What PSUs do you buy??....

[Leiesoldat]

I'm just waiting on reviews of the Seasonic SPX 750 (sfx platinum) to come out. I reached out to Seasonic customer support a couple months ago to ask about potential release date and they said Q4 of 21 (assuming calendar year not fiscal). I like to keep the power supply at 50% of the load, and based on current power readings from my system, the 750W range is right at the sweetspot.

 

[dirtyferret]

instead of the companies who stick labels on other people's stuff (Corsair, EVGA).

Why not? Brands often do a better job on the front end of the business (marketing, sales channels, customer service, et.,) than a company who just mainly focuses on the back end but little effort on the front end. The two companies you mention have some of the best customer service out there in PC hardware. I'm not saying you should go with a company that "sticks labels on people stuff" (majority of tech hardware business by the way) but you shouldn't discount them either.

 

[RyzenMaster.sys]

That those brands don't intend 24/7 use under their warranty. Yes the SRT made seasonic S12iii comes with a globe sleeve bearing fan and most of sleeve bearing fans are 30k hrs + in lifespan. I'm not talking about specs but rather what people at Seasonic have told me. They believe in the warranty for their PSU (both OEM & outsourced) 24/7 operation. Would I personally use it under those conditions? No.


Tony, aka Taz, has them and was in the process of converting the old site into a more modern site.



on his personal site Jon had a "tier" list of the corsair lines that was useful on what each line brought to the table. Not sure if he still has it up?

He does and there are other resources there.

Jon Gerow's personal website

 

[eidairaman1]

Will be Grabbing a 650 Gold or Platinum SS/SF unit for a 5800X build.

 

[Deleted member 215115]

Why not? Brands often do a better job on the front end of the business (marketing, sales channels, customer service, et.,) than a company who just mainly focuses on the back end but little effort on the front end. The two companies you mention have some of the best customer service out there in PC hardware. I'm not saying you should go with a company that "sticks labels on people stuff" (majority of tech hardware business by the way) but you shouldn't discount them either.

I'd like to not need their customer service at all. Or never to find out how good or bad their RMA process is. That's the point.

 

[dirtyferret]

I'd like to not need their customer service at all. Or never to find out how good or bad their RMA process is. That's the point.

I got that from your initial post and that's a fine reason for you but understand some people may also be on the flips side of that and on the off chance there is an issue would rather deal with a company that has good customer service & RMA process.

 

[Deleted member 215115]

I got that from your initial post and that's a fine reason for you but understand some people may also be on the flips side of that and on the off chance there is an issue would rather deal with a company that has good customer service & RMA process.

Sure, I understand, but there's a reason why some companies have great customer support. They need it. Others just focus on making great products instead.

 

[dirtyferret]

Sure, I understand, but there's a reason why some companies have great customer support. They need it. Others just focus on making great products instead.

you can do both, it is possible

 

[Sithaer]

This is why there is no harm in overspec'ing a unit, you really can't predict the exact wattage loads the unit will see over the course of it's life and with upgrades, these loads will change.
Having to buy a new unit everytime you upgrade is just a waste of money, I'm always thinking "Buy once, buy right" and it's always worked out to be the best option out of whatever can be done based on such criteria.
I'll admit the age of the unit is a factor but if setting things up so it doesn't have to work as hard over the course of time, it's going to last a least a little longer which makes it cheaper to do.

There is also the expected rise in price over time as well, what was kinda cheap back then is more expensive now and it seems everything PC related is getting crazy expensive now. Throw in the thing about scalpers affecting the available supply and pricing too, overall shortages in what's available in the first place and it just makes even more sense to do it this way.
That's why I got the units I have now, these were relatively cheap back then and units of the same wattage (1600W) now are about the same each as I gave for both of these I've got.

I'm ahead in terms of $$ here and don't regret buying these in the least, plus these units being what they are will never have to work too hard so they'll last for awhile yet.

While I also wouldn't completely cheap out on PSUs I don't really care about this 'future upgrades' part.
If you know very well that you are never buying high end hardware and always stay in the budget-mid range at most then its a non issue.

I had 650W Cooler Master '650 MWE Gold' in my PC for 2 years and it never had to deal with more than 250W of usage, what a great use of that PSU right.
Now I'm using a 500W with about the same power draw, not exactly planning to put anything power hungry in the system either in foreseeable future so why would I buy something I will never need.

