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any know of a good power supply that can handle a 7970, and either an 8350 or 3570k for under $200

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First take the certifications with a grain of salt. While they give a decent guideline they are not as accurate as people hope. next, while that is a great PSU it is OVERKILL. Pushing this build hard with 4 sticks of DDR3 Raid HDs a massive case with a lot of fans as well as liquid cooling and 5 USB devices attached you are only going to be pushing 650 watts.

 

With that in mind a 650 Watt PSU should be plenty. The 620 from Seasonic is a solid PSU and would save you quite a bit. Silencer Mk II from PCC at 750 watts is more than you need but better rated and costs less, if rating is a big deal to you. We gave our Golden Mic Award to the Thermaltake TR2 for being a reliable PSU with a great warranty, 5 years, for the cost. The 750 watt modular model has a great price.

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I'm one who likes extra headroom.  I always take the actual (from the wall) or calculated power draw and add additional 30 - 35% to it.  All power supplies have an efficiency "band" and for the most part that is often between the 30 - 85% of the units rated capacity.  Power draw at the lower levels, and power draw at the maximum levels is usually less efficient than when they are running in the "zone".  I used percentages to express the "zone" and those are just a rough estimates so YMMV.  

 

Additionally, many units have thermal control on the fan speed, so as the unit heats up the fan spins faster - often meaning extra noise.  Simply put a power supply with extra capacity shouldn't generate as much heat as one that is being pushed "balls to the wall" all the time.  And that can lead to lower noise levels and extra life-span of the unit.

 

I'm not pushing a debate as to whether the 650W is adequate or that a larger power supply is needed, I'm just throwing out a couple other considerations I take into account when choosing a power supply for my builds or someone elses. 

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I always do as well that's why I calculate with well over the needs that I would actually have. On the warranty in the review you listed,  that might be a difference in Europe vs the US, here they are 5 years on the box.

 

As for why I said overkill, it was also about the price difference as much as the headroom of the PSU. The truth is however that most computers, with the exception being the multicard, heavily overclocked systems, just do not pull juice. My i7 3820 @ 4 Ghz with a 7950 @ 1100 only pulls around 375 watts in gaming, yet the calculators say it should be closer to 540. I mean do not get me wrong, overkill is good, but not when you pay $30 or more for it and gain nothing. I was pointing out that from anywhere from $20 to $50 less you could still meet the need with a high quality PSU.

Edited by ComputerEd

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