Wanting a new PSU

[horlock]

So I'm thinking it is about time to get a new PSU - and I don't want to spend more than £50 and I'm looking for some advice. The quieter the better.

Obviously people will want a bit more info.

I've got two PCs.

The first is an old (dell) i7 (860)
10gb ram
Running windows 10
500 gb samsung ssd
Plus a few other internal drives
The graphics card is really old something like Nvidia GTS240

The PC runs well with no issues - I don't play games - except perhaps chess.

The second PC is
AMD (self build) Asrock 970pro motherboard
6 core processor (unsure which one)
16gb ram

The PC doesn't run, at least it starts but it always fails quickly - blue screen of death etc

I don't know the cause of the problem - but I'm guessing PSU.

Hence reason for wanting to get a new PSU - now obviously if the PSU is not the problem I would like to be able to use the new PSU rather than my old one in the dell.


I'm sure some would argue I'd be better starting from scratch - both computers are now old - but I don't like starting from scratch if I don't have to.

So what am I considering at the moment:

GS800 from scan
Be Quiet! Pure Power 9 500W from cclonline

Unfortunately I can't post links yet

I don't even know if they would do the job.

So any advice gratefully received.

[Dashers]

The GS800 is overkill. You don't need 800W, it won't be performing efficiently.

You'll be fine with the Be Quiet one.

[horlock]

Thanks

[horlock]

Thank you for getting back. I hadn't realised that using an overrated PSU would be less efficient. I had read that the rating wasn't the power that was consumed, it was the amount available. Yesterday, for the first time however, I started reading the efficiency stuff, which seems to suggest that you want to be using the PSU at about 50% load in order to maximise the efficiency. So if the computer usually uses 400W you would be good to have an 800W PSU but it you typically use 250W you would want a 500W PSU - assuming I've got this correct.

I'm guessing from what you say that I'm probably using considerably less than 400W - is there an easy way to check what power I'm using?

I'm also guessing that the higher the power of PSU the less efficient it gets when the computer is in standby mode?

Its really a lot more complex than I would have guessed. Originally I guessed that the higher the power the better the computer would perform but it would cost more, then realised that the higher the theoretical power it didn't effect the power the computer consumed, now I seem to be getting the idea that the higher the power although it doesn't effect the consumption it does effect the efficiency so it is more expensive to run.

I also assumed that the higher the power, the more expensive the unit would cost. Yet in this case the 800W is a cheaper than the 500W one, and the 800W one is a make I'm familiar with while the 500W is not (doesn't mean a great deal as I I'm not that familiar with PSU - as you can obviously tell from what I'm writing).

Any more advice gratefully received.

Thanks again.

[gupsterg]

I'd agree with above post.

[Dashers]

Your research is right. There are plenty of stats and reviews out there for how much power things use - be wary of peak usage and idle usage. Your graphics card and CPU may be able to pull 200W of power when at full whack, but most of the time you'll probably looking at closer to 50W.

You're correct in saying the rating is on output power, so you don't have to worry about working out overheads, just make sure you have enough output power to cover your peak usage.

Don't go wildly off, running 50-200W on a 1000W PSU is going to cost you in terms of efficiency. But if you're saving a lot of money (all other things being equal) on a 600W PSU over a 400W PSU, it's probably more cost effective to buy the cheaper PSU.

PSUs aren't all equal, and in my experience there is a big case of you pay for what you get. Bargain bottom PSUs are available but tend to be less reliable and you'll land up replacing them in three to five years. Expensive ones produce good quality power and last until they are no longer compatible. But unless your system up-time is critical (i.e. you can't snag a PSU from another computer temporarily or wait a day for delivery for a replacement) - and you don't need good quality stable power for extreme overclocking, then why pay a lot of money? Treat them as disposable and pay less for them.

For those system specs you'll be using less than 400W peak. You'll be hard-pushed getting a PSU under 400W these days. Don't buy the cheapest and don't buy the most powerful and you'll be fine

Other things to look for is whether they have an active fan (I suspect the BeQuiet does for sure) which only turns on when needed (quieter), and whether you want to pay the extra for a semi-modular or modular unit - which means to have some/all of the cables separate to the unit - some people like these for compact cases or cases with windows and LEDs for showing off how tidy they can make things.

Standby isn't covered by the efficiency thing, your mail rails will shutdown in standby, there will be a dedicated feed for standby power.

[horlock]

Thanks for all the pointers, thus far on both of my posts. one quick question - how do you give "thanks". I see you have been thanked 14 times in 14 posts, but I can't see an option to "thank" I can reply, reply with quote or multi-quote, but no simple "thanks" button.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

You might want to consider this PSU:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CP-...rds=cx+cosrais

It uses quite a modern design(DC-DC) and has modular cables.

[Dashers]

Thanks for all the pointers, thus far on both of my posts. one quick question - how do you give "thanks". I see you have been thanked 14 times in 14 posts, but I can't see an option to "thank" I can reply, reply with quote or multi-quote, but no simple "thanks" button.

On my screen there's a "Thanks" button/link on the bottom left of other people's posts.

[kalniel]

On my screen there's a "Thanks" button/link on the bottom left of other people's posts.

Which will appear when you have enough posts. See http://forums.hexus.net/general-disc...r-rewards.html for more details

[horlock]

Thank you both - for now. I will go back and use the proper thanks button once it appears. Finding these forums helpful informative. But I'm not going to rush to try and get loads of spam style posts, just so I can thank people.

Incidentally, just looking at scan's today only - CoolerMaster G650M

Any idea if this is a decent psu?

[gupsterg]

The capacitors used within PSU would put me off, JonnyGuru review. I think a better PSU will come up at that sort of price, give or take £5 to £10.

[horlock]

Thanks I've just come across http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/...tier-list.html on another forum here, which is very insightful too. So I think I'll wait for something in the tier 2 category, perhaps black friday will yield something worthwhile.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Thanks I've just come across http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/...tier-list.html on another forum here, which is very insightful too. So I think I'll wait for something in the tier 2 category, perhaps black friday will yield something worthwhile.

A better list IMHO:

http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page447.htm

[horlock]

Thanks

[horlock]

Can someone give me an opinion on the EVGA PSU now on special offer from Overclockers. Seems like a really good price. Seems a crazy price for postage (but still a good price including the postage).

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/evga-...ca-03b-ea.html