New PSU: Corsair, Thermaltake, or Coolmax?

[linnerd40]

Hi all!
I am in the market for a new PSU, and I need something that will be good for some time to come. It must be under $150, and these are the models I had in mind:

Corsiar 620HX

Thermaltake Toughpower W0106RU

Coolmax CUG-700B

Which one is the best? I like the Corsair and I have heard great things about it, but are the other two also good? What about the 520HX model by Corsair? Would it be enough for say... 2 8800GTs in SLI?

Thanks guys for any help you can give me!

 

[NicePants42]

The 520HX should be enough for 2 8800GTs in SLI. The HX620 can power 8800GTXs in SLI.

There is no reason I know of to even consider the Thermaltake or Coolmax PSU when the HX620 has been so well reviewed by Jonnyguru and others. Don't buy based on Newegg reviews.

 

[linnerd40]

Thanks for the reply. I am leaning towards the HX620. I have a Raidmax Smilodon Case and the modular cables will really cut down on the clutter in there. And don't worry, I'm not about to buy anything off of Newegg reviews.

Any other thoughts?

 

[madmat]

It would be nice to know exactly what else you'll be powering.

 

[linnerd40]

Excellent point, sorry that I didn't mention this earlier:

I'm looking at upgrading in the next few months to:

Intel C2D E6750, most likely heavily overclocked, MAYBE Q6600
8800GT, also overclocked, possibly SLI in a year or so
2GB PC6400 RAM (most likely overclocked also), up to 4GB in a year or so
case with 2 120mm fans, and 3 80mm fans
1x DVD burner (lite-on)
2x SATA 250GB and 250GB
and possibly a sound card later on

Maybe this upgrade will never go through, but it's nice to dream. Haven't chosen the motherboard yet. I have been doing loads of research lately, and I only have a bit more money to save

Thanks guys!

 

[MakubeX]

Yup, the 520HX can handle that. If you want more headroom then the 620HX is definite best choice from the three.

 

[madmat]

With the 8800GT's and and overclocked quad core I'd really suggest the 620. The 520 could be running at 80% 12V loads during intense gaming sessions especially if you OC the cards. While a PSU is rated to carry a sustained load of a certain amount of wattage, it's not rated to carry it for an indefinite period of time. If you're dumping 350+ watts of heat into a case that heat is going to be absorbed by the PSU. Even with a moderate case temp of 38C the internals of the PSU can reach as high as 60C under 80% load which is not good. It's pretty simple really, for every 10C under a rated temp you keep an electronic component, you double it's service life. So if it's expected to live to be 3 years at 50C it'll live to 5 or 6 at 40C. Conversely if you run it at 60C it can live to be 2 years down to 1.5 years depending on how much you run it under load by a percentage of it's life. Say you run it folding when it's not in use and it runs 100% of the time it could really shorten the lifespan of the PSU especially if you lower the fan RPM's when it's "idle". During times of reduced circulation with a 100% load on the CPU the case temps could exceed the temps seen when gaming. Many people don't consider this fact either.

This is why running with a surplus of wattage can be to your benefit rather than running on the edge. A ratio of 100% load being 65% to 75% of the PSU's rated capacity can result in lower PSU temps, longer PSU service potential and quieter performance from the PSU cooling. Running an efficient PSU (80%+ at 20/50/100% loads) will mean that you're not wasting electricity when the PSU is run at low idle wattages.

Look at it this way, you spend $200 on a PSU and use that PSU for six full years or you spend $120 every couple of years on new PSU's due to them showing signs of aging or failure or just needing to keep up with changing hardware. Wattage requirements are not going to drop any time soon. I've seen this trend since the Prescott came out. A smaller die doesn't mean that wattage consumption is going down because they keep increasing the number of transistors on the die. If there were any truth to that myth then cooling solutions wouldn't need to keep getting more and more elaborate as time goes by. They'd be getting simpler and simpler since they'd be doing less work. I haven't seen that happen yet have you?

Just some food for thought.

 

[MakubeX]

Whoa, I was in a hurry earlier and missed the "SLI"part. In that case, like madmat suggested, it's much wiser to get the 620HX. madmat already explained in detail "Why?", so I won't add anything to it.

 

[linnerd40]

Wow! Thanks madmat, great reply! Techage is the place to go for help

Looks like I'll be taking the HX620. Thanks guys.