Corsair Builder Series CX430 430W 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Power Supply $19.99 After Rebate + Free Shipping

Quote from wquach : Should I grab this now or wait till it drops again to sub $20? I'm in no hurry for an extra power supply...just need it for an HTPC I'll be building months from now.

Personally, I would not buy this for an HTPC unless I'm prepared to return it if there's a problem. I've bought three of these over three separate sales and two out of three had coil whine whenever the unit was plugged into the wall and the switch was on. It'll drive you mad if you have that in your house, so I ended up putting them in PC's in a warehouse at work where ambient noise will mask it. Out of about 15 PSU's I've purchased in the past 2 years, those 2 CX430 V2's were the only ones with coil whine.

Take this for what it's worth, as it's just an anecdote about the quality, as are most of the other opinions. Google CX430 coil whine to see more forum discussions on the issue.

Quote from AznCracker : A 7970 ghz system consumes about 350w on max load. This should handle your card, but its really cutting it close. Also the psu will be inefficient at high power draw. A rule of thumb is to keep your max load under 75% of the max of psu. Id go with a high quality 500 w psu (like seasonic) or the 600w version of this.

Thanks...I thought as much but was hoping it could handle it...will swap out my 430 CX2 for a 500+ W Power supply

Quote from nigerianno1 : Personally, I would not buy this for an HTPC unless I'm prepared to return it if there's a problem. I've bought three of these over three separate sales and two out of three had coil whine whenever the unit was plugged into the wall and the switch was on. It'll drive you mad if you have that in your house, so I ended up putting them in PC's in a warehouse at work where ambient noise will mask it. Out of about 15 PSU's I've purchased in the past 2 years, those 2 CX430 V2's were the only ones with coil whine. Take this for what it's worth, as it's just an anecdote about the quality, as are most of the other opinions. Google CX430 coil whine to see more forum discussions on the issue.

Thanks for the reply.

I already know about the coil-whine issue, which was also noted about the CX600 as well, but I bought 2 CX600s 3 months ago and they're both pretty much near silent. I love them.

With that said, I'll still be eyeing this model, but I'm holding out for it to drop a little more, or if a better lower wattage PSU deal comes along in a few months (I'm pretty sure one will crop up).

Great PSU - I picked it up a few months ago when it went as low as $16 AR. Dead silent, which you can test using the 'paperclip trick' to turn the fan on. Perfect for an HTPC.

in for one. should be good enough for what i have.

Have the CX400 and mined bitcoins with i5-2500k and 2xHD6950 max oc'd for like 6 months using the molex > pcie adapters. I think the CX series are best bank for buck under $50 and Corsair name is well known. Disk drives only use 7 watts I think you can run many drives with the unit rated 384 watts 12 volt.

Quote from AznCracker : A 7970 ghz system consumes about 350w on max load. This should handle your card, but its really cutting it close. Also the psu will be inefficient at high power draw. A rule of thumb is to keep your max load under 75% of the max of psu. Id go with a high quality 500 w psu (like seasonic) or the 600w version of this.

Quote from kal_el1 : Thanks...I thought as much but was hoping it could handle it...will swap out my 430 CX2 for a 500+ W Power supply

HD 7970 TDP is 210 watts MAX the only reason to not run at PSU to its rated load is if it is crap. Please note a 430 Watt PSU will be drawing 538 AC Watts at the wall outlet (80% eff).

Quote from fredstone : HD 7970 TDP is 210 watts MAX the only reason to not run at PSU to its rated load is if it is crap. Please note a 430 Watt PSU will be drawing 538 AC Watts at the wall outlet (80% eff).

Indeed thats why I said system, not just the card. I mean who just runs a video card?

I have this same PSU in a modest machine, runs like a dream and is pretty quiet.

I just rma'd a CX600 that failed after three months. It cost me $15 to ship it to California.

Quote from wquach : Thanks for the reply. I already know about the coil-whine issue, which was also noted about the CX600 as well, but I bought 2 CX600s 3 months ago and they're both pretty much near silent. I love them. With that said, I'll still be eyeing this model, but I'm holding out for it to drop a little more, or if a better lower wattage PSU deal comes along in a few months (I'm pretty sure one will crop up).

i bought a cx430 back in 2010 and it had coil whine issues, but nowadays the few cx430s i've bought have been great. in fact, i'm planning a build for the wife, and i'm thinking of picking this up. despite the fact that i purchased one in nov for $16 AR.

Quote from fredstone : HD 7970 TDP is 210 watts MAX the only reason to not run at PSU to its rated load is if it is crap. Please note a 430 Watt PSU will be drawing 538 AC Watts at the wall outlet (80% eff).

Ohh...is that how the effiency works?

I thought 80% meant that a 430 Watt PSU will be efficient up to 344 Watts (80% of 430). Boy I had it way off.

Quote from kevinh : Ohh...is that how the effiency works? I thought 80% meant that a 430 Watt PSU will be efficient up to 344 Watts (80% of 430). Boy I had it way off.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showt...p?t=157628

Quote from r0ge : You won't need near 750W for a single GPU or even most SLI/CF setups. The CX430 will run the majorty of single card setups. If you wanted to step up to something a bit nicer, you could always go for a XFX PRO 550W (Seasonic made), Seasonic S12II 520W, or a Rosewill Capstone/Hive 550W.

Be careful with CPU with over 100 watt TDPs. My 8 core FX and single GPU setup craps out with a 425w pc power and cooling when it's pegged to the max.