I am considering the Cougar GX1050 at $179 but I am open for opinions :)
I don't need 1000 watts BUT I like the ample breathing room. Fully modular would be nice because I can make custom cables for it so they fit nicely and neatly but semi-modular will do. I'm not fussed of colour because I am putting it in a windowless case (Fractal Define R5 Black) BUT it being black would be neater.
I Currently have a i5 2500 with a HD6850 but I am planning on getting a GTX 980 in the upcoming weeks.
A processor upgrade would be nice BUT I would need to buy a new board and everything :/
I would suggest much less. Figure out what wattage you need for your CPU and your planned 980, add about 100-200W for HDDs, fans, breathing room, etc, and then buy an 80+ whatever at that wattage. This way you can save perhaps half of your PSU budget, make that 980 less painful on the wallet.
Cougar use HEC as their OEM - pretty low in terms of quality - hence the $/watt
Dont need massive amount of output anyway - my rig - full water loop - 980, i7 etc. <300w max load
- Seasonic G-650
- Corsair CS650M
- XFX TS650
- XFX XTS Series 520W
- Seasonic X-Series 650W
550-650 will provide a good deal of headroom and you'd be around the 60% output mark - longer life of psu, will be cool etc.
Consider the EVGA G2 850watt superflower if you want something decent
I was looking at that same one yesterday. A 10 year warranty looks nice as well.
I might go with the 750W one though. I will look at Watt per dollar though
Don't mind the watt per dollar, the only thing that really tops it quality wise is the AXi series by corsair, bang for the buckwise its amazing, such good voltage regulation/ripple reduction its not even funny
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=380
if you want a decent PSU just look at Corsair Silverstone EVGA which should be fine. I am running a R9 290 and a Xeon 1231v3 on a Silverstone 600w SST-ST60f-pb which runs fine. the psu should cost about $109 and its fully modular. if upgrading both gpu and cpu you should be able to scrape by with a 500 watt and if going for my model which should cost $10 less.