PSU Suggestions

[Comixion]

I'm still searching (the past 3 hours) for a PSU with a nice mod look. I need it clean and non-cluttered in my case, which has a window.
Something with UV sleeving, or colored. Not the black sleeves. Maybe Red, blue or Green or clear. I dont care. I have a blue 80mm fan but it can easily be changed if neccessary.But I want decent, if not good quality at the same time within $100 bucks. At least 450W or whatever is good for what I'm running right now.
Any suggestions? Links?

Gigabyte M57SLI-S4 Nforce570
2g Mushkin PC6400 EPP
MSI T2D256EZ 8600GT PCI-E
Seagate 160G 7020.10 sata HDD
Asus 18X DVD Burner
Raidmax 500W PSU --ugh! scared
Raidmax Smilidon case--3-80mm-1-120mm fans

Possible 2nd Graphics card in the near future. So SLI capability is a must.

[Qbical]

pc power and cooling PERIOD ;)

[jdrom17]

Enermax Liberty? Not UV but it's modular so it would cut down cable clutter.

[Comixion]

This is not easy.
http://www.pasthelp1.esmartweb.com/pissed.x

[jdrom17]

UV/Coloured cables only come with junky (see: ThermalTake, etc.) PSUs. If you want a high-quality PSU, you get black sleeving.

If you really need UV sleeving, you can pickup a kit and DIY. If you don't want to DIY, PerformancePCs (http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=22) will sleeve it for you, in your choice of color from their list, for $50.

The Corsair HX series has pretty nice black kinda rubberish cables. It's on the over your budget though.

[Phoenix64d]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182087
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182088

I bought this one a couple months ago. As you can see from reviews, most people didn't have trouble with it, and neither did I.

Nice aesthetics: sleeved cables, blue LED light, and you can see yourself in the chrome ^^

Practically speaking, you have a 3yr warranty, 2 very quiet fans, great power efficiency, 40A combined between the twelve volt rails, and a whole bunch of connectors. You'll want to get a molex to sata converter though. Should power two 8800's in SLI. All for about $77. If you're interested, combo it up and get a good(ish) Rosewill case for a total of 92. Hope that helps.
------
Edit:
Forgot to add, mine shows no power fluctuation at all, unlike my old case. I got picky about PSU's when my last one burned up, and did a lot a research on this one before buying. On newegg at least, I was hard pressed to find one this good for the money.

[jdrom17]

I doubt that would run a SLI setup...

Maybe a single 8800GTX but not 2.

[Comixion]

I suppoese the cables dont really have to be colored. I was looking for the neatest, cleanest look I could get. But I;m not going to overlook quality for beauty. The OCZ GameXtream or StealthXtream 600W is on my radar.
Whats the opinions of Apevia? thanx

[Phoenix64d]

I doubt that would run a SLI setup...

Maybe a single 8800GTX but not 2.

EVGA seems to disagree with you. Before I bought this I called them and gave them the specs, and they said that their Gf8's in SLI would run on them. But let's say that they just *barely* run or don't at all; Comixion, you'd definitely need to spend over $100 to get a power supply that would completely lay your fears to rest. You'd probably want something with a single rail. But given the constraints listed above in terms of cost and looks, and also considering that you would likely only be adding an 8600 for SLI, I thought this might be a good option.
----------------
You know, I'm trying to calculate this mathematically but I can't even find the damn power draw for two 8800's...

[Comixion]

If I need to stretch above 100 I will. No prob.
So are you saying I specifically need a single rail or its optional?
I really dont know the details of PSU's guts but I do plan to add another 8600 in the near future. Maybe.
In your opinion, would that extra graphics card be a drastic improvement? Really the question is, is it worth the $$

[Phoenix64d]

Okay, if you *only* want to add an 1 x 8800GTX or 2 x 8600's get the Rosewill. If you think you might ever want 2 x 8800's, get a PSU rated at 750W+ with a single rail. If you care, here's why I say that:
-----------------
Okay, youve got about 40Amps of current (480W/12V) combined on both rails for that Rosewill PSU. The GF8800GTS draws 34A (http://www.hwupgrade.com/articles/video/13/the-nvidia-geforce-8800-gtx-and-gts-in-sli_5.html). It's been awhile since I've taken an electronics class, but I think my conversions are about right. If I'm right, you will just barely have enough power left for your system, assuming your PSU gives you rated current, which they usually don't. That's just the peak rating, not the rating it runs at normally. Your other components will probably bleed the other 6 Amps greedily. To make matters worse, a lot of PSU's with dual twelve volt rails will give an entire rail to CPU, overworking the other one with everything else. I don't know if they've fixed this problem with other PSU's, so call the manufacturers when in doubt.

