How many watts does your system actually need?

[iBeInspire]

did Corsair stop making the TX550m that I've got?

Seemed like the perfect price for any single-gpu setup at the time I bought it... seems I was right

 

[ander01se]

Interesting post, thanks TTL.

 

[remember300]

i have lent my watt measurer to a friend but how would you rate to onboard voltage regulators? like with the corsair link software. i get around 340 watts draw with a usage around 310-320 being used according to the software.

 

[Remmy]

i have lent my watt measurer to a friend but how would you rate to onboard voltage regulators? like with the corsair link software. i get around 340 watts draw with a usage around 310-320 being used according to the software.

Yeah the system is obviously going to use a bit less than what is being pulled from the wall due to inefficiencies in the PSU, but it'd be difficult to know exactly how much. I suppose you could calculate it from the efficiency at a given load, if you can find the graphs for your PSU.

 

[remember300]

Yeah, psu's are norm more efficient at 230-240V that at the American and some EU equivalent's lucky us .
I would of also mentioned things about the ratings of efficiencies of psu's, I think mine is platinum rated and i get while gaming around 92-96% efficiency so im paying less for heat loss etc... so when buying a psu or recommending one i also try and look at the curves, to try and get the best efficiency for the power they will use and i normally come up with about 500W and 600W for most systems using a single gpu even some multi-card options, well with the Cx range by corsair cos i really, really don't rate cheap PSU's
I was just wondering while tom had his Watt reader if he had a linked PSU to test other wise ill have to wait till next week lol.

 

[CrazyTeeka]

Now I have to check how many watts my rig uses.

 

[Bartacus]

Great video! About damn time someone addressed this and hopefully enlightened some people.

 

[jesse525]

Interesting topic, I'm surprised no one has done something like this before.

When ever i had to buy PSU i've looked at all my components to see which one has the high power needs. i go for the one with the highest efficient rating and lowest watts i can get a way with. With that said maybe i don't need to go that route anymore.

 

[KING_OF_SAND]

In actuality a bigger PSU than you need would be the safest bet. Use more than you need means the PSU will never need to work as hard, thus creating less heat, and less strain on the PSU. The question is more when do you experience the law of diminishing return which varies depending on the PSU manufacturer.

 

[Xploited Titan]

Currently using a 650W power supply (Antec Signature), and in full load (gaming) I am more or less in the sweet spot of the efficiency curve with around 500 Watts taken from the wall socket.

Like others say, it is always nice to have some headroom to compensate for the psu's aging.

 

[Excalabur50]

Very interesting video and post

 

[iNoXiouZ]

I'm quite amazed at how little power even seemingly high end PC's use, I did a quick benchmark run with Metro LL maxed out (apart from PhsyX).

3930K @ 4.5Ghz
2 x HD7950's Factory overclocked
16GB of RAM
Asrock Extreme 9 X79
Creative X-fi sound card
2 SSD's
5 x GT AP29's with FC5 V3 Controller
D5 Pump
Seasonic platinum 860W
ETC.....

With all this I was expecting to see 600-650W but the highest reading I saw was 451W

Granted, the metro LL benchmark isn't a worst case scenario but it still surprised me.

P.S I'm using the same watt meter Tom used in his video.

 

[BigDaddyKong]

Now Tom, how am I going to talk my wife into the 1500i when it's released after she was sitting beside me on her laptop and hears videos like this tsk tsk lol.

 

[tinytomlogan]

Now Tom, how am I going to talk my wife into the 1500i when it's released after she was sitting beside me on her laptop and hears videos like this tsk tsk lol.

If its for the rig in your sig then shes doing you a favor matey

 

[Squidlorock]

Managed to watch it last night, was a great insight into the power consumption with a high quality low wattage psu! I was going to try to get a 600w for my soon to be built rig, though with this video&peoples opinions i've heard i'll be going for a 500/550w. As always great video man

 

[Stoner81]

Awesome video Tom very informative! I do feel that you rushed it a little which I know was kind of the point since you wanted to try and keep it short but to me it just had that rushed feeling to it rather than the laid back chilled out atmosphere I have come to love and expect from your videos

Stoner81.

 

[BigDaddyKong]

If its for the rig in your sig then shes doing you a favor matey

 

[anonymous]

This video was very informative. Although I already focus on getting good quality PSUs for my computers, I will now pay attention to the wattage as well. It's amazing how energy efficient components are nowadays.

 

[Milky]

Great video Tom, i will be using this advice in my current build which will now be using a Corsair 650RM instead of and 850! Cheers! (Yes before you ask i was always the overkill PSU guy haha)

 

[zherial]

I always thought that for a high end gaming pc with a single gpu you will be needing a 550W-600W for it, it's amazing that a mere 450 watt but a very good psu can handle it even on high load