Corsair CX-M Series 450 W

[THU31]

A lot of people around here won't even look at a sub-750W PSU, which is just silly. A good 450W unit is all the vast majority of gaming builds need - the ones with $2-300 GPUs, mid-range CPUs, a drive or two, a few fans, etc.

You do not want to run your PSU close to its limit, though. Fan noise is one aspect of it, but the more important one is transient spikes, which are pretty bad on modern GPUs.

I feel like $100 is the sweet spot for PSUs. You get great quality and it will last you through several PC upgrades. In my view, the PSU is the most underrated component for non-enthusiasts.

I recently replaced my 8-year-old RM650 with a new one, which I managed to snag for just over $50 (a certain Polish store was selling 1000 units at that price). Hopefully it will last a long time when I convert my current PC into an HTPC.
I will get an ATX 3.0 PSU when I build my new gaming rig (probably next year).

 

[Valantar]

But not a 350W, which I think is what I'm getting called out on.

Meh, even 350W is perfectly fine for a low-ish end/lower midrange setup. I've run my secondary rig for years on a 350W PSU (it's a custom PicoPSU+12V AC-DC PSU setup, so hardly standard PC fare; running an i5-2400+RX 570), and just moved it to a new case with a new 400W AC-DC unit - which is complete overkill for it, even with the accompanying GPU upgrade to an RX 6600 I just did.

You do not want to run your PSU close to its limit, though. Fan noise is one aspect of it, but the more important one is transient spikes, which are pretty bad on modern GPUs.

Did you read any of my posts in the thread before this before responding? 'Cause what you're saying here just doesn't make sense whatsoever in light of those:

(given that most gaming PCs consume <200W under gaming loads).

A 3050 - even a factory OC'd one - consumes ~160W in torture tests. A 12100F system (not just the CPU) consumes ~120W, or ~190 if bclk OC'd. So, this PSU has 100W to spare even with both of those parts pushed quite far, under torture workloads - and gaming workloads are much, much lighter than this, with that combination of hardware likely staying closer to 200W than 300w in gaming. (Also remember that those "full system" power draw numbers include PSU losses, so actual DC loads are ~10% lower). And, crucially, lower end GPUs don't tend to have the same spiky power profiles as their higher end siblings. This PSU can easily power a regular Ryzen 5/i5+ mid-range ~200W GPU build. Easily. Most people don't use their PCs for Prime95+FurMark, but for games and applications that don't put 100% load on all components at the same time.

The vast majority of gaming builds do not consume anywhere near 450W in gaming loads or any other workload they are regularly exposed to - video editing, 3D rendering, etc. That is the entire point of what I'm saying. Remember, most gaming builds have cheap parts, which are typically low power - ~120W GPUs, 65W-class CPUs, etc.

Transients are absolutely a concern, though they are far less common (and far less intensive) on lower end GPUs - they are mainly a concern on large GPUs with clocks pushed very high. And, again, if your 120W GPU in a system pulling ~200W while gaming sees a 100% power spike, that's still just 320W peak. If your 180W GPU in a system pulling 300W while gaming sees a 100% spike, that's still just 480W. Couple that with even ATX 2.3 requiring PSUs to handle 30% excursions (vs. 100% on ATX 3.0), that is absolutely and utterly fine as long as your PSU is of decent quality and is actually compliant. 30% above 450W is 585W after all. I absolutely agree that PSUs are undervalued as components, but you're arguing against yourself here: what is needed is higher quality, not higher output!

 

[ThrashZone]

Not unless your goal was to wreck an innocent PSU.

What I meant by "for most" was for most of the systems I've built; folks around here are generally served by something a tad beefier.

Hi,
Problem is mostly a vague statement by you seeing you gave no example of the builds you've done
I would guess lowend by your statement though
Someone else chimed in about using a gt1030 I believe that to is lowend

This is TechPowerUp so this psu would be wrecking innocent expensive hardware if used to oc anything.
Not good to cheapskate on power supplies period it is as important as the wall outlet voltage.

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

This is TechPowerUp so this psu would be wrecking innocent expensive hardware if used to oc anything.

"That, which is asserted without evidence, can also be dismissed without evidence"

Christopher Hitchens.

 

[ThrashZone]

"That, which is asserted without evidence, can also be dismissed without evidence"

Christopher Hitchens.

Hi,
You have a 2gb card in 2022 there's you evidence

That wouldn't interest me in a laptop.

 

[Valantar]

Hi,
Problem is mostly a vague statement by you seeing you gave no example of the builds you've done
I would guess lowend by your statement though
Someone else chimed in about using a gt1030 I believe that to is lowend

This is TechPowerUp so this psu would be wrecking innocent expensive hardware if used to oc anything.
Not good to cheapskate on power supplies period it is as important as the wall outlet voltage.

That's exactly the thing though: us enthusiasts are in the minority. That's just facts. The most popular GPU in the world is still the GTX 1060, which consumes barely above 100W under full load. And no games load your CPU to 100% (unless it's a very weak CPU), meaning full system power for most builds - which have GPUs in the 100-200W range - will be somewhere in the 150-300W range. Heck, my 5800X+RX 6900 XT build, with none of my power optimizations applied, consumes less than 500W in a power virus and around 400W while gaming. Sure, it likely has transient spikes much higher, and if I ran Prime95+FurMark it would get quite hot, but ... I don't tend to do that, nor do most people.

The statement was vague, yes, but it was broad - and broad statements should be assumed to apply broadly, not to a niche like us enthusiasts.

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

Hi,
You have a 2gb card in 2022 there's you evidence

That wouldn't interest me in a laptop.

Evidence of your unfounded elitism, sure.

FYI, not everyone plays AAA games on their PCs...

 

[Frick]

Hi,
Problem is mostly a vague statement by you seeing you gave no example of the builds you've done
I would guess lowend by your statement though
Someone else chimed in about using a gt1030 I believe that to is lowend

This is TechPowerUp so this psu would be wrecking innocent expensive hardware if used to oc anything.
Not good to cheapskate on power supplies period it is as important as the wall outlet voltage.

You convinced me. My 500W Seasonic is no good. I just ordered the AX 1600i, otherwise my <=300W system will die.