Seasonic X660 vs Corsair AX750

[Scribbler]

Hey,

I know it's probably a no-brainer based on wattage, and I know the Corsair is essentially the Seasonic inside (but with a 7 year warranty), but which would be better, seeing as I can get either one for the same price?

From reviews I've read, the Seasonic seems to edge it in terms of overall quality (I prefer the look of it but, hey, it's going inside the computer!) but I'm not sure if this would be enough to choose it over the 750W Corsair. Preferably I'd like the quietest one.

Currently my setup is only a Q6600 overclocked to 3ghz, 5 sata hdds, 1 nvidia GE Force 6600 and 4gb RAM, although I want to upgrade everything in the not too distant future. The computer is primarily used for music production, not gaming.

Cheers for any help!

 

[philipma1957]

I can speak for the x660 it is very quiet. It almost never spins its fan. In your line of work quiet has to be a good thing.


I think I can find a few reviews for you

ax750:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=236
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4011/corsair-ax750-80plus-gold

x660:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/03/23/seasonic_xseries_x660_power_supply_review/
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/display/seasonic-psu-roundup-2.html



my x660 is running an intel i7 3770t

a sapphire hd 7750 fanless ultimate

a 500gb crucial m4 ssd

a 500gb hitachi 2.5 inch for back up

a samsung bluray internal

and

a dvr card for capture. I only use 50 to 75 watts and the fan never turns on.

I have a hd7950 on order that will pull watts So I will see if the psu runs the fan more.

 

[lehtv]

If you don't see yourself ever doing dual GPU (i.e. you're gaming at 1080p or less), you should really be looking at 500-550W units instead of 650W and over. You can find high quality 500-550W units for half the price of a Seasonic X or Corsair AX. Where are you buying from?

 

[Scribbler]

Cheers for the replies lads,

I'm in Ireland so I'll be buying from either amazon.co.uk or komplett.ie. I don't use the PC for gaming (although never say never!). I do plan to upgrade everything and increase RAM to about 16gb. I'd prefer to keep 650W as a baseline as I don't know what I'll chuck into it in the future! I guess it comes down to quality and quietness. Would 660W be enough for most (fairly powerful) systems?

 

[lehtv]

You really don't need anywhere near 650W if you don't do any gaming. Even the most powerful consumer CPU in the world only uses 130W at stock. And a GPU that can run any game at near-maximum settings at 1080p only uses another 150W, so you're still well within the limits of a good ~500W unit.

Silence in a PSU only makes sense if the rest of the system is designed to be ultra low noise. What sort of CPU cooler do you have, what RPM are your case fans? Surely your five HDD's make noise? Plenty of actively cooled PSUs are very quiet, usually not audible over the load noise of other components. E.g. XFX 550W for £50

 

[Scribbler]

Good points, I'll have a look at that PSU you linked to. I assumed the PSU that just died on me (AKASA 500W AK-P050FG7) was the noisiest component in my system.
I had decided that every component I upgrade from now will be with quietness in mind, so the various reviews led me to the Corsair AX series and Seasonic X series. If I can spend less on the PSU and still achieve decent performance and near silence then I'm all for that! If you reckon 550W is sufficient then that seems the smart option.

 

[philipma1957]

seasonic makes the x560 also very quiet



http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=202


lehtv makes good points in that your hdds may be noisy also your cooling fans may be loud.

my build that I settled on is very quiet. but every part was picked to be quiet not just my psu

 

[lehtv]

Yeah same here, I picked the case and the CPU cooler for low noise operation, my graphics card uses a custom fan profile, and my case fans are downvolted... otherwise my Seasonic X650 would not make any sense, and frankly it may not make much sense even now - I probably would be fine with a similar quality 80+ Bronze 520-620W.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I can speak for the x660 it is very quiet. It almost never spins its fan. In your line of work quiet has to be a good thing.


I think I can find a few reviews for you

ax750:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=236
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4011/corsair-ax750-80plus-gold

x660:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/03/23/seasonic_xseries_x660_power_supply_review/
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/display/seasonic-psu-roundup-2.html



my x660 is running an intel i7 3770t

a sapphire hd 7750 fanless ultimate

a 500gb crucial m4 ssd

a 500gb hitachi 2.5 inch for back up

a samsung bluray internal

and

a dvr card for capture. I only use 50 to 75 watts and the fan never turns on.

I have a hd7950 on order that will pull watts So I will see if the psu runs the fan more.

I think, Seasonic x400 fanless would be perfect for your setup.

 

[lehtv]

You would run HD7950 on X400? Sure it'd work but I'd rather have some extra headroom for overclocking and such

 

[Magic Carpet]

You would run HD7950 on X400? Sure it'd work but I'd rather have some extra headroom for overclocking and such

I doubt, you would see the actual power consumption of that rig exceed the 300w mark. No need to go higher, if you care about saving some watts under lighter loads. Especially with his energy-efficient/locked CPU.



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[lehtv]

That's at stock clocks. With overclocking 7950 can easily consume another 50-70W.

 

[Magic Carpet]

That's at stock clocks. With overclocking 7950 can easily consume another 50-70W.

