Since many people buy PSUs way bigger than they'll ever need, we show you just how many watts systems actually require.
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How many watts does your system actually need?
- Thread starter tinytomlogan
- Start date
Since many people buy PSUs way bigger than they'll ever need, we show you just how many watts systems actually require.
Continue Reading
WYP
News Guru
He only places the link after the article or review is on the main site, no point linking to nothing.
I'm surprised you haven't noticed this before.
Remmy
New member
Oh right I see, I assumed the post would have been made afterwards, my bad. I've never seen it happen before so I guess I'm never on it quick enough to see
barnsley
born in a.....
Most people buy bigger power supplies under the belief they'll upgrade later on then never actually do. Its what I've done as I want to get another 280x. Will I actually ever get another one? I dunno. I kinda went overboard for the psu regardless as the system would probably pull about 525w from estimations I've seen.
Oh right I see, I assumed the post would have been made afterwards, my bad. I've never seen it happen before so I guess I'm never on it quick enough to see
Need a forum thread before I can put the review live fella.....
AX860 is hibernating, or at least half of it.
WYP
News Guru
Great video and write up there, buying a good quality unit should always be the top priority for any build.
The power draw for components are getting pretty darn low, just look at the 750Ti pulling a stupidly low 60w of power, amazing work there Nvidia!
That being said I have helped people who have had oversized PSUs burn on them and it isn't pretty, good thing OCZ don't make PSUs anymore.
I currently run a CM 1000w PSU for a setup that simply does not need it, but it got me away from my old OCZ PSU so I'm happy.
The power draw for components are getting pretty darn low, just look at the 750Ti pulling a stupidly low 60w of power, amazing work there Nvidia!
That being said I have helped people who have had oversized PSUs burn on them and it isn't pretty, good thing OCZ don't make PSUs anymore.
I currently run a CM 1000w PSU for a setup that simply does not need it, but it got me away from my old OCZ PSU so I'm happy.
Messy_Blob
New member
I went for a 750 RM PSU, which was a much higher wattage than I strictly needed, because the power rating only really applies when new. Over say 5-8 years (my typical upgrade cycle) the capacitors degrade, and cannot deliver their rated power. If I can find the technical article that states a 45% degradation to the power delivery over 5 years, I'll come back and edit this post.
Also, I was given a GTX-570, which is far less efficient than say an equivalently-performing 660Ti, slightly better 760, or future 850. I have my power supply top-mounted (in a 2006 NXT MIDI tower), so it takes in the air heated by the 570. Having the thermal headroom in the PSU avoids operating difficulties.
Also, I was given a GTX-570, which is far less efficient than say an equivalently-performing 660Ti, slightly better 760, or future 850. I have my power supply top-mounted (in a 2006 NXT MIDI tower), so it takes in the air heated by the 570. Having the thermal headroom in the PSU avoids operating difficulties.
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Squidlorock
New member
I shall check out the vid later on Tom 
You know, from looking at builds with overclocking/amd's 125w etc... i was always quite confused on power usage etc... as long as it's not like an icute psu or something 
You know, from looking at builds with overclocking/amd's 125w etc... i was always quite confused on power usage etc... as long as it's not like an icute psu or something
Remmy
New member
That would be a really interesting read, thanks. I'd have thought that the capacitors degrading would have just increased the amount of ripple on the outputs, so I'll have to read it and educate myself
Messy_Blob
New member
PSU Degradation: myths needs debunking
Some 'estimator' tools put it as high as 10% per year, with conservative estimates around 2%. Degradation seems to happen most with poor capacitors, poor product design, high operating temperatures, and constant use near their designed maximum capacity.
Actual effects are difficult to quantify too: most sources note that the quality of the delivered power is poor, others say that the power is delivered but less efficiently (drawing more current from the wall), and only a few say that the power delivery limits are lowered.
I'd say that this is a subject that is in need of debunking, particularly as the web is populated by articles where the authors have an interest in selling higher-powered PSUs. It will lead to better-informed risk management when people buy their PSUs, an objective shared by the OC article.
The actual degradation is difficult to quantify. Web searches yield inconsistent results.
Some 'estimator' tools put it as high as 10% per year, with conservative estimates around 2%. Degradation seems to happen most with poor capacitors, poor product design, high operating temperatures, and constant use near their designed maximum capacity.
Actual effects are difficult to quantify too: most sources note that the quality of the delivered power is poor, others say that the power is delivered but less efficiently (drawing more current from the wall), and only a few say that the power delivery limits are lowered.
