What PSU do I need?

ColBackAgain

Hey Guys,

Changing out the PSU on my current machine. It was a pre-built machine, that i've been making changes to as I saw fit. Finally the time has come to change my PSU out for a bigger and better one.

The one I currently have is the stock, cheap PSU.

How do I know what PSU is compatible with my hardware?

I've read tonnes of sites and they all talk about 20 pin, 24 pin etc etc and I've really no idea what they are going on about.

My motherboard is a
Foxconn H61MXL-K

These specs instantly jump out at me
1x ATX 24-Pin power conn
1x 4-pin ATX 12V power conn

So what PSU's will be compatible with this motherboard? Like what should I look for?

Andrew

tuxy

Any modern ATX power supply will work just fine.
If you let us know where you want to buy from we can help you pick one.

ColBackAgain

tuxy wrote: »

Any modern ATX power supply will work just fine.
If you let us know where you want to buy from we can help you pick one.

We'll my current PSU is 405 Watt. So preferably I'd like to jump to about 500/550watts. I am not planning on adding a serious amount of hardware and I run no harddrives or optical at the moment, only 2 SSD's. Mainly because I just like the speed and never use an optical drive.

I have an AMD Radeon 6670. Not a great card as far as I know, but I'm not a gamer, so as long as I can run a 1920x1080 monitor with fluidity, im fine.

Intel core i7 2600. @ 3.4GHZ & 8gb of DDR3 RAM.

Like it's a powerful system, but definitely not a power hungry beast.

I'd rather buy local, eg peats, maplin etc. Just makes it quicker to get the PSU and easier to return if it's dodgy. But if there is some stunning deal on amazon or something, then I guess that route is OK.

What sort of price am I looking at? Don't mind if its not modular or anything. A mess of cables wouldnt bother me.

My current PSU is this. Piece of junk I assume based on the price.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/PUFP405P-Channel-Well-Technology-405W-20-24-Pin-Atx-Power-Supply-/140854498721#ht_1807wt_1397

My PSU is screwed in at the top of the case, so will any PSU just screw right in their too?

Deano12345

ColBackAgain wrote: »

My current PSU is this. Piece of junk I assume based on the price.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/PUFP405P-Channel-Well-Technology-405W-20-24-Pin-Atx-Power-Supply-/140854498721#ht_1807wt_1397

My PSU is screwed in at the top of the case, so will any PSU just screw right in their too?

Its actually not too bad of a PSU, just old, hence the (lack of) amperage on the 12v rail. For your system, you wouldn't need more than a 400W PSU, provided its a good one. If you want to buy locally, PC world stock the lower wattage Antec High Current PSU's. Very solid units indeed :cool:

tuxy

Yeah, much the same as what I was going to say. It looks like you still have room to add hard drives and small things like that. So unless you play to overclock it would probably be a waste of money.

As for peats.
They have some really cheap looking psu's that are probably no better than what you have even if they are rated for higher watts.
Their other PSU is a Coolermaster GX Gaming Power Supplies, which was getting poor reviews 2 years ago.

Maplin have no Irish site so I can't check there.

Do you have any upgrade path planned? The system you have as it is looks great. If you later decide to get parts that are power hungry(seems unlikley when you are not a gamer) then get the psu at the same time as the parts.

ColBackAgain

tuxy wrote: »

Yeah, much the same as what I was going to say. It looks like you still have room to add hard drives and small things like that. So unless you play to overclock it would probably be a waste of money.

As for peats.
They have some really cheap looking psu's that are probably no better than what you have even if they are rated for higher watts.
Their other PSU is a Coolermaster GX Gaming Power Supplies, which was getting poor reviews 2 years ago.

Maplin have no Irish site so I can't check there.

Do you have any upgrade path planned? The system you have as it is looks great. If you later decide to get parts that are power hungry(seems unlikley when you are not a gamer) then get the psu at the same time as the parts.

Well I'll tell you why I want a new PSU. I got a new SSD yesterday, and it had some issues. Kept locking up and blue screening. I chatted to the OCZ guys and they are really helpful. The drive isnt faulty and its not a firmware issue. They guy said it could be a cheap PSU causing the problem. And from day one my PSU has been a squeeler. When I stress the system is likes to whistle.
It's the only part of my system that I feel is not "up to scratch" if that makes sense?

So upgrading the PSU was on the cards, this gave me a reason to upgrade.

Now bare in mind, I swapped the SATA cables around between the 2 ssds and the system hasnt crashed in 24hours... so it could have just been a loose cable or something somewhere causing the crashes.

(any advice by the way would be brilliant!!?)

Like to be honest as an upgrade path goes, i've no plan. I just want a stable system that can handle anything I throw at it.
Like I want it to be responsive, handle a tonne of apps at once. Like I'm a web developer, so I usually have itunes, filezilla, like 30 chrome tabs, 10 notepad++ files, few explorer windows etc etc open at once. So long as I can do that, I won't upgrade. Plus I'm not a hardware guy, so I like to avoid messing around with the internals like?

