Hi-Power Psu any good?

[Cichlidash]

I was just wondering if anyone has had any sort of experience with Hi-Power Psu's? I was doing a bit of window shopping when I spotted this on Ebuyer http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135197 which would seem to fit my needs for my 4870 and take a bit of presure of my poor 550w. The only worry is the build quality.

[matty-hodgson]

what brand is your 550w atm?
everyone's just gonna come to this thread and tell you that the PSU you're suggested there is a load of crap, and it is.
get a much less wattage but better branded PSU and you'll do a lot better.

what about this?

[Cichlidash]

I dont recall the brand of my current PSU but it would only be something generic and is fairly old now. Got it when I first upgraded to a a duo 6420 I belive it is which had just come out. Its been a good little unit though to be fair never really had any issues with it but I think it is struggling with the 4870 and the overclocking on the cpu. The OCZ looks a nice unit but has a bit less amp on the 12v and is rated 200w less. Although not an intention at the moment my Mb will run Sli/Crossfire so a psu with enough power to cope with a second card would be nice but not vital.

[matty-hodgson]

this then?
that'll power an SLi/Crossfire setup..
i'm running a crossfire setup on a 580w PSU and it runs just fine.

that PSU comes with 52A on the 12v rail.. 52*12 = 624 watts on the 12v rail.

[GeorgeStorm]

I would agree with matty, and will come in and say, get something like the 620HX corsair, so much power, (50amps....) great quality, the reliability is really good, due to them being tested at higher temps than most PSU's......
So, like the one above, and, while its more pricey, the modular cables are probably worth it, so much easier to manage the cables...

Just me.......

[matty-hodgson]

modular is good, but only if you don't have much in your case..
my PSU isn't modular but it has addon cables and i've used every wire that's attached to the PSU.
i'll upload some photos of my case when i get home from school, got a free lesson atm

only problem with the HX520/620 is the price, there's quite a big premium on the modular PSUs

i had a HX620 before i got my Hiper Type-R and it was a VERY good PSU until something happened to the fan and it got a bit loud so i RMA'd it and my brother's getting the new one that comes and he has my old case now too.

[Cichlidash]

yes I am trying to keep prices as reasonable as possible because ontop of the PSU unit I need a new case and want a new cooler for my Cpu, ontop of that Xmas is coming and canceling my car insurance just cost me £170!

[arthurleung]

620W will be just about right for SLI, ask yourself do you really need it?
For single 4870, HX450 will work perfectly fine (with 1 Molex -> 6Pin power adapter)

[zaphox]

not wanting to thread-jack or anything, but out of interest what exactly makes a branded PSU better than a none branded one? Do they tend to have extra components/features or is it purely the build quality?

[Cichlidash]

Its not a hi-jack of the thread really because it does come down to the same question. Hi-Power as far as I can tell is a no name brand so really it comes down to what quality the componets inside are. The Branded makes usually have well known quality components and you can pretty much research what you get.

[moogle]

not wanting to thread-jack or anything, but out of interest what exactly makes a branded PSU better than a none branded one? Do they tend to have extra components/features or is it purely the build quality?

Better Quality Components, you can get ones that look like pants on the outside but are still efficient and good quality on the inside. Also most unbranded ones have components that will work sufficiently under room temperature conditions. But when you put load onto the PSU it gets a bit hotter in there than they'd prefer to operate at and then they either drop in efficiency or blow up, and being cheap as they are the manufacturer isn't going to invest in a protection method in case that does happen so all those amps and volts surge through your components, possibly rendering them faulty or non working.

[Thorsson]

There are only a limited number of manufacturers that actually make the PSUs. However they make them to the OEMs specifications. Certain OEMs are very trustworthy, like Seasonic. Others are more variable because they make PSUs to a price point, so even two PSUs in the same product group can be of varying quality.

Hiper sold a lot of PSUs based on the bling, the price, and some good reviews. The PSUs had decent efficiency and fairly solid rails. Unfortunately some of the components were cheap, and failed more often and more quickly than would happen with better components. Luckily the failures didn't take anything with them, but good PSUs can last a lot longer and are well worth the extra money. In my case a 580W Hiper (~£65) lasted just under a year. A 480W Enermax (~£75) has already lasted 4 years.