# Is a 700W Thermaltake Litepower PSU adequate for my gaming rig?



## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

I've been having major problems with almost every game.

This is my PC:

CPU: Intel i5-2500 @ 3.3Ghz(4 cores)
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz
Graphics Card: ASUS GTX 580 direct cu
Motherboard: Intel DH67CL
1 Terrabyte HDD
two 120mm case fans and one 120mm CPU cooler(also thermaltake)
 and of course your standard complement of keyboard, mouse, speaker, DVD drive, etc...

The website for this PSU: Thermaltake - Australia - Litepower 700W - W0356, actually says that the max output power is 600W not 700W(so "700W" is probably a marketing scheme).

So is this PSU bottlenecking my computer? Or could it be something else?

(The computer's brand new btw)


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

We would recommend no less than 750W and a better quality PSU for a GTX580 GPU.
A low quality/underpowered PSU won't cause bottlenecking per say but it will effect other compoinents by not supplying sufficient clean power. 
I don't see how that CPU and GPU could be having problems with any game.
RAM Standard fore the Intel DH67CL DDR3 1333 / 1066 MHz. Is your 8GB 2x4 or 4x2GB and what is the Brand/specs?


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

Thank you for answering. 
Why does the Sticky Thread you wrote say that a non Stable PSU will affect performance, even when straight out of the box, not just damage the computer over time(I think it said something about fluctuating voltages)?

And check the PSU link I gave before, it says max output power is 600W and that 700W is peak power, does that mean something?

RAM is 1600Mhz, but as you said, the mobo doesn't read anymore than 1333Mhz, and it's 2 sticks of 4GB(I don't know what brand it is though).

I've been reading some scathing reviews about this PSU on the internet, something like the "L" in "Litepower" being a typo, that it should actually be "Sh".


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

And by problems in games I mean like random freezes for a split second, crashes, sudden drastic drops in framerate, random stuttering, and CPU and GPU loads sometimes refusing to exceed 40% even while the game is running at a constant very choppy 30fps. Temps during gaming never reach 50C, not for any part. Most games are really unplayable, there's just something not smooth about them that prevents them from being immersive, unlike when gaming on my laptop with the old 3650M GPU which was a really immersive experience. I think I should have just ignored all those a******* that kept saying the "laptops are not meant for gaming" crap, and just bought a gaming laptop.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Tyree said:


> I don't see how that CPU and GPU could be having problems with any game.


I can see how that was misleading and I apologize for the way I worded it.
Reword: Your CPU/GPU should have no problems with games "IF" the components are getting a sufficient clean supply of power.

Your particular PSU is made by Solytech (not known for good quality) and is not 80+ certified. It is very possible it is not stable and causing your problems.
A good quality 750W minimum PSU "should" resolve your issues. It's a win/win deal for your components regardless.
All SeaSonic- All XFX- Most Corsair (not the CX-GS-M Series) are top quality.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

On the Ram you would need to have XMP profile sticks and enable XMP settings in the Bios or set the ram speed, timings and voltage manually in the bios to run 1600 speed.
However I would not do so until you get a quality stable power supply in the PC.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

No wait, I just System Information for Windows, turns out my RAM is APACER 78.B1.GDE.9L10C, which is 1333Mhz not 1600Mhz; he lied to me! He said he put in 1600Mhz.

Anyway, I will try to contact him about a better PSU, and I will see which brands are available in my country and then ask you guys which one I should buy.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

All SeaSonic- All XFX- Most Corsair (not the CX-GS-M Series) are top quality.


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## voon (Jul 4, 2012)

An Antec HCG 520 is enough for that rig with plenty of power left, by far. 

Antec High Current Gamer HCG-520 520W Review | techPowerUp
AnandTech - Antec HCG 520W: A Good PSU for Bargain Hunters

If you want exceedingly great quality, a Seasonic X-560 will be a brilliant choice.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

voon said:


> An Antec HCG 520 is enough for that rig with plenty of power left, by far.
> 
> Antec High Current Gamer HCG-520 520W Review | techPowerUp
> AnandTech - Antec HCG 520W: A Good PSU for Bargain Hunters
> ...


Erm... thanks but I'll pass...


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## voon (Jul 4, 2012)

OBM-man said:


> Erm... thanks but I'll pass...