I'd say that this is a subject that is in need of debunking, particularly as the web is populated by articles where the authors have an interest in selling higher-powered PSUs. It will lead to better-informed risk management when people buy their PSUs, an objective shared by the OC article.
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Wraith
Bettyswollocks
Great and very informative information right here! Kudos! Will watch the vid later as usual with my tea.
Could also hit on the PCIe connector wattage I get asked loads how much power my GPU needs which is dead simple to work out.
a single 6pin = 75w MAX
a single 8pin = 150 MAX
Although with the arrival of Maxwell this throws it in the air as they are seriously efficient, but it's a base standard I've always used to estimate power needs obviously also taking into account the motherboard max TDP and CPU wattage.
Could also hit on the PCIe connector wattage I get asked loads how much power my GPU needs which is dead simple to work out.
a single 6pin = 75w MAX
a single 8pin = 150 MAX
Although with the arrival of Maxwell this throws it in the air as they are seriously efficient, but it's a base standard I've always used to estimate power needs obviously also taking into account the motherboard max TDP and CPU wattage.
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Bear in mind that these are high quality-components PSU's, which will degrade less over time.
I have a 650w nzxt (hale82, modular) on a 3770k, 8gb dominator platinum, a MSI 660 oc, with 2 hdd's and an ssd. Yes, it's larger than I'll ever need but it's fine, it wasn't that much expensive and it has good quality being built by seasonic (corsair, or other 'better' brands are a rare commodity where I live). I have thought about power consumption and this unit seemed reasonable, although I didn't accounted for the noise, the fan is just horridly loud - which I have changed with a lower-rpm, better bearing one.
I like to give the psu a little more headroom and don't let it get so close to its maximum load for a few reasons: one is taken into account on the video which is noise. Another point would be efficiency, most power supplies are more efficient when they're at 50% load (but there's not much difference between 90% and 92% efficiency) although you probably end up idling your system most of the time unless you only use it for gaming/rendering/smth else that uses a lot of computing power. Also keep in mind that the closer to the threshold the hotter the psu, thus reducing life span. This may not matter much for many users as they might update their system way before any component dies. Not entirely my case though...
Maybe some other point I can't remember as I'm writing.
I had to build a system for my sister a few months back and went with the lowest wattage, 'good quality' I could get so to keep it on a budget and that psu even supports a 7850 or maybe even 7950 I've read and since for now she's using the i5's igfx it has a lot of headroom
As a side note: I have almost the exact kb-mouse combo as in the video (my mouse is a kinzu v2, not sure the one on the vid is the same) it's quite difficult to see that combination, so it caught my attention
I have a 650w nzxt (hale82, modular) on a 3770k, 8gb dominator platinum, a MSI 660 oc, with 2 hdd's and an ssd. Yes, it's larger than I'll ever need but it's fine, it wasn't that much expensive and it has good quality being built by seasonic (corsair, or other 'better' brands are a rare commodity where I live). I have thought about power consumption and this unit seemed reasonable, although I didn't accounted for the noise, the fan is just horridly loud - which I have changed with a lower-rpm, better bearing one.
I like to give the psu a little more headroom and don't let it get so close to its maximum load for a few reasons: one is taken into account on the video which is noise. Another point would be efficiency, most power supplies are more efficient when they're at 50% load (but there's not much difference between 90% and 92% efficiency) although you probably end up idling your system most of the time unless you only use it for gaming/rendering/smth else that uses a lot of computing power. Also keep in mind that the closer to the threshold the hotter the psu, thus reducing life span. This may not matter much for many users as they might update their system way before any component dies. Not entirely my case though...
Maybe some other point I can't remember as I'm writing.
I had to build a system for my sister a few months back and went with the lowest wattage, 'good quality' I could get so to keep it on a budget and that psu even supports a 7850 or maybe even 7950 I've read and since for now she's using the i5's igfx it has a lot of headroom
As a side note: I have almost the exact kb-mouse combo as in the video (my mouse is a kinzu v2, not sure the one on the vid is the same) it's quite difficult to see that combination, so it caught my attention
Conchubair
New member
Went into the video thinking 550/575W and was pleasently suprised to see a 450 doing the job..
Will definitely put future PSU purchases into perspective.
Will definitely put future PSU purchases into perspective.
!!!behappyz!!!
New member
This is good news for friends and family members who are still on the fence for switching over to PC gaming from console gaming. They can save few ($$) on total cost of their possible rigs. Very good video and writeup, Tom.
