I need a PSU that wont break my budget: My new build will be: i7 860 2.8GHz, will overlock a little 4Gb ram, will upgrade to 8Gb next year probably a GT260 gfx card, but might be less powerful certainly not more powerful 2 HDs Gigabyte P55m motherboard nothing else which should draw much power. Would a high quality 500w PSU be better than a cheaper 600-700w PSU. What cheaper brands are there that are good enough?`IF I have to spend £70 -80 or more on the PSU then I will have to downgrade the i7 to the i5.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-111-AN Would probably be your best 'budget', solid 550w job - I used it in a build recently (920@3.8ghz/2xSSDs/6gb/gtx275) and its been fine in my mate's rig. Personally though if i were in your position I'd save another 50 quid and get a Corsair HX. They're flippin superb bits of kit.
The Corsair HX range seem way outside my budget. Any thoughts on : OCZ StealthXStream - 500 Watt Be Quiet! Pure Power L7-530W, 80 plus
Running a StealthXStream 650w here without any problem, great PSU. By assumption I'd guess the 500 is of the same quality.
PSU is one item i wouldn't skimp on price on but accept that HX range do look pricey on the face of it
I would go for this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-023-OC&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1098 I have it running in my i7 rig and its been fine, and for £55 its pretty cheap considering its a 600w psu. It's not modular though so that might be an issue.
The Pure Power series use the same level of components as most of the OCZ PSUs, it's Be Quiet budget range. I woundn't say one is significantly better than the other. Personally I wouldn't buy either for my own use, but would consider them for budget builds I do for other people.