His CPU + Mobo +RAM + IO at full load will consume around 75-100w. What's left should easily suffice even an oc'ed 7950. A 600w PSU will be less efficient at under 100w loads, so unless you require that extra juice, it makes a poor choice for single card setups, let alone the addl. cost you have to pay upfront.

 

[lehtv]

His CPU + Mobo +RAM + IO at full load will consume around 75-100w. What's left should easily suffice even an oc'ed 7950.

And what if he overclocks the CPU? Or upgrades to an overclockable CPU?

But the main problem here is that X400 is such bad value, it's barely cheaper than an X560 it just doesn't make any sense. And plenty of good quality 500W units can be had for around half the price

 

[TemjinGold]

Well maybe we should ask the OP if he would ever OC anything. All we know right now is that his priority is silence. The X400 is silent at a lot of loads that "plenty of 500w units" would not be.

 

[Magic Carpet]

And what if he overclocks the CPU? Or upgrades to an overclockable CPU?

There is still some overhead left. This PSU does not have problems operating even at 100% of its capacity, in fact, it is designed to withstand hot operating conditions running at full load. There is also a slightly higher-wattage version of the same design, X-460 Fanless.

But the main problem here is that X400 is such bad value, it's barely cheaper than an X560 it just doesn't make any sense. And plenty of good quality 500W units can be had for around half the price

Well, you get what you pay for. This was the first 100% silent design for that kind of wattage. The components inside are of higher quality, just disassemble it and see for yourself. Here is a nice review of it. Perfect for music production, imo.

 

[philipma1957]

I think, Seasonic x400 fanless would be perfect for your setup.

yeah it would but the case is wrong it won't let the psu face up for cooling.

I like the case it is huge and allows for easy cooling and tons of hdds/ssds.


I do have a seasonic x400 and it gets too hot in this case. one thing about the x660 the fan almost never turns on in my setup due to my lower power use. Once the hd7950 comes it may be a different story.

 

[Magic Carpet]

yeah it would but the case is wrong it won't let the psu face up for cooling.

I like the case it is huge and allows for easy cooling and tons of hdds/ssds.


I do have a seasonic x400 and it gets too hot in this case. one thing about the x660 the fan almost never turns on in my setup due to my lower power use. Once the hd7950 comes it may be a different story.

You can always have a big and quiet exhaust fan at the back, if you are 'worried' about the temps in your passively-cooled system, though. It's much easier to deal with standard case fans rather than component ones (such as the ones in power supplies / video cards, for example).

 

[Scribbler]

Cheers for all the info everyone. I've taken on board what you've said and decided to go for a lower wattage PSU. I'm torn between two fairly high-end options, was wondering if anyone would recommend one over the other.

The two are the Seasonic X-560 and the Super Flower Golden King 550W Platinum (550P14PE). They both sound great (no pun intended!) - the SF appears the quietest and most efficient but only offers a 3-year warranty compared with the SS's 5-year one. It'd be a real shitter if it blew up after a few years! From the reviews I've read though, it seems that either would be a good choice.

Once again, cheers for any help!

 

[philipma1957]

I say go for the seasonic 5 year warranty is a lot better. As long as the prices are pretty close those extra 2 years are nice.

 

[Scribbler]

Cheers Philip,

I think I agree with you, the longer warranty on the Seasonic is a clincher. Just before I pull the trigger, a quick question. I've had a look at the XFX PRO 550W that lehtv recommended earlier. From the reviews I've read it appears to be a relatively quiet, sturdy PSU that is built by SS and also comes with a 5-year warranty, but is 80 euro cheaper than the SS X560.

Is the X560 worth the extra 80 euros? Obviously it will be quieter, but will it be that much quieter? The XFX PRO 550W by all accounts is not noisy. I realise that the X560 is modular but again I don't think that quite justifies the premium.

Can anyone say that the SS X560 is worth the extra outlay?

Cheers!

 

[lehtv]

As stated earlier, it's only going to matter if the rest of your components are designed with silence in mind. If you're only planning on silence for future upgrades, I'd definitely recommend the XFX 550W now and then upgrade it to something quieter if you still think it's a good idea. Another point to consider: your current setup is several years old - that 80 euros saved could be put to better use when upgrading other components.

 

[Magic Carpet]

As stated earlier, it's only going to matter if the rest of your components are designed with silence in mind.

Great, that you have mentioned that.

To build a 100% silent system, every component must be hand-picked. Can be a real challenge, since even fanless designs sometimes are not really quiet.

Otherwise, if you buy a fanless PSU but the rest of your computer components generate noise, it would be a total waste of money, if "silence" is your primary objective.

Can anyone say that the SS X560 is worth the extra outlay?

Unfortunately, this is only for you to decide. Read the reviews again, check your wallet, make a rational decision then.

 

[crazymonkeyzero]

Both amazing psu's I would not hesitate to buy. I believe you pay a slight premium for corsair and get a 7 year warranty over the Seasonic 5 year warranty, but Seasonic I believe is slightly quieter.

 

[Scribbler]

Good points everyone. I decided to go for the XFX for now seeing as my current setup is not the quietest anyway. When I do upgrade I'll choose each component, including the PSU, with noise levels in mind. Also, when I do upgrade I'll give my current setup to someone in my family, so the XFX is the more suitable choice with this in mind.

Cheers for all the help everyone, I appreciate all of the advice.