Honestly I never had this issue that I had to buy a new PSU just because I happened to upgrade, guess I just don't have the money to buy power hungry high end parts ever huh.

 

[80-watt Hamster]

Sure, I understand, but there's a reason why some companies have great customer support. They need it. Others just focus on making great products instead.

you can do both, it is possible

One could argue necessary. Even if you make great products, say at a 0.5% instance rate (which is really good), for every million units you have five thousand customers with issues.

 

[lexluthermiester]

or hold the oem & brand accountable for proper testing so it doesn't happen in the first place...

Wait what? I think I missed something.. Or you quoted the wrong person..

 

[RyzenMaster.sys]

I do think customer support varies enough from brand to brand that it should be a factor in the consideration of a particular PSU.

It wouldn't be the first thing I'd consider by far, but definitely noteworthy.

However it is pretty subjective which companies have best support, for various reasons. One main thing I have seen is that every employee will vary within a company.

One experience I had was with XFX on rmaing a failed GPU. I have heard good of their support, but I did not find their support all that good. Although the employee spoke clear English, they were not pleasent and sounded unhappy. Maybe they were having a bad day? They ended up denying the RMA because of a problem with the proof of purchase, but they never bothered to email me or otherwise contact me that it was denied, or even give me a reason.

Right now I have an EVGA PSU I purchased refurbished from EVGA directly. It works fine most of the time, but sometimes just won't turn on and the fan twitches. Let it sit and it will probably work the next day. According to their policy on refurbished products, if I were to return it to them and it would happen to work fine for their test, they would send it back and bill me for shipping. I would have to pay to ship it to them in the first place too. That makes it not even worth it for a unit that cost me $30 to start with.

 

[eidairaman1]

Spec'ing a PSU "Just for" the total wattage of the system isn't really a good idea.

Some headroom for power/load spikes should be taken into consideraton so if that happens the unit will handle it no prob. It's also easier on the unit if it's not already running at 100% capacity all the time which is not a good idea, the nominal load value of a PSU is around 80% of it's rated wattage continuous. Yes, I know units are designed to go over this spec'ed value at times but then again it's not good for it to see it bumping the ceiling all the time either.

This kind of strain will take it's toll over time, just how it is and by making things a little easier on the unit in use helps to ensure it living a long, happy life if it's going to at all.
It's better for the system itself too, doesn't make sense to risk subjecting it to a simulated "Brown Out" condition over and over again because it's starving for power and we know what brown outs can do to electronics and electrical stuff in general.

Using your example of 700W if you were to then add 20% of that value you'd come up with 140W making an 850W the ideal unit to go for. Not much difference in the cost vs the potential benefits of doing it this way.

Well.... That's actually true to a point.
For the reasons I gave above is part of "Why" it's not a bad idea to get one a little larger than the total expected load of the system.

As for "Future Proof" the ones I've got, being 1600W units can handle those 700W RTX 4 series cards right now without issue and I bought these PSU's at least 5 years ago - So there you go.

If I were to get one of those, no need to go out and spend even more $$ for a replacement PSU on top of the cost of the card too when what I already have can handle the power demand for it.
That's just good value for the $$ I spent back then which, BTW was less than a equivalent PSU unit for such today.

I bought mine in 2014 anticipating a crossfire heavy oc setup.

 

[Bones]

While I also wouldn't completely cheap out on PSUs I don't really care about this 'future upgrades' part.
If you know very well that you are never buying high end hardware and always stay in the budget-mid range at most then its a non issue.

I had 650W Cooler Master '650 MWE Gold' in my PC for 2 years and it never had to deal with more than 250W of usage, what a great use of that PSU right.
Now I'm using a 500W with about the same power draw, not exactly planning to put anything power hungry in the system either in foreseeable future so why would I buy something I will never need.

Honestly I never had this issue that I had to buy a new PSU just because I happened to upgrade, guess I just don't have the money to buy power hungry high end parts ever huh.

Your own words here just validated what I was saying earlier about over spec'ing the capacity of a unit for a system.
I can't afford parts as I used to and that's one reaon why I got what I did back then, I knew (For me) slim times were coming, went ahead and got these for the long haul.
Mind you these aren't the only PSU's I got around but they are my mainstays.

