PSU Suggestions

[Khell]

I'm planning to upgrade my PC over the next month and I have everything I want decided on except the PSU, I have one I am thinking about but would like some opinions.

My new build will be

Intel core i5 2400
ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 mobo
G-Skill Ripjaw X series 8GB (2x4GB) Low Voltage DDR3 1600
Radeon HD 6790 1GB GPU
Corsair Force Series 3 60GB SSD
Samsung EcoGreen 2TB HDD

The PSU I am looking at is

Antec High Current Pro HCP-750 750W PSU

Model HCP-750
Series High Current Pro

Spec

Type TX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.92
Maximum Power 750W
Fans 1 x 135mm double ball bearing PWM fan
PFC Active
Main Connector 20+4Pin
+12V Rails 4
PCI-Express Connector 6 x 6+2-Pin
SATA Power Connector 9
SLI Certified
CrossFire Certified
Modular
Efficiency up to 92%
Energy-Efficient 80 PLUS GOLD Certified
Over Voltage Protection
Input Voltage 100 - 240V ± 10%
Input Frequency Range 50/60 Hz
Input Current 11A @ 115V, 5.5A @ 230V
Output +3.3V@25A, +5V@25A, +12V1@40A, +12V2@40A, +12V3@40A, +12V4@40A, [email protected], +5VSB@3A
MTBF >100,000 Hours
Approvals: cUL, TÜV, CE, CB, FCC, C-TICK, CCC, BSMI, Gost-R
Dimensions 3.4" (H) x 5.9" (W) x 7.1" (D)
Weight 5.5 lbs .

Features

Connectors
1 x Main connector (20+4 Pin)
1 x 4+4 Pin ATX12V/EPS12V
1 x 8 Pin EPS12V
6 x PCI-E
9 x SATA
6 x Peripheral
1 x Floppy

Features

750 watts of Continuous Power

80 PLUS Gold certified – up to 92% efficient

NVIDIA SLI-Ready certified, ATI CrossFireX certified

Intelligent Hybrid Cable Management utilizes a 10-pin modular connector system

Special heavy-gauge 16 AWG High Current cable for CPU connectors boosts conductivity, increasing ciency and improving power delivery

2 x 8-pin CPU connectors included for dual-CPU gaming, server applications and high-end motherboards

Gold-plated high-current terminals for optimal conductivity

135 mm double ball bearing PWM fan for optimal and quiet cooling

Four fully-protected High Current +12V rails ensure high-end CPU and graphics cards compatibility

Up to 99% power available on +12V rails

DC-to-DC voltage regulator modules ensure stability and higher efficiency

Highest quality Japanese brand capacitors for long-term reliability

Double-layer PCB allows for heavy-duty components

Full suite of industrial grade protection:
- Over current protection (OCP)
- Over voltage protection (OVP)
- Short circuit protection (SCP)
- Over power protection (OPP)
- Over temperature protection (OTP)

All cables braided and wrapped for better airflow and neatness

Meets 2010 EUP requirement: 5Vsb < 1W


That was all taken from Newegg.

in about a year I may upgrade to an Ivy Bridge CPU and a PCI-e 3.0 GPU, so I want enough power for that, also I may do some moderate overclocking on the CPU and RAM. What do you think of this PSU for this Build? I would like to stay in this price range of sub $200

 

[Bobnova]

The HCP-750 is an excellent PSU, it's also far overkill for your system, but you'll have plenty of extra room for crossfire/sli/top-of-the-line-GPUs later.

 

[Mjolnir]

A 750W PSU for your current build is way too high. The PSU you listed, however, is fantastic. But I wouldn't spend that much money on it.. Your HD 6790 1GB isn't pulling much power at all.. Your entire system is pulling (at max) probably under 300W.

Sandy/Ivy bridge don't use anywhere near as much power as the older series of Intel CPU's. The ONLY reason you would buy that PSU; is if you wanted to change the HD 6790 out for 2 high-end cards for SLI/XFire.

That being said..

Seasonic X-560W

Fully modular; great PSU. 560 watts is way more than your system needs.

You could run a 2600K fully OC'd with a GTX 580 or HD7970 Oc'd perfectly fine with this PSU. (However; if you ever wish to go multi-screen; you might consider otherwise..; and stick to your HCP 750 choice)

BTW personally; i would try to extend your budget a tiny bit; and grab a HD 6870 1GB instead of your listed HD 6790.. The 6790 is very much an entry-level card.. Whilst it's great for a resolution of say; 1680x1050; if you're running 1920x1200/1080; you'll find it's not the most powerful GPU..

 

[Khell]

A 750W PSU for your current build is way too high. The PSU you listed, however, is fantastic. But I wouldn't spend that much money on it.. Your HD 6790 1GB isn't pulling much power at all.. Your entire system is pulling (at max) probably under 300W.

Sandy/Ivy bridge don't use anywhere near as much power as the older series of Intel CPU's. The ONLY reason you would buy that PSU; is if you wanted to change the HD 6790 out for 2 high-end cards for SLI/XFire.

That being said..

Seasonic X-560W

Fully modular; great PSU. 560 watts is way more than your system needs.

You could run a 2600K fully OC'd with a GTX 580 or HD7970 Oc'd perfectly fine with this PSU. (However; if you ever wish to go multi-screen; you might consider otherwise..; and stick to your HCP 750 choice)

BTW personally; i would try to extend your budget a tiny bit; and grab a HD 6870 1GB instead of your listed HD 6790.. The 6790 is very much an entry-level card.. Whilst it's great for a resolution of say; 1680x1050; if you're running 1920x1200/1080; you'll find it's not the most powerful GPU..

