Author Topic: I need a new power supply... (Read 9532 times)

xShadow · « **on:** May 31, 2008, 05:13:56 AM »

I'm looking for a good power supply, under 100 bucks, that has around 500W of power (the highest energy-burning thing I have in my case is a 7800 GT). The current one I have fails to turn on the graphics card repeatedly, and I just think it sucks, quite simply.

Now, for most other computer parts, I'd just go to Newegg and shop around, but I've heard of some "current stability" crap, and stuff, so I'm honestly confused, and don't care to stare at a wikipedia page for 5 hours...

Anyone know of a really good bargain? I'm researching on the GFaqs PC forums, but I'd also like some answers from here.

While I'm at it, on a side note, I'm thinking of getting a decent sound card, and this one seemed to be just what I was looking for:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102018
Nice card, cheap, and a set of good earphones to plug into it...
If you have any thoughts on that, let em out.

psyren · « **Reply #1 on:** May 31, 2008, 05:24:22 AM »

PSU: Anything Corsair or SilverStone. OCZ are apparently good too, but I'm not so sure. Steer clear of ThermalTake or Antec unless you know a decent amount about PSUs.

Sound card: Get what I have. Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer. Best investment ever.

sdedalus83 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 31, 2008, 05:47:49 AM »

The X-Fi is a great all purpose card, if you have an open pci slot, and your focus is gaming. That kind of package is fine if you want the headset for online play, but the headphones would be utter crap for listening to music or movies. If you want decent, cheap headphones, Koss Porta-Pros are very good. Grado SR-60's are far better. The pair, an X-Fi XtremeGamer and a pair of SR-60's, would cost about $150 if you were to shop around.

As for the power supply, the 610 watt PC Power and Cooling unit is $110 at Newegg right now. It's a little more, but go for the best when the price is right.

xShadow · « **Reply #3 on:** May 31, 2008, 05:58:57 AM »

The offers from corsair that interest me:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003
Silverstone:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817163112

Silverstone seems to be considerably more expensive, though...

sdedalus, I'm not really looking for anything far above 500 watts; in fact, 500 watts is pretty overkill. >_>
I just need a much higher-quality one than my current absolute piece of crap...

I have 2 IDE drives and an IDE CD drive; will any of those power supplies not work with that? I don't know much about PSU cable types. I'm pretty sure I looked at the Silverstone, and it was fine in that area (as in, I SAW that it had the cables I needed), but that's about the only thing I'm worried about when it comes to the corsairs (which, I'm kinda more interested in them, considering the price looks pretty nice).

As for the sound card you guys suggested:
http://www.newegg.com/product/ProductList.aspx?description=X-Fi+XtremeGamer&Submit=ENE&Ntk=all&N=0&DisplayStyle=1&page=0&sourceid=Mozilla-search
Which version?

sdedalus83 · « **Reply #4 on:** May 31, 2008, 06:05:44 AM »

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102006

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108088

Quadlazer · « **Reply #5 on:** May 31, 2008, 06:24:36 AM »

I got a Creative X-fi Extreme Music a while back for a killer price (I think around $40).

Was it worth it? Maybe for $40 or less, but a $80+ soundcard?! I'd just stick with onboard audio. The Extreme Music was the first soundcard I had bought in 10 years...it's been onboard audio all the rest of the time, and if I hadn't found a deal, I would still be onboard audio. I haven't noticed that much of a difference (Hint: the quality of your headphones makes a bigger difference; I like my HD555's)

By the way...I have an unopened Corsair 520HX. I was gonna use it in my gaming PC, but I ended up buying a 750W PCP&C supply instead. PM me if interested...I've been hanging on to it as a backup.

psyren · « **Reply #6 on:** May 31, 2008, 06:30:39 AM »

XtremeMusic is actually just the Audigy cards rebadged, packaged with the wrong drivers.

Quadlazer · « **Reply #7 on:** May 31, 2008, 07:06:02 AM »

Quote from: psyren on May 31, 2008, 06:30:39 AM

XtremeMusic is actually just the Audigy cards rebadged, packaged with the wrong drivers.

It uses the X-fi DSP, so I don't see how it's just a rebranded Audigy card. I get Dolby EX and DTS decoding, the X-Fi 24-bit Crystalizer, X-Fi CMSS-3D, EAX Advanced HD 5.0 support, and 96KHz/24-bit@109dB....all the same features as the Xtremegamer. So besides the component layout, what is the difference?

And how are the drivers wrong? I use the latest build from the Creative website, and everything works fine. But maybe I'm mistaken?

psyren · « **Reply #8 on:** May 31, 2008, 07:25:16 AM »

Oh wait, it was the XtremeAudio, sorry, not the XtremeMusic.

kureshii · « **Reply #9 on:** May 31, 2008, 11:56:37 AM »

I need one too, for a DTPC (HTPC for desktop) that I'm still planning. I'm trying to fit it in an Omaura TF5 (6.8cm high) so pretty much the only things I get to look at are 1U server PSUs, and I need something silent >_<

Would be nice to get a sound card, but I'm a little scared by Creative's support policy (and the recent developments surrounding that Daniel guy) so I'll probably stick to onboard.

xShadow · « **Reply #10 on:** May 31, 2008, 03:10:37 PM »

Quote from: sdedalus83 on May 31, 2008, 06:05:44 AM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102006

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108088

Ehhh, that thread didn't help me much; everything was kinda arranged a little to complicatedly...

As for the sound card... yeah, I guess I'd need to buy something crazy like 160 dollar earphones to actually experience it, unless there are some very awesome, cheap ones that I'm not aware of.

Other than that, the price looks quite reasonable.

