Question What are go to power supplies, one for low req, one mid

[robbro9]

I'm in the market for a couple power supplies, one with really low requirements, a ryzen 3400G system with not much else in it, and one more mid range, a 3600/ radeon rx480 or such (possibly 3060 in future if i can ever get one).

At any rate, I did some research, but everything i found seems rather dated, just wanting fresh, up to date info. My requirements are the same for both

NOISE: I put extra effort into reducing noise in all my systems, aftermarket cooling, quiet case fans, water cooled my rx480 etc... so I really want quiet power supplies.

Naturally reliability is nice, but I also tend towards the mid range of the market, not cheap crap, but not premium either.

Are seasonic still the gold standard? Anything I should stay away from? Will i get as good but with better value elsewhere considering priorities above for my 2 situations?

 

[BoomerD]

For me, Seasonic, Seasonic-built Corsair units, and SuperFlower are the brands I've used and trusted. I'm sure there are more..."budget- friendly" units that will suffice...but since the PSU is the heart of the PC, I generally don't go TOO cheap...

 

[WelshBloke]

For me, Seasonic, Seasonic-built Corsair units, and SuperFlower are the brands I've used and trusted. I'm sure there are more..."budget- friendly" units that will suffice...but since the PSU is the heart of the PC, I generally don't go TOO cheap...

And let's be honest a decent power supply doesn't really cost much more than a crappy one when you look at the cost of the whole build.

 

[BoomerD]

And let's be honest a decent power supply doesn't really cost much more than a crappy one when you look at the cost of the whole build.

Well...$30 compared to $150...that's significant..until you factor in the damage that a crappy PSU can do to the rest of your system when (not if) it dies.

 

[robbro9]

Plus the headache of troubleshooting the weird grimlins an iffy power supply can create... Its worth going middle of the road at least, maybe not the $150 but I know to stay away from those $30 specials... Its not worth the hassle.

 

[aleader]

I've had cheap and expensive units. I've never had one fail in over 25 years. I still have a 430W Thermaltake and a 600W OCZ running in mining systems. They're a little loud and do use about 10w more than the new ones (about $9 per year in power), but they still work just fine. The 'buy the most expensive one' crowd should be ignored in general. Having said that, you may as well get a Gold+ with a 10 year warranty as they aren't much more than a bronze model these days.

PSU's seem to be like cars and trucks...everyone sticks with one brand, but you'll find lots of bad reviews for dead PSU's with every brand. I think if you just stick to Seasonic, Phanteks, Corsair RMx, or EVGA and you'll be fine.

I've ended up with 3 EVGA PSU's somehow...2 bronze, 1 gold (https://www.amazon.ca/EVGA-Supernova-Modular-Warranty-120-GP-0750-X1/dp/B0797HL9Z4) and they have been good. I only paid $134 CAD / $107 USD for the 750. The Bronze used to be had for about $35 USD which is a no-brainer, but they have gone way up.

With a 3600/3060 you don't need anything more than a 550W, but you could maybe get a 650W if the price is the same, but only if you plan on upgrading the GPU at some point. I have a 5600x/3070 in my main system and the max power draw at the wall is only 328W, so a 650W would be perfect. These are apparently good ones too:

https://www.amazon.ca/Phanteks-80PL...1&keywords=phanteks+650&qid=1617212524&sr=8-1

 

[blckgrffn]

For systems I care about, I use the ltt PSU tier guidelines usually (google ) - but I do also have a preference for buying PSUs at retail because usually if they are garbage (weird noises, coil whine or flat out don’t work) it’s from the jump.

Which is why I buy gold RM or RMx units from Best Buy when I can. No having to ship it back (but free shipping to me) and also no RMAing it and hoping the tech sees the same issues you did and actually sends you a fresh (now refurb) unit or denies the RMA and sends the same back.

That’s my $.02. Paying sales tax everywhere online really pushed me back to local retailers, for better or worse.

Which reminded me - I have a 10% Best Buy bday coupon expiring in a couple of hours, so I just checked on my standby unit, the RM750 at Best Buy. Enough for any single card ever (IMO) and $125, free ship ($170 at Amazon!). Used the discount and got it ordered for $120 delivered. Thanks for reminding me of something worthwhile to buy there

Looks like $130+tax at Newegg, plus return hassles if that is needed...

 

[aleader]

For systems I care about, I use the ltt PSU tier guidelines usually (google ) - but I do also have a preference for buying PSUs at retail because usually if they are garbage (weird noises, coil whine or flat out don’t work) it’s from the jump.

