need an opinion on my corsair 550VX PSU

[sirmonkey1985]

I currently have an corsair 550VX PSU powering a AMD Phenom II 940 @ 3.5ghz 1.465v on a biostar T-force 780g m2+ motherboard with 6 sata drives(none are WD GP drives), 2x1GB ddr2 pc-6400, 1 DVD burner, 4 tri-cool fans all on high, an 8800GT running at 760/1890/1015 w/ 1.1v bios mod..

my cpu and and gfx card both sit at full load 24/7 running F@H gpu2 client and boinc on the cpu.. i checked the setup on a psu calculator.. but since i cant choose the overclock on my 8800GT i decided to use the 9800GT as a reference even though my cards running faster then a stock 9800GT comes out to 494W with everything at 100% load some im guessing its more along the lines of 460-480w with just the cpu and gpu at full load..

on to my question.. im wondering if this psu is worth keeping in this system or swapping it to my other rig and putting my thermaltake tough power 750w psu in this system?
since the corsair psu is a true 80+ psu and the thermaltake isnt..

 

[DTN107]

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable (like Danny) will come allow and help.

But I thought the 9800GT uses slightly less power the 8800GT?

 

[sirmonkey1985]

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable (like Danny) will come allow and help.

But I thought the 9800GT uses slightly less power the 8800GT?

hmm i always thought it used more since its just a rebadged 8800GT w/ 1.21v going to the gpu instead of 1.05v like the 8800GT.. hmm ill go re-do the calculation and see if it does actually use more..

*edit* wow your right.. it uses 521w total at 100% total load... dang.. now i really wonder how much power it uses with this overclock..

though the only thing im not sure on with the psu calculator.. is that with my current overclock its showing my cpu at 178w.. which wouldnt make sense since this motherboard can only support up to 140w with the mosfets it has even with a heatsink on them....

 

[Dangman]

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable (like Danny) will come allow and help.

But I thought the 9800GT uses slightly less power the 8800GT?

I knew my ears were burning

But yes the 9800GT uses like 5W less than the 8800GT. Not that much of a difference.

Anyway OP, don't worry about it. The Corsair 520HX will be more than enough for your system. Do note that those PSU calculators do tend to recommend a bit more wattage than necessary to account for low PSU quality.

Using Corsair's PSU Finder, Corsair recommended the 520HX for a Phenom X4 OC'd more than 30%, 6 hard drives, and an OC'd 9800GT. So even Corsair says you're a-ok.

though the only thing im not sure on with the psu calculator.. is that with my current overclock its showing my cpu at 178w.. which wouldnt make sense since this motherboard can only support up to 140w with the mosfets it has even with a heatsink on them....

It makes sense actually. That 140W rating is for CPUs at stock speeds. Since a CPU uses more power as it is OC'd higher, it makes sense that your OC would show 178W. So basically you would be overclocking/pushing the mobo as well when OC'ing the CPU.

 

[Zero82z]

Anyway OP, don't worry about it. The Corsair 520HX will be more than enough for your system. Do note that those PSU calculators do tend to recommend a bit more wattage than necessary to account for low PSU quality.

Using Corsair's PSU Finder, Corsair recommended the 520HX for a Phenom X4 OC'd more than 30%, 6 hard drives, and an OC'd 9800GT. So even Corsair says you're a-ok.

He's actually asking about the VX550, but the same conclusion applies.

 

[Dangman]

He's actually asking about the VX550, but the same conclusion applies.

Man my eyes are bad!

But yeah, same conclusion. The 550VX has one extra amp more than the 520HX so that's even better.

 

[sirmonkey1985]

the phenom II x4 940 is a 125w processor though a 50w higher output from only overclocking it 500mhz and .14v seems a bit drastic to me.. well i think im going to try swapping my 750w in tonight see if it makes a difference.. if it doesnt then ill throw the 550 back in.. it just seems like my gfx cards choking when my cpu is at full load.. which wasnt an issue when i was running my BE-2350 oc'd to 3.05ghz @1.38v 89w TDP after OC.. then ill report back if theres a difference.. and so yall can say i told you so after i find out that there is no difference..

the fun parts going to be trying unplug all these hdd's and get the power connector out of my 8800GT in this antec 300 case.. since the card sits right up against one of the hard drives..

 

[Zero82z]

the phenom II x4 940 is a 125w processor though a 50w higher output from only overclocking it 500mhz and .14v seems a bit drastic to me.. well i think im going to try swapping my 750w in tonight see if it makes a difference.. if it doesnt then ill throw the 550 back in.. it just seems like my gfx cards choking when my cpu is at full load.. which wasnt an issue when i was running my BE-2350 oc'd to 3.05ghz @1.38v 89w TDP after OC..

That would be unnecessary. Your system under full load will use significantly less than 550W of power, even with your overclocks. I would estimate closer to 350-400W of DC power.

 

[sirmonkey1985]

That would be unnecessary. Your system under full load will use significantly less than 550W of power, even with your overclocks. I would estimate closer to 350-400W of DC power.

well i swapped psu's.. god its a pain in the butt lugging around two 75 pound systems... things seem to be running a tad bit better.. my PPD on F@H gpu's gone up about 300 points.. ill let it run through 4 or 5 projects before i make up my mind.. but the one thing i do like about the 750 is that its a modular PSU so i dont have a huge rat nest of sata cables and power cables on the bottom of my case.. only down fall is that the 4+4 pin is a tad short so i couldnt run it behind the gfx card..