8350 vs. my PSU

[tefling]

Hi guys,

I asked this over on Anandtech, and got some good info, as well as being pointed over here because this is about AMD. I can't link, as I'm a new member, but the thread was called "8320 Overclocking (Probably Obvious)" if you can bear to track it down!

Basically, I have an old C2Q build, with a Q8300 tied to a OC Radeon 7850 on an own brand Novatech 500W PSU, I generally use it for mid-range gaming, but want more CPU grunt to let the GPU loose and allow me to stream/capture video with FRAPS.

After seeing a few good things, I'm looking to maybe switch up to an 8350 soon, and then take advantage of the AM3+'s longevity in a couple years time, but after seeing the 8350 blast through its TDP in far too many places, I don't want to leap into the void and find myself then needing to splash out an extra £70 for a new PSU! I might as well get a top i7, with switching the PSU...

Now, I realise that an own brand PSU is risky, but prior to buying, I did look into it, finding that it was coming from Sirfa, who make PSUs for OCZ, which this one looks absolutely identical to. The links thing means I can't give you my research, I'm afraid!

It has been absolutely fine with the C2Q for the last 6 months, since I bought it. But, with the 8350 seemingly able to crash up to 200W, (Each 12V rail has 18A to it, for 216W) is it worth the risk? Would I be flying too close to the sun on this one? Is undervolting the CPU at stock clocks a plausible plan, given the slight pot luck of the die, which I've read about?

Thanks for any advice.

[kalniel]

No reason you should be pointed here for AMD stuff!

500W is fine for a 8350 based rig + 7850, even when OCing with raised voltage. See the example in this thread http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...er-Consumption

Only thing I can't comment on is the quality of the own brand PSU.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Picture from that thread:

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/8961/novatech500w.jpg



BTW,I would be careful about looking at Prime95 power consumption as it is not realworld.

[Biscuit]

Yeah we are actually impatial over here and we engage in discussion that allow the possibility of AMD CPUs

isnt the 200W+ figure for the CPU a platform figure rather then just the CPU?

The own brand Novatechs are pretty decent, someone uploaded some pics on one not so long ago and they seem above average.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What sort of budget are you looking at??

[PowerPie5000]

500W is fine

And what other VERY important thing do you need to look at when buying a PSU? Would you also think a £15 Super Chinese Mega Deluxe PSU with an 800W sticker is fine? I've never used a Novatech PSU, but i tend to avoid store "own brands" when it comes to something important like a PSU... I'm not saying they're bad though. It's not all about the wattage, and most cheapo units can't even reach the wattage they claim without going BANG!

[kalniel]

And what other VERY important thing do you need to look at when buying a PSU?

Loads of things. I was only answering the question about wattage. I addressed other aspects in my next paragraph.

[PowerPie5000]

Loads of things. I was only answering the question about wattage. I addressed other aspects in my next paragraph.

Amperage . I always feel the need to mention this when nobody else does... You can't buy a PSU based on just wattage, voltage and build quality these days, especially for gaming or other power hungry systems. Make sure it can supply enough juice on the +12V rail (or rails) for modern systems.

[kalniel]

Amperage . I always feel the need to mention this when nobody else does... You can't buy a PSU based on just wattage, voltage and build quality these days, especially for gaming or other power hungry systems. Make sure it can supply enough juice on the +12V rail (or rails) for modern systems.

He already gave the information that amperage was sufficient in the original post. But fair enough, it's certainly one of the factors that is important, even if it's the same thing as wattage If you know the wattage and the voltage then you know the amperage as well

[tefling]

@Kalniel & PowerPie - I know PSUs are slightly important, and do feel satisfied that this is an OCZ in all but the sticker. I would link you to the Bit-Tech review of the OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W, which it is, to all intents and purposes.

Prime95 might not be "real", but a mixed load of playing a game which is GPU limited and simultaneously encoding/live streaming video would push, CPU, GPU, RAM and even load the HDDs, wouldn't it?

Both 12V rails have 18A each, and with the 432W on the sticker, they're not leeching off each other.

Is there anything else I should be thinking of? How well do 8350s generally undervolt? That'd shave a few watts...

@CAT - Thanks for posting my image there. I already have suitable RAM, so for motherboard, CPU and cooling I was aiming for a little over £250 with an AsRock Extreme 4, 8350 and 212 Evo fan. I can probably stretch a little further, but this is already taking into account aiming for a better binned CPU with the 8350 vs. 8320...

I'm still thinking on it, though, and probably won't spend until Haswell hits and AMD are reacting.

@Biscuit - Credit where it's due, none of them rolled in to say "Just get Intel". This recommendation was also because of UK location, though.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Which Extreme4 are you going for??

Prime95 might not be "real", but a mixed load of playing a game which is GPU limited and simultaneously encoding/live streaming video would push, CPU, GPU, RAM and even load the HDDs, wouldn't it?

Prime95 is only really relevant if you are running those kind of programmes,just like Furmark.

I have run similar programmes to test the stability of overclocks,in my SFF systems and NEVER have seen similar power consumption readings or temperature readings when gaming and using video encoding,image editing and image analysis programmes.

Different types of software stress different parts of the CPU or GPU in different ways,which too many reviewers don't seem to understand.

For example look at the power consumption measurements for GPUs under a very intensive title like BF3 and compare it to the Furmark figures,and you will see the latter is significantly higher.

Even then for most people their systems are not running at full pelt 24/7 anyway.

@Biscuit - Credit where it's due, none of them rolled in to say "Just get Intel". This recommendation was also because of UK location, though.

Anandtech forum,do tend to go a bit overboard on the negativity about any company competing against Intel,be it AMD,ARM,Qualcomm,etc. However,luckily in your thread some of the really rabid ones did not answer!!

[tefling]

Oops. I thought I'd mentioned that along the way.
The 970 Extreme4 is what I was looking at. I don't really see the benefit of a 990, unless I were planning on an SLI/crossfire rig. But it's only 4+1 phase design, so the Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 or Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 are probably going to overhaul it.

Cheers for the assurances, everyone.

[PowerPie5000]

I probably wouldn't recommend overclocking with a 4+1 power phase (the power draw from an oc'd FX-8350 would be immense!). There's nothing really wrong with a 970 chipset and i think they're good for budget builds . With everything at stock clocks using a single graphics card you wouldn't notice any performance difference between a £50 board and a £300 board anyway .