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I am willing to build my very first computer.

This is the build I was thinking about:

  • Intel Core i7 6700K
  • Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 5-EU
  • Corsair Hydro H60 CW-9060007-WW
  • EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB SC GAMING 1835MHz Boost Clock
  • Crucial CT2K8G4DFD8213 Memoria RAM da 16 GB, DDR4
  • NZXT S340 Mid Tower Case CA-S340W-W1
  • Sandisk Ultra II SSD 240GB, 1TB WD HDD
  • Windows 10, maybe Linux

I am looking for a power supply that will work with this build. I am thinking of the Corsair CS550M 550W Black power supply.

Is there a viable alternative that

  • Meets my power requirements? (I believe the 550W is enough, correct?)
  • Costs about $80
  • Is energy efficient
  • Is modular (optional, but nice to have)
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  • Welcome to Hardware Recommendations. We don't do build requests, due to the huge number of combinations of hardware. However, you have a question (or two) here that we can work with to keep it on topic. You have a question about whether or not a power supply is ok. You have a question about the computer case and finally a potential 3rd about other hardware. Is there something in particular that you are concerned about? I'm going to make some edits to your question to rephrase this one to be about your power supply - and to keep it on topic.
    – Andy ♦
    Oct 10, 2016 at 18:00
  • The budget for the build Is around 1100/1200$
    – Daniele
    Oct 10, 2016 at 18:02
  • I've reworded the question to focus on the power supply portion of your build. You can make a new question about the case using this template. Focus only on the case - and ask for cases that would fit your build (with other requirements such as cost, color, size, orientation, motherboard layout, etc). Add in that you're considering the NZXT as well, so that we have something to compare against.
    – Andy ♦
    Oct 10, 2016 at 18:09
  • Excellent choice of components! I am planning on building exactly the same system, except with an i5-6500 CPU and a Phanteks case. I calculated a build cost for you of $1075, then I followed your link to partpicker, and saw that you already had an accurate estimate of $1045. Good Luck!!
    – Brett Bergan
    Oct 19, 2016 at 3:49
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    @sgr I will be doing a lot of video and photoediting since I'm using this pc mainly for work. I decided to put the 1060 because It costs less that a 970 and I can play games at good fps and High settings, even if It Is not the main purpose of the build
    – Daniele
    Oct 21, 2016 at 8:01

5 Answers 5

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Great System Design, Daniele!

For all of your components you'll need about:

  • 170 watts for your 1060 GPU
  • 160 watts for 16 GB of RAM
  • 91 watts for the i7-6700
  • 30 watts for your drives
  • 25 watts for the cooling system
  • 40 watts for the Motherboard

Minimum TDP Requirement: 516 watts

Recommendation: Opt for a 600W PSU to give yourself some headroom for OC or additional widgets. Here is a reasonably priced generic 600W PSU from ePower for $39.99
If your heart is set on modular Corsair, this refurbished 650M is only $59.99

enter image description here newegg.com

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  • I have to disagree. First, estimating over 500W for that configuration does not accurately reflect real power draw, even when burning in a system. That CPU and GPU are more energy efficient than many years of their predecessors, and there is no disk-based storage. There are beefier systems that run on much less. Anand reviewed a Falcon NW Tiki in 2013 that uses only a 450w PSU, driving a last-gen Titan. anandtech.com Second: Never go cheap with your PSU. Get new a quality brand, like Corsair, Silverstone, or SeaSonic. Try: amzn.com/B00918MEZG
    – Alpinwolf
    Nov 2, 2016 at 9:09
  • Good points all. I based estimates on TDP ratings which are maximum rated power draw. Normal CPU power requirements tend to run about 60% of TDP. Cooling will use maybe 10W rather than 25W. I have used many inferior PSUs over the last 20 years and they do tend to burn out after 3-5 years of daily use. I was figuring that with such an excellent system, 600W would allow for overclocking and future upgrading to either 32GB RAM or another 1060 in SLI.
    – Brett Bergan
    Nov 8, 2016 at 16:31
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550W is enough and gives you enough room for overclocking I think... Also, the power supply you have in mind is Gold rated and, as I understand, that's as important as the watt quantity.

Also, the 1060 is very power efficient so you should be ok. As an alternative, I have the EVGA 550W G2 which is also great, its pretty much like the one you indicated

I'm running a i5-6600k and a nVidia GTX 970 which is much more power hungry than your graphics card, both are overclocked, 16 gb of ram and everything works fine!

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  • I would also highly recommend an EVGA power supply. They consistently score higher than Corsair power supplies on both consistency and build quality according to jonnyguru: jonnyguru.com/… As you can see, the 550 G2 scored a perfect 10. It's worth adding that before Oklahoma Wolf started reviewing EVGA power supplies, he had never given out a score of 10 to any power supply.
    – SGR
    Oct 21, 2016 at 7:50
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Right now on Newegg, which I am guessing is your retailer of choice, there are better options available. Corsair's PSUs are good, and like any good PSU, they aren't really going to betray you (though I have seen them fail, that was in an office environment that I don't really feel reflects on how they would perform in a home environment).

However, their brand name and the big marketing push that Corsair constantly makes puts a premium on their products and I don't usually find that their real value is reflected in their price compared to products from other vendors putting out PSUs in the same category.

In this case, a good example would be the Rosewill Photon-650. It's the same price (cheaper if you don't do rebates), same efficiency, same modular cabling, but it's rated 100W higher and is made by the OEM Highpower. Corsair's is probably a CWT or Great Wall OEM, for reference. I tend to think those OEMs do similar build quality most of the time, but if you know differently then perhaps that will be the final differentiator for you.

People tend to think of Rosewill as a brand that doesn't really stand out, but they do sometimes go out and get good OEMs to do their work for them. Since Corsair mostly does the same for their PSUs, I find no reason to pay more for less in this situation.

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I strongly recommend against cheap PSU units or actually purchasing without researching a bit first.
A lot of the units on the market have really bad voltage regulation, especially on the 3.3V and 12V rails along with bad ripple. Furthermore, a cheaper PSU is more likely to trip on an input load that supposedly matches the output (for example 600W wall draw instead of 600W delivered on the rails).

While it's generally true that with mild overclocking it will do 'fine', after all, the power supply must supply the motherboard, GPU and peripheral devices with clean power. I would not trust any components whose power load may spike on a cheap supply.

From the recommendations above I support the EVGA and RoseWill supplies, and I'd also add most SuperFlower and SeaSonic supplies you can get your hands on. FSP (previously known as Fortron) also have very decent units that do not come off as expensive.

Regarding power draw, @Brett Bergan's suggestion for 160W for the RAM is outlandish. DDR4 RAM (without a ridiculous overvolt) will rarely consume over 3-4W per module.

As for power supply, I would actually recommend a SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze which is surprisingly cheap while still retaining full modularity and providing clean output.

520W will be more than enough for your system until you decide to push things to the limits, and those PSUs can be trusted.
I've pulled over 1100W from the wall on my 850W unit (SS-850AM, Bronze efficiency) which is a bit over it's rated output and still didn't even trigger it's OCP.

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using Cooler Masters PSU calculator, the power draw for your listed components is 297w.....

Outervision.com lists at 287w

MSI.com shows the lowest at 248w.

I would recommend: EVGA SuperNOVA 550. It is fully modular, has plenty of power for your current application plus future modifications. The unit is certified 80 Plus Gold. And the unit comes with a 7 year warranty, which never hurts anything.

The only thing I saw missing from your build was Optical media and/or magnetic/spindle based storage. Are you planning on only using the one SSD?

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