Quote from: Quadlazer on May 31, 2008, 06:24:36 AM

I got a Creative X-fi Extreme Music a while back for a killer price (I think around $40).

Was it worth it? Maybe for $40 or less, but a $80+ soundcard?! I'd just stick with onboard audio. The Extreme Music was the first soundcard I had bought in 10 years...it's been onboard audio all the rest of the time, and if I hadn't found a deal, I would still be onboard audio. I haven't noticed that much of a difference (Hint: the quality of your headphones makes a bigger difference; I like my HD555's)

By the way...I have an unopened Corsair 520HX. I was gonna use it in my gaming PC, but I ended up buying a 750W PCP&C supply instead. PM me if interested...I've been hanging on to it as a backup.

... those earphones are crazy priced... If I'm to even consider a sound card, I need some way cheaper combo... @_@

As for that power supply... Well, I'll PM a bit later on that.

Thanks for all the suggestions and stuff so far.

sunweb · « **Reply #11 on:** May 31, 2008, 08:32:58 PM »

You don't need more than 450W, 400W would be fine.

As for brands, Corsair, Antec and Seasonic are your best bets.

I don't know much about sound cards (I use my onboard's optical out hooked to my Panasonic amp), but you can pick up good headphones for less than 100 bucks, maybe even sub-50. Grado SR-60, Koss PortaPro and Sennheiser PX100.

Jayp · « **Reply #12 on:** May 31, 2008, 09:15:10 PM »

Nexus is also a good brand. I've had 2 Antecs blow up on me.

Hm I really need a decent sound card. I like my Sennheiser headphones but they're going to waste with this integrated crap.

sdedalus83 · « **Reply #13 on:** May 31, 2008, 09:29:45 PM »

Jayp: www.headphone.com

The Desktop amp with the DAC option is ridiculously good for its price, and the USB connection makes it very simple as a plug and play sound card.

NaRu · « **Reply #14 on:** June 04, 2008, 03:26:50 AM »

Get PC & cooling PSU..they are the best..I love mine

Quadlazer · « **Reply #15 on:** June 04, 2008, 03:44:31 AM »

Quote from: xShadow on May 31, 2008, 03:10:37 PM

Quote from: Quadlazer
I like my HD555's

... those earphones are crazy priced... If I'm to even consider a sound card, I need some way cheaper combo... @_@

That's just the MSRP. You can find them for $100 everywhere else. Like Newegg.

xShadow · « **Reply #16 on:** June 04, 2008, 04:45:40 PM »

Mmmm... I saw them on Newegg...

Also, I saw these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826106328

Are the ones you're mentioning better than the above? I just noticed it was priced down from 200 -> 100, so I thought they might be better, but I think they're an earlier model, so I'm not 100% clear on that...
On a side note, if I get earphones that good, do I really need a sound card? >.>

Quote from: NaRu on June 04, 2008, 03:26:50 AM

Get PC & cooling PSU..they are the best..I love mine

I looked em up on newegg just now.

I'll say that they look extremely good, but their price ranges are a bit weird. Most of the reviews attest to their stability, however...
Still, I wonder if corsair's is just as or almost as good and cheaper. <_<;;;

So, so far, I'm down to three manufacturers:

P&C, Corsair, and Silverstone
All of em look good, so I guess I'll just have to compromise based on prices, and exactly how much I wanna spend on the sound components...

I've gotten some pretty helpful replies. Thanks...

mgz · « **Reply #17 on:** June 04, 2008, 04:51:58 PM »

make sure whichever you purchase for psu has at least the 2 12v rails

Quadlazer · « **Reply #18 on:** June 04, 2008, 10:51:01 PM »

Quote from: xShadow on June 04, 2008, 04:45:40 PM

Mmmm... I saw them on Newegg...

Also, I saw these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826106328

Are the ones you're mentioning better than the above? I just noticed it was priced down from 200 -> 100, so I thought they might be better, but I think they're an earlier model, so I'm not 100% clear on that...
On a side note, if I get earphones that good, do I really need a sound card? >.>

lol, I own the 280 Pros as well. I use them when sound editing in ProTools or Final Cut. They are more suited for sound engineering/location sound for film, where accurate sound reproduction is most important. Also not that comfortable for extended use.

If you get good headphones, you are more likely to notice the difference a soundcard can make. More important than the soundcard would be a headphone amp.

You can buy one cheap; just search for a Cmoy headphone amp.

Or build one yourself: http://www.tangentsoft.net/audio/cmoy-tutorial/

Quote from: xShadow on June 04, 2008, 04:45:40 PM

So, so far, I'm down to three manufacturers:

P&C, Corsair, and Silverstone

PCP&C are great single rail PSUs, but some people question their build quality now that they are owned by OCZ. I own one, and would say their quality hasn't been affected at all.

Corsair PSUs are actually manufactured by Seasonic. Seasonic has the reputation of being the most reliable and quietest PSUs on the market. But Seasonics are usually uber-expensive.

I don't know much about Silverstone.

xShadow · « **Reply #19 on:** June 05, 2008, 05:26:35 AM »

Alright, for the PSU, I've pretty much made up my mind on this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
Sound good? I notice mgz said something about 2 12V rails, but this is single... dunno.. I just thought it was a really nice 650W PSU for only 90 bucks; it has plenty of room for any expansions I might make, since it's 650W.

Earphones, I guess I'll get those HD555's from Newegg. Hope that they're really good.

The only thing left to decide on is either A) A sound card or B) Earphone amp. Quad, on that list of ebay amps you put up, which one would you suggest? I looked at one, but it was 65 dollars. Seems like a bit much... got one on there that you would recommend?