Originally Posted By: Nick R
Originally Posted By: FirstNissan
Thanks for the input! My psu is the CS450 gold corsair. I mistakenly thought it was 500w. So consensus on not needing any aftermarket cooling?
With an i3 you definitely don't need aftermarket cooling. They just don't put out that much heat.
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Originally Posted By: Nick R
Originally Posted By: Rand
I have the elite 120 its a very nice case,
I'd avoid a generic 500w psu and get
something smaller and more efficient, its worth spending an extra 20$ on.
This You don't need a 500W PSU with integrated graphics, and an i3. It's overkill and inefficient. I'd get one of these. It's still more than plenty for your needs, and is extremely well made and efficient. It should last you pretty much forever. It's what I just bought for my 24/7 operation server.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...1-117-_-Product
The efficiency of the power supply has nothing to do with its maximum rated capacity. Just because a power supply is rated for 500 watts doesn't mean it's going to be inefficient. A 1000 Watt power supply with an 80 plus Platinum rating will beat out a lower 80 plus bronze 500 Watt in power savings even if you're only utilizing 150 watts of the capacity.
Luckily efficiency ratings are mostly easy to find. 80 plus gold is my personal minimum preferred rating, but I also like to know what's inside the unit.
Stay away from cheap low efficiency power supplies, sometimes they go as low as 70% and don't have proper modern ATX layouts. There are still many over rated units on the market with 500 watts of available power with over inflated 3.3v and 5v rails while today's desktop computers almost exclusively use the 12v rail. Look for higher 12 amp ratings when comparing like wattage units. Avoid any unit that has more amps available on the 3.3/5v rail than the 12v.
Check out Jonny Guru for power supply reviews.
As Rand pointed out, oversizing your PSU just means you waste money in both price and energy, as a 360W gold rated PSU will be more efficient at ~50W (which is about where the OPs system will idle) vs a larger unit. SMPS power supplies, specifically units made to hit 80PLUS standards, are most efficient at 20% and above. 10% really isn't a consideration. It's not unusual to see even 80plus gold units at 75% efficiency at low power levels, around 10%. A smaller unit will be more in it's design range, and so will be more efficient.
Actually power supplies that are rated gold are often hitting in the mid to low 80s at 10% load. See reviews at
http://www.jonnyguru.com/
However I also agree that the SeaSonic power supply linked would be perfect for that amount of power.