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Oggyb · 2nd Feb 2013, 17:36

Hi guys,

Since I last built a machine a couple of years ago things have inevitably changed. Component suppliers, OEMs, etc.

Can you recommend me a budget PSU for a PC that will run a Phenom II at stock, 8GB RAM and a couple of hard drives for less than the budget above? I would assume that all options are a compromise, but this is the requirement.

If you can help, thankies

lancer778544 · 2nd Feb 2013, 17:38

The cheapest PSU I can recommend is the Corsair CX430 for £35. Any PSU less than £30 is likely to be an unknown make and will probably go bang.

azrael- · 2nd Feb 2013, 18:04

Considering that the PSU is the heart of your PC (with the CPU being the brain etc.) ask yourself if you'd want to use a pig's heart instead of a human heart installed your "system"...

Oggyb · 2nd Feb 2013, 18:32

I figured as much, thanks. Interesting that the Builder CX430 is still top of the list.

modd1uk · 2nd Feb 2013, 18:41

Great cpu for the money..although the CX400 was better

.

Big-_-t0ny · 2nd Feb 2013, 18:45

Remember for a few quid extra you can get a semi-modular version.

CXM430

mrbungle · 2nd Feb 2013, 18:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big-_-t0ny

Remember for a few quid extra you can get a semi-modular version.

CXM430

Seems like a great value psu to me, if I was building a budget rig would prob go with that

wolfticket · 2nd Feb 2013, 18:58

I would be interested if anyone has any recommendations for a good (or at least best in that price range) quality sub £30 PSU. As much as I'd like to recommend spending more to get a quality PSU, sometimes it's simply too higher proportion of the cost of a budget system build to justify.

Also, I've seen no end of systems built with stupidly cheap PSUs, often around £10, or £20-25 cases that include a PSU.
Frankly, they actually seem largely fine. I think I've seen one cheap PSU fail outright, compared with lots of brand name graphics card, hard drives, motherboards. And the PSU it didn't take the system with it.

This is purely anecdotal evidence of course, but dare I say there might be a bit of PSU snobbery going on

, rather than evidence based advice

Big-_-t0ny · 2nd Feb 2013, 19:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolfticket

I would be interested if anyone has any recommendations for a good (or at least best in that price range) quality sub £30 PSU. As much as I'd like to recommend spending more to get a quality PSU, sometimes it's simply too higher proportion of the cost of a budget system build to justify.

Also, I've seen no end of systems built with stupidly cheap PSUs, often around £10, or £20-25 cases that include a PSU.
Frankly, they actually seem largely fine. I think I've seen one cheap PSU fail outright, compared with lots of brand name graphics card, hard drives, motherboards. And the PSU it didn't take the system with it.

This is purely anecdotal evidence of course, but dare I say there might be a bit of PSU snobbery going on

, rather than evidence based advice

Well Scan do their own 500W PSU but it seems too good for £13, and then the BeQuiet! 350W is under budget! I guess most people here are really pushing their systems, stressing a PSU. Youtube and Office wont put much pressure on cheaper PSUs so I really don't know how they would perform in the long run.

Oggyb · 2nd Feb 2013, 20:24

For £38 like the CXM430 you can get an Antec EarthWatts, which I already have powering my main rig. But that's a bit over-budget really.

The PC is going to be doing Photoshop mostly.

wolfticket · 2nd Feb 2013, 20:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big-_-t0ny

Well Scan do their own 500W PSU but it seems too good for £13, and then the BeQuiet! 350W is under budget! I guess most people here are really pushing their systems, stressing a PSU. Youtube and Office wont put much pressure on cheaper PSUs so I really don't know how they would perform in the long run.

I'd never remotely stress, or necessarily trust the quoted wattage of a cheap PSU. However, I do think there is something to be said for using say a cheap 500W PSU on a relatively low powered system where budget is very important.

rollo · 3rd Feb 2013, 13:35

Having tested and used a few psus in a multitude of pcs.

We brought a cheapo PC world 300 watt psu and put it in a similar spec system to what you have listed. It lasted aprox a 1 week then went bang taking out nothing with it thankfully.

Also seen tests of most of the no name brands and they all are best avoided most review sites have even ran full on stress tests.

None of these no name brands can do the wattage they say they can.

If all your doing is Office and Web browsing then the 500 watt listed above is likely fine but id personally never do it, And niether would most of the people on this forum

If it says 500 watt the most id ever put through a cheap psu is half that so 250 watt. And even then tests have shown that they cant even provide this level of power. ( hardware reviews have a Cheap PSU review up they brought 5 from different sources ( Cost them £53 for 5 psus). 3 went bang well below there max limits and 2 just stopped working)

General rule of thumb buy cheap buy twice.

P.S if you buy cheap get a fire extinguisher at the ready to put out the flames that it will likely cause once you push it passed its limits.

mm vr · 4th Feb 2013, 06:26

Here are a few articles:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...Story&reid=324
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...Story&reid=154
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...Story&reid=123
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...=Story&reid=71

The Corsair CX430 is a mediocre CWT built unit. Not awesome, but good enough.

