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Proving you don't need a huge PSU to run a Hi-End System


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Heat is bad, very bad. The primary cause of power supply failure is heat (what other cause could there be) and unfortunately the mainstay of the switched mode power supply, the electrolytic capacitor, is the main culprit. The electrolytic capacitor is given a rated operating temperature, 85 deg C is common but 105 deg C is better. It is quite easy to reach 85 deg C inside a power supply and the nearer you get to the power supplies rated maximum output power the higher the internal temperature. Somewhere at the back of my mind I recall a rise of 10 deg C in the working temperature of an electrolytic capacitor halving its expected lifetime.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

Is temperature really THAT bad? Mhh, I may have to replace that EvoStream 600W then when I get back :ph34r:

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Please define "overboard".

just agreeing with the OP that you don't need a 1000w power supply for an average gaming system.

 

i don't know if i really need a 750w supply though, as i'm still way below the rated max even at load. there is an 800w version of the odin GT that i may get if ever i decide to sli/crossfire, but i got a good deal on the 550w and that counts for a lot when it comes to power supply prices, especially in the UK.

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Is temperature really THAT bad? Mhh, I may have to replace that EvoStream 600W then when I get back :ph34r:

 

I am not trying to scare anyone and there is no reason to change the Evo it will be fine.

 

The "problem" I think on enthuiast sites is that the members don't tend to keep power supplies long enough to reach there failure point. The hardware gets changed so often the power supply tends not to stay in a PC very long. :lol:

 

Cheers

 

Paul

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call me crazy but i just stick with the ultra 700 watt variable switching psu that i ordered with my ultra aluminus case...!!

pro's

the unit has been just enough as my current power needs add up to approx 680 watts, it's paid for. and so far has been very reliable

con's

if i ever graduate to a 125-130 watt cpu then i'll also have to up the psu....in fact any further additions to this machine mean a power upgrade...

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  • 3 months later...
I thought I would start a new thread rather than tack extra stuff onto the Recommended PSU List.

 

The aim of this thread is to provide proof that you don't need to run out and buy a high power PSU

to run an average Hi-End system today.

 

So, I would like everyone to take note if you see someone running a 'high power' system on what you

may consider an underpowered PSU, and post a link to it in here.

 

If some of you want to get hands on with it as well and try powering your main gaming/overclocked

system with a lower power PSU, then that would be great (you might have a decent lower powered PSU

hanging around in a secondary rig).

 

 

I'll start off by posting a couple of links to systems running on one of the lowest rated PSUs on the Recommended List:

The Antec Earthwatts 380W

 

System 1 - Link Here

 

 

 

System 2 - Link Here

 

 

 

 

I'll be looking around for more and posting them here and I would encourage you to do the same.

 

Well I had

AMD Athlon 64X2 5600+ 2.9 Ghz

4 sticks of DDR2 RAM

2 hard drives

1 dvd drive

1 ATi Radeon 4850

1 fan controller/card reader

1 TV card

3 case fans

Running on a Thermaltake 420w

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Let's see...

 

i7 overclocked at 4GHz

X58 board

12GB RAM

GTX260 (stock)

2 HDD's

couple fans

 

Under full load (Prime95 + AtiTool), that drew about 530W

Edited by Zertz

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i'm running my 465w enermax that i've been running since my barton days.

 

e4300 @ 3ghz

2x1gb ddr2 800

2x optical drives

3x sata hd's

7900 gs

4x120mm tricool fans

1x140mm fan

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I run my system on a 350w psu

 

amd tri core @ 2.1Ghz

4850 oc

1 hd

1 dvd

no problems so far! :lol:

 

At idle it probably draws around 120W and about 30W under load. No problem there, assuming it's a decent PSU :)

Edited by Zertz

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  • 2 months later...

I'd still be interested to see any ridiculous multi-GPU overclocked setups measured.

At the moment I am wondering what the absolute maximum measured system draw could get to.

 

I'm going to run off around the web and see if I can track down many (any?) good measurements for such systems.

Some of these results are promising as they apparently use:

 

Intel Core i7 940 processor (operating at 3,709MHz – 22x168.6MHz)

MSI Eclipse SLI motherboard

3x 2GB Corsair TR3X6G1333C9 memory modules

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 250GB SATA hard drive

 

Not enough detail on how the final numbers are arrived at to completely satisfy me though (not mention of any efficient calculations going on).

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