PS for Q6600 build

[bryanW1995]

I'm planning to build a Q6600 machine after july 22 price cuts. I have a 7600gt but plan to upgrade when 2nd gen dx10 cards come out. My old PS isn't going to cut it. I'm not running sli but plan to oc. I also don't want to break the bank since I went for the Q6600 instead of an am2 system and I'm already over budget. I plan to install a Penryn in 18 mos or so when the prices come down. Suggestions?

 

[Mango1970]

Depends what you are willing to spend really.

Let me tell you -- I have 4 PS to my name thus far. The first one I had when I upgraded to my current e6600 with a eVGA 8800GTX on a eVGA 680i board was an older Antec NeoH 500 PS. I honestly thought it was not going to do the job for me considering I would also have 2 500GB WD drives and 36 Raptor, along with PCI Wireless card and a DVD-RW drive not to mention the high OC.

I used it for about a month (and OC'ing my system to 3600mhz with voltages of 1.56) and I had NO NO NO problems. This PS I spent I believe $75 a while back. It's modular and rocks. It?s well made and not sure if that line is still available but I would suggest that one or a comparable one from Seasonic like the S12 line.

However I could not leave things well enough along and a great deal came up on a OCZ GameXtream 700 Watt SLI PS and with rebates it was really good -- roughly $100 Canadian. I installed that and what a shock, it did nothing but make my system way louder. Still no better OC, I could not lower my Voltages etc.

I then got another great deal (which I do not regret) for a PC Power and Cooling 750 quad SLI PS. First of all I love the look but most importantly it's also DEAD quiet and it has the potential of running 4 cards (which I will never do) but if you do ever go SLI with 2 x 8800GTX you will need 4 connectors. You can still do this on other PS just that you would need adaptors etc and also this PS is certified to run 2 8800GTX cards and quad core systems. Anyhow again it did not improve my system performance wise but it's quiet and well made. This cost me $124 Canadian which was insane.

Again... the $75 unit did the job just as well as the others and in fact now is running my AMD X2-4800+ system with a crap load of stuff on it.

The OCZ I simply do not like as again at least I find it loud. I also have another Antec but this one is the TruePower 550 and again cost me about $70. I have not tried that one in my system bur rather my father has it in his AMD X2-3800+ system. That is also very quiet and well made.

I know for a fact all four of those PS have the correct power connections for the newer boards but the PC Power and Cooling has a whole bunch of extras to future proof it including a dongle off the PCI express connectors for what I assume the ATI X2900 video cards have. Anyhow something to consider.

One thing to add ? I did some research and found a few sites that explain how to properly test you power supply with a digital voltmeter while loading, idle and under full load. I did these tests to check the rails etc on the 3 of the PS I used on my e6600 system. Although I can honestly say the Antec 500 NeoH had the ?lowest? results, they were all rock steady and were all within the accepted limitations ? again proving you don?t need to spend a fortune on a 1000 Watt crazy-ass PS.

 

[sliderule]

I like this unit from Silverstone, although it may be more than your willing to spend: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817256012

Also it comes with a 8pin plug for pci-e 2.0.

 

[bryanW1995]

I was wondering what those 8 pin plug were for.

 

[Zardnok]

A Corsair HX520 or HX620 should do you well. Both should run an OC Quad and a single Video card. Check out hotdeals forum for a link to the HX520 on sale.

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: Zardnok
A Corsair HX520 or HX620 should do you well. Both should run an OC Quad and a single Video card. Check out hotdeals forum for a link to the HX520 on sale.

thanks. I had another friend recommend the corsair. I bought the HX520.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995
thanks. I had another friend recommend the corsair. I bought the HX520.

Good choice, especially for the build quality, and the price.

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: Mango1970
Depends what you are willing to spend really.

Let me tell you -- I have 4 PS to my name thus far. The first one I had when I upgraded to my current e6600 with a eVGA 8800GTX on a eVGA 680i board was an older Antec NeoH 500 PS. I honestly thought it was not going to do the job for me considering I would also have 2 500GB WD drives and 36 Raptor, along with PCI Wireless card and a DVD-RW drive not to mention the high OC.

I used it for about a month (and OC'ing my system to 3600mhz with voltages of 1.56) and I had NO NO NO problems. This PS I spent I believe $75 a while back. It's modular and rocks. It?s well made and not sure if that line is still available but I would suggest that one or a comparable one from Seasonic like the S12 line.

However I could not leave things well enough along and a great deal came up on a OCZ GameXtream 700 Watt SLI PS and with rebates it was really good -- roughly $100 Canadian. I installed that and what a shock, it did nothing but make my system way louder. Still no better OC, I could not lower my Voltages etc.

I then got another great deal (which I do not regret) for a PC Power and Cooling 750 quad SLI PS. First of all I love the look but most importantly it's also DEAD quiet and it has the potential of running 4 cards (which I will never do) but if you do ever go SLI with 2 x 8800GTX you will need 4 connectors. You can still do this on other PS just that you would need adaptors etc and also this PS is certified to run 2 8800GTX cards and quad core systems. Anyhow again it did not improve my system performance wise but it's quiet and well made. This cost me $124 Canadian which was insane.

Again... the $75 unit did the job just as well as the others and in fact now is running my AMD X2-4800+ system with a crap load of stuff on it.

The OCZ I simply do not like as again at least I find it loud. I also have another Antec but this one is the TruePower 550 and again cost me about $70. I have not tried that one in my system bur rather my father has it in his AMD X2-3800+ system. That is also very quiet and well made.

I know for a fact all four of those PS have the correct power connections for the newer boards but the PC Power and Cooling has a whole bunch of extras to future proof it including a dongle off the PCI express connectors for what I assume the ATI X2900 video cards have. Anyhow something to consider.

One thing to add ? I did some research and found a few sites that explain how to properly test you power supply with a digital voltmeter while loading, idle and under full load. I did these tests to check the rails etc on the 3 of the PS I used on my e6600 system. Although I can honestly say the Antec 500 NeoH had the ?lowest? results, they were all rock steady and were all within the accepted limitations ? again proving you don?t need to spend a fortune on a 1000 Watt crazy-ass PS.

This is what I've been trying to tell people for quite a while... that a new super-powerful PSU will not normally be something you will notice with a system. A new high-dollar power supply seems like something you will notice but the sad truth is that you won't. (and shouldn't if it does it's job)

Yeah, you get bragging rights(or shaming rights ) about having a 1*** watt power supply, but what part of that is enviable? That you spent way too much on a PSU that you will never fully utilize while you can't afford a decent case or RAM? Silly stuff if you ask me.

And for the record, I am running a PCP&C Silencer470($99) and it's overkill even with 10 fans and 8 drives on my o'c'd C2D system although to be honest I probably wouldn't have all these drives running if I felt the PSU couldn't handle it.