i5 3750K + HD 7850 = what PSU??

[PiMan314]

Title says it all... almost!

Have: i5 3750k, HD 7850, 2x4GB corsair vengence ram. Will overclock eventually.

Problem? No idea about what PSU's are available or where to start.


Any recommendations?

1) For the above
2) For watercooling (or do you think this will never be required?)

[Samwood]

Assuming a HDD or 2, your power use should be around 250-300W. So anything over 350W (I'd probs go for a 450W/500W to give you some room for expansion) from a decent manufacturer with an 80+ rating (or better, i.e. Bronze, Silver, or Gold).
Reasons for this is that you usually want to keep your usage and the max output of your PSU relatively close as the best power efficiency results are usually around 60-70%+ usage. A decent manufacturer is a must as cheep PSUs usually have cheep components and these can blow, taking out your entire system. 80+ rating is the power efficiency, see this page for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus

I have this and highly recommend it: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/450w-...n-atx-v231-psu
At £35 its a bargain. Seasonic OEM, Braided cables, 80+ Bronze and its v.quite. Ticks all the boxes IMO.

As for watercooling. Most units use the same power supplies as case/CPU fans or a 4-pin Molex. Fan power will come from your Mobo, and unless your using a tone of legacy components (i.e. 15+ year old HDD or CD drive) you'll have plenty of these spare with any PSU.

Hope this helps.
Sam

[PiMan314]

Your reply was really helpful, informative and very easy to read!
Thankyou very much Samwood.

If I knew how to give thanks to you I would ?_? (as well as to a few other people in my other topics)

[Willzzz]

Are you still thinking of CF/SLI?

Thanks button is on the bottom left of each post.

[PiMan314]

Yes definitely - leaving room for expansion is one of the things I really want to keep!

Ahhh I would need to factor in the extra wattage... but there's something to do with voltage too - it's a little confusing I'm still new at it. Not really sure about how to fully determine what is required, best I can do right now is ballpark.

And cheers btw - I have so many thanks to give when I hit 15 posts xD

[Chadders87]

Thanks, just answered my un-asked question!

[Samwood]

... but there's something to do with voltage too - it's a little confusing I'm still new at it. Not really sure about how to fully determine what is required, best I can do right now is ballpark.

Voltage - PC components use 2 types of voltages:
12V - main components, i.e. CPU, GPU, MOBO, HDDs.
5V - Fans etc

If you look on the PSUs information page it should list the Amperage on the '12 Volt rail(s)'. To work out how much Wattage this equates to simply times it by 12 (Amps x Volts = Watts).

To know precisely how much Wattage you will need for your system go to the manufactures page for your CPU, GPU, HDDs where you can get information of their max Wattage draw add these up and you have your total requirement (add a little more on for Mobo & allowance for error, say 50W).

[Bonebreaker777]

He can always go for a online PSU calculator, if he is just a bit too comfortable

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/p...ulatorlite.jsp

But Samwood's advice is sound.

I could throw in a different PSU just for flavour:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/430w-...an-atx-v23-psu

Review:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/artic...ly-Review/1284

[Eraovius]

You can easy go with a XFX Pro 450W. Looking for future i can suggest you a XFX Pro550W, they are really better PSUs Performance/price, and their internal components are made by Seasonic... i got 2 XFX pro550W and on Pro750W: cool, cold, excellent power-saving, real power and good looking