There is also the XFX Core series, which is based on the Seasonic S12II. I have one of those in a system and it's extremely quiet on low load. The 450W version goes for £35: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/450w-...n-atx-v231-psu

edit: Hmm, the XFX unit on the pics on Scan looks different from mine. Either they have the wrong pics, or a new revision has been released. Maybe it's worth waiting for reviews of the new one. In any case, I have this unit: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...Story&reid=224

TheDodoKiller · 4th Feb 2013, 09:21

The big thing about a name brand for me is that you've got some recourse with the manufacturer if the unit goes bang.

It's very simple to see- Google CiT or Colours IT, and you get nothing but sites looking to sell you a cheap PSU. Google corsiar and you get their website.
When an IT company can't be bothered to make a website, which, in this day and age, takes 50p and a couple of hours, what sort of warranty do you expect?

In my opinion, A decent 430W PSU, for £35 with a 3 year warranty is well worth the money. Can you honsetly say that a cheapo PSU will last for 3 years, and if it breaks in those 3 years, will be replaced for free by the manufacturer? No.

A good PSU will last the life of the system, if not more- somthing tells me that the Corsair PSU will last more than one iteration of system, and so you'll end up saving money at the end of your PC's lifecycle when you don't have to buy another one.

To me it's a no brainier, but, unfortunately, it's a lesson most learn the hard way.

penryn 2 hertz · 4th Feb 2013, 09:33

The corsair cx series have an annoying BAD coil whine steer clear xfx core unit well recommended seasonic at the heart of it...

modd1uk · 4th Feb 2013, 11:36

I don't buy xfx because the returns service sucks ass. Will never buy another xfx product.

Xir · 4th Feb 2013, 13:39

The BeQuiet's are supposed to be okay, thete's a test on planet3dnow.de, but it's in German.

Oggyb · 4th Feb 2013, 15:48

Hmm, interesting posts.

Well I was going to migrate my Antec but I could leave it in there and buy another of the same for my new system. I'm not sure the cost will go down well with its new owner but it's worth a try and a sentence of explanation.

2nd Feb 2013, 17:36	#1
Oggyb Mutant Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Leeds, UK Posts: 341	PSU <£30 Hi guys, Since I last built a machine a couple of years ago things have inevitably changed. Component suppliers, OEMs, etc. Can you recommend me a budget PSU for a PC that will run a Phenom II at stock, 8GB RAM and a couple of hard drives for less than the budget above? I would assume that all options are a compromise, but this is the requirement. If you can help, thankies

2nd Feb 2013, 17:38	#2
lancer778544 isnt really an ultramodder... Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Cardiff Posts: 1,225	The cheapest PSU I can recommend is the Corsair CX430 for £35. Any PSU less than £30 is likely to be an unknown make and will probably go bang. __________________ AMD Phenom II X4 955 @ 3.8GHz \| Asus Crosshair II Formula \| 8GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 \| EVGA GTX 570 SC & PNY GT 440 \| Corsair Force 3 120GB \| 1TB Seagate Barracuda \| Enermax Infiniti 650w PSU \| CM Storm Trooper \| Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series \| Windows 7 x64 \| Dell U2312HM primary (570), Samsung SM940BW secondary (GT 440) & Sony 32S3000 occasionally (570)

2nd Feb 2013, 18:04	#3
azrael- I'm special... Join Date: May 2008 Location: Aarhus, Denmark Posts: 3,758	Considering that the PSU is the heart of your PC (with the CPU being the brain etc.) ask yourself if you'd want to use a pig's heart instead of a human heart installed your "system"... __________________ It's not the end of the world ...but you can see it from here. Xeon E3-1245 v2 3.4 GHz \| ASUS P8C WS \| 16GB Kingston ECC DDR3 \| Samsung 830 256GB \| eVGA GTX670 2GB \| SB Audigy \| Seasonic X-560 \| Corsair Obsidian 550D \| Dell 2209WA

2nd Feb 2013, 18:58	#8
wolfticket Downwind from the bloodhounds Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Devon, England Posts: 1,160	I would be interested if anyone has any recommendations for a good (or at least best in that price range) quality sub £30 PSU. As much as I'd like to recommend spending more to get a quality PSU, sometimes it's simply too higher proportion of the cost of a budget system build to justify. Also, I've seen no end of systems built with stupidly cheap PSUs, often around £10, or £20-25 cases that include a PSU. Frankly, they actually seem largely fine. I think I've seen one cheap PSU fail outright, compared with lots of brand name graphics card, hard drives, motherboards. And the PSU it didn't take the system with it. This is purely anecdotal evidence of course, but dare I say there might be a bit of PSU snobbery going on , rather than evidence based advice __________________ Wolfticket: Ambitious but rubbish "A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought." Dorothy L. Sayers (1893 - 1957)

