For a today only bundle I can get a 550W Coolmaster, is this reliable? How good is the brand? http://www.scan.co.uk/products/550w...0-plus-85-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-120mm-fan
I used one in a build for a mate last November/December. It was, exactly like Bloody_Pete says, a little louder than I would of liked under load but ran fine. Cables lengths were good and it is 80+ rated as well. They are a cheaper now than then as well, iirc I paid £55 for it last year.
Erm what happened to the bandwagon?? I leave for Lanzarote in 5 days and will have limited web access for at least 7.5mths, so you'll either need to find somebody else to ride shotgun, or be ever vigilant by yourself!
What parts are you powering from it? It only has a single 12V rail which might account for the need for added cooling/ extra noise from it. Single railed PSU's like that are normally used for more specialised applications as it can produce near 50A on that single rail. If you have no idea what I'm talking about then just ignore me and go with the general consensus that it's a good PSU, because it is.
I didn't have time to do anything other than answer the question re: the brand. However, I wouldn't put that PSU in a rig powering a serious graphics card or two. I put it in a rig running a 5770 so it was fine. I can't trash the GX 550 as completely rubbish but I wouldn't call it a "serious" PSU - the internal component quality is average. If it was me buying the i5 2500K bundle, I would ask Scan to swap it for the Antec TruePower New 650w which is on the same Today Only page for £59: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w...bronze-82-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-120mm-fan. Either that or one of these for just a few extra quid: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/520w...nze-135mm-quiet-fan-atx12v-23-eps12v-v291-psu http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500w...nze-82plus-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-80mm-fan http://www.scan.co.uk/products/520w...-85-eff-eps-12v-120mm-silent-s2fc-fan-atx-v23 Normal service resumed....
