Best Sub-$130 80+ Platinum PSU

[Tyerker]

I was looking primarily at:

Rosewill Fortress 750W (Non-Modular): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182084
Sparkle R-FSP 700W (Non-Modular): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103086

I am primarily interested on the most efficient use of electricity in my PC, even though it's overclocked. I want to be running clean power to all my components, and save money on my electricity bill. This seems like the last step before a power conditioner, so what are your thoughts?

I am primarily interested in 80+ Platinum, though 80+ Gold suggestions are welcome. Minimum of 4 PCI-E 6-Pin connectors for SLI/CF of good cards in the future (perhaps a second 560ti). Intending to stay AMD through Excavator (and probably pick up every update, depending on the initial AM4 specs / prices) but I think a good PSU with a decent warranty would be a good investment in the next 3-6 months.

Thanks,
Tyerker

 

[Bobnova]

I can't find any reviews on either one of those. They're a good price for the wattage and efficiency if they actually manage it.
You might look them up in the 80+ listings and make sure they're actually in there.

 

[Tyerker]

The Rosewill is on the list, the Sparkle 700W, however, is not.

I would really appreciate modular cables, but my current Corsair GS600 isn't modular and I get by with it. I had a Seasonic X650 with 80+ Gold I ended up putting in a build for someone else, and I also had an old (2008-ish) Silverstone Strider 750W with no 80+ certification that I used for a while. Both high quality units.

Just seeing if anyone knows if the PSU Sparkle actually uses in this model is as good as others they are known for. If not, the Rosewill is a really good deal for a high-quality unit.

That being said, a 650W+ Capstone going on sale may change my mind that modular is a better advantage than Platinum is... The Seasonic X650 is in the price range after Promo Code currently, as is the 750W Capstone.

Too many choices.

Maybe it boils down to Platinum / Non-Modular vs Gold / Modular

 

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Of the two, Rosewill.

 

[johan851]

That being said, a 650W+ Capstone going on sale may change my mind that modular is a better advantage than Platinum is... The Seasonic X650 is in the price range after Promo Code currently, as is the 750W Capstone.

I've never had trouble with non-modular PSUs. I tuck the unused cables out of sight, and if you're not opening up your tower all the time then I think that's good enough. If your primary goal is a lower power bill (and it'll be a long time before your savings add up to the new PSU purchase) then I think it makes more sense to go platinum.

 

[Tyerker]

I kind of figured Platinum would be a good benefit, particularly since I'm using a 95W CPU instead of 125W. Something with 92%+ efficiency at 50%, when I'm running a mid-powered rig (probably no SLI, and I'll be going to an SSD in the next year or so, so power use should stay in the sub 500W range even with a heavy OC, but the 700W+ headroom is a nice thing to have if I'm keeping it for a long time.

The 7 Year Warranty on the Rosewill is nice too, assuming they continue to improve their company and are still around and reliable 7 years from now. They were around 7 years ago, making alright stuff for very cheap, and they've been improving ever since.

I have a good feeling about Rosewill. Thank you for your help.

 

[Conumdrum]

The difference is electrical savings is soo small from an 80 to a 92. Go for reliability and quality.

A power conditioner like an APC or others actually uses more elctricity than a standard connection to a wall.

 

[BeepBeep2]

Tyerker, Rosewill is Newegg's house-brand, just like Ultra is to TigerDirect, so I would assume they stay around.

Oklahoma Wolf reviews a lot of PSUs at JonnyGURU and probably knows more here about the internals and performance than anyone here, he definitely knows his stuff.

 

[mjw21a]

I've never had trouble with non-modular PSUs. I tuck the unused cables out of sight, and if you're not opening up your tower all the time then I think that's good enough. If your primary goal is a lower power bill (and it'll be a long time before your savings add up to the new PSU purchase) then I think it makes more sense to go platinum.

I agree with you 100%. I was actually amazed when I changed from modular to back to non modular recently and I actually ended up with a much tidier looking build than ever before.

If you case isn't suited to cable management then modular is the way to go, if the case is well designed for cable management on the other hand then modular is completely unnecessary.

I also agree with going Platinum. I changed out the PSU's in all rigs in the house to Platinum, and funnily enough the power bill has dropped noticably..... Mind you, I think that was primarily the HTPC that made the biggest difference.

Go with whatever Oklahoma Wolf says, he's the man when it comes to PSU's

 

[Tyerker]

I was looking at the Seasonic 860W Platinum as being a power supply I may never have to upgrade from. Especially with the 7-Year Warranty.

Currently using a Cooler Master Stacker 832, with almost no cable management, minus my horrible mods to the motherboard tray.

If I get a new case, probably a NZXT 810, Antec P280, etc. I like minimalist / clean cases. Something with routing holes is definitely a guarantee in the future.

 

[cyberfish]

Just for a general idea of how much money you'll save on electricity bill -

Assuming you don't run distributed computing programs, your computer will be idle most of the time.

Suppose the average power draw is 100W, the difference between gold and platinum is 3% (87% vs 90%).

Assuming you leave your computer on 24/7, you'll be saving about 3W constantly.

3W * 24 (hours per day) * 365 (days in a year) = 26280Whr = 26.28 kWhr

According to Wolfram Alpha (http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=electricity+price+in+us), average electricity price in the US is 12c/kWhr.

That means over the course of a year, you will save about $3, if you keep your computer on 24/7.

If you use your computer a lot (running encodings overnight, etc), maybe the difference will go up to $6 (200W average, which is A LOT).

On the other hand, if you don't leave your computer on 24/7, it will probably be closer to $1/year.

 

[Bobnova]

That's what the PSU companies would prefer you didn't know

If you have a big folding rig that eats 500-1000w 24/7, it makes a meaningful difference.
For the rest of us... Not so much.
Personally I like platinum/gold for my box mostly for the low noise level when I am putting a big draw on it.

 

[Tyerker]

That's what the PSU companies would prefer you didn't know

If you have a big folding rig that eats 500-1000w 24/7, it makes a meaningful difference.
For the rest of us... Not so much.
Personally I like platinum/gold for my box mostly for the low noise level when I am putting a big draw on it.

Noise / quality were important consideration.

As much as something doesn't need to be 80+ Gold to be any good, I would imagine the consistency of the models that passed the Gold/Platinum Certification Test is pretty high, and you're not likely to find a bad PSU with a Platinum cert.

That, and I would assume no certification at all is probably a bad idea.

 

[Bobnova]

A non-80+ you're looking at a much larger efficiency difference
from 75% to 87% is a pretty solid jump, that might actually pay for itself in a reasonable time frame.