No problem. I just wonder on what base.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

voon said:


> No problem. I just wonder on what base.


On base that the Geforce website says that the *Minimum* power requirement for the GTX 580 is 600W, and the recommended power requirement according to most of what I've read is barely 750W.


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## voon (Jul 4, 2012)

Your complete system system consumes approx. 375W at 3Dmark/Furmark etc loads. My own i7 3770k/GTX670/32GB system runs on the named Seasonic X-560.

But not going further into this, thanks for giving me your reason.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

voon said:


> Your complete system system consumes approx. 375W at 3Dmark/Furmark etc loads. My own i7 3770k/GTX670/32GB system runs on the named Seasonic X-560.
> 
> But not going further into this, thanks for giving me your reason.


As far as I know, the reason why you would need more power is because the PSU ages with time, the more it ages the more power it needs, or else it will destroy all your components gradually over time, including those extremely powerful and expensive CPU and GPU. I think it's called "Capacitor Aging". If your computer is still working with such low power that means you didn't buy it too long ago, I think you should seriously consider replacing the power supply before your computer is destroyed. Just start a thread and ask anyone around here, they'll all tell you the same thing.
560W is way too low.


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## voon (Jul 4, 2012)

It's a fairly new computer, yes. And yes, PSUs do age, like all electronics, and as you say, yes the capacitors are the most impacted, at least the liquid based ones. But the eight other systems I've used in the last 20+ years all had no issues at all and nothing died. And no, the X-560 is a powerful PSU of very high quality, that can even be overdrawn to up to 700W without issues on stable power and more thn adaequate for my system (which uses 320W tops, but usually measures out at 280W under game load).

That's all I got to say. I've seen other peoples opinion on here and I have my own opinion on those


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

Enough! You will not turn this into another spitting contest. 

The OPs question(s) have been asked and answered. If he/she is satisfied with the answer(s) please mark the thread solved.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

Ok, Tyree or anyone knowledgeable about PSUs, here are the only PSUs he has:

Thermaltake Toughpower hpx-875M
Cooler Master rs700-pcaae3-ev 700W
Which one should I get?
Please only answers from professionals who know what they're talking about, no "IMHO"!


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

If those are the only choices, I'ld go with the Thermaltake. Man'd by ChannelWell, Silver cert, 5 year warranty

The CoolerMaster 700 (one of the EPP line) is about the same as the Litepower; man'd by Seventeam, no 80Plus cert and 2 year warranty


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

Are you sure the cooler master is not 80Plus certified?
Is there a website for it that lists its specifications?


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

gcavan said:


> If those are the only choices, I'ld go with the Thermaltake. Man'd by ChannelWell, Silver cert, 5 year warranty
> 
> The CoolerMaster 700 (one of the EPP line) is about the same as the Litepower; man'd by Seventeam, no 80Plus cert and 2 year warranty


I agree with Gcavan. A PSU has to have more than 80% efficiency over 20%, 50% and 100% loads to achieve a 80plus cert. 

Website for CM PSU: eXtreme Power Plus 700W - Cooler Master


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

Johnny1982 said:


> I agree with Gcavan. A PSU has to have more than 80% efficiency over 20%, 50% and 100% loads to achieve a 80plus cert.
> 
> Website for CM PSU: eXtreme Power Plus 700W - Cooler Master


That can't be the right website for it. He specifically picked the PSU's that had the 8-pin PCI that could fit in my GTX 580, there is no 8-pin PCI on that one.

I know the Toughpower is better just from the price, it's $150 more expensive than the Cooler Master, but I need to be sure Cooler Master is no better than Litepower before I spend that kind of money.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

If it is not listed here, it has not passed the cert.
Ecova Plug Load Solutions


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

What does "Efficiency: 80% typical" mean? And what's the difference with "80 Plus certified"?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

If a PSU is 80% efficient that means 80% of the power consumed from the wall is converted to power to run the PC or 20% of the power consumed is wasted mostly as heat. The higher the efficiency number the less it costs to run, less waste, less heat.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

I already know that, I'm asking about the difference between "Efficiency: 80% typical" and "80 Plus certified".


