Got concerned that I don't have a large enough power supply

carrierPigeon

Limp Gawd
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[INTRO - for those with low attention span, please skip]
Recently, I started getting concerned that I do not have a big enough power supply. The GPU manufacturer recommends larger than what I have but I have mostly put that off as I was concerned that maybe I have some other hard ware problems so I was trying to get to the bottom of that first.

But, there has been a couple of recent occurrences that have me a little concerned. One thing is that I was reading that the component not getting enough power can lead to files getting corrupted. Another thing is that once or twice recently my monitor shut off for something like 20 seconds. It was not from the computer going into idle mode. So, I thought that maybe that could be lack of power to the video card. But, I haven't done any research so that's just a guess.

[CORE POST]
Seems like we shouldn't trust the calculators online that tell you what sized power supply you need. Unless maybe you just want to use them as a tool to ballpark things, round up, and buy a little extra wattage.

In a perfect world, you'd probably have a watt-o-meter and some sort of a way to collect the data. But, most people probably wouldn't go through that at all.

So, I have been trying to go through and figure out the TDP of my components, to add that all up and figure out what sized PSU I should get.
For many of my components, that information does not seem readily available. Also, I am not always sure if sites would have the accurate information (though I guess that's just something you have to live with).

Here are the main components that I am having trouble finding the information on:
Motherboard - Pegatron Memphis-S (when not using the onboard video)
Sata 7200 rpm HDD - not sure of the exact model, would have to open up the computer. I saw that someone posted in a forum to use 25W
Sata DVD Drive - Samsung CDDVDW SH-216DB
SanDisk SSD Plus 480GB 2.5-Inch SDSSDA-480G-G25
USB devices - Thinkpad trackpoint keybaord, mouse, wireless sensor for gamepad, USB headset.
Casefans and ram - I assume that's so low that you should just use a ballpark number and it doesn't really matter.

I did find this site but I wasn't sure if that's talking more about operating power usage or TDP (which I imagine is a measurement of peak power usage).
http://www.buildcomputers.net/power-consumption-of-pc-components.html

I was also reading that in general power supplies run at peak performance when they are drawing 50% of their power. Does that seem about right?
 
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What is the model of your current power supply and/or wattage?
What graphics card do you have? Generally that is the largest factor for power supply selection.
 
youre over thinking/analyzing this. get the min recommended psu for your gpu and youre good.
 
[INTRO - for those with low attention span, please skip]
Recently, I started getting concerned that I do not have a big enough power supply. The GPU manufacturer recommends larger than what I have but I have mostly put that off as I was concerned that maybe I have some other hard ware problems so I was trying to get to the bottom of that first.

But, there has been a couple of recent occurrences that have me a little concerned. One thing is that I was reading that the component not getting enough power can lead to files getting corrupted. Another thing is that once or twice recently my monitor shut off for something like 20 seconds. It was not from the computer going into idle mode. So, I thought that maybe that could be lack of power to the video card. But, I haven't done any research so that's just a guess.

[CORE POST]
Seems like we shouldn't trust the calculators online that tell you what sized power supply you need. Unless maybe you just want to use them as a tool to ballpark things, round up, and buy a little extra wattage.

In a perfect world, you'd probably have a watt-o-meter and some sort of a way to collect the data. But, most people probably wouldn't go through that at all.

So, I have been trying to go through and figure out the TDP of my components, to add that all up and figure out what sized PSU I should get.
For many of my components, that information does not seem readily available. Also, I am not always sure if sites would have the accurate information (though I guess that's just something you have to live with).

Here are the main components that I am having trouble finding the information on:
Motherboard - Pegatron Memphis-S (when not using the onboard video)
Sata 7200 rpm HDD - not sure of the exact model, would have to open up the computer. I saw that someone posted in a forum to use 25W
Sata DVD Drive - Samsung CDDVDW SH-216DB
SanDisk SSD Plus 480GB 2.5-Inch SDSSDA-480G-G25
USB devices - Thinkpad trackpoint keybaord, mouse, wireless sensor for gamepad, USB headset.
Casefans and ram - I assume that's so low that you should just use a ballpark number and it doesn't really matter.

I did find this site but I wasn't sure if that's talking more about operating power usage or TDP (which I imagine is a measurement of peak power usage).
http://www.buildcomputers.net/power-consumption-of-pc-components.html

I was also reading that in general power supplies run at peak performance when they are drawing 50% of their power. Does that seem about right?
How about full system specs?
You gave us pretty much 0 info.
 
youre over thinking/analyzing this. get the min recommended psu for your gpu and youre good.

This. Absