Low wattage PSU?

My dad wants me to build him a fairly simple PC, I guess either Richland or low end Haswell.

What is a sensible PSU to choose?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/300w-...et-fan-atx-psu
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/430w-...an-atx-v23-psu
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...roductId=53362

I'm sort of thinking modular isn't really that important as there won't be that many cables anyway.
Maybe efficiency isn't that important either as total power draw will be so low.

The be quiet! model only has 4pin ATX and no PCIe, which I guess is fine, but might rule out reusing it later on and is barely any cheaper.

If money is not an object,I would get that Seasonic PSU.

You can't beat these for the price: http://www.cclonline.com/product/982...t-OEM/PSU0486/

I've got one powering an Athlon II X3 450 and Radeon 7770. It's 80%+ typical efficiency but not certified.

That FSP is not bad and I use one to power an A6-3670K based rig.

Here are some internal pictures:

http://forums.hexus.net/pc-hardware/...-oem-psus.html

The 460W version is not bad either. The main reason it is not 80+ certified is because I suspect it does not do so if you use 110V.

The 460w one is actually even cheaper at £16.56 http://www.cclonline.com/product/763...W-PSU/PSU0307/

Here's a review: http://translate.google.com/translat...-ac-fsp460%2F2 - decent PSU but short cables.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

If money is not an object,I would get that Seasonic PSU.

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Seasonic can develop annoyingly loud coil whines - which is a problem passed to all the other companies using their products - Corsair, XFX

I've not heard of it from the G series though, tends to be KM3/Platinum.

Actually I might get the XFX 450w from dabs.

Be warned the xfx one can run the 12v voltage a bit high under low 12v loads, xfx had seasonic tweak the pwm voltage regulation on the 450w&550w units to reduce the voltage drop at high 12v loads, but it has the down side of making it run a bit high (still in atx spec) at low 12v loads (the 12v can go around 12.3-12.4v)
So generally I'd not suggest it if you're not going to use a graphics card that needs a 6pin connector or and older cpu (p4 type)

I'd not overlook modular depends on the case you're going to use. the cx430m is going to be a good option http://www.scan.co.uk/products/430w-...ze-eps-12v-atx
For most basic systems anything decent around the 350w-400w will be fine.

The Seasonic G 360W is very efficient though. Even at 10% load it is nearly 84% efficient:

http://www.kitguru.net/components/po...pply-review/6/

http://www.kitguru.net/components/po...pply-review/6/

The XFX seems to be 12.08v at 75w which is perfectly acceptable.

The G-series is obv. more efficient, but for the sake of a couple of watts I just can't be fussed to order it as a single item from Aria.
Dabs have this nice 10% off offer atm (cases, power, cooling, memory, monitors) and cashback so that's enough to convince me.

Scan have it in stock for £48. Still 10% off the XFX PRO 450W is not too bad.

I just saw this review too:

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Cases-a...ential-Tempera

It is around 84% efficient even at 10% load,of around 36w which is equal to the idle figures for a modern system using an IGP. It is nearly hits 80+ Platinum rating under certain loads.

I can get the XFX for £16 less though, the efficiency savings just don't get close to that and I still get Seasonic ripple/regulation.

Meh.

I've done a bit more research:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...tory4&reid=225

It seems that the high 12v is caused by load on the 3.3v and 5v.
So my question is, what is a typical load distribution? 5v load is largely hard drives?

Maybe that 12.3v on the JG tests was just a bad sample? Both Kituguru PSUs and the JG 550w model had much better regulation.

Umm yes that's what I originally said, it's relative low 12v, generally not a problem for newer systems.
if you've got a graphics card that needs addition power you'll be fine, the system where this would be a potential problem would be a file server, something with a lot of drives, no graphics card and a low end cpu.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Willzzz

I can get the XFX for £16 less though, the efficiency savings just don't get close to that and I still get Seasonic ripple/regulation.

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XFX ProSeries 450W and 550W are group regulated, Seasonic G series is independently regulated. So, in most situations voltage regulation will be superior on G-360, of course there are probably scenarios where XFX P1-450S-X2B9 would beat G-360. There is also the school of thought that if the regulation is good enough then it's good enough and doesn't need to be better, especially on a low end system.

Not quite the g360 is a dc to dc regulated, which is not really independent regulation but a a sort of halfway house, it's a lot more efficient and is far more resistant to cross load.
Basically it acts like an independently regulated psu but is more efficient and is cheaper to do esp at lower wattages.

But yes group regulation isn't generally an issue on anything below 500w as you'll generally not be pulling high enough cross loads to send it out of range.
If you're trying to chase high overclocks and require very clean current and tight voltage ranges you don't really want a group regulated psu.