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does overclocking use extra power?

D

dubbyah

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 12, 2005
Messages
174
if I want to overclock my pci-e vid card and my amd 64 3200+, what is the ideal PSu to have?? I just bought a 430W seasonic S12. I hope it will be enough, if not, then im screwed. Does overclocking use extra juice from the PSU? Thanks for the clarification.
 
The Seasonic is more than likely up to the task. Overclocked components do use more power. Depending on what video card you have, you may not even approach the Seasonic's limits.
 
Also, Seasonic S12's are VERY efficient & high quality psu's. You're likely to get more wattage out of these than you are other manufacturer's "higher" wattage psu's.
 
sarbz said:
Also, Seasonic S12's are VERY efficient & high quality psu's. You're likely to get more wattage out of these than you are other manufacturer's "higher" wattage psu's.
Click to expand...
dude, efficiency does not affect what you get out of the DC side of the PSU, it only effects what you end up drawing out of the wall to get as much as your computer needs.

to be fair, most PSUs that have high efficiency are made by reputable manufacturers who make good supplies that can actually put out what they are rated for, as opposed to other manufacturers who over-rate their supplies. that might potentially be used to justify your statement. that's not as a result of efficiency, but rather the fact that seasonic is recognized as being a reputable manufacturer, producing good supplies that can acutally put out what they are rated for.

the IDEAL supply to have is probably the PCP&C 850 watt monster, however since that thing is prohibitively expensive, try OCing with the PSU you have, and see what happens. it's a good, PSU, and it can probably put out what you need, barely. just keep an eye on your voltages, and if they start to fluctuate excessively when your CPU is under load and your optical drive spins up, preferably also running an anti-virus scan or something to keep you HDD working, then you should back things off. if everything is stable, both in terms of voltages and program stability, even when you are hammering the snot out of your systme like that, then everything is probably just fine.

please do make sure that your CPU is stable for a good long run of prime95, though. it's just safe practice.
 
dubbyah said:
if I want to overclock my pci-e vid card and my amd 64 3200+, what is the ideal PSu to have?? I just bought a 430W seasonic S12. I hope it will be enough, if not, then im screwed. Does overclocking use extra juice from the PSU? Thanks for the clarification.
Click to expand...

that psu will be more then enough. seasonic is very conservative with their nomenclature.
 
i think sarbz was trying to say is the wattage of the power supply means nothing and that a power supply rated lower can output more power then a power supply rated higher, case in point the the 430w thermaltake tr2
Output: +3.3V@20A, +5V@30A, +12V@18A, -5V@18A, -12V@0.5A, +5VSB@0.8A

vs the 350w seasonic st
Output: +3.3V@28A, +5V@30A, +12V@19A, -12V@0.8A, +5VSB@2A
 
heero884 said:
i think sarbz was trying to say is the wattage of the power supply means nothing and that a power supply rated lower can output more power then a power supply rated higher, case in point the the 430w thermaltake tr2
Output: +3.3V@20A, +5V@30A, +12V@18A, -5V@18A, -12V@0.5A, +5VSB@0.8A

vs the 350w seasonic st
Output: +3.3V@28A, +5V@30A, +12V@19A, -12V@0.8A, +5VSB@2A
Click to expand...
oh , the wattage of a given supply means plenty, so long as you are aware of the conditions that the manufacturer uses to justify the rated max wattage.

my point seems to be much the same as your point: that a seasonic s12 is a good PSU and that it can probably deliver enough juice to do the job.

the thing that i was taking exception to was the notion that a higher efficiency PSU delivers more power to the components of the computer than a lower efficiency PSU with higher wattage. wattage refers to what the PSU is actually supposed to deliver to the computer, whereas efficiency refers to how much power the PSU wastes as heat in converting 120 volt, 60 Hz AC into the various varities of DC current that a computer requires.

i have come across individuals claiming that a lower wattage seasonic can put out more watttage than a PSU with a higher wattage, made by another reputable manufacturer, like fortron, based on the fact that the seasonic has a higher efficiency. that is simply not the case, and i want to make sure that the OP realizes it. if you are comparing the seasonic to an ultra or other "happy kitty" brand PSU, then that might be the case, not because of greater efficiency, but because of a better product and more realistic ratings. when you are comparing to GOOD PSUs, then you should really look at what you want in terms of noise and total output power.
 
DFI Daishi said:
oh , the wattage of a given supply means plenty, so long as you are aware of the conditions that the manufacturer uses to justify the rated max wattage.

my point seems to be much the same as your point: that a seasonic s12 is a good PSU and that it can probably deliver enough juice to do the job.

the thing that i was taking exception to was the notion that a higher efficiency PSU delivers more power to the components of the computer than a lower efficiency PSU with higher wattage. wattage refers to what the PSU is actually supposed to deliver to the computer, whereas efficiency refers to how much power the PSU wastes as heat in converting 120 volt, 60 Hz AC into the various varities of DC current that a computer requires.

i have come across individuals claiming that a lower wattage seasonic can put out more watttage than a PSU with a higher wattage, made by another reputable manufacturer, like fortron, based on the fact that the seasonic has a higher efficiency. that is simply not the case, and i want to make sure that the OP realizes it. if you are comparing the seasonic to an ultra or other "happy kitty" brand PSU, then that might be the case, not because of greater efficiency, but because of a better product and more realistic ratings. when you are comparing to GOOD PSUs, then you should really look at what you want in terms of noise and total output power.
Click to expand...

QFT - no argument there
 
he said "efficient and high quality", though, not just efficient. i think the high quality is more what he was referring to for being able to put forth more juice than other psu's?
 
Soymilk said:
he said "efficient and high quality", though, not just efficient. i think the high quality is more what he was referring to for being able to put forth more juice than other psu's?
Click to expand...
fair enough, if that's the case.

one way or the other, when you're first starting to overclock a system, you should deliberately stress ths PSU to make sure that it is up for the overclocked you are going for. it's fine to say that an s12 is good enough, but you might have gotten a particularly flakey one, through bad luck, and you want to know that it's providing stable voltages under the increased energy demand after overclocking.
 
DFI Daishi said:
dude, efficiency does not affect what you get out of the DC side of the PSU, it only effects what you end up drawing out of the wall to get as much as your computer needs.
.....
Click to expand...

Very True ... however, there are factors where efficiency does play a role in output power:
Assume we have two PSUs - one made by a reputable manufacturer and another by a noname pos manufacturer. The pos powersupply will rate the 400W at a given temperature, often they say something just above room temperature while the good psu will have a much higher temperature rating ... however assume that they have the same temperature rating during which they give out their max power.
The higher efficiency psu will be able to output more power until it reaches the max temperature, while the lower efficienty psu will put out far more heat and be unable to sustain the rated power output.

(yeah, efficiency should technically not affect output power, but it does due to manufacturers claim of output power in relation to psu temperature)
 
Soymilk said:
he said "efficient and high quality", though, not just efficient. i think the high quality is more what he was referring to for being able to put forth more juice than other psu's?
Click to expand...

Bingo :cool:

High efficiency psu's rock because they typically put out far less heat due to being more...efficient. Less heat, means lower fan rpms (if thermally controlled), which in turn eliminates another source of bothersome noise in a computer. I have an older Seasonic 300W Tornado. Not sure why it's called a tornado, the 120mm fan runs silently, and never ramps up. Even under heavy loads. And the rails are rock solid.
 
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