To this day I still have the one I bought way back in 2007/2008 that runs well (PC Power & Cooling 750W "Silencer") and not afraid to use it in anything it's capable of handling these days.
Overspec'ed back when I bought it for the system I had it in and it's lived a VERY happy and long life.
From checking the caps on occasion for swelling due to sheer age and just keeping it clean (Blow the dust out) that's all I have to do aside from just running it.

 

[cst1992]

some companies have great customer support. They need it. Others just focus on making great products instead.

There are some arguments you shouldn't make. This is one of them.

 

[Deleted member 215115]

There are some arguments you shouldn't make. This is one of them.

And why is that?

 

[AusWolf]

I didn't have a brand preference until I bought my Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum 550 W. It's the quietest and most stable PSU I've ever had. Not to mention the 12-year warranty which you don't get with other brands.

 

[Sithaer]

Your own words here just validated what I was saying earlier about over spec'ing the capacity of a unit for a system.
I can't afford parts as I used to and that's one reaon why I got what I did back then, I knew (For me) slim times were coming, went ahead and got these for the long haul.
Mind you these aren't the only PSU's I got around but they are my mainstays.

To this day I still have the one I bought way back in 2007/2008 that runs well (PC Power & Cooling 750W "Silencer") and not afraid to use it in anything it's capable of handling these days.
Overspec'ed back when I bought it for the system I had it in and it's lived a VERY happy and long life.
From checking the caps on occasion for swelling due to sheer age and just keeping it clean (Blow the dust out) that's all I have to do aside from just running it.

Well, my first ever own built system was back in 2008 after I graduated in school and that PC had a 500W Chieftec smart PSU in it.
That PSU lasted/served me for 8 years and I never put anything in my builds that needed more than that. '8800GT/GTS 450/GTX 560 Ti/HD 7770 and a GTX 950 Xtreme for a few months before I put that PSU to the rest'

I even used a budget 450W Thermaltake for ~2+ years since all it had to power is a i 3 4160 and a decently factory oced GTX 950.
Still have that PSU around as a emergency backup and it saved me once already when I was troubleshooting my PC earlier this year.

The 650W Cooler Master MWE I had for ~2 years only had to deal with my 1600x and a undervolted RX 570 so again not even remotely needed.
After that PSU kicked the bucket I went back to a more reasonable 500W unit thats under my specs now.

So basically ever since 2008 I never needed anything higher than a 500W PSU since I'm just not in the market for that kind of hardware and this doesn't seem to change.
Obviously this is something everyone should know themselves.

 

[Flyordie]

My first choice is Seasonic. I am still running a Seasonic X-Series 850W KM3. Runs like a champ and still has GREAT voltage regulation. Go it in 2016 I believe for $69 shipped brand new from Newegg. Can't get that lucky anymore on pricing. lol.

Second is Super Flower. I know the brand. Not big over here in the states but they are starting to make a dent in it. I'd put them in the same quality league as Seasonic on their premium lines.

 

[Deleted member 215115]

$69 shipped

Nice.

 

[dirtyferret]

Wait what? I think I missed something.. Or you quoted the wrong person..

my apologies Lex, I did quote the wrong person. I intended to reply to ryzenmaster when he stated the seasonic focus issues.

 

[Calmmo]

Last 4 ive bought have been either seasonic or superflower oem (couldnt buy actual superflower back then), the one prior to these 4 was Coolermaster (no idea who made their psus back then) which replaced some enermax psu that i got fooled into buying due to good reviews (failed after a week)

 

[RyzenMaster.sys]

my apologies Lex, I did quote the wrong person. I intended to reply to ryzenmaster when he stated the seasonic focus issues.

It wasn't just Seasonic units though, there were others that had similar issues. GPUs shouldn't be spiking to so much more than rated TDP, and therefore I wouldn't fault SeaSonic for not designing their units to handle that..

 

[dirtyferret]

It wasn't just Seasonic units though, there were others that had similar issues. GPUs shouldn't be spiking to so much more than rated TDP, and therefore I wouldn't fault SeaSonic for not designing their units to handle that..

I would hold them accountable in that they could have done better in house testing. If you recall the initial version of those focus PSU also had issues with certain Nvidia & AMD video cards. Other OEMs offering similar quality units did not have such issues. It doesn't make them a bad OEM but they are hardly the irreproachable PSU maker some people make them out to be.

 

[lexluthermiester]

my apologies Lex, I did quote the wrong person. I intended to reply to ryzenmaster when he stated the seasonic focus issues.

Ah ok, fair enough.