X1950XT vs X1950Pro

[Andaho]

I'm gonna be getting a E6750, Corsair VX450W PSU, iP35-Express mobo, and you already know the graphics card Just gotta wait until either of the Power Color XT cards are back in stock until I can order it.

[Biscuit]

on scan u can order the whole thing and it sends the in stock items immediately and then the out of stock stuff when it comes in.

[this_is_gav]

...so long as you specify or request that option.

[Andaho]

Yeah, but no point, because I wouldn't be able to do anything without a PSU or graphics card anyway.

[Pob255]

Not sure what that Corsair VX450W PSU is going to be like.
Any know who makes that one? The HX are made by seasonic, doesn't mean the VX are.
The fact that the VX has only got one 12v rail is a little worring with out knowing the full specs.

[Andaho]

Not sure what that Corsair VX450W PSU is going to be like.
Any know who makes that one? The HX are made by seasonic, doesn't mean the VX are.
The fact that the VX has only got one 12v rail is a little worring with out knowing the full specs.

full specs are here & looks great with a steady 33A on the single 12v rail! http://www.corsair.com/products/vx.aspx

And this guy Jonny Guru (who I understand is a very well respected PSU reviewer), gave it a great and very thorough review, and he took one apart and says " I'd stick my neck out there and say that this Corsair is actually S12 II based". http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=125

[Pob255]

intresting review

he also says at the begining of that sentance "The three sink design reminds me a bit of the FSP Epsilon design."
Also the seasonic s12 II has two 12v rails not the one.

Given that it's got a UL number on it (although too blured to make out) it should of been rather easy to look up the manufacture.

But overall it does look very good for a budget psu

[Andaho]

You still call it a budget PSU, but it's not cheap by any means. A budget psu is a <&#163;20 one. This is a Value PSU...

I think it's stupid how so many people these days buy overpowered PSUs. This 450W will power the most demanding systems that don't use SLi; That review even says "It is too bad that the unit only has one PCI-e connector. Although most people don't have SLI or Crossfire, some times people use SLI or Crossfire certification as a mark of superiority. The VX450W has more power on the +12V than most 500W units and some 600W units and the build quality is probably better than half of the units on the SLI Certified list of power supplies."

I have a friend on MSN who is big into gaming and overclocking and I was asking him about PSUs: He's just built a new system, an overclocked Q6600 with 3 500gb SATA on a highpoint RAID controller and 2 SLi 8800GTX!!! - And I know you might think he's bull****ting, but he's a guy I did computers with at college 5 years ago, and now is a plumber, so earns **** loads of money, and wastes tons of it on his PC. But even he only has a 700W FSP Epsilon - So what kind of system needs a PSU that's more powerful than that?!?!?!? - It surely must only be server systems?

Since I've gone very off-subject here, and into so much detail in this post, I will make a new thread about this, and I'll post a link to it from here when it's created...

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?p=1178068

[Smudger]

Re: the thread title, i was going through the same decision, and the concern I had with the Powercolour was that it was listed as having 1400Mhz memory, where the Sapphire has 1800Mhz mem. To add more confusion, Powercolour's own site lists their XT as being 1600Mhz memory.

[badass]

Now you're decided, I'll go off topic... what is going on with your system? :\

That just broke the needle on my Sarcasm-o-meter

[Blitzen]

You still call it a budget PSU, but it's not cheap by any means. A budget psu is a <£20 one. This is a Value PSU...

I dont agree.....in that range particualrly, the 450W Corsair is budget.

Cost doesnt always denote 'budget'. Look at the Hiper 580W......Definitely a budget PSU in terms of performance but not price.

[Andaho]

Re: the thread title, i was going through the same decision, and the concern I had with the Powercolour was that it was listed as having 1400Mhz memory, where the Sapphire has 1800Mhz mem. To add more confusion, Powercolour's own site lists their XT as being 1600Mhz memory.

Yes, I'm very interested in knowing about this too, I did notice it, but decided I'm still gonna buy it anyway. Apparently the Sapphire cards run stupidly hot and their coolers are gonna be the loudest thing in your case by a mile - I was considering buying the sapphire and the arctic cooler @ about £10 seperatley, but really worried about the card overheating if I did that - so I just want to wait for the Power Color to come back in stock.

So can anyone shed any light as to the specs of the Power Color RAM?

[Smudger]

I'd heard it was the X1950 Pro that had the overheating problem, plus, by the looks of it, the cooling on the XT is the other way round from how it used to be. I think Kalniel's got a Sapphire XT, he seems to think it's fine temp and noise-wise.

[kalniel]

I do. (*checks briefly around in case his GF gets the wrong idea*)

As I said before, it's noisy when it ramps up, but in my system it doesn't ramp up very often. Temp wise it's not great - it's around 70-80 at load, but it seems happy given that the fan doesn't ramp up until the 80s and it dumps the heat straight out the back of the case so it doesn't affect anything else.

The main problem with the XT I've heard is that it's fairly demanding on the 12v line - if you are lucky enough to have a single rail PSU you'll be fine, it's dual rail PSUs that can be a problem with this card.

The Pro is less demanding power-wise, but had problems with VRM cooling - I'm sure these are mostly fixed with later revisions though.

[Smudger]

I do. (*checks briefly around in case his GF gets the wrong idea*)

As I said before, it's noisy when it ramps up, but in my system it doesn't ramp up very often. Temp wise it's not great - it's around 70-80 at load, but it seems happy given that the fan doesn't ramp up until the 80s and it dumps the heat straight out the back of the case so it doesn't affect anything else.

The main problem with the XT I've heard is that it's fairly demanding on the 12v line - if you are lucky enough to have a single rail PSU you'll be fine, it's dual rail PSUs that can be a problem with this card.

The Pro is less demanding power-wise, but had problems with VRM cooling - I'm sure these are mostly fixed with later revisions though.

So one of those new VX450s from Corsair, with 30w+ on the 12v rail might be a better bet than the HX520, if you were also getting a new PSU at the same time?

[kalniel]

The HX520 is one dual rail PSU you won't have problems with - it's a solid performer. But I'd take the VX450 over any non-seasonic/corsair dual rail for this card any day.