4th Feb 2013, 06:26	#13
mm vr The cheesecake is a lie Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Finland Posts: 2,968	Here are a few articles: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...Story&reid=324 http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...Story&reid=154 http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...Story&reid=123 http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...=Story&reid=71 The Corsair CX430 is a mediocre CWT built unit. Not awesome, but good enough. There is also the XFX Core series, which is based on the Seasonic S12II. I have one of those in a system and it's extremely quiet on low load. The 450W version goes for £35: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/450w-...n-atx-v231-psu edit: Hmm, the XFX unit on the pics on Scan looks different from mine. Either they have the wrong pics, or a new revision has been released. Maybe it's worth waiting for reviews of the new one. In any case, I have this unit: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...Story&reid=224 __________________ Intel Core i5 3570K @ 4.5GHz \|\| Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme \|\| Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H \|\| 2x 8GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 1600MHz CL10 \|\| Radeon 4870 512MB \|\| AC Accelero Twin Turbo Pro \|\| Asus Xonar DX \|\| Samsung 830 128GB \|\| 2x WD Blue 640GB \|\| Corsair HX620 \|\| Antec P182 \|\| Samsung SM 2232 + 2233 \|\| Windows Server 2012 Last edited by mm vr; 4th Feb 2013 at 06:33.

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2nd Feb 2013, 18:32	#4
Oggyb Mutant Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Leeds, UK Posts: 341	I figured as much, thanks. Interesting that the Builder CX430 is still top of the list.

2nd Feb 2013, 18:45	#6
Big-_-t0ny Minimodder Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 38	Remember for a few quid extra you can get a semi-modular version. CXM430

2nd Feb 2013, 20:24	#10
Oggyb Mutant Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Leeds, UK Posts: 341	For £38 like the CXM430 you can get an Antec EarthWatts, which I already have powering my main rig. But that's a bit over-budget really. The PC is going to be doing Photoshop mostly.

3rd Feb 2013, 13:35	#12
rollo I Mod, Therefore I Own Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 3,708	Having tested and used a few psus in a multitude of pcs. We brought a cheapo PC world 300 watt psu and put it in a similar spec system to what you have listed. It lasted aprox a 1 week then went bang taking out nothing with it thankfully. Also seen tests of most of the no name brands and they all are best avoided most review sites have even ran full on stress tests. None of these no name brands can do the wattage they say they can. If all your doing is Office and Web browsing then the 500 watt listed above is likely fine but id personally never do it, And niether would most of the people on this forum If it says 500 watt the most id ever put through a cheap psu is half that so 250 watt. And even then tests have shown that they cant even provide this level of power. ( hardware reviews have a Cheap PSU review up they brought 5 from different sources ( Cost them £53 for 5 psus). 3 went bang well below there max limits and 2 just stopped working) General rule of thumb buy cheap buy twice. P.S if you buy cheap get a fire extinguisher at the ready to put out the flames that it will likely cause once you push it passed its limits.

4th Feb 2013, 09:21	#14
TheDodoKiller Getutech, Eh? What's that? Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: North London Posts: 449	The big thing about a name brand for me is that you've got some recourse with the manufacturer if the unit goes bang. It's very simple to see- Google CiT or Colours IT, and you get nothing but sites looking to sell you a cheap PSU. Google corsiar and you get their website. When an IT company can't be bothered to make a website, which, in this day and age, takes 50p and a couple of hours, what sort of warranty do you expect? In my opinion, A decent 430W PSU, for £35 with a 3 year warranty is well worth the money. Can you honsetly say that a cheapo PSU will last for 3 years, and if it breaks in those 3 years, will be replaced for free by the manufacturer? No. A good PSU will last the life of the system, if not more- somthing tells me that the Corsair PSU will last more than one iteration of system, and so you'll end up saving money at the end of your PC's lifecycle when you don't have to buy another one. To me it's a no brainier, but, unfortunately, it's a lesson most learn the hard way. __________________ - AMD 1090T OC'd at 3.6 Ghz - Asus Crosshair IV Formula - Reference Asus 6950/70 - Silverstone FT02 B-W - Kingston HyperX 3K 128GB SSD - Samsung F3 1TB - Kingston HyperX 1600 Ram 4GB - Coolermaster V8 -

4th Feb 2013, 09:33	#15
penryn 2 hertz Hey, ho, pip and dandy moment's... Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: shropshire Posts: 3,711	The corsair cx series have an annoying BAD coil whine steer clear xfx core unit well recommended seasonic at the heart of it... __________________ Under progress...

4th Feb 2013, 13:39	#17
Xir I Mod, Therefore I Own Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Saxony / Germany Posts: 3,596	The BeQuiet's are supposed to be okay, thete's a test on planet3dnow.de, but it's in German. __________________ SN25P A64 3700+ (San Diego) 2 GB DDR400 OCZ Platinum EL 2-3-2-5 1T X1800XT 512mb Sapphire 200GB Samsung SP2004C 24" Asus something 1920x1080

4th Feb 2013, 15:48	#18
Oggyb Mutant Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Leeds, UK Posts: 341	Hmm, interesting posts. Well I was going to migrate my Antec but I could leave it in there and buy another of the same for my new system. I'm not sure the cost will go down well with its new owner but it's worth a try and a sentence of explanation.