If you want 2 8800's get something over 750W with a single rail and a big, quiet fan. Probelm is, you're not finding anything like that for under $100 like you asked (nothing you wanna buy anyways). If $$$ is your biggest concern or you only want to run either 1 x 8800 or 2 x8600's, definitely go for Rosewill (I want to say that one 8800GTX outperforms 2 8600's anyways...).

[Comixion]

Ok that sums it up. thanx for the info.

So there's that big a diff. in the 8600 and 8800 huh? Dam, I should have got one.

what about the Rosewill RT750-135-SLI v.2.2 single rail?

[jdrom17]

I suppoese the cables dont really have to be colored. I was looking for the neatest, cleanest look I could get. But I;m not going to overlook quality for beauty. The OCZ GameXtream or StealthXtream 600W is on my radar.
Whats the opinions of Apevia? thanx

Go with either OCZ one. 600W I presume? They are basically the same, one just has the LED fan. Great PSU, hasn't let me down yet.

I don't really consider Rosewill or Apevia one of the "top" PSU manufacturers. Enermax, Antec, PC Power&Cooling, OCZ/Fortron/FSP, Corsair would be my recommendations.

As for video cards (since that seems to be a topic here too), a single 8800GTS will outperform SLI'd 8600GTs (just GT not GTS). And there's always new cards coming out as well thus it's normally cheaper and better to get a single faster card than to SLI.

[Comixion]

Let me just toss these names out and give me a yay or nay

Thermaltake
Antec
Apevia
Coolermaster
Ultra
OCZ

Reason I ask is this is what is available local I can get now if I loose patience. Which I am running this Raidmax PSU. I keep thinking any minute it will go and take something with it.

Fry's here locally has the OCZ GameXtreme 700W for $129. Thats 10 bucks cheaper than newegg.

[jdrom17]

ThermalTake - Nay (ToughPower seems okay I guess)
Antec - Yay
Apevia - Nay - doesn't look too great, never seen any reviews...
Coolermaster - Nay(?) Never read anything really
Ultra - Only the X3 1000W one, otherwise nay
OCZ - Yay

You honestly don't need 700W, no sense in wasting money on it. 600W is plenty. As I said, it runs my system.

[Assimilator87]

I know you wanted something flashy, but stable power is more important. The best deal out right now is the 600W OCZ StealthXstream.

[Comixion]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817152026 ??? Unlike there other PSU's...this one is made by ToPower

[3DGuy]

I've mainly used Tagan and Enermax. Recently Hiper Type R too.. All perform really well.

[jdrom17]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817152026 ??? Unlike there other PSU's...this one is made by ToPower

If you can find a review of the internals of that PSU, then maybe consider it. If those modular connectors aren't done nicely, it'll basically turn a stable PSU (assuming it it) into something that isn't.

Corsair HX 520W maybe? ThermalTake PurePower RX 600W? Still the OCZ is probably the best-deal right now.

(Yes, I recommended Tt. See this review of it http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/hardwarecanuck-reviews/2752-thermaltake-purepower-rx-600w-modular-power-supply-review.html#post21114)

I don't know why you need all these flashy lights and stuff. This is usually directly related to cheap, low-quality stuff. If you really need it, take a good solid PSU and mod it to your likings.

[Comixion]

Its not really the flashy lights etc. I really want the sleeved wires, thats a must. And then I considered Modular as an additional feature. I can live without the eye candy led's.
So I'm narrowed down to the OCZ (on newegg) or the Raidmax Volcano (by ToPower) which is available at Fry's near me where I can grab it quick. I have seen reviews as well as a video on it and it sounds good. So now its a mind maker upper thing.

[jdrom17]

I'd still rather the OCZ. If the modular connectors on the PSU are not soldered nice and cleanly you'll end up with dirty, unstable power. Not something you want. That why I said if you can find an internal picture of it, specifically the modular connector board and see how its made.

[Comixion]

I'd still rather the OCZ. If the modular connectors on the PSU are not soldered nice and cleanly you'll end up with dirty, unstable power. Not something you want. That why I said if you can find an internal picture of it, specifically the modular connector board and see how its made.

