SOLVED Power Supply brands

[Veedaz]

would go higher if my heatsink would support that

Yep watch your temps M8 its a killer

 

[Nibiru2012]

Thanks for the link to that Thermaltake PSU calculator except the only thing that confuses me is it recommended 376W for my power supply, although surely I am using more than that, with my OC graphics and CPU... though they are minor OCs at best, I would go higher if my heatsink would support that. Anyway, back on topic. I was rather shocked that I am getting by with room for the future on my old CoolerMaster 500 PSU, and i'm rather happy about that!

Yeah, my setup showed I needed anywhere from a 315 watt power supply to a 410 watt power supply, this was based on trying out several different "power supply calculators" on the web. I even went a little overboard on my hardware, adding another hard drive, another DVD-RW drive, powered USB ports, etc. just to be extra sure.

Most techs will recommend you give yourself a 20% headroom on the PSU so that's why I went with a 550 watt B-Gears Tarantula, plus that PSU got very good reviews ranging from 4 to 4.5 stars out of 5 or 9 out of 10 or better on the review sites I went to when I was researching PSUs.

 

[WindowsGeek]

Most techs will recommend you give yourself a 20% headroom on the PSU

Thats probably a good idea Nibiru2012, you never know what future upgrades you might give your system. But still, I used to be running on a 50% headroom with only 245-250 watts being used from my 500W PSU, and my good old friend was telling me I needed to upgrade. Is there any logical reason why he recommended this, or did he just think my electric bill looked too cheap?

 

[clifford_cooley]

Is there any logical reason why he recommended this, or did he just think my electric bill looked too cheap?

Using a higher wattage power supply will not use more electricity than a lower wattage unit. The power supply will only draw the power it needs to run the system. If your system only needs 200 Watts and the power supply has an efficiency rating of 80%, then your power supply will draw about 250W of power from the electric company. Meaning 80% of 250W total power is 200W supplied to your hardware. It doesn't matter if you have a power supply that is 1500W capable if your system only needs 200W's and is 80% efficient, your electric bill will only see a 250W draw.

 

[Nibiru2012]

my good old friend was telling me I needed to upgrade. Is there any logical reason why he recommended this, or did he just think my electric bill looked too cheap?

I believe it is just that typical male thing of "my thing is bigger than yours" syndrome. Sort of like what nations went through with the "dreadnought" battleships in the early 20th century... our guns are bigger than yours.

I know a lot of techies that always have to have the biggest, the best, the fastest, etc., at the expense of their pocket books. C_C is right in the fact that an 80% rated power supply will only supply what your actually needing.

There is no reason to spend extra bucks on a power supply that is way over wattage for what you need. Just like some people I know have 12GB of RAM, but they'll never need more than 3-4GB at most.

 

[BetaMan]

Thanks guys! My recommended wattage was 406 Watts! So I'll be getting a new PSU!

 

[Veedaz]

Well done BetaMan its the best way to go :top:, and make sure its got a 6 pin PCI-E connector for your 5770 mate.

 

[Goober]

Using a higher wattage power supply will not use more electricity than a lower wattage unit. The power supply will only draw the power it needs to run the system. If your system only needs 200 Watts and the power supply has an efficiency rating of 80%, then your power supply will draw about 250W of power from the electric company. Meaning 80% of 250W total power is 200W supplied to your hardware. It doesn't matter if you have a power supply that is 1500W capable if your system only needs 200W's and is 80% efficient, your electric bill will only see a 250W draw.

This is true

 

[Veedaz]

This is true

Yes it is ....but if like me you like to upgrade your hardware on a regular bases more power may be required