Power Supply Suggestions

[JediBob]

I'm in the market for a new ATX power supply since I'm buying a PNY-GTX 260 video card.
Here's my specs...

- Asus M3A78-EM Mobo
- AMD Phenom 9550 Quad-Core Processor
- 2GBs of RAM
- 500GB Harddrive
- ATX550W Power Supply (Rhycom) (current)
- Windows XP Professional - 32bit

I'm looking to spend around $100.  The card requires a 550watts PS and 2 x 6-pin PCIe connectors, however, I'd like to get the highest wattage I can for the money.  Also, I'm concerned about the make and reliability.

Any suggestions?  (so far, I've looked at Antec, Corsair, Thermaltake, etc....however, I'm open to other suggestions).

Thanks

[patio]

Antec..Pc power and cooling  OCZ
CoolerMaster...

[hejlik]

Seasonic is also a great brand, although they are a little expensive.

[lectrocrew]

(so far, I've looked at Antec, Corsair, Thermaltake,

I bought a Corsair before I did enough research. It's a quality unit but Corsair doesn't even make it. PC Power & Cooling manufactures quality power supplies. That's what I'll buy next time.
JMO

[smeezekitty]

I bought a Corsair before I did enough research. It's a quality unit but Corsair doesn't even make it. PC Power & Cooling manufactures quality power supplies. That's what I'll buy next time.
JMO

huh?
how can it be a corsair yet corsair didnt make it
thats like saying its a hp computer but hp didnt make it

[lectrocrew]

huh?
how can it be a corsair yet corsair didnt make it
thats like saying its a hp computer but hp didnt make it

Here's more information

Most users who possess some knowledge of computer components, probably already know that there are only a few manufacturers dedicated in producing power supplies. To name a few... these include PC Power & Cooling, FSP, CWT and Impervio. In fact, a majority of big retail brands don't even produce their own power supplies ... they just basically re-brand and re-package the product. Corsair is one of those brands ... and I can see why. It's much easier to get someone to produce quality power supplies than to try and make them from scratch. The costs of R&D, production line and others expenses are just too much to make a decent ROI. It would be a lot better to just leave it to the experts.

This is where Channel Well Technology (CWT) comes in ... Corsair's OEM partner who's responsible for producing their power supplies. For those who don't know who CWT (Channel Well Technology) are ... here's a little blurb taken from their website

"Channel Well Technology Co., Ltd. was founded in Tao Yuan, Taiwan. They have been manufacturing power supplies since 1993. Since then, their products have shown up under different disguises including Antec, 2theMax, Thermaltake, Koolance, and Xigmatek, CWT themselves and now Corsair. CWT is one of the more complete OEM manufacturers, producing not only power supplies for the retail market, but also for the industrial sector."

I received an email from Corsair after we published the review. They emphasised an important point which they said we needed to tell our readers. Here's what they had to say ...

"It’s true that we do use engineering partners, such as CWT and Seasonic, to build our PSUs, but it is absolutely not the case that a Corsair PSU is simply a re-badged CWT or Seasonic. This is a really important point and the information that a Corsair PSU is much more than a re-badging is something that we’re very keen to highlight.

We have a dedicated power engineer in the US who analyses and assess the various designs from quality OEMs and then selects good basic models as a starting point. Crucially, we then test and analyse the performance, strengths and weaknesses of that design and modify and add/change components as required to improve the product to our requirements and quality standards. The modified design is then built by our engineering partners, which means that the end result is not the same as the OEM design – it is very much a Corsair PSU. As you know, the final designs are then also qualified in an oven at 50C running at full load (this applies to VX, TX and HX). It sounds like a small point, but it is actually very, very important. "