500-600w PSU

[Fraz]

Well tell us why its the best.
Tell us why its the best you have used.
Its easy to say good or bad without reason.

In your own words please and not copy and pasted from somewhere else.
and
Please no Tomshardware reviews or such like.

Ok - fair enough.

Pros:
- Easily the quietest PSU I've ever used - even under reasonably high loading. Basically inaudible, which is more than can be said for my "inaudible" Hiper Type R.
- More percentage power @12volts against total PSU wattage than any previous PSU I've used/looked at. Feel confident that I could SLI if I wanted without any need to worry.
- No gimmicks. Does the basics (which is all you need) really really well. I juxtapose this against the likes of the Hiper 580 Watt which was all multiple shiny metal fans and "features" such as the perforations on the entire PSU chassis, to "aid cooling" - all this did was to heat up the inside of my computer by about 10 degrees, because all the hot air in the psu was being blown back into the chassis. Totally idiotic. The Corsair is far cooler/quieter with one fewer fan and none of these perforations.
- Before I bought it, the sheer weight of opinion/reviews on it begin excellent, and on it being probably the quietest. I encountered no other PSU that offered the same.
- The support. Hiper was useless (I tried twice), whereas I know Corsair will respond from past experience.
- Overall quality/price/performance.

Cons:
- The modular cabling not as good as it could be due to corsair putting say 3 molex connectors on a single cable. Hiper had this much better, giving you multiple extenders so you could have as many as you want and no more. Hiper also had the better screw connectors. That's pretty much all I can come up with.

I can go back further to compare against other PSUs I've had. An Antec one that had a slightly unstable voltage rail that triggered my mobo's voltage alarms now and then. Another Hiper... was ok, but very loud 8cm fan. A truly laughable PSU I stupidly bought from Maplin... let's not even go there.

Right, must do some work. What's so flippin' great about your Enermax then, jealous boy?

[Saracen]

As the Corsair is an OEM product made by Seasonic, and is essentially an S12 with the M12 modular cabling, if the modular aspect is either inadequate or unnecessary, perhaps just go straight for the Seasonic S12.

Other than that, the Corsair uses high quality components, provides extremely clean and stable power, is highly efficient across a very wide load, draws next to no power in standby and a nominal amount under very low load, is close to silent and, in my opinion, is a pretty good choice.

As for warranty, well, I've certainly had PSUs pack up well within 5 years, and brand-name ones too. One of them was a high-priced Delta unit in a multi-processor workstation. But even ignoring that, I tend to look on a long warranty as a hint that the manufacturer doesn't expect to have to honour it. It begs the question of why other some manufacturers don't offer long warranties? Perhaps because they aren't so confident they won't have to fulfil it? It's by no means foolproof, but a long warranty suggests that you won't have problems ... and at least leaves you covered if you do.

[Saracen]

I DO Agree that the Corsair unit is probably the best for the OP in this case. I didnt say once that it wasnt. Unfortunately though that PSU is always the first to be mentioned REGARDLESS of the requirements of whoever is asking and that is just WRONG! Can you not see that either?

Salazar gave his requirements, though. He wanted recommendations for a 500-600w PSU, preferably modular, that he could get quickly. That's what Aez gave him - a recommendation that fitted his stated needs .... though it' difficult to know who can supply quickly. That's best achieved by a supplier local to Salazar so he can go get it in person. For mail-order, Scan would be a good place to start looking.

Some people want a suitable power supply for a given system spec and don't know how to specify the PSU to suit. Others know what they need, but don't know how the current brands and models stack up against each other. Salazar stated what he needed .... or at least, what he wanted, and Aez answered that question directly with a recommendation. It's kind-of insulting to then start querying whether Salazar knows what he's talking about when he specified what he wanted by querying if what he asked for is what he needs.

If other people have other recommendations for other specific units, then make them. Then Salazar can choose.

[Blitzen]

It's kind-of insulting to then start querying whether Salazar knows what he's talking about when he specified what he wanted by querying if what he asked for is what he needs.

