Which 400ish watt psu for 24/7 system

you2

Diamond Member
Apr 2, 2002
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I'm building a linux box that i tend to leave running 24/7. It is not exactly an htpc system; I use it for web browsing; ripping videos; watching tv; email.

The build will be along the followings:
z68 (for display port) (seems to be only 4 mother boards available and only 2 with 2 pci slots); 2500K; 8gb ram; 3 or 5 hard drives; bd and dvd drives.
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My intention is to let the 2500K drive the monitor (no gpu) but if there are issues this might change
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My original thoughts on psu was 80+ gold to minimize heat and power.
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At first I was going to go with the seasonic x 450 but the $130 price seems excessive (esp since the 650 is frequently 130 or less)
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The only other gold psu in this range I could find is the new FSP 400 avernum gold for $80 but it is rather new and 0 reviews.
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There is a lepa gold @ 500 watts but it is around $120
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Not sure how much difference in reliability and power usage but there is the antec HCG-400 for $55 (bronze; instead of gold).
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The one nice feature of the seasonic is that it is fan less
-
Anyways any other options worth considering or any comments between the
FSP
Seasonic
and
Antec psu mentioned above ?
(The FSP is probably a bit loud but the review on the 700 watt unit seems to suggest decent build)
 

LOL_Wut_Axel

Diamond Member
Mar 26, 2011
4,310
8
81
I'm building a linux box that i tend to leave running 24/7. It is not exactly an htpc system; I use it for web browsing; ripping videos; watching tv; email.

The build will be along the followings:
z68 (for display port) (seems to be only 4 mother boards available and only 2 with 2 pci slots); 2500K; 8gb ram; 3 or 5 hard drives; bd and dvd drives.
-
My intention is to let the 2500K drive the monitor (no gpu) but if there are issues this might change
-
My original thoughts on psu was 80+ gold to minimize heat and power.
-
At first I was going to go with the seasonic x 450 but the $130 price seems excessive (esp since the 650 is frequently 130 or less)
-
The only other gold psu in this range I could find is the new FSP 400 avernum gold for $80 but it is rather new and 0 reviews.
-
There is a lepa gold @ 500 watts but it is around $120
-
Not sure how much difference in reliability and power usage but there is the antec HCG-400 for $55 (bronze; instead of gold).
-
The one nice feature of the seasonic is that it is fan less
-
Anyways any other options worth considering or any comments between the
FSP
Seasonic
and
Antec psu mentioned above ?
(The FSP is probably a bit loud but the review on the 700 watt unit seems to suggest decent build)

I'm just gonna be completely frank and tell you that 80+ Gold isn't worth it at all over Bronze or Silver unless you have extremely high energy costs where you live. As far as heat, extra efficiency isn't really gonna help you out all that much on that. The system you posted isn't gonna draw more than 200W from the PSU at full load, so I'd advise you get something like an Antec EA-380D and be done with. You may save some $1 or $2 a year by going to 80+ Gold, but is it really worth it? The PSU won't break a sweat at all and the fans are gonna be running at low RPMs. For your system a reliable $50 PSU is more than enough.
 

hardboy

Member
May 2, 2011
33
0
0
Get a 2500 if u dnt wanna oc also get a high quality 600 watts for future safety like a corsair or seasonic
 
Last edited by a moderator:

theAnimal

Diamond Member
Mar 18, 2003
3,828
23
76
Get a 2500 if u dnt wanna oc also get a high quality 600 watts for future safety like a corsair or seasonic

Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk

Why do you insist on recommending oversized PSUs? The OP is not intending to use a GPU, and even if he does it won't end up being anything power hungry. When you run an oversized PSU on a low power system, you end up running well below the 80Plus rating of the PSU.
 

you2

Diamond Member
Apr 2, 2002
6,075
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I think I want the seasonic for $70 but the hcg or fsp seem reasonable. I think I'll read more reviews on the hcg since it has a decent price point.
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from what I read on the hcg-400 it seems like a good choice; a few folks have gotten bad fans (or badly installed fans) that click (perhaps the blade is striking a wire?)
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ok the hcg-400 looks pretty decent.
 
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you2

Diamond Member
Apr 2, 2002
6,075
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Different series than the x 400; I think the antec hcg-400 (from what I've read) is a better version of that psu.
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I.e, they started with the 400et; and did a slight upgrade. Rumour is that seasonic made it; part of the upgrade was slightly better effic.
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Anyways that's how I translated the articles I read this morning so there might be a few errors.
 
Nov 26, 2005
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I built a machine for my brother using 400w Gold Seasonic.

Gave him some old parts:
Q9650
Asus P5Q Premium board
8G 2.0v
ATI 1900 XTX
bought:
Seasonic 400w Gold PSU
an SSD

yada yada

The machine use to idle around 104w when I had it. With the 400w Seasonic it idles ~ 80w