Corsair 450HX or 450VX power supply?

[gmattey]

Hi,

Was going to get the Corsair 450VX but then come across a page on the internet that said the 450HX is a better PSU.

Can anybody help me on the advantages/disadvantages or each power supply please?

Thanks.

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[kjv1611]

I'm not sure, but from looking, the HX seems to be for UK, and the VS seems to be for US. I'd go with whichever was the cheapest or most available in my location, myself. It does look like at least some people have had problems with the HX if you just search Google for the model #. But I doubt it's a bad sign - usually if not always, you'll have a small percentage of even the best units have issues. Corsair seems to make very good PSUs in general, so I don't think it'd be worth fretting over which one from them.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[SkipCox]

I prefer a wired psu over a modular psu; my vote is for the 450VX. It's a great little power supply.

Skip

 

[gmattey]

well both are similarly priced around 60 pound.

Looked up modular psu and some people say they are the way to go as tidier and others say stick to hard wired if not got much room in your case.

Modular's look a bit confusing with all the different wires you can connect and disconnect etc.

Hard to decide really as not bothered about cable management to be honest so modular has no advantage for me in that perspective but can anyone give me an insight into the cables on a modular?

thanks

ASUS M4A785G HTPC/RC MOTHERBOARD
AMD PHENOM X4 II 955 BE 3.2GHZ
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[Nelviticus]

I have a Corsair modular power supply, the HX620. It has a few 'hard-wired' cables - such as for the motherboard connector - but the rest are modular. This means there are a load of sockets on the PSU and you get a load of different cables in the box. You just plug in the ones you need and leave out the ones you don't, so if for some reason you needed six floppy drives you could do so (although you'd have to buy some extra modular cables as you only get two floppy drive ones in the box).

The connectors at the PSU end are robust and latched so they won't fall out.

If the modular and non-modular are the same price I'd go for the modular, just because it'll have a higher re-sale value. If you don't care about cable tidiness or airflow then it doesn't really matter which you go for.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[gmattey]

Well i'm not big on psu's it's the only part of my computer thats never been replaced, had the same power supply for 5 years now.

Well my motherboard doesn't even support floppy disk anymore, no connection for it so wont be needing them haha.

Only connecters i'd need is the 2 motherboard connectors and a couple of sata connectors for my hard drive and dvdrw drive and that's it really.

Modular might be better as hardly have any cables in my computer, just htpc cases are quite compact so that might be an advantage.

many thanks

ASUS M4A785G HTPC/RC MOTHERBOARD
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[SkipCox]

My opinion is based on "the fewer connections, the fewer problems with a bad connections".

That said, current modular psu connections are much better than those of a few years ago and probably aren't much of a problem nowdays.

"Well i'm not big on psu's it's the only part of my computer thats never been replaced, had the same power supply for 5 years now."

Yeah, I know; most folks are just like you. Your psu is one of, if not the most important part of your machine. It's also the component that receives the least attention.

If you're not going to use most of the connections on a hard wired psu, then the modular Corsair will certainly be just fine.



Skip

 

[gmattey]

Well my psu at the moment is some rubbish like ezcool 550w super silent, most the power connecters for old ide drives, molex? well the wires are loose and coming out. Well suppose it aint rubbish, its lasted me 5 years and still working now.

Ordered a new zalman ultrs quiet cpu cooler other day, trying to reduce noise since a htpc.

So going to go to scan tomorrow and buy the 450HX, two zalman zm-f3 fans and some arctic silver 5 thermal grease.

Not sure whether to buy the 120mm fans or not, the case already has 2 80mm fans, but has room for optional 120mm fans.

thanks!

ASUS M4A785G HTPC/RC MOTHERBOARD
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[SkipCox]

For case fans (assuming there's good airflow thru the case), you should only need the psu fan to exhaust hot air. You can add one of the 120mm in the rear to help exhaust warm air but you shouldn't need any fan to intake ambient air.

I'm assuming you have a vertical case?

Skip

 

[Nelviticus]

All fans do is make noise and cool components so unless you need extra cooling I wouldn't buy any more. If you do buy fans go for the Sharkoon 'golfball' ones as they're super-quiet and shift a lot of air. You can get 80mm and 120mm ones from Scan.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[gmattey]

Only just got your message, got back from scan and bought the 450hx, two 120mm zalman fans and arctic silver 5. kinda wonder whether i should of bought the fans now but can always return or sell them.

thanks

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[gmattey]

well its vertical at the moment but waiting for my zalman hd501 case to arrive which is horizontal.

So wont find out till get that how quiet will be but just installed the 450hx in my current case and its very very quiet. Just need my new cpu cooler which will arrive today hopefully and be even quieter (hopefully).

thanks

ASUS M4A785G HTPC/RC MOTHERBOARD
AMD PHENOM X4 II 955 BE 3.2GHZ
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TOSHIBA 32RV635DB FULL HD TV

 

[kjv1611]

Here's another thought:

You said you already had 2 80mm fans, but spots for 2 more 120mm fans? You might could take out the 80mm fans altogether, and just install the 120mm fans if they are indeed quieter. But make sure you've got the right airflow - not just a lot of it. If you set up the wrong combination, you'll be making things worse, not better.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[gmattey]

Yeah might be better doing that, taking them out. Well got my Zalman cpu cooler installed now and it's really quiet.

Well i don't have the case yet, should do soon so will let you know what i end up doing regarding fans.

Got an annoying problem of unidentified network everytime i boot my pc, only way to fix it is to disable and enable the network adapter but kind of annoying.

not sure whether a clean install will work, only did one before christmas but somethings not right, tried all the solutions from google but no luck!

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[kjv1611]

..an annoying problem of unidentified network...

Well, that'd be a totally separate issue. For that, you really need to post in the Windows Forum for which version of Windows you have installed. You can click from below if you like:

forum1726

forum1583

forum779

forum748

forum615

And there may be one separate one for Windows 2000, but I don't recall, and I believe there are one or two for the Windows Server editions, if you need.

My first guess on the issue, in the mean time, would be the driver. I'd do some searching on the web to see if there is another driver available for your network adapter.

Also, if it's a custom-built machine, and it's an onboard LAN adapter, and you've not done it already, go to the motherboard manufacturer's website, and download the chipset drivers for your motherboard. That'll often - not always - have the network drivers included.

If you have an OEM system, such as Dell or HP, then go to the OEM mfg's website, look for any support/driver downloads for your machine.

And one other possibility will be to go to the chipset manufacturer's website, and download their latest package (for your version of Windows) for the chipset that is in your motherboard. So, you'd likely go to nvidia.com, intel.com, or ati.amd.com if the machine is very recent. Otherwise, it could also be an older SIS chipset, or possibly another - I forget the other sites..

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[gmattey]

Well after 3 clean installs of windows 7, i found out what was causing the unidentified network error eventually.

It wasn't the drivers....

it was....

adobe cs3 master collection, very strange! no idea why thats affecting the connection but it did, so left that uninstalled now and its working perfectly!

ASUS M4A785G HTPC/RC MOTHERBOARD
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TOSHIBA 32RV635DB FULL HD TV