It wasn't supposed to come across in that way.
If the system specs are not applicable then, from that way of thinking, a £150 600W PSU would be right for his requirements aswell.

Its no different to go into a vehicle showroom and ask for a car that has a 2.0 litre engine then getting a super car for your money when an MPV wouldve suited you needs just as well.

I did state earlier, that if its a reasonably modern machine then the Corsair would be decent for the job.
If not, then why not go for a Fortron Bluestorm, which, even for a mid range up to date machine is more than adequate and will perform just aswell (for 20% less on the price).

The point being its impossible to know requirements without any knowledge of the system specs involved. (Which i think is a fair point).

NOTE:
Salzaar has posted his specs now and i stick with the recommendations given.
BlueStorm
HX520
Liberty 500W

Any of those are more than enough for the requirement and are reliable solid performers.

Right, must do some work. What's so flippin' great about your Enermax then, jealous boy?

Never mentioned it was great. It just felt better to use than the HX520 and has always handles my sysem, no matter what i have added/taken away, really well. The 12V just never droops.
Lets face it, once you get to the good brand names, there really isnt alot in it anyway.

[TooNice]

Since the OP already stated '500-600W and preferably modular', I don't see why the arguing. It's not exactly a 'Do I need a 500-600W PSU' thread, and I don't usually see people telling one another that they should not go Core Duo/Quad and/ or go for/stick with a low end (but still good bang for buck) AMD.

Personally, I've only used Antec (True-series), Enermax (NoiseTaker/Liberty) and Seasonic (S12-series). Incidentally, all my PSU died within 5 years except the Seasonic which is less than 3 years old, so I can't comment on the reliability. In terms of doing what they are supposed to do (powering my hardware), they did their job fine. What would make me reluctant of moving away from Seasonic (or brand that use their PSU) is noise. Seasonic takes the cake with ease there. What I do miss from the S12 series however is modular cabling (M12 was not available then - and I would prefer doing without the second 60mm fan).

The Corsair comes up cheaper than the 500W M12, is well regarded in efficiency/noise (according to SPCR - and I do put some weight in their reviews), so on paper, it would be my choice if I was needing a 500-600W PSU today.

[Blitzen]

The Corsair comes up cheaper than the 500W M12

Does anyone know why?
Same builder, Corsair need to make their profit on it so it doesnt make sense.

(This isnt a sarcy post. It would just be interesting to know why its cheaper)

[Salazaar]

Thanks for all the suggestions (and sorry I started a bit of a flame war ). I've gone for the Corsair HX520 in the end, looks like it'll do nicely in my rig (yep, the one in 'my system') and congrats to Scan for getting it to me in one working day even with the freebie postage option .

[Saracen]

It wasn't supposed to come across in that way.
If the system specs are not applicable then, from that way of thinking, a £150 600W PSU would be right for his requirements aswell.

I accept that it wasn't supposed to come across that way, but to me at least, that's exactly how it did come across. Why?

Suprise suprise.

You give this as a suggestion when you have absolutely NO IDEA what the OP will be using it to power.
Typical!

It's the tone implied by the rolleyes and the "typical!"

Also, if the OP has specified what he wants, it's what he wants. It may be a valid comment to query whether his spec demands a 500-600w PSU (because a lot won't), but it's equally valid to take him at his word and answer the question he asked. Which Aez did.

Then there's ...

Well tell us why its the best. (not interested in the 5year warranty either as thats gimmicky. If you are the type to spend good money on a PSU the its use will expire for your needs long before the warranty does).
Tell us why its the best you have used.
Its easy to say good or bad without reason.

In your own words please and not copy and pasted from somewhere else.
and
Please no Tomshardware reviews or such like.

Again, it's the tone that makes it come across that way, even if it wasn't intended that way, such as the crack about "copy and paste".

Your comments come across as a demand for Aez to justify that he personally has the expertise to qualify him to make assessments. Perhaps he's just going by the extensive discussions there have been, on this forum, about PSUs.

