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Building new PC - A "how many watts I need" question!


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Hey guys! Although I don't really OCC forums so much I bet many people ask how many watts they need for their PC. Well, before deciding to ask here I made a search in some sites and I have been told that I need around 500 watts for the following PC components:

 

Intel i5 2500K

Nvidia GTX 560 Gigabyte SOC

2 x 2 gb Corsair Dominator 1600 Mhz

MSI P67A-C43

 

I think these are the most worth to be mentioned components.

 

However I know 500 watts are nothing for this. I am thinking about 700 watts.

 

So I would like some suggestions on what PSU I should buy.

 

P.S.: Could someone tell me why they use 1000-1200 watts in reviews? :D

Edited by skypower

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700 Will be fine and should be fine for any future upgrades.

 

People will use the 1000+ watt PSU's if they are running Multiple Video Cards.

 

The Video Cards tend to take a lot of juice to power up.

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Hey guys! Although I don't really OCC forums so much I bet many people ask how many watts they need for their PC. Well, before deciding to ask here I made a search in some sites and I have been told that I need around 500 watts for the following PC components:

 

Intel i5 2500K

Nvidia GTX 560 Gigabyte SOC

2 x 2 gb Corsair Dominator 1600 Mhz

MSI P67A-C43

 

I think these are the most worth to be mentioned components.

 

However I know 500 watts are nothing for this. I am thinking about 700 watts.

 

So I would like some suggestions on what PSU I should buy.

 

P.S.: Could someone tell me why they use 1000-1200 watts in reviews? :D

 

 

Technically with limited overclocking 500w would be fine, Sandy Bridge CPU's are CRAZY energy efficient compared to last gen i5/i7's.

 

Antec has the most amazing and detailed wattage calculator ive ever seen. You can find it here! Personally id go for a 750w-850w... that way when you want to add another 560 for SLI goodness you not only have the power for that, but alittle extra room for Overclocking both cards still too! I dont know if they have sandy bridge CPU's on it yet though, id just compare it to a i5-750, It uses way more power than the 2500k, so you wont have to worry about that. It even calculates overclocks!

 

They use 1000-1500w PSU's that way they can keep the same power supply between all different reviews even cross platform. That way someone doesnt cry wolf and say!! "No way that GTX480 uses more power than the GTX580! They used a different and more efficient PSU when testing that 580, of course it will use less power... blah blah blah." Or say well all the ATI cards are tested with a gold rated PSU and all the nVidia ones are tested with a bronze, so of course system draw will be less with the ATI cards and all that crap. And in order to keep it consistent even between multi card SLI/xfire setups. They need that "standardized" PSU to be able to support even the most high end power sucking setups. So a 1000+w PSU is required!

 

 

As for PSU's id recommend, the TX-series from Corsair is AWESOME... Antec, cooler master, and PC Power and Cooling all make great PSU's You really cant go wrong with any of these companies. But the Corsair TX750 is on sale all the time. And can often be found for $80 or less!

 

 

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Thank you very much for your quick and detailed answers.

 

One more question: I read in Antec's site that the PSU loses watt capacity over years, about 20% or so per year. Is this true?

They do lose capacitance over the years, though the exact amount, I am not sure of.

 

Generally speaking, I upgrade my PSU's every 5 years in a computer that I use daily, 7 years in a computer that has a lot of overhead (my mother's has a 450w PSU, she probably only uses 200w)

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Thank you very much for your quick and detailed answers.

 

One more question: I read in Antec's site that the PSU loses watt capacity over years, about 20% or so per year. Is this true?

 

If i could put some information behind that I would love to prove it false but I cannot find any concrete tests right now to prove that.

 

I don't think its near 20% though. I ran a OCZ 500watt for about 2 years then gave it to a friend. If that theory was true that PSU would have fried long ago. I do know capacitor aging will take effect eventually but that shouldnt be before the Manufacture determined life span of 50,000 hours or whatever they give for MTBF (mean time between failures). Me personally I run high wattage PSU's to keep my PSU in the peak of its efficiency no matter what I'm doing. And plus they don't run near as hot to boot.

 

Edit:

 

I think I found what you read though on antecs website.

1 System Type: Based on physical processor(s). Multicore CPU counts as a single processor.

2 TDP - Thermal Design Power.

3 System Load: 100% (peak load) - all components are at 100% load, including start up surge current compensation.

4 Electrolytic capacitor aging. When used heavily or over an extended period of time (1+ years) a PSU will slowly lose some of its initial wattage capacity. We recommend you add 20% if you plan to keep your PSU for more than 1 year, or 25-30% for 24/7 usage and 1+ years.

* See our Terms of Service for details.

If they are refering to there PSU's loosing wattage potential over a years time then I would not run them. I sure hope its not 20% cause that is crap. But saying that would keep people from running the bare minimum of a PSU in there system.

Edited by boinker

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Thank you very much for your quick and detailed answers.

 

One more question: I read in Antec's site that the PSU loses watt capacity over years, about 20% or so per year. Is this true?

 

Yeah its not anywhere near 20% if its used gently and no where enar max load, I usually calculate 10% and thats about it. Chances are ill be getting a new PSU long before it ever goes bad.

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As for PSU's id recommend, the TX-series from Corsair is AWESOME... Antec, cooler master, and PC Power and Cooling all make great PSU's You really cant go wrong with any of these companies. But the Corsair TX750 is on sale all the time. And can often be found for $80 or less!

 

You said Corsair PSUs are awesome and you mentioned the TX750. I may be having problems with the HX620 I have now and am thinking of trying a new modular PSU. Corsair has a TX750, HX750, and AX750. Do you know if one is better than the others?

I'm running Win7 64 bit, DFI Lanparty Dk P35-T2RS mobo, Intel Q9550 cpu, Mushkin RAM (8GB), NVIDIA 85600GT video, two internal SATA HDDs, two SATA cd/dvd burners, and one floppy drive - all inside a Coolermaster HAF932 case. I also use three external USB HDDs and ACER LCD monitor.

Thanks.............malibu72

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how about this 1000W, it's the cheaper than the Corsair 750W PSUs and Mushkin is a great company

http://mushkin.com/P...KNPS1000-A.aspx

 

But as far a Corsair goes, im pretty sure the AX series is their high end products. So that AX PSU would be the best. Ive used a AX750 before in a server, its very nice, fully modular.

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But as far a Corsair goes, im pretty sure the AX series is their high end products. So that AX PSU would be the best. Ive used a AX750 before in a server, its very nice, fully modular.

 

Thanks for your reply. If a new PSU solves my problem I'll be real disappointed that the HX620 is faulty. It's been in use for less than a year so I'll RMA it.

malibu72

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