PSU Opinions on Coolermaster PSUs?

My sister needs help speccing a PC and I was just wondering what opinions are like on Coolermaster power supplies.

We need to decide between the CM GX 550 (here) and the Corsair CX 500 (here) (I know Corsair PSUs are regarded highly and I have one myself).

Other parts she is likely to have include a GTX560, i5 2500, 8GB 1333 DDR3 RAM, Gigabyte P67 UD3, Fractal Design R3, and Samsung F3 1TB. Any thoughts on that too?

She is not going to overclock and is extremely unlikely to bother with SLI.

 

Well I can't comment on the GX 550 model specifically, but I've got a CM Silent Pro Gold and the unit is quiet and provides clean voltage. Best PSU I've owned over the years I think.

Having said that, I do love Corsair and nearly bought the HX 1kW but the Silent Pro Gold won me over.

 

I built a rig last year for a mate using a GX550, I found it noisy and I wouldn't trust it in a powerful rig (his was a 950BE with a 5770, all @ stock). The hardest thing he does is play solitaire and surf porn.

Get yourself a high quality PSU as an investment.

Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk

 

I was advised to look at this Antec 520 (currently reduced) or the Corsair CX600. I haven't made my final decision yet but it will probably be one of the two. I'll be interested to see which one you go for as your build sounds very similar to mine.

 

I've got a Silent Pro M, seems pretty good to me. People do complain about the rubber edging falling off, and I'd agree that it's not a perfect solution, but as long as you're careful when installing it it stays on and keeps it very quiet.

One thing about PSUs is that most of them use Seasonic models (like monitors all seemingly using LG panels) so there often isn't much to choose between.

 

I would look at an antec TruePower 550w as its not that expensive but is still a good reliable psu. IMO i would get about 650w for this build

 

Given Fingers66's first-hand experience, I'm reluctant to pick the CM PSU, although it does come with a 5-year warranty...

There is also a stellar review of the Corsair CX600 on Ebuyer, so I shall recommend she gets that (only £50, £1.30 more than the CM PSU).

Cheers for the help guys She won't be buying the computer for another 4 weeks or so, but if I remember I shall update on how the build goes!

 

Got a Coolermaster Silent Pro Gold 700w myself - and as Sentinel said, best PSU I've owned. Very stable, quiet, powerful and gold efficiency - all for £75. I see it's gone up in price an awful lot since I bought mine a couple of months back, but it's still well worth every penny.

 

Using the older RealPower M620 (older compared to the SilentPowers mentioned previously) - even in an Antec P182 it may as well be silent as I can't hear it over the other fans in my build (stock case fans, Be Quiet Dark Rock Advanced and a the fan in a Sapphire HD5770 Vapor-X - parts well known for being quiet). Added to 3 years of solid service, I've got no complaints at all from using a CoolerMaster PSU.

I agree with fdbh96 in that you may need more power - based on your build, 550W is the minimum you should be looking at, 600-700 should be fine and give you a decent efficiency without pushing the PSU too hard.

 

gx 550 has been fantastic for me and i cant hear it at all and its hard to beat at the price point especially when scan have it on daily deal quite often for 45 quid, all the other bits are good as well but swap the ram for 1600mz, its virtually the same price as 1333 and swap the board for an msi p67a-gd53

the gx 550 has 44amps on the 12v rail which will be easily enough for a gtx 560, the 560ti only uses 10-20 watts more than a 460 so it would be good enough for a 560ti which requires 500w and around 30amps and of course manufacturers always over-estimate.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/motherboards/2011/05/26/msi-p67a-gd53-b3-review/7

 

Fried a 1000W and a 1200W Coolermaster and the ripple is really bad...check JohnnyGuru formus he does amazing reviews on PSUs. If you are looking for the BEST @ 1200W, that would have to be the Corsair 1200W or OCZ Z series 1250W (but will make coil noise under heavy load - ocz that is...fix is in the works I hear).

 

he's not looking for a 1200w psu though

 

The Silent Pro Gold had glowing reviews from everyone for everything...

 

Agreed. If anyone has any doubt about the quality of CM Silent Pro Gold Series PSUs, see the review below

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/cooler_master_silent_pro_gold_1000w_psu_review,7.html

JohnnyGuru is a well known Coolermaster hater and is far from impartial when it comes to reviews. Go read another few reviews and you'll see that JohnnyGuru is the minority.

 

this, i personally have never had a problem with coolermaster psu's, admitedly if i had 10-15quid more to spend on a psu each time ive bought one then i would prob have go something but i didnt and so coolermaster its always been and theyve never let me down.

 

I would thoroughly recommend the corsair cx 500w, purchased a 430w not that long ago for my dad's computer, its a very nice psu, plenty of cables, all of them a good length, all sleeved to a reasonable degree, and its pretty quiet. Although I have no first hand exprience of coolermaster psu's

 

cx500 would be rally pushing with that system though

 

no it wouldn't not unless the cx 500 doesn't have enough amps for a 560

 

408w off the 12v rail is getting close to the limit, not saying it wouldnt power as it would but as you most likely know, its better to have some headroom and there wouldnt be a lot of that with the cx500, my gx 550w
produces 528w and 44amps on the 12v rail, its quiet and is very reliable...fairly efficient as-well and cost me 45 quid on scan daily deal.

 

that happens when the few psu's he gets from them blow up or shut down...even a fairly recent test of a cm unit i read a few months ago was very mediocre...

thing is, if i had to choose between an enhance unit or a seasonic (cm/corsair), i'll take the seasonic/corsair everytime...