Power Supply help please

[Pob255]

The Corsair VX series are basically the Seasonic S12 inside
The HX are the Seasonic M12 (ie modular version)

Now the thing about multiple rails is that they are often not that seperate at all.
In most cases what it actually is is a single 12v feed being feed to multiple solder points on the pcb inside the psu, which may have additional bridges between them.
The upshot of all this is reduced heat&load stress, reduced noise and overall improved stability/load smoothing.

However that doesn't mean all multiple rail designs are better than single rail or that all multiple rail psu's follow the same system.

Have a look at http://www.jonnyguru.com/ they do some very detailed PSU reviews esp concerning the insides.

[mehmeh]

Yep, more I've read around, more I'm coming to that conclusion myself.. Have discounted the 550W VX, but must admit I am tempted by the 520W HX being Modular and also having a bit more grunt for the future.. but price of the 450W VX means I can probably squeeze to a 9600GT with it.

Deffinetly feel I've witnessed on awakening on PSU's though, thank you to all for the education.. Gonna shop around a bit more and keep an eye out for some offers over the next week (if anyone sees any, please lemme know!), while I wait for Dabs to bother answering my emails so I can RMA this bloody HD4670.. I could deal with it being secondhand, I didnt want any of the missing bits.. but the fan niose makes my ears bleed

*EDIT

Have a look at http://www.jonnyguru.com/ they do some very detailed PSU reviews esp concerning the insides.

THanks for the info and yep spent a good few hours reading around that place today.. Stacks of info.. Was reading up about multiple vs single rail.. Tends to get very complicated with the upshot being, either design in a good quality PSU should suit the average peep like myself fine?

Oh.. Aparently the 550W VX is the odd one out, being made by CWT?
http://www.jonnyguru.com//forums/showthread.php?p=31407

[Blitzen]

Is that still the case now that OCZ have bought out PC Power & Cooling? Or maybe they are reserving their PSU's for the premium market.

They have yes
Shame that as PC P&C used to be right at the top of the PSU tree.
Unfortunately though, OCZ are still living off the backs of the successful PowerStream range and their offerings since have been dstinctly average. (ModStream = below average - GameStream = Just scraping average).

So, now PC P&C are disguised OCZ'ds, they really arent worth their premium anymore.

[kalniel]

Oh.. Aparently the 550W VX is the odd one out, being made by CWT?
http://www.jonnyguru.com//forums/showthread.php?p=31407

Nope - the higher-end corsairs tend to be CWT. So in the VX and HX series the lower rated one is seasonic and the higher rated one CWT. Corsair units are either CWT or Seasonic.

[Blitzen]

I'd get the Corsair 450W VX psu, it's built by seasonic and is a very good PSU, much better quality then the OCZ ones.

Based on what?

[Pob255]

Well I'd say it's better than the OCZ StealthXstream (which is there low end and is a bit dubious, esp the weaker 12v)

I think this may be the one you were thinking of before Blitzen as the GameXstream is basically a rebranded FSP Epslion

[Pegasus123]

Based on what?

Based on johnnyguru reviews, he's found that a lot of the OCZ psu's suffer from very high ripple, they're not outside of the allowed specs but they're still much higher then they should be, also a friend of mine's OCZ psu died on him a month ago whereas my corsair HX620 has been running fine for a year.

[Blitzen]

Based on johnnyguru reviews, he's found that a lot of the OCZ psu's suffer from very high ripple, they're not outside of the allowed specs but they're still much higher then they should be, also a friend of mine's OCZ psu died on him a month ago whereas my corsair HX620 has been running fine for a year.

So by your logic then, if i had a Corsair and it died, and i replaced it with a EZCool and it had ran trouble free for a year, the EZCool would be better? Of course not so your argument is amazingly flawed. You are giving a recommendation using something you have read or what your 'mate' says, and not from any personal experience.

Your comment regarding high ripple in OCZ PUSs is a generalisation (and a wrong one at that).
Although i wouldnt buy an OCZ PSU now, the OCZ Powerstreams (520 & 620) were probably the best PSUs to have been released over the last 5 years although a little dated now.

For you also to state that Corsair is the best, especially without quantifying it, is firstly (and obviously) wrong.
Secondly, although the Guru knows his stuff, its opinion and like most of the reviewers, has a carrot dangled in front of them.

Corsair - Good....i agree
The best though?? Far from it.

[kalniel]

In these days of rebranding and multiple base manufacturers it's just not enough to simply say 'X make of PSUs is good/bad'. You have to investigate each model, determine who actually made it, and even then reputation isn't enough and you should look at the generation of base model to determine if there are any known weaknesses.

It's no different to many other component choices, only the useful information is far less clear to the builder than for other parts.

But do your research and you can end up with a bargain.

[Pob255]

I agree with Kalniel here it's make and model that are important.
I'd add that just because a psu is actually made by a certain company (ie seasonic) that only gives you a base quality to expect, not performance or feature list.
Remember all companies make budget units and a budget unit may not be able to power a high end system.
It's just that with better companies the power numbers bare some relation ship to the actual power and don't tend to explode or burst into flames when you exceed these levels.
Unlike the very cheap, no name budget psu's which can die with a full fireworks display when you only put half or less of thee stated load on it.

[mehmeh]

Cheers all.

Have decided to grab a HX520W.. Will probs grab some storage aswell and think again on a gfx card in a few weeks (cant be a bad thing with all the new stuff from ATi still settling) as thats me broke LOL!

[Koolpc]

Cheers all.

Have decided to grab a HX520W.. Will probs grab some storage aswell and think again on a gfx card in a few weeks (cant be a bad thing with all the new stuff from ATi still settling) as thats me broke LOL!

Good choice