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

The CoolerMaster 700W GX-Lite Series is made by ATNG (Poor)- not 80+ certified and has a 3 yr. warranty.
I do not find any specs for a HPX 875M but TT has been frequently swapping manufacturer's, much like Antec, lately.
The ThermalTake TPX 865M is made by CWT (good)- is 80+ certified and has a 5 yr. warranty.
For insured top quality and piece of mind, All SeaSonic- All XFX- Most Corsair (not the CX-GS-M Series) are top quality Seasonic made-80 + certified w/ 5 yr. warranty.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Certified means it has been submitted for testing and passed, typical means we think it'll pass but we're not going to submit it for cert, in other words it's a marketing term with no official meaning.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

Wait, the seller just told me his mistake, it's TPX not HPX.
Is it worth the money, or is cooler master stable enough?
If Cooler Master is really just the same as Litepower then I don't want it.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Tyree said:


> The CoolerMaster 700W GX-Lite Series is made by ATNG (Poor)- not 80+ certified and has a 3 yr. warranty.
> 
> The ThermalTake TPX 865M is made by CWT (good)- is 80+ certified and has a 5 yr. warranty.
> 
> For insured top quality and piece of mind, All SeaSonic- All XFX- Most Corsair (not the CX-GS-M Series) are top quality Seasonic made-80 + certified w/ 5 yr. warranty.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

So then the TPX-875M is GOOD, and cooler master is BAD?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

In the simplest terms, yes.
Between those two, the TT unit is the better choice.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

Even when the huge difference in price is taken into consideration?
I mean we're talking about paying $170 for the Thermaltake vs paying $20 for the CoolerMaster


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

The choice is yours. 
The PSU is the most important piece of hardware in any PC. That's why we suggest SeaSonic made units.
At $20, the CM would be good to have for a test unit.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

I mean $20 after giving him back the Litepower, not that the PSU costs 20$.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Again, that has to be your choice after weighing the advice given here and if you want to help insure longer and trouble free service from your investment.
IMHO, If CoolerMaster and ThermalTake are the only PSU's that establishment sells, I would seriously reconsider doing any further business with them.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

Okay then, ThermalTake it is.
I hope this improves peformance.
Just one more question, could using that unstable Litepower PSU for a more than a month have harmed any components in any way?


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## Thrall (Feb 19, 2011)

OBM-man said:


> Okay then, ThermalTake it is.
> I hope this improves peformance.
> Just one more question, could using that unstable Litepower PSU for a more than a month have harmed any components in any way?


Running a low quality PSU can definitely harm components. But there is no definite answer that your Litepower PSU has actually caused any harm to your components. 
The only way you could actually test this would be to run some diagnostic tools but even if they reported errors it is not certain it was caused by your PSU. Also it could very easily be a false reading.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

Thrall said:


> Running a low quality PSU can definitely harm components. But there is no definite answer that your Litepower PSU has actually caused any harm to your components.
> The only way you could actually test this would be to run some diagnostic tools but even if they reported errors it is not certain it was caused by your PSU. Also it could very easily be a false reading.


Thanks I have tried testing my ASUS GTX 580 direct cu, my graphics score with 3DMark11 Basic edition Performance Preset was 5822. Is that too low?
Please answer thrall, _Lok-regar ogull_!


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## Thrall (Feb 19, 2011)

No thats not a bad score. It is actually very good and its much higher then what I get with my system. But that was not what I ment with diagnostic tools, I was talking about tools such as memtest86+ (to test memory), prime95 etc.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

Thrall said:


> No thats not a bad score. It is actually very good and its much higher then what I get with my system. But that was not what I ment with diagnostic tools, I was talking about tools such as memtest86+ (to test memory), prime95 etc.


Of course it's much higher than what you get, it's a GTX 580. What I'm asking is if this score is the one a GTX 580 is supposed to get? I can't find any other 3D Mark scores with which to compare it.
I use Prime95 all the time, it's just a temperature measuring program that stresses the CPU.


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## Thrall (Feb 19, 2011)

OBM-man said:


> Of course it's much higher than what you get, it's a GTX 580. What I'm asking is if this score is the one a GTX 580 is supposed to get? I can't find any other 3D Mark scores with which to compare it.
> I use Prime95 all the time, it's just a temperature measuring program that stresses the CPU.


Right, sorry. Anyways I can't help you with that question as I don't know whats a normal score for that card and what you are supposed to get. 

