I'm in the process of ordering parts for a new system build and I'm trying to choose which power supply to use. I'm currently looking at two different models and I'm torn between which I should purchase. There is a significant price variance between the two units, but both have good reviews.

Note: this is Canadian pricing.

I'm currently comparing the following two units:

Corsair HX520
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?mod...roduct_id=19832

Ultra X-Finity 500W
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/Sea...&CatId=1079

The Corsair is much more expensive but it is apparently quiet in comparission to the Ultra. The price makes the Ultra look attractive, and both are modular, but my largest concern is that I've heard that Ultra doesn't have the long term reliability (although they offer a lifetime warranty) and that if the Ultra does fry more often than not it will burn out other components. Is that accurate or am I only gaining a quieter PSU by going with the Corsair?

I'm not willing to pay the price difference just to reduce noise, but I'll gladly pay extra it if it offers a better level of protection for my other components. This is going to be a fairly expensive build already and I can't afford to burn up my video card or processor etc.

In case anyone feels it's useful to know what components will be in the system in order to recommend which PSU is better, here is the current breakdown of components: (or incase you notice anything I should consider changing)

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Dual Core Processor LGA775 Conroe 2.40GHZ 1066FSB 4MB Retail
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 ATX LGA775 Conroe P965 DDR2 PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 3PCI SATA2 GBLAN Audio
Memory: Corsair Dual Channel TWINX 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz E.P.P. Memory (2 x 1024)
Case: Ultra X-Blaster Black ATX Mid-Tower Case with Front USB, FireWire and Audio Ports
Heatsink: Thermalright ULTRA-120 Extreme 6 Heatpipe Cooler LGA775 Heatsink *Fan Not Included*
Fan for Heatsink: Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120MM Cooling Fan 1600RPM 28.0DBA 63.7CFM FDB
Two additional Case fans: (same as above)
Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver 5 HIGH-DENSITY Polysynthetic Silver
Video Card: EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS / 640MB GDDR3 / SLI Ready / PCI Express / Dual DVI / HDTV / HDCP Enabled
Hard Drives: 2 in Raid 0: Western Digital / Caviar SE 16 / 250GB / 7200 / 16MB / SATA-300 / OEM / Hard Drive

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Zar.

Most people are not very big fans of the X-Finity power supplies. I've never had one, but I've heard enough bad things that I'd rather buy something else. There is really no comparison between the two supplies you've listed. The Corsair is a very nice supply and has gotten great reviews in quality. The X-Finity is often trashed, and few people have anything overly great to say about them. If quality and reliability is important to you, the Corsair is the way to go.

Verran you summed it nicely - even eloquently if I might say so. In other words -

Thanks for the input Verran. I assumed this would be the answer, but as I'm on a limitted budget for this build I wanted to ensure the extra money was worth it for the Corsair PSU.

Regards,

Zarius.