Aez has seven posts here. Small wonder if he gets jumped on when he tries to help. When you berate him (and that's how the use of caps in "absolutely NO IDEA" comes across) that way, he doesn't need to have an idea of what it'll be used to power, does he? Salazar asked for a recommendation for a specific product, and Aez gave one. Salazar didn't even ask for chapter and verse on why it was recommended.

Blitzen, I know what you're getting at .... or at least, I think I do. Corsair seems the be the current ('xcuse the pun ) in-vogue fashionable PSU, and it's easy to jump on the bandwagon and recommend it.

But I DO have some qualifications in electronics, and whilst I certainly don't claim to be an expert in computer PSU design or construction, I HAVE built power supplies for other items in the past. I've got some idea of what I'm looking at when I read reviews and lab tests, and the Corsair does have pretty good reviews (and about as good as any in that market segment) from sites that my personal assessment of is one of competence.

Yes, it's easy to jump on the bandwagon and recommend the current fashionable kit, but there are sometimes (as in this case, as I know you acknowledge this) that there are reasons for it being the fashionable response. The Corsair/Seasonic has a fairly impressive reputation for a reason.

And when you throw that "typical!" crack at a relatively new poster, it comes across as aggressive and dismissive, and that's the kind of thing that's likely to cause the person on the end of it to leave the forum.

Instead of the 'rolleyes' and exclamation marks, why not just point out that the Corsair has a downside, in your opinion (such as the modular connectors) and make your own recommendations? Would that not be a less dismissive way to make your (perfectly valid) point?

[Fraz]

Nice post. Basically saying everything I couldn't be bothered to.

[Blitzen]

Saracen.
So being called an idiot is acceptable then? No mention of that was there.
It doesnt matter but i thought i would point that out.

Lastly.....apologies to Aez

[Saracen]

Saracen.
So being called an idiot is acceptable then? No mention of that was there.
It doesnt matter but i thought i would point that out.

Lastly.....apologies to Aez

That wasn't quite what was said, which was that you were making yourself "look like" an idiot.

But point taken, no, that's not acceptable either, and an apology for that would be nice, too.

I would, however, point out that a less aggressive reaction to a perfectly reasonable recommendation from Aez might well have led to no such remark being made in the first place.


I do have one generic comment, and this isn't aimed at any individual at all, but at the forums generally :-

Personally, I'd MUCH rather that :-

1) Comments were a little more carefully thought through about how they might be perceived, even when it's not how they were meant, because it is undoubtedly easy to misinterpret text, and that's how a good many flames start.

2) When someone sees something they do see as offensive, that they report it to a mod rather than getting involved in arguing it out publicly.

This is because I'm a lazy git and would really rather not have to spend time mediating arguments that were unnecessary in the first place. It usually ends up with the 'offenders' as best mates and both upset with me.

[Zak33]

good thread this,.....not 100% on track...but good thread

Thanks to everyone for finally sorting out their differences.

[WannaPiEcE]

I DO Agree that the Corsair unit is probably the best for the OP in this case. I didnt say once that it wasnt. Unfortunately though that PSU is always the first to be mentioned REGARDLESS of the requirements of whoever is asking and that is just WRONG! Can you not see that either?

As for making myself look an idiot. Its a forum and opinions are allowed believe it or not. What are you? His mum or girlfriend or something else ?

Note: Excuse my last comment........I have looked into your sig and seen you are another HX520 'follower' and this is what raised your blood pressure. Just try looking beyond your own rig once in a while and you may see that other things, not just the ones you buy, are as good if not better.

DING DING DING...
In the far corner in the Black trunks...

[Fraz]

That wasn't quite what was said, which was that you were making yourself "look like" an idiot.

But point taken, no, that's not acceptable either, and an apology for that would be nice, too.

Not likely

[Salazaar]

I wish I'd never asked now...

[GSte]

I heartily recommend the Corsair 620W, I absolutely love mine, don't know what I did without a modular PSU now