Power Supplies

LunarMist

I can't believe I'm a Fixture
Joined
Feb 1, 2003
Messages
17,453
Location
USA
I probably need a better PSU for the mATX system on the next upgrade. At the time of the last upgrade in 2021 there was a 500W EGVA readily available and it seemed like enough for the 5700G with internal graphics. Since then the RTX 4060 was added and now a B650M with my old 7950X or a new 9900X would be implemented. I think there was some website calculatores, but my gut feeling is that 750W minimum makes sense. There are up to three 3.5" hard drives, one SATA SSD and two NVMe. Obviously there are advantages to a 160mm or even 180mm length, but I only want a 140mm long unit due to the tight fit. A few I have found are the Corsairs RM750e and Seasonic that has both 750 and 850W in the shorter size. I read that the e series has inferior Chinese parts, but the RMx series I normally prefer is too big. A negative of Seasonic is that there don't seem to be extra cables available, whereas many Corsair cables (stage IV) are available. Are there other good brands to consider that would fit? Thanks.
 

Mercutio

Fatwah on Western Digital
Joined
Jan 17, 2002
Messages
22,232
Location
I am omnipresent
EVGA still makes high end power supplies that are well liked. I've never cared about dimensions, though. Conversely, Corsair is widely disliked since it went public a few years ago. It has a habit of releasing products with decent specs, then almost immediately replacing them with a lower quality version and no corresponding change in the product ID. This is why I don't buy Corsair RAM any more.

Silverstone is the only game in town for quiet, high wattage FlexATX products. It even has dual PSU versions if you care to blow a grand on not worrying about that single component.

I mostly have Seasonic or PC Power and Cooling units. I haven't actually bought a power supply for myself in five or more years though.
 

LunarMist

I can't believe I'm a Fixture
Joined
Feb 1, 2003
Messages
17,453
Location
USA
Every inch matters in this case. The modern modular cables make it worse. I will try the Seasonic, but not be able to install it permanently until much later on. I should be able to test the CPU on B650M without a video card since there are DP and HDMI ports on the back.
 

LunarMist

I can't believe I'm a Fixture
Joined
Feb 1, 2003
Messages
17,453
Location
USA
The Seasonic has really cheap modular cables. The gauge looks too thin, like it would not carry a fully populated load without voltage drop and noise. Fortunately I would not use all the SATA or MOLEX connectors. There is a power switch for the fan. Is there some reason to have it always on vs. off and presumably turning on at some point? For many years I've experienced the PSU fan only turning on as needed. I cannot remember how the airflow goes in/out of the case, but I always have the fan aimed upwards inside the case. The PSU does have the 3.0 level and that nVidia power plug, which may be needed in the future.
 

ddrueding

Fixture
Joined
Feb 4, 2002
Messages
19,719
Location
Horsens, Denmark
I only set the fan to be always on when it is a primary case fan as well. If the PSU fan is only really responsible for keeping itself cool, just leave it in hybrid mode.
 

fb

Storage is cool
Joined
Jan 31, 2003
Messages
726
Location
Östersund, Sweden
The Seasonic has really cheap modular cables. The gauge looks too thin, like it would not carry a fully populated load without voltage drop and noise. Fortunately I would not use all the SATA or MOLEX connectors. There is a power switch for the fan. Is there some reason to have it always on vs. off and presumably turning on at some point? For many years I've experienced the PSU fan only turning on as needed. I cannot remember how the airflow goes in/out of the case, but I always have the fan aimed upwards inside the case. The PSU does have the 3.0 level and that nVidia power plug, which may be needed in the future.
Seems like Seasonic will have a couple of ATX3.1 models PSUs available in USA in October.

I haven't bought any PSUs since maybe 2020-2021, but have only bought Seasonic for almost as long as I can remember. I bought an Enermax to a P4 1.8GHz system, the system was 100% for 10+ years.

Maybe it's worth to take a look at Enermax offerings? they seem to have a 122 mm long 850W ATX3.1 PSU with cable lengths specified on their homepage:
 

LunarMist

I can't believe I'm a Fixture
Joined
Feb 1, 2003
Messages
17,453
Location
USA
It's too late for this one, but something to think about.
 
Top