Power supplies and wattage. What does it mean?

[KMAK263]

Power supplies. Does that wattage number just mean that if needed, that

PSU can consume that much power? I mean, can a 300 watt and a 1000 watt

PSU show up as the same value on an electric bill if you do the same

thing on both of them?

[Guest Tmod]

Power supplies. Does that wattage number just mean that if needed, that

PSU can consume that much power? I mean, can a 300 watt and a 1000 watt

PSU show up as the same value on an electric bill if you do the same

thing on both of them?

It is not that it will consume that amount but rather how much it can put out.

 

Say you put the two a 300 & a 1000 in your rig and you really only needed 200 watts to run everything then, Then technically the 1000 is overkill.

 

But one thing to keep in mind is that the 1000 would run more efficient and run cooler then it's 300 counterpart.

 

The rule of the thumb is buy the best PSU you can with the funds available.

 

You won't be sorry for getting something bigger as long as it is a quality unit.

 

Tmod

[KMAK263]

Nuts, I should have forked over 40 more for a Corsair HX 620 watt then. I've been hearing people are getting lower framerates with an 8800 GTX even if their PSU meets the minimal requirements.

[Guest Tmod]

Nuts, I should have forked over 40 more for a Corsair HX 620 watt then. I've been hearing people are getting lower framerates with an 8800 GTX even if their PSU meets the minimal requirements.

Yeah right now I would say you are at the lower end of any power requirements and the fancier stuff you get the more they use.

 

Can you return or pawn it off on someone and get something with a little more umph?

 

Tmod

[KMAK263]

Heh, can't pawn it because my friends are using cheapo PSUs and wouldn't be willing to pay more for one that had the same wattage as theirs. If I RMA to Newegg, it would take a few weeks and I don't have a spare so that'd be a few weeks with no computer for me.

 

Man, being a college student has brought out the cheap in me.

[Syngensmyth]

I've decided you can't be:

 

1. Too rich.

2. Too handsome.

3. Too nice.

4. Too over PSU'd

 

You can be

1. Too poor.

2. Too ugly

3. Too mean

4. Too under PSU'd

[KMAK263]

I only got it cause I never intended on getting an SLI setup. Never thought the day would come when 520 was too little for a single card setup.

[Syngensmyth]

I've never used one, but they do make little "add on PSU's" that fit into drive bays and they are not overly expensive. (Sorry don't have a link) I'm going to keep my eye out and pick a deal on one. I've been in situations where everything is fine except I added just 1 too many things. That little extra guy would have saved me some work. Don't know how well they work. It is a thought.

[KMAK263]

Yeah I know what you're talking about, I've seen one. It was for SLI though, but I think it's probably fine to just plug it in a single PCI express power connector.

 

I think it's the video card that will be pushing my PSU as I've seen even SLI setups with a 520 watt PSU before. I still have hope that it'll be able to power my future 520. Technodan's doing it with a 510 but he's using a PC P&C aka the caviar of PSUs and I forgot to ask him how his gaming tests turned out. Or maybe I can get the 8600 or whatever's coming out. They should probably consume power in the range that the 78 and 7900s did.

[Yellowbeard]

Based on what we have seen in the lab, our HX520 is plenty of power for an 8800GTX. Are you actually seeing some specific issues?

[Praz]

I'm not familiar with how the PCI-E connectors are branched so it might require some load balancing. But I would be surprised if the HX 520 had any difficulty powering your system with the addition of an 8800 series card.

[Yellowbeard]

NEVER FEAR, POWER GUY IS HERE! Actually, he's at the Corsair forum. But, he did post a diagram of how our rail seperation is done. And, apparently our PSU does a good job with load balancing based on a couple of reviews I have seen.

 

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