I currently run 2 monitors on my PC as well as a 46" LCD tv. My plan was to use the integrated graphics to run my TV (watching netflix and hulu shows/movies) and then have the other two running off of the Radeon. When I game I always use the same monitor and the other is normally just for websurfing, email, viewing/creating/editing docs and such while I have a fullscreen application going. Will this effect me? Also I may run a second card in the future. I don't know if I will SLI/Crossfire. Currently in my old machine I have 2 dedicated GPU's, one running my second monitor and my TV with the other powering my gaming monitor. This could likely happen again if I am not happy with the onboard playback. I am not used to Intel CPU's as I have mostly dealt with AMD, which I know to be power hogs. I didn't think to mention this b4 when I probably should have.

PS. Thx for the input.

 

[Khell]

Also I would like to not that I was originally looking at the 600-650w PSU's but a tech buddy of mine started saying that I was looking at to small of a PSU. I had done my own calculations and what I had gotten was (and I rounded up alot on things) that if I overclocked pretty hard across the board and threw on alot of extra cooling fans and such I would be maxing at just about 500W. He said that the newegg calculator showed my setup taking 501W right out of the box. I was using a chart from Tom's Hardware, not a calculator because I had heard the calculators are not all that accurate.

 

[Mjolnir]

Any newer AMD card can run 3 screens on it's own (providing one of the connections is via Display port..). If you only game on a single screen (regardless of your setup); and never exceed 1920x1200; stick to single cards IMO. In which case; the X-560 would be a perfect choice. (Albeit expensive; but you're paying for quality with this one).

But that's your choice..

As far as your power use is concerned. Calculators are often wrong and very conservative. Your friend is also incorrect sorry to say..

HD 6790 Power Usage
I5 2400 power usage

note that the i5 2400 is; in that review; being rated from the wall. So in your computer it's actually running even less.

You're nowhere near 500W.

If you upgrade later to say; Ivy bridge; OC that to the max (Note; Ivy Bridge will consume even less power than sandy bridge) you still wouldn't be running anything substantially higher than this.

And if you grab, say, a single HD 6970 2GB or HD 7970 3GB; or even a GTX 580; none of them are power consuming enough to not work on a quality 500-600w PSU. (note; quality).

Your system looks like it's more built for general use and casual gaming? Have you actually bought the system yet?

 

[Khell]

Any newer AMD card can run 3 screens on it's own (providing one of the connections is via Display port..). If you only game on a single screen (regardless of your setup); and never exceed 1920x1200; stick to single cards IMO. In which case; the X-560 would be a perfect choice. (Albeit expensive; but you're paying for quality with this one).

But that's your choice..

As far as your power use is concerned. Calculators are often wrong and very conservative. Your friend is also incorrect sorry to say..

HD 6790 Power Usage
I5 2400 power usage

note that the i5 2400 is; in that review; being rated from the wall. So in your computer it's actually running even less.

You're nowhere near 500W.

If you upgrade later to say; Ivy bridge; OC that to the max (Note; Ivy Bridge will consume even less power than sandy bridge) you still wouldn't be running anything substantially higher than this.

And if you grab, say, a single HD 6970 2GB or HD 7970 3GB; or even a GTX 580; none of them are power consuming enough to not work on a quality 500-600w PSU. (note; quality).

Your system looks like it's more built for general use and casual gaming? Have you actually bought the system yet?

These are components I'm selecting to upgrade (actually gut and replace) my old PC. All I'm really keeping is the case as the system is 4 years old now. I'm not looking for a heavy gaming machine but more of a general purpose/casual gaming machine. I like gaming on the PC but I don't have to have the most insane machine out there, I am trying to balance performance, cost, and power efficency into this build as well as leaving myself able to upgrade it in 12 to 24 months. I am considering stepping up the card to maybe a HD 6850 or 6890 or possibly a GTX 560. I'm trying to keep my GPU for this build under $200. I'm not a fanboy or hater for either nvidea or radeon but I'm looking at bang for buck. To crank up the performance I was thinking of OCing the machine some, but not to aggressively because I want the system to run for a good while.

With the PSU your confirming what I had originally thought. The first PSU I looked at the I liked was the SeaSonic x650 as I thought this was a good solid PSU with plenty of power while still allowing me to possibly SLI/Crossfire, OC hard, upgrade to an i7 later, as well as add in additional storage, usb devices, aftermarket cooling, etc, etc. the reason for the jump was, like I said, my buddy told me I was being to light on the PSU Also he said I shouldn't go Single 12V rail.

btw, I'm not arguing with you, just putting in all my thoughts to hopefully get better, more acurate feedback

 

[Mjolnir]

Yeah no prob.

The 650 unit still makes more sense than the 750 unit. Grab a HD6870 imo. Though you will need the 650w unit to run more than 1 of them. Simply due to a lack of cables on the 560 unit.

You cannot oc a I5 2400 remember. You need a 2500k for that. Or 2600k. Though 2500k is the bang/buck chip. Single rail is fine. But if you don't sli or xfire the 560 unit I mentioned is a fantastic choice.

If you want to sli or xfire a gtx 560 ti or a HD 6870. That seasonic 650 unit will work for you fine. Don't bother with a 750 watt unless you're going dual HD 6970s or dual HD7970s or gtx 570s.

Just remember your current CPU choice cannot be overlooked.

 

[Khell]

Thanks for the help. And I hadn't realized that the i5 2400 wasn't OC'able. I think I can spring for the 2500k tho, so I'm gonna look at that instead. I'm leaning towards the 6870 anyway. I'm probably going to go with the 650 unit incase I do run dual cards later and/or OC.