Differences in power supply unit for a new PC

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PeteScuff

Member
After having had my current PCS desktop for nearly 10 years(!), it's time for a new one. The world of power supply seems to have advanced since I last looked, and I don't know what the differences / advantages are between the options. I'm give the choice of Corsair:
TX series
CV series
VS series

Is the TX a sensible investment for something I hope will last me years again? What's the difference between the CV and VS?

Spec below (and happy to hear of suggestions to improve). It's going to be in my front room and used for gaming and untaxing office work.

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 Ti - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
500GB Samsung 860 EVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Corsair are excellent regardless of spec to be honest. They are very well built, long lasting PSUs and have been for the time that I've known them involved in the market. Even their lowest spec cannot be compared to the unbranded trash that's available off the shelf so you can't really go wrong.

That being said, why would you stick a 1.0 eco boost engine into an M3. It's always different horses for different courses. The TXm is the normal recommended go-to for mid level systems. Anything involving gaming wants for clean reliable energy so the TXm would be my go-to in this instance.

Of course, buying this level of PSU isn't just about how efficient/powerful it is. It's also semi-modular (some of the cables can be removed completely for a neat install) and uses a premium cooling fan which is quieter than the bog standard options.

Onto your build, I would recommend a few changes....

RAM - You want it as fast as you can reasonably afford. The 3200Mhz is often the go-to but if it's not stretching you too much I would go for the 3600Mhz option.

GPU - As good as the 1660 Ti is, it's a hairs breadth better than the 1660 Super and considerably more expensive for this. The Super was brought out after the Ti and pretty much matches its spec while being cheaper. I would recommend selecting the 1660 as it's more than adequate and saves a few quid.

Storage - For your primary drive you want to select an M2 option, the SX6000 would be my normal go-to.

Everything else is exactly what I would recommend.
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
PS... if you include the link when you are copying the spec over it means we don't need to start from scratch..... eg..

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 14 working days
Price: £986.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/SWWdUHUxpd/
 
P

PeteScuff

Member
Thanks Scott, much appreicated. Think the TXm makes sense, so I'll go with that. And use the money saved on the Super to get some better ram, and other suggestions. The 3600MHz is 21 quid more than the 3200 - would I see a noticable difference do you think?

Revised config
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Personally I would spend it, it's one less thing to even consider as a bottle neck.
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
BTW, if your current system has Windows 10 on it, you can link it to your Microsoft account and then transfer to your new system for free. This would save around £100.
 
P

PeteScuff

Member
Oh, that's interesting, and would definitely spring some cash. Do you have a link for how to link it to my MS account? Compelely unsure of how I'd go about it, if I haven't already.
 
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