how many watts over when selecting psu

[Rob_the_scot]

Im sorry if the title is a bit confusing but when you guys are buying a psu how large a wattage do you go over than what you system currently produces?

example my system on full load only pumps outs 410watts so Im running a 500 watt power supply,

but would you guys run a bigger psu say a 600 watt of a 750watt?

I hope I make sense lol..... I was thinking of upgrading my 500watt psu to maybe summit a bit bigger/better as Im thinking up upgrading my 6850 to a 7850/7870 or nvidieas version when there released.

 

[lewwatt]

For what you have planned I would just take a good 600w PSU which leaves plenty of room for upgrades etc. Off the top of my head that'll leave you about 150w headroom.

 

[S_I_N]

most psu's are rated at 80% efficiency so best rule imho is to take your 410 figure and add 20% minimum to it so another 84 watts or 500 to round up. But give yourself some upgrade room go 600watts. if you plan on adding some higher end components later go 750watts.

on a side note you listed pretty much half the info we need to make a good assessment 410watts is only half the equation please provide more details on your system specs to help us help you better.

And remember having more watts at your disposal does not mean its going to consume more power. it will only use what it needs nothing more. So say you plop down for a 850watter it will cost you the same to run it as a 600 watter. One difference will be the amount of noise it makes as it gets closer to that thermal threshold (fan spins up more when under load) the other benefit is that you have future proofed yourself for future upgrades. I originally bought a 750watter without thinking down the road. I sold it less than a year later and got a 850 so I'm good as i will most likely not go above sli

 

[Rob_the_scot]

Oki my current specs are

1xssd

6850 xfx non oc

I5 2500 (non k)

2 x 4gb of ddr3 1.5v g skill ram

Blueray/DVD/RW

3x 120mm noctua fans

1 92mm noctus fan

Itx board

Stuff I would like to add/upgrade

3.5 fan controller

1xhdd

7850 or nvidias version....I mite go higher to a 7950 but highly dought it

Corsair h60 with push pull or a noctua low profile d14

Matx board to support ivy bridge

Ivy bridge i5

I will not be over clocking any of my parts

Stuff I

 

[dugdiamond]

ax850

 

[lewwatt]

I still vouch for the AX650.

Useful tool; http://psucalc.net/

 

[Rob_the_scot]

cheers guys got my eye on a 750 watt modular psu gold rated 5 year warranty..its either a ocz or a corsair (cant rember rite now) with novatechs re branding on it, so it isn't your cheap ass psu that will last 5 mins

 

[SmoulderingCircuits]

cheers guys got my eye on a 750 watt modular psu gold rated 5 year warranty..its either a ocz or a corsair (cant rember rite now) with novatechs re branding on it, so it isn't your cheap ass psu that will last 5 mins

Get a Platimax 750w if you can afford it, then overclock everything as far as you can if you haven't already. Unless you plan to ditch the GPUs any time soon for something else

 

[Rob_the_scot]

Get a Platimax 750w if you can afford it, then overclock everything as far as you can if you haven't already. Unless you plan to ditch the GPUs any time soon for something else

I dont overclock, never had to never will, Ill keep with my gpu till about xmas time than upgrade....only reason I asked about psu wattage is Id rather be safe than sorry and have it here ready for future upgrades...but Ill have a look into the psu you have mentioned plus the other one mention earler in the forum

 

[Firat]

PSUs are most efficient at 50% load iirc so on load you want to be hitting half of the PSUs total output ie my system draws 450w on load and I have an ax850w psu.

I always recommend getting a psu that can output double the wattage you pc could draw on load so that no problems occur and you have a psu you can use for a very long time and reuse in the future.

 

[SmoulderingCircuits]

I dont overclock, never had to never will, Ill keep with my gpu till about xmas time than upgrade....only reason I asked about psu wattage is Id rather be safe than sorry and have it here ready for future upgrades...but Ill have a look into the psu you have mentioned plus the other one mention earler in the forum

Then get as cheap an Xfire board as you can, don't need lots of power phases. And till December is long enough to warrent getting a 750w/ 850w