Which is why I buy gold RM or RMx units from Best Buy when I can. No having to ship it back (but free shipping to me) and also no RMAing it and hoping the tech sees the same issues you did and actually sends you a fresh (now refurb) unit or denies the RMA and sends the same back.

That’s my $.02. Paying sales tax everywhere online really pushed me back to local retailers, for better or worse.

Which reminded me - I have a 10% Best Buy bday coupon expiring in a couple of hours, so I just checked on my standby unit, the RM750 at Best Buy. Enough for any single card ever (IMO) and $125, free ship ($170 at Amazon!). Used the discount and got it ordered for $120 delivered. Thanks for reminding me of something worthwhile to buy there

Looks like $130+tax at Newegg, plus return hassles if that is needed...

Yah, shop local if you can. Or at least buy online if not in stock and they have a physical store you can return it to. Even in my small city of 37,000 there's a Best Buy. You can also get some stuff at Staples for the same price. I avoid Amazon at all costs if I can (I didn't buy any of my PC hardware from Amazon, even though I linked them).

 

[killster1]

For systems I care about, I use the ltt PSU tier guidelines usually (google ) - but I do also have a preference for buying PSUs at retail because usually if they are garbage (weird noises, coil whine or flat out don’t work) it’s from the jump.

Which is why I buy gold RM or RMx units from Best Buy when I can. No having to ship it back (but free shipping to me) and also no RMAing it and hoping the tech sees the same issues you did and actually sends you a fresh (now refurb) unit or denies the RMA and sends the same back.

That’s my $.02. Paying sales tax everywhere online really pushed me back to local retailers, for better or worse.

Which reminded me - I have a 10% Best Buy bday coupon expiring in a couple of hours, so I just checked on my standby unit, the RM750 at Best Buy. Enough for any single card ever (IMO) and $125, free ship ($170 at Amazon!). Used the discount and got it ordered for $120 delivered. Thanks for reminding me of something worthwhile to buy there

Looks like $130+tax at Newegg, plus return hassles if that is needed...

for me having to drive to a best buy would be 100x more annoying then printing a label and leaving it for the post man or throwing it out the window at a post shop on the way to work. My real life time is more valuable then my online time I guess

Cant remember the last time i went to a retail computer selling store.. best buy wow maybe 6+ years or more, even then it felt like everything was a rip off. i have been buying titanium evga's which is overkill before that i went with the hxi corsairs, i would stay away from the newest models of evga power supplies since i hear they are made by a different maker now. ive seen alot of issues with rm / rmx corsairs too but almost no issues with hx / hxi. Jonnyguru always has the best advice for these things and i bet he has a few youtube videos.. here is one from this year

watch and learn

i had planned on watching king kong vs zilla on one screen and playing online with another but i guess ill prob watch the video too for fun. (even tho i have no intention of buying any psu's for soooo long (already have 3 or 4 spare titanium's waiting for hxi's to falter.)

jonny says in the vid he uses a rmi of course he has a corsair shirt on

whoops im a idiot the video says 2017 but google told me it was 2021 when i searched hahahah ;P ill leave it tho

 

[blckgrffn]

for me having to drive to a best buy would be 100x more annoying then printing a label and leaving it for the post man or throwing it out the window at a post shop on the way to work. My real life time is more valuable then my online time I guess

Cant remember the last time i went to a retail computer selling store.. best buy wow maybe 6+ years or more, even then it felt like everything was a rip off. i have been buying titanium evga's which is overkill before that i went with the hxi corsairs, i would stay away from the newest models of evga power supplies since i hear they are made by a different maker now. ive seen alot of issues with rm / rmx corsairs too but almost no issues with hx / hxi. Jonnyguru always has the best advice for these things and i bet he has a few youtube videos.. here is one from this year

watch and learn

i had planned on watching king kong vs zilla on one screen and playing online with another but i guess ill prob watch the video too for fun. (even tho i have no intention of buying any psu's for soooo long (already have 3 or 4 spare titanium's waiting for hxi's to falter.)

I see what you are saying, but when it's cheaper and easier and I get stuff in one day (because they ship from stores local to where you live) I find it really viable.