If there is no need for a new PSU, then I won't get one. But what I'm most worried about is using a crappy psu, it causing problems and stressing the GOOD hardware I do have.

tuxy

If a system was stable before a ssd and you put one in it's not a power issue. Those things use very little power.

I can see your logic in wanting a new psu though
This looks good for the price
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Antec-VP550P-Power-Supply-Units/dp/B00584VHI2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354563636&sr=8-1

Serephucus

You don't need anywhere near 550W for that system. A good 350W would leave you plenty of room to add pretty much as many hard drives as you like. The only reason to look at a more powerful PSU would be a graphics card upgrade (think 7850-ish) in which case you'd want 450W, or 550W for a 7950.

tuxy

This is true, I just don't know anything about 350/400 watt psu's as I am never looking for ones with low power output.

Can you recommend some Serephucus?

Serephucus

This is probably the best bet. Could be difficult to find from somewhere that isn't HWVS though.

tuxy

Yes it's way more expensive on amazon. (£65!)

I put this in a system recently
http://lb.hardwareversand.de/400+-+500+Watts/30074/Super-Flower+Amazon+80Plus+450W.article

Great price on hardwareversand but a good bit more expensive on other sites.

Serephucus

I mean he could just go with a CX430 from Corsair. Widely available and cheap, I just figured since he was looking at a PSU upgrade he might get something above the bog-standard Bronze efficiency, but there seems to be next to no Silver PSUs on the market; it's all either Bronze or Gold, with the few Platinums showing up now.

tuxy

Yeah I see what you mean. The CX430 should be fine but you will pay more if you want something that is power efficient.

ColBackAgain

ColBackAgain wrote: »

Well I'll tell you why I want a new PSU. I got a new SSD yesterday, and it had some issues. Kept locking up and blue screening. I chatted to the OCZ guys and they are really helpful. The drive isnt faulty and its not a firmware issue. They guy said it could be a cheap PSU causing the problem. And from day one my PSU has been a squeeler. When I stress the system is likes to whistle.
It's the only part of my system that I feel is not "up to scratch" if that makes sense?

While the PSU might need to be replaced, you should also be aware that OCZ SSDs can be quite unreliable. I have three (two Vertex 2s and an Agility 3) and the two Vertex 2s went faulty on me. One I repaired myself and the other I got replaced under warranty.

tuxy

Karsini wrote: »

While the PSU might need to be replaced, you should also be aware that OCZ SSDs can be quite unreliable. I have three (two Vertex 2s and an Agility 3) and the two Vertex 2s went faulty on me. One I repaired myself and the other I got replaced under warranty.

I've heard many people say the same thing

Serephucus

Karsini wrote: »

While the PSU might need to be replaced, you should also be aware that OCZ SSDs can be quite unreliable. I have three (two Vertex 2s and an Agility 3) and the two Vertex 2s went faulty on me. One I repaired myself and the other I got replaced under warranty.

Yeah, I should have mentioned this. OCZ really doesn't have a great track record when it comes to SSDs (though admittedly, yours could be perfectly fine). Having said that, I'd still replace the PSU before the SSD. Reason being that if the SSD is bad, you'll have a dead SSD. If the PSU is bad, it could take half your system with it if/when it decides to up and die.

tuxy

That said I do have a crucial m4 that kept blue screening.
And they are meant to be one of the most reliable SSDs.
It was the 5200 hour bug and a firmware update fixed it.

ColBackAgain

One more question that just struck me.

Say I do go buy a new PSU, just looking at my current one. How do I connect it into the "on" switch? as i, how does it hook into the button to turn the PC on? :-S That seems like its fairly dodgey to start pulling apart.

Serephucus

The buttons on your case are connected to your motherboard, so when you connect your PSU to your motherboard (that's what the 20 or 24-pin - depending on the motherboard, probably 24, is for) all the case stuff will work.

ColBackAgain

Right guys, apologies for dragging up an old thread. But I was out of the country for the last few days and since ive came back ive had more problems.

Returned the SSD and got a new one. and havent had a single lock up or BSOD.
BUT I did some Grahpics card benchmarks, while I was up late last night and it wasnt performing to what I was expecting. So messed around with AMD catalyst control center and say it had an "overdrive" feature. I was thinking "oh maybe it will perform better with the overdrive enabled"... and it just blue screened my PC like straight away.

After some googling, I think it's my PSU not being sufficient enough? Does that sound plausable that would cause the BSOD? Like the graphics card is an AMD radeon HD 6670. Not a great card, but I dont game. Never had real problems, but after messing with the overdrive feature it crashed my PC. So I assume that was what caused it like.

If it is the case, i'm definitely getting a new PSU.

So what do I need to look for to be sure it will work with this Motherboard? I am still unsure of what is the spec I should be looking out for.

Foxconn H61MXL-K
http://www.foxconnchannel.com/ProductDetail.aspx?T=motherboard&U=en-us0000554

Overdrive is a function to overclock your GPU. Incorrect usage can and will lead to instability. Unless you know what you're doing I'd suggest leaving it at defaults.

