Does not pushing PSU's hurt them?

[Racasdorph]

Hey everyone, I have a quick question to ask!

Does going overkill on Power Supplies hurt them?

Say i have a 750 watt power supply but I only need 500 watts when my computer is being pushed.

Would never pushing the Power Supply hurt it in any way? or hurt my computer?

Thanks!
Ricky

 

[silent-circuit]

No. In fact, in general you want about what you suggested -- for a machine that'll be pulling 400-500 watts at full load a really high quality 650-750 watt PSU is ideal. That puts you at ~60-75% usage at full load, which is where most supplies hit their highest efficiency numbers. Higher efficiency means you're paying less per watt DC power used by the computer as it takes fewer watts AC to produce them, as well as reducing power lost as heat, which increases the life of your components.

 

[pwnt]

Hey everyone, I have a quick question to ask!

Does going overkill on Power Supplies hurt them?

Say i have a 750 watt power supply but I only need 500 watts when my computer is being pushed.

Would never pushing the Power Supply hurt it in any way? or hurt my computer?

Thanks!
Ricky

Best efficiency is usually found around 40-60% load. You want the idle/general usage power to be in the most efficient range.