Which power supply is more sufficient for its price?

I'd tell you but I've no idea of what your build is..

imGoopy wrote: »

For my build?
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0361422

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0344206

Well we can't really tell you if you don't tell the the SPECS / components for your build, LOL.

But if you are going High-end components (CPU & graphics cards), those won't do.

For a Quad-core / six-core based system (which might be overclocked), and with one high-end graphics card (or two mid-range cards), these should be considered.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0356525
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004&Tpk=corsair%20550w
41A and 53A on single +12v rails respectively.

For dual mid-high-end to high-end GPU (two Radeon HD 6950/70 s, GTX 570s or GTX 560 Ti's) setups:
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0356527
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139022&Tpk=tx%20850
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0314083
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011&Tpk=HX850

If you are going for an insane setup (two Radeon HD 6990's or 2+ GTX 580s), then a 950W+ is required.

By the way, NewEgg prices are cheaper than MicroCenter, so why don't get it from there instead. They also got a free 2-day shipping promotion going on at NewEgg so...

Single rail PSUs on a big budget build is something I'd never do, personally.

DeathXGod wrote: »

?

It removes the hassle to balance the load onto different rails.

Example: three 20A +12v rails, and two graphcis cards that can draw 17A each (Radeon HD 6970). You would have to put one card on one of +12v rails, the other on another +12v rail, and the rest (CPU, RAM, etc) on the last rail.

Also, all the rails have a Peak/maxiumum power of 20A, which means the nominal/continous power would be ~18A.

It's just a personal safety preference of mine.
If I have expensive parts, I'd rather live with some slight hassle, and know I'm protected under my quad-rail. Most people I build for, get OCZ dual-rails as standard.

imGoopy wrote: »

how is it?

Oh, with those specs the Corsair 500CX or the better 550VX would be plenty.

The Athlon II X2 255 is a energy efficient CPU - 65W. Compared to the higher-end CPUs that use 125W (140W+ when oveclocked) it's nothing. 65W = 5.4A.

The Radeon HD 5750 only draws 86W at max, and 16W at idle -that's ~7A & 1.33A respectively- so this card does not use a lot of power at all.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1105/1/

So your CPU and graphics card draws a total of ~12.4A. If you get the 500CX, you'll have ~21A left over for other components or upgrades.

This system still be enough for Crossfire, Counter Strike, Starcraft 2, and other new games and medium to High settings with reasonable resolution. If you want to play more demanding games later on (future PC games) and turning up the eye-candy, you'll need to upgrade.

As I told you in another thread, if you are willing to wait 2-3 months, the prices for the existing AM3 components will drop for sure. But if you can't wait...I recommend that you make some slight changes.

MSi 890GX motherboard. Better South Bridge, and another PCI-E X16 slot for a second graphics card. http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0332178

PhenomII 955 "Black Edition" (unlocked multiplier) Quad-Core 3.2GHz CPU. Will be powerful enough for pretty all the games out there & multi-tasking.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0325957

Cooler Master HAF 912 Case instead. Better build quality, known brand, more space for upgrades/expansions, yet not very expensive.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0343331


Cooler Master Hyper 212+ CPu cooler. MUCH, MUCH better then the stock heatsink+fan, yet it costs very little.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0315397
Review of the cooler: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/19383-cooler-master-hyper-212-plus-cpu-cooler-review.html

With these part changes, you'll be more future-proof, and will allow a better path for future upgrades. The good part; it's still well within your ~$700 budget.

SmoothWall wrote: »

What protection is it affording you?

In true multi-rail supplies, I could see how you would have *slight* protection because of the separate electronics, but still, the PSU is likely to shut down if there is any internal fault, same as it would in a single-rail PSU. I guess you may also see a very slight decrease in noise too.

In "fake" multi-rail supplies where there's one +12V source but multiple current-limiting sections in order to meet UL specs, you're not really getting any more protection than any other power supply, besides the removal of the risk of the wires getting extremely hot if there's a short (but if there's a short or any serious overcurrent, the whole supply ought to shut down anyway)

I'd be far more worried about the dodgy +5VSB supplies that some PSUs seem to have. I've heard wonderful stories of them going overvoltage and nuking the components while the PC is off.

(And I own two quad-rail power supplies, but multiple rails did not play any part in my purchase decisions)

I OC extreme, any added protection is a valuable asset to me.
It's not like I don't know all these things, what I don't understand is why you seem to have a problem with my decision... Personal preference is personal preference.