And the point is I don't have to go there if it works, but when it doesn't I can drive over (10 minutes for me) and drop it off and have that credit back right now. It was a relief when I had a bad CX650 or whatever that I had bought for my son, I took it back that night while I was trouble shooting and walked out of the store with a new RM750 and put that in directly. Issue resolved. I would say this is almost exclusive for PSUs, because I have found them to be my most troublesome components. Otherwise, its usually worth a drive to MC for CPU/mobo combos. Having options is great. And I love shopping in stores, I make tons of bad decisions there

I value the instant gratification and the move to "click and mortar" retailing is both killing the small retailer and indulging me.

Jonnyguru is sort of "one of us" - I've seen him post here regularly - and he actually advised against holding PSUs too long. Something about capacitors and age being a bad thing? I don't know if he has a video but he definitely has some posts here about pulling really high quality units out of storage and having bad results. We were talking years later though.

 

[killster1]

I see what you are saying, but when it's cheaper and easier and I get stuff in one day (because they ship from stores local to where you live) I find it really viable.

And the point is I don't have to go there if it works, but when it doesn't I can drive over (10 minutes for me) and drop it off and have that credit back right now. It was a relief when I had a bad CX650 or whatever that I had bought for my son, I took it back that night while I was trouble shooting and walked out of the store with a new RM750 and put that in directly. Issue resolved. I would say this is almost exclusive for PSUs, because I have found them to be my most troublesome components. Otherwise, its usually worth a drive to MC for CPU/mobo combos. Having options is great. And I love shopping in stores, I make tons of bad decisions there

I value the instant gratification and the move to "click and mortar" retailing is both killing the small retailer and indulging me.

Jonnyguru is sort of "one of us" - I've seen him post here regularly - and he actually advised against holding PSUs too long. Something about capacitors and age being a bad thing? I don't know if he has a video but he definitely has some posts here about pulling really high quality units out of storage and having bad results. We were talking years later though.

yea i read all about holding the psu's to long in the same thread he spoke in. for me i don't care as temperature is in a controlled environment and there is almost zero humidity. You wont see me driving anywhere to get replacement parts as i have extra's of everything ddr4, /motherboards gpus's cpu's psu (usually just two extra's of each but just replaced a few computers and haven't given the other extra's away yet. How long do you think the psu is on the shelf before it sells in one those small retail stores? Ive been moving to nuc's specially since the summer is coming and its already 85F today.
Only retail stores i go to are grocery stores and Calvin Kline / Galeries Lafayette when in paris

 

[blckgrffn]

yea i read all about holding the psu's to long in the same thread he spoke in. for me i don't care as temperature is in a controlled environment and there is almost zero humidity. You wont see me driving anywhere to get replacement parts as i have extra's of everything ddr4, /motherboards gpus's cpu's psu (usually just two extra's of each but just replaced a few computers and haven't given the other extra's away yet. How long do you think the psu is on the shelf before it sells in one those small retail stores? Ive been moving to nuc's specially since the summer is coming and its already 85F today.
Only retail stores i go to are grocery stores and Calvin Kline / Galeries Lafayette when in paris

Haha, fair enough but I can’t carry the same extra parts load I once did because my wife won’t stand for it. A stack of PSUs of various quality for my recreational Craigslist builds and a spare case and old SSDs are about all I hang onto now. I accumulate enough deals I can’t walk past until I have enough for a computer then I build it and sell it. Or sell of the eldest of my fleet and keep the new one. It’s highly variable

You can bet that I was irritated that my supply of high quality PSUs was depleted though. I had two Seasonic gold units turn 6.5 years old (one had sat for several years, it was my hot standby as it was a twin modular) and promptly go to crap. RMA units were trash so I put them where they belonged. So I had just used the best of my stockpiled units (I always need a “deal” too) and his died at the same time.

Stock turn at Best Buy these days? Days I am thinking on many PC components. They regularly price match Amazon and even Microcenter sometimes, so they are incredibly more competitive than they used to be.

My first 5700xt was a POS and I am so glad I bought it retail because I wanted it out of my life so bad. 😂

 

[aleader]

Johnny Guru is no-more...off to work for Corsair. He loved the RMx series as I recall. I'm either really lucky or very good at picking PC components...I like to believe the latter . I've never had a component die in over 30 years, knock on wood. Just a single Seagate 320 GB HDD that got corrupted. It still worked, but I tossed it. Since then, no more Seagate, no more issues.

On Brick and Mortar, I have two teen boys who work in these kinds of places. Them having jobs is of tremendous value, obviously. I guarantee you your kids won't be working for Amazon when they're 15. It's the same reason I refuse to use a self-checkout. Only suckers that enjoy working for free as a bag-packer use those.