ColBackAgain

Karsini wrote: »

Overdrive is a function to overclock your GPU. Incorrect usage can and will lead to instability. Unless you know what you're doing I'd suggest leaving it at defaults.

Yeah I know that. But I just assumed (being a software developer and kinda assuming other developers think like me), that they would be limits on how much damage I could do. If I made that piece of software, I can't understand why I am given the ability to crash my system? :-/

tuxy

ColBackAgain wrote: »

Yeah I know that. But I just assumed (being a software developer and kinda assuming other developers think like me), that they would be limits on how much damage I could do. If I made that piece of software, I can't understand why I am given the ability to crash my system? :-/

Because different cards have better quality silicon wafers than others. Some batches just turn out better but once they can meet base clocks they are all labeled and sold the same. Some will overclock better than others, this is why the software allows it.

ColBackAgain

ColBackAgain wrote: »

Yeah I know that. But I just assumed (being a software developer and kinda assuming other developers think like me), that they would be limits on how much damage I could do. If I made that piece of software, I can't understand why I am given the ability to crash my system? :-/

Unfortunately it is the case. I've seen, for example, options in the BIOS to increase core voltages way beyond what the processor can handle. It can be a delicate balance between clock speed and voltage, and even I don't know what to set it at. I don't get involved with overclocking at all.

Serephucus

Those ridiculous voltages are usually for sub-zero overclocking, FYI.

tuxy

Also on graphics card some people do over-volt mods on them. It's dangerous but allows a higher overlclock, these people will want the software to support higher frequencies than most users.

ColBackAgain

Ok well i'll just avoid messing around with it then. So a new PSU is on the cards for me I think. Like I think its the only dodgy component in my system. Like I have a serious CPU, RAM, Graphics card is OK, dual-SSD's. The PSU is the only part people see and are like "ooohhh ok :-/"

So I think I am going to get a nice 600/750Watt PSU and then slap in a few Hard Drives along with my SSD's and stuff.

Serephucus

Just for reference:

At one point in time, I was running an i7 950 (which pulls anywhere up to 100-150W more than a 2600K) and a GTX 580 (which is another ~200W more than your 6670), an SSD, six mechanical hard drives, and a watercooling pump. The system was also heavily overclocked on top of all of this. I was using a 700W unit to power it, and I could have got away with a 600W and still thrown a few more hard drives in.

Not joking here; 700W is ludicrous for that system. If you were thinking of adding a very high-end graphics card, I'd say go for 600W, otherwise 350-400 will be plenty. I'd much rather see an 80+ Gold/Platinum 400W unit in someone's system than a 700W ****pile.

challengemaster

If you're just going to buy an overkill PSU for no reason, sure just throw in a 1200W one to waste even more power.

Or you could take the advice someone else gave you earlier.

Serephucus wrote: »

You don't need anywhere near 550W for that system. A good 350W would leave you plenty of room to add pretty much as many hard drives as you like. The only reason to look at a more powerful PSU would be a graphics card upgrade (think 7850-ish) in which case you'd want 450W, or 550W for a 7950.

I'm running my PC on a 520W Antec HCG-520. It's an i5 2500K with two SSDs, one hard disk and a GTS 250 (I know it's not the best of cards but it does me fine for the moment). Works perfectly, I didn't need anything extra for it.

tuxy

I was just thinking over what you said earlier Serephucus and there are almost no low watt, high 80 plus rated PSUs. That's a big gap in the market. It really is just 80 plus bronze or platinum(probably with more watts than you need) and no in between.

I found this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182066 but it's only available in america I think.

Serephucus

You're welcome.

ColBackAgain

challengemaster wrote: »

If you're just going to buy an overkill PSU for no reason, sure just throw in a 1200W one to waste even more power.

Or you could take the advice someone else gave you earlier.

well no. but I have a 400 watt PSU right now and it just feels a bit dodgy. Bit loud, not 'expensive' or 'good quality' as some would say. Why buy certain ram over other ram? just better quality. So i'll invest in a nice 600watt corsair PSU or something and it will last a long time. Maybe use it in a future machine if the time comes.

Serephucus

If my first (two) points weren't clear, I'll sum it up thus:

Wattage != quality.

ColBackAgain

Serephucus wrote: »

If my first (two) points weren't clear, I'll sum it up thus:

Wattage != quality.

Yeah, thats why I want a good quality one. And then make it a higher wattage, just as a buffer, incase I do decide to add a drive or some other piece of hardware. Or to use in a future build. Just increase the longevity and reusability of the system components.
Is that the right way to do it?

Serephucus

Well, how likely is it that you'll be upgrading to anything gaming capable? And when (roughly) do you think the upgrade might happen?

challengemaster

You'd want to be adding a new GPU and then another one in crossfire/SLI for that sort of power draw.

Hard drives (as you've been told over, and over) don't use that much power.

An overclocked i7 2600k, 16gb ram, a HD7970, 2 SSDs, 5 Sata HDDs won't even need 600W.

tuxy

A good 550 watt will leave room for a good graphics card and some overclocking.
But you never know he might buy a quad sli setup any day now.....