Looking at some tests from other people systems running 3DMark 11 it seems some get scores up to 7000 and some get scores below 5000 for that card. You can see a couple of their tests here: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-930 Processor,ASUSTeK Computer INC. P6X58D PREMIUM score: P7608 3DMarks and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 video card benchmark result - Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q9550,DFI Inc. LP JR P45-T2R score: P4758 3DMarks. 

So what is a good/normal score for the card I can't really say, maybe someone else here knows better.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

Hello again. I just wanted to tell you all I got the new Thermaltake Toughpower 80Pus cert PSU for an extra $170 and it didn't make the slightest bit of difference to any game.
There goes another of my precious savings to waste. I guess that's what I get for spending my money on the advice of some random people on a forum.


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## voon (Jul 4, 2012)

Nope ... you just didn't want to listen. I told you an oversized PSU is not going to change anything  

With your problems, I'd just grab that GPU and stuff it into some other PC to check, also make sure the latest GPU BIOS is on it. Don't give up on the desktop idea ... your system has an issue, those problems aren't normal at all and it will beat your laptop by far.

I assume you have a really clean windows installation with the actual driver and everything?


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

OBM-man said:


> Hello again. I just wanted to tell you all I got the new Thermaltake Toughpower 80Pus cert PSU for an extra $170 and it didn't make the slightest bit of difference to any game.
> There goes another of my precious savings to waste. I guess that's what I get for spending my money on the advice of some random people on a forum.


As all IT professionals will tell you, diagnosing PC problems most times requires the swapping out of components with new or better quality components. Please don't discredit the people trying to help and solve your problem.

Try the card in another PC or another card in your PC and see if the issue persists.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

voon said:


> Nope ... you just didn't want to listen. I told you an oversized PSU is not going to change anything
> 
> With your problems, I'd just grab that GPU and stuff it into some other PC to check, also make sure the latest GPU BIOS is on it. Don't give up on the desktop idea ... your system has an issue, those problems aren't normal at all and it will beat your laptop by far.
> 
> I assume you have a really clean windows installation with the actual driver and everything?


I've come to realize that the best advice comes from people who don't claim to be professionals. And I'm beginning to think they don't really understand what are the effects of "stable, high quality PSU" vs a "non-stable, poor quality PSU" on the actual performance of a PC.

I'm full of remorse, $1700 for nothing, why oh why didn't I just listen to my gut and buy a damn laptop! Damn the internet!


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

OBM-man said:


> Hello again. I just wanted to tell you all I got the new Thermaltake Toughpower 80Pus cert PSU for an extra $170 and it didn't make the slightest bit of difference to any game.
> There goes another of my precious savings to waste. I guess that's what I get for spending my money on the advice of some random people on a forum.


As noted above, PC diagnosing is not an exact science. You were given reliable advice by the Techs regarding your problem but unfortunately it did not resolve the problem but you did eliminate a weak component that would probably cause you more problems in the near future.
You were told in Post #2 the PSU "might" be contributing to your problem in games as it was poor quality and underpowered for your hardware. You did get a "better" PSU but still not a top quality brand, as advised.
A-Pacer RAM is not a great brand and that could "possibly" be an issue.
Intel Mobo's (made by Foxconn) are also not upper tier and it may have issues with the A-Pacer RAM.
Do you have or can you borrow a stick of different RAM to try?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

OBM-man said:


> I've come to realize that the best advice comes from people who don't claim to be professionals. And I'm beginning to think they don't really understand what are the effects of "stable, high quality PSU" vs a "non-stable, poor quality PSU" on the actual performance of a PC.
> 
> I'm full of remorse, $1700 for nothing, why oh why didn't I just listen to my gut and buy a damn laptop! Damn the internet!


The Techs here fully understand power requirements and their effects on stability as most all of us have a pile of failed components caused by using low quality/underpowered PSU's in our shops.
We are sorry the PSU did not resolve your problems but posting insults and degrading remarks will not resolve your issue.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

Please stop advising me. Just stop it. I am not a millionaire. I spent everything I have been saving for a year and a half on this PC, and lastly this PSU.
Please no more random advice concerning buying anything unless you're 110% sure you know what you're talking about.


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

Use MSI Afterburner and monitor the Core Voltage on the GPU whilst in-game. Maybe the card is not supplying enough voltage under 3D load. Default should be about 1.05v.


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## voon (Jul 4, 2012)

Your mailbox is full, OBM-man ... delete some messages.


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