TR Forums

Hi all. I would like to get some recommendations relative to PSU reliability and all in one watercooling.

I recently upgraded my graphics card from a 560Ti which I sold to a friend to a 280X. My current PSU is an Antec Earthwatts 500W Green, 80+ Bronze. It's been a good PSU, but it already has 3 years old and it's not enough to power up this GPU with overclocking. I believe the problem is on the 12V rails, which are split in 2, 24A in each I believe. With stock values is perfectly fine though

I'm a fan of Corsair products, I'm inclined to purchase a modular one which will let me add a second 280X if I want. I'm not sure if 750W is enough though. I now most of you guys like Seasonic products, but my local store doesn't have many models and they are expensive. I'm watching this one, what do you think?

http://www.corsair.com/en/cx-series-cx750m-modular-atx-power-supply-750-watt-80-plus-bronze-certified-modular-psu

Let me now your opinions.

Next subject, I'm looking to upgrade my old Corsair A50 cooler for a more powerful cooling system to maintain my overclock at summer, I'm wondering if watercooling is a good option. I have limited space, my case is a mid tower so only it can only hold a 140mm or 120mm watercooler. http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2011/02/28/antec-one-hundred-review/1

More that this usually is to expensive anyway. I am looking into the Corsair H80i, it looks powerful enough and I think it can fit on the rear of my case. Is there any limitations of space to these dual fan coolers? Anyway, I'm open to suggestions.

I have about 150€-170€ to spend in this two items, more or less. Thank you in advance.

According to the specs that I can find (curiously not on the product page itself), there is 62A on the 12V rail. Should be more than enough.

If it were me I would get a higher model PSU. Corsair is fine, but something from TX or HX line would be better.

Flying Fox wrote:

According to the specs that I can find (curiously not on the product page itself), there is 62A on the 12V rail. Should be more than enough.

Thanks for the response. Do you mean more than enough for one ore two cards? It might be a future option adding a second card...

Gandolf wrote:

If it were me I would get a higher model PSU. Corsair is fine, but something from TX or HX line would be better.

I don't find those models at my store. Maybe they are being discontinued? I can only see the newer models: VS, CX, CS, RM and AX.

Jon1984 wrote:

Flying Fox wrote:

According to the specs that I can find (curiously not on the product page itself), there is 62A on the 12V rail. Should be more than enough.

Thanks for the response. Do you mean more than enough for one ore two cards? It might be a future option adding a second card...

62A@12V is 744W. TR's overall power consumption is only ~280W. How big of an overclock are we talking about anyway? And how much does the watercooling unit use? I don't see why not. But then seriously, is SLI/CF really the answer? (Disclaimer: not a fan of SLI/CF myself)

Flying Fox wrote:

Jon1984 wrote:

Flying Fox wrote:

According to the specs that I can find (curiously not on the product page itself), there is 62A on the 12V rail. Should be more than enough.

Thanks for the response. Do you mean more than enough for one ore two cards? It might be a future option adding a second card...

62A@12V is 744W. TR's overall power consumption is only ~280W. How big of an overclock are we talking about anyway? And how much does the watercooling unit use? I don't see why not. But then seriously, is SLI/CF really the answer? (Disclaimer: not a fan of SLI/CF myself)

Well, I'm waiting some advice on the watercooler itself, I don't think it would add much power consumption. About the SLI/Xfire option, well, just want to leave these options opened, we never now if a good deal comes by It won't be like super crazy overclock, just a "normal" overclock on the CPU and the GPU. No extreme stuff.

When it comes to water cooling, I don't think there is a huge performance difference between the closed loop liquid models and air models with oversized heatsinks/fans. What the closed loop gets you is more manuverability, especially when a large heatsink and/or fan would interfere with your sticks of RAM.

I have nothing against the liquid solutions, but unless you need to move the radiator (heatsink) away from the motherboard, you'll probably be just as happy with a CoolerMaster Hyper 212 or Thermaltake NiC C5.

As for the PSU, if it isn't enough to power your current rig with overclocking, it does make sense to get a new one. But if it is powering everything, then you can pick up a good PSU if/when you pick up a second 280X. I could be wrong, but I don't think PSUs are prone to huge price fluctuations.

I bought the Corsair H60i for my i7 Haswell in a mini itx pc.
It cools the chip great. I couldn't actually fit the 80i since it is thicker. But I would say they are very good coolers.

superjawes wrote:

When it comes to water cooling, I don't think there is a huge performance difference between the closed loop liquid models and air models with oversized heatsinks/fans. What the closed loop gets you is more manuverability, especially when a large heatsink and/or fan would interfere with your sticks of RAM.

I have nothing against the liquid solutions, but unless you need to move the radiator (heatsink) away from the motherboard, you'll probably be just as happy with a CoolerMaster Hyper 212 or Thermaltake NiC C5.

As for the PSU, if it isn't enough to power your current rig with overclocking, it does make sense to get a new one. But if it is powering everything, then you can pick up a good PSU if/when you pick up a second 280X. I could be wrong, but I don't think PSUs are prone to huge price fluctuations.

I believe a good AIO watercooler will be really better than a normal air tower cooler especially when overclocking. My current Corsair A50 is similar to a Hyper 212 and it can't handle the voltage bumps. Certainly something like a H80i will be vastly superior at voltage increases.

As the PSU, I'm afraid the current is running old and in its limits.

For power supplies just, buy the Seasonic that fits your budget.

PenGun wrote:

For power supplies just, buy the Seasonic that fits your budget.

I agree with Seasonic being a great brand but all models at disposal are 150€ plus...

Any recommendations for the cooling?

Just bought the Corsair CS750M, i'll post my impressions and results later this week The cooler is in standby for now.

Jon1984 wrote:

Just bought the Corsair CS750M, i'll post my impressions and results later this week The cooler is in standby for now.

Ah, got in a little late then. I'd just gotten a Corsair CX500M, and I've been disappointed at it's noise level. It's not unbearable, but it's not silent, either. A friend with a Corsair HX650 says his unit is pretty loud. I had a HX520 way back when and was very pleased with it, but that was a Seasonic ODM and the other two Corsairs I mentioned are CWTs.

Would be curious to see how your experience goes.

Impressions:

Good package. Assembly is pretty easy since it's modular (only the 8 and 24 Pin isn't, but you will use it in a build anyway). Lot's of spare cables.

Had a bit difficulty putting the sata power connector since I have one SSD attached to the case floor. No biggie.

8 Pin ATX\EPS is really big but my case doesn't have a cut out in the top to pass the cable through it. I had to stick with the normal approach.

Gold rated, very quiet. I'm overclocking my PC from the ground now I have a high end PSU. I'm confident I will achieve good stability with this unit. I'm managing lower voltages to achieve the same overclock with the old unit which I didn't expect to be so different. A good PSU makes all the difference I guess.

Some pics of the build:

http://imgur.com/FZnDBuE
http://imgur.com/fz4HdBd
http://imgur.com/1QOxQqu
http://imgur.com/SpifhpB
http://imgur.com/Bj0Clnv
http://imgur.com/oIF9AeV

Only con I would say that for the price I would like 5 year warranty, but well. 3 years is decent enough.