that so I'd get a 500W unit with 5 year warranty, and avoid having to upgrade it if buying a more power hungry graphics card later. XFX 550W $50 AR

Being Crossfire wont be done anytime soon with this build, if ever at all, then I guess it really doesn't make sense to spend the extra dollars on that 500Watt EVGA.

A 500W EVGA isn't enough to crossfire anything. Generally you need 650W+ to do Crossfire. Also the 500W EVGA is covered by 3 year warranty only, and it's not as good quality as the XFX unit linked above, so I agree it's not worth it over the CX430, but the XFX unit might be

 

[crockman]

Yeah, but you'd need to use an adapter for the second PCIe connector. I'd prefer to avoid that so I'd get a 500W unit with 5 year warranty, and avoid having to upgrade it if buying a more power hungry graphics card later. XFX 550W $50 AR

I would tend to agree, idea of using the connector makes me nervous.

That XFX 550W has an excellent write up at Jonny Guru: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story3&reid=225 Their basically calling it a rebadged Seasonic making $50 a pretty decent price

 

[mfenn]

I'm going to lock this thread in order to keep the discussion focused in one thread at a time. Everybody please mosey on over to the other thread.

mfenn
General Hardware Moderator