Should I upgrade my aging Corsair HX520?

mks2005 · 28 Oct 2015 at 15:50

I'm looking to upgrade my aging system to an i5 4690K build, at present still planning to continue to use using my old graphics card (GTX 460) but with the intention to upgrade to something a bit more modern at a later date.

I want to know if I can get away with using my existing Corsair HX520, which is getting old but showing no signs of problems - or whether if should make a leap to something newer - especially if I'm intending to upgrade the graphics card as well (nothing extreme like SLI etc, but something that's a significant upgrade to the GTX460).

If I was to make that leap, any suggestions on what might be suitable?

pastymuncher · 28 Oct 2015 at 16:34

It was a quality Seasonic built psu when launched and has a 480w 12v rail. It should be ok with a GTX970 or less. I wouldn't go running a GTX 980 or AMD 390 on it though as it's getting on a bit now.

mks2005 · 28 Oct 2015 at 17:13

That's great. I don't think I'd be going beyond a GTX 980, so no problem. Thanks for the advice.

koolpc · 28 Oct 2015 at 17:39

Out of curiosity, is it a quiet PSU? I ask as a mate has offered me the 750 Version

pastymuncher · 28 Oct 2015 at 19:00

It's not comparable. The op's HX520 was a Seasonic built unit. The HX750 was after they cheaped out and switched OEM's to CWT and even then there have been two versions. If the one you have been offered is the newer version then I believe it has a hybrid fan that only spins as it heats up. You can tell the old version from the new version easily as the newer one has the fan grill integrated into the base while the old one has a normal wire fan grill held on by the fan screws.

koolpc · 28 Oct 2015 at 21:20

pastymuncher said:
It's not comparable. The op's HX520 was a Seasonic built unit. The HX750 was after they cheaped out and switched OEM's to CWT and even then there have been two versions. If the one you have been offered is the newer version then I believe it has a hybrid fan that only spins as it heats up. You can tell the old version from the new version easily as the newer one has the fan grill integrated into the base while the old one has a normal wire fan grill held on by the fan screws.

Ok, i will check, ta

Armadillo · 31 Oct 2015 at 03:41

I think there might actually be three versions of the hx750. I have one, that was a warranty replacement/upgrade (had a tx650).

It has the newer chassis, but it doesn't have the zero rpm fan mode. So I think there may have been a model inbetween old and new with fanless mode.

Mine is fairly loud underload tbh. Once you draw >350W or so, the fan is pretty loud. I dunno if it's a heat issue as I'm not convinced the cm690ii has great airflow to the psu or if it's just how it is.

As it happens, pretty similar to this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0Oh46bc4zY

That seems exaggerated, but it is easily the loudest fan in the system when I under load. Strangely enough, it does also spin up the fan occasionally like the description of the vid says (although not every 5 min).

Vid says he got it as a replacement cos of chirping fan (same as my tx650). So not sure if there was something going on around that time (chirping fans were a bad batch of fans), an inbetween model or something that all behave the same.

Either way, I wouldn't bother. Mine has been good for years, other than being loud, but seems a gamble as to what you get.

FixupSellon · 1 Nov 2015 at 19:27

hx1000 are quiet or atleast mine was even under gaming and overclocking..

as said keep it or sell it and buy a new one so you know the life of it.

greywolf · 2 Nov 2015 at 01:13

Have been running a Corsair HX520 in a 4770k build with GTX970 and had no problems. However might change to an EVGA G2 650W soon just as the HX520 is getting on a bit, been faultless though.

Participant · 28 Nov 2015 at 10:12

greywolf said:
Have been running a Corsair HX520 in a 4770k build with GTX970 and had no problems. However might change to an EVGA G2 650W soon just as the HX520 is getting on a bit, been faultless though.

Sorry to bump this, but I've found very few people with the same PSU / GPU setup as I'm intending.

Greywolf - please can you tell me if your GTX970 has two 6 pin connectors or a 6 pin and an 8 pin? If the latter, how did you connect the HX520, which I believe has two 6 pins only?

BlackAle · 1 Dec 2015 at 22:23

I use a HX520 as well, it's just turned 8 years old, still running brilliantly and super quiet.

pastymuncher · 2 Dec 2015 at 11:22

Participant said:
Sorry to bump this, but I've found very few people with the same PSU / GPU setup as I'm intending.

Greywolf - please can you tell me if your GTX970 has two 6 pin connectors or a 6 pin and an 8 pin? If the latter, how did you connect the HX520, which I believe has two 6 pins only?

Things get even more confusing because sometime between late 2006 and early 2008 Corsair chaged the cables from a pair of 6 pin pci-e cables to a pair of 6+2 pin pci-e cables. The sockets on the psu itself remained as 6 pin sockets so the cable they used was basically just a 6 pin to 6+2 pin pci-e adaptor cable. You can buy these as extension cables that just plug onto the end of your current pci-e cables and are a much better option than using molex to pci-e adaptor cables. They are around £3 for a unbraided Akasa one or around £4-5 for a braided Phobya or Bitfenix one. I am sure they used to sell them on here but I can't find them on this new website.

Borealis · 2 Dec 2015 at 12:33

Well, I managed to find the unbraided Akasa one:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/akasa-pci-e-to-pci-e-2.0-adapter-ak-cb052-cb-034-ak.html

As pasty says, it's £3ish

pastymuncher · 2 Dec 2015 at 13:06

That's the one. That is basically what Corsair changed the pci-e cables to but obviously a longer version. The braided ones look so much nicer though but I can't link as it appears that OCUK no longer sells them.

Waits for Borealis to go and show how pants my search skills are again!!