PSU Question/Comparison

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Necrosjef

I've just been on ebay looking at new PCs and or components just looking for what sort of price I should be spending for different components for my system.

One of the things Im looking to is a PSU.

I put my information into this tool http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

It came up with a 515Watt PSU required for the system I am trying to build.

So naturally I went looking for a PSU to fulfill this for me.

I saw this one http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/124927/rb/0 its marked as 700w and pretty cheap.

I also saw this one http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-044-AN&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=103 its marked as 430w and quite alot more expensive than the 1st PSU.

Im confused.

I got some questions

1. I read a article on how to choose a PSU, it talks about the 12v rail being the most important part rather than the actual wattage, how do I find this out?

2. If you had a system that required 515watts of power, and you had $80 what PSU would you comeback with?

3. Why is the Antec 430w PSU more expensive than the 700w Generic PSU, what does it offer that the other one doesnt? And same question as above here too if you had a 515watt system which one of these PSUs would you choose if any?

Hope this wasn't too stupid a question :)

Necrosjef.
 
The 700W PSU does not come with Active PFC and likely has a low efficieny of around 60-65%, which means 700W is the maximum wattage that it can output and the normal power output at room temperature is likely to be a lot lesser. The parts will also be of crappier quality which will mean that if you overload it, it will blow, possibly damaging\ruining other components in the process. The Antec one is of better quality and is efficient upto about 75-80%, which is why it is so more expensive.
As for your question, this PSU would be my pick. It's of good quality, comes with a 3-year replacement warranty and is a fantastic deal for the price.
 
Quality is the best answer there. If you were to have both PSU's in your hand, the Antec would weigh significantly more. Just come down to higher quality parts, which means more copper and other material, and quality engineering.

The price tag of $80 is a bit hard to get to. Most good PSU of 550W or better will start at $100 and got up. You can snag a great 600W ThermalTake Toughpower for about $120 of newegg. It is rock solid and you wont have any issues. Might even get a rebate!

If that website recommended using 515W i wouldnt go below that, usually best to over shoot a bit and then you know your not going to have issues.
 
Thanks guys gonna buy the PSU rage listed, looks good for my system.
 
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