Point taken.
How about the OCZ ModStream 450W? I found one on Ebay and its sitting at $25+ $20 shipping from Canada. Used but has everything. I know its chancy but hey. Thats cheap. Albeit risking having it DOA. The seller is 100%. I just happened to take a look see there and saw it.

[jdrom17]

I wouldn't exactly buy a used PSU. Capacitors age over time. So if that PSU has been under extreme loads/heat, then it's probably aged quite a bit meaning it might not put out full power when you get it or die sooner.

Not that theres anything wrong with it though. Has the UV cables you wanted.

[Comixion]

I hear ya. It really wasnt the UV cables that caught my attention. It was the price. If its bad, then I can hope OCZ would send me a new one.
He says 3 months used but he bought dual 8800's and running a Quad core.
He says it has a 3 year manf. warranty.

[3DGuy]

I hear ya. It really wasnt the UV cables that caught my attention. It was the price. If its bad, then I can hope OCZ would send me a new one.
He says 3 months used but he bought dual 8800's and running a Quad core.
He says it has a 3 year manf. warranty.

Well how about this as i mentioned before....

The Type R i use is rated at 580 Watts (Real ones peaks at 630 if i recall)

Has a very solid modular locking system. Cables plug in then you spin the circular locking nut around on to the threads onthe psu..

The cables are UV Reactive. The Mesh provides exceptional ventilation and cooling. Theres a small glow for the PSU colour chosen (Red, Blue etc) and the ends of the cables have easy clips (better grip) for removing cables that are tough

Comes with a toolbox holding all the exra modular cables and things you could ever need..



http://www.nordichardware.se/skrivelser_img/360/outputs.jpg

http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/xoxide/hiper-type-r-580-blu-1a.jpg

http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/2853/dscf2782ct6.jpg

http://www.xoxide.com/lib/xoxide/hiper-type-r-580-blu-2.jpg

[Comixion]

kinda ironic you show that one. It's the exact one I was looking at last night for about an hour.
hah, maybe by the time I get a PSU this thread will be 2 miles long. I sure to make my purchase , and decision, by this weekend. This has been tough ride. But I like to be as thorough as possible as far as a PSU. i think its important to do my homework. all your ideas have been great and helpful. Now the ball is in my court. Whether I make the goal is up to me.;)

[Comixion]

I dont see anyplace in here specifically for pSU's but maybe this link might be helpful.
Scroll down and all PSU manufacturers are listed in alphabetical order and colored coded as far as opinions on that specific model. And who makes them. ie: red-bad green-good-purple-soso

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=39758

[3DGuy]

kinda ironic you show that one. It's the exact one I was looking at last night for about an hour.
hah, maybe by the time I get a PSU this thread will be 2 miles long. I sure to make my purchase , and decision, by this weekend. This has been tough ride. But I like to be as thorough as possible as far as a PSU. i think its important to do my homework. all your ideas have been great and helpful. Now the ball is in my court. Whether I make the goal is up to me.;)

Well that PSU along with the hardware on my sig ( Sig needs updating some now)

Opteron 146 was clocked up to 2.92ghz (3ghz when used my mates Ballistix Ram)

and now on that rig i have added a Dual core 165 opty and i can get it to 2.8ghz with no effort (needed the ballistics to break 3ghz on that too) However i wanted to make my rig last so i stuck 4gb of GeilL ram in it but by doing so the extra stress on the memory controller limited me to 2.6ghz (so far).

But yea thats the PSU in my games machine. In the work machines i'm using a Tagan 480-U01.

Good luck making your decision!

[Assimilator87]

LMAO, is that a Counter-strike fan grill? BTW, where's the UV light?

Just get the 600W OCZ StealthXstream. It has 4 18A 12v rails and it's under $100.

[Comixion]

I ended up picking up the Antec NeoHE 550 at Fry's on sale for $79. It's $99 on newegg.

[AKHandyman]

I was in a similar boat about a power supply and just today I decided on a SilverStone Technology DA850W Decathlon 100% modular unit. It has a single +12V rail rated at 70A. It will support a quad PCI-Express video card setup. It was way over your budget and topped out mine as well. But I ended up getting it today from a great company called Silicon Valley Compucycle (SVC). Here is their site: http://www.svc.com/
Their prices are about the best or better than other places, but their shipping options are the best! I need shipping to Alaska as cheap as I can get. These guys rock!