Best 450+ Watt PSU for under $50...What do YOU think!?!

ztrain727

ztrain727

New Member
Hi Guys,

There seems to be a lot of different suggestions from different people for different 450w-600w PSU's in the $50 price range.

Which 450 watt or more PSU do you think is the best all around?
Please share...
 
Rosewill Power Supply's are excellent, I have owned a couple now, never once had a problem with them.

That PSU is $44.99, 500W and has 2x 12V Rails. :D
 
Yeah...that looks like a really good call for the price! This isn't great though: +3.3V@22A, +5V@16A, +12V1@15A, +12V2@16A and it's actually 480w, but still really nice!
 
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Great! Thanks ceewi1!
It's nice how the Ultra is Modular. It also has +3.3V@20A, +5V@30A, +12V@28A, better than the Rosewill, but only one 12v rail. It also just doesn't seem as high quality...
Does either one stand out as BETTER than the other?

They're both good in different ways. Also, what is the purpose/advantage of having 2 12v rails?
 
Any last advice before I buy my new PSU. I have $50 sitting in front of me, just waiting to be spent...

I'm going to buy it before 12am (midnight) today. That's my goal.

Right now, I'm leaning towards the Rosewill.
 
The Ultra's modular system means that you only have to use the cables you want. That's the main difference. Also using one rail doesn't seem to affect even more expensive PSU's, look a PC Power & Cooling.
 
Alright, looks like I'll miss my deadline by an hour or two or day, but close enough...

Yeah, thanks Pablo. I guess I was leaning toward the Rosewill for the brand name. Not sure why I'd need two rails. On second thought, a modular PSU would clean everything up.

Oscar, throwing in the curve ball! Ummmmmmm, HOW could it be so cheap? I'm a little worried about going for a cheap PSU, as, in a way, it is the most important part of the system. However, reviews are FAIRLY solid, has good wattage/amperage. People say it has 'cheap' connectors and probably a cheap fan, but I could live with that.

I'm still weary. I'll be running a 7900gt, which should take less power than your HD3850.
--- When you say it has "served your rig well", how long has it served your rig well?
Thanks!
 
ztrain727 said:
Yeah, thanks Pablo. I guess I was leaning toward the Rosewill for the brand name. Not sure why I'd need two rails. On second thought, a modular PSU would clean everything up.
Click to expand...

Some Rosewills are pretty nice for the price. And currently just about any half decent powersupply has multiple rails (not counting those who purposely uses 1 single rail), it's not really a minus to have 2 12v rails.

ztrain727 said:
Oscar, throwing in the curve ball! Ummmmmmm, HOW could it be so cheap? I'm a little worried about going for a cheap PSU, as, in a way, it is the most important part of the system. However, reviews are FAIRLY solid, has good wattage/amperage. People say it has 'cheap' connectors and probably a cheap fan, but I could live with that.

I'm still weary. I'll be running a 7900gt, which should take less power than your HD3850.
--- When you say it has "served your rig well", how long has it served your rig well?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

Eh...the amps rating is pretty deceiving on that powersupply. It says that it can put out a maximum of 19 amps on 1 12v rail and 20 amps on the other, however it cannot put out 19+20 (39) amps all together. Most powersupplies give you the maximum number of watts for the 12v rails, but in this case you can get a rough idea by finding out how many watts are allotted to do 3.3v and 5v rails. It comes out to about 299 watts on the 3.3+/5v rails, which leaves 287 watts for the combined 12v rails, so about 24 amps. Also keep in mind it's 585 watts max, not sustained. So basically looking at the reviews, the person who's powering an E6750, 8800gt and 4gb of RAM is probably right now in serious trouble.
 
Well obviously the cheap one. It's a power supply, and they all tend to last a few years and break. I'd just find the cheapest fanless one i could
 
PunterCam said:
Well obviously the cheap one. It's a power supply, and they all tend to last a few years and break. I'd just find the cheapest fanless one i could
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Um what. First of all, they don't tend to last a few years a break, at least not a good one. It is one of the most important parts of your PC, if it goes, it can possibly take out all the other parts too. And I don't know what you mean be finding the cheapest fanless one, but you can probably count every single fanless PSU's in production and not have to use more than your fingers. In fact, there's only 2 on newegg, the FPS Group Zen 300wat & 400 watt fanless PSU. There's also the Antec Phantom's. Non of them cost less than $80.
 
I'm just talking from experience. I've been building computers since I was 15 or something, and it doesn't matter if I put a £30 psu or £100 psu, they all fail. I can over specifiy and it makes no difference. The one that's lasted the longest is actually one of the cheapest I've ever bought, and it's ridiculously under powered for the computer. And not once when the psu has died has it taken anything with it. They've pretty much all lasted at least 3 years though, and by then you want a computer anyway, so if it did fry the motherboard it doesn't really matter.

To be honest I thought the fanless ones would be cheaper by now, what a joke.

I'd again say just buy cheap bits all round for your computer - video cards are the only thing you'll notice a difference with. Just get big numbers next to everything else
 
PunterCam said:
I'm just talking from experience. I've been building computers since I was 15 or something, and it doesn't matter if I put a £30 psu or £100 psu, they all fail. I can over specifiy and it makes no difference. The one that's lasted the longest is actually one of the cheapest I've ever bought, and it's ridiculously under powered for the computer. And not once when the psu has died has it taken anything with it. They've pretty much all lasted at least 3 years though, and by then you want a computer anyway, so if it did fry the motherboard it doesn't really matter.

To be honest I thought the fanless ones would be cheaper by now, what a joke.

I'd again say just buy cheap bits all round for your computer - video cards are the only thing you'll notice a difference with. Just get big numbers next to everything else
Click to expand...

...No.

NO.
 
Umm, I would have to second Gogey and diduknowthat.

First of all, having an underpowered system can lead to underpowered components such as the video card which can damage those components (like the video card). So if you bought a really expensive vid card and a $20 PSU, the video card could get damaged or it just the system would always be rebooting, so on.

Secondly, you need a good CPU to go with your vid card. I had a low end 7600gt and my processor was still holding me down (CPU 2.8ghz). Enough Said!

Anyway, thanks to everyone. I got the Ultra X-connect, but opted for the 600w for an extra $5 (why not, right?). It seems really well built, and is packed with "stuff" and is heavy, all generally a good sign. :D
 
PunterCam said:
Well obviously the cheap one. It's a power supply, and they all tend to last a few years and break. I'd just find the cheapest fanless one i could
Click to expand...

This is horrendous advice. The PSU is one of the most, if not the most, important computer components within a system. An inadequate or cheap power supply will hault an entire system. It is important to have enough power, as well as a PSU from a good brand. Quality is important here, not saving a little money.

Oh and a fanless PSU is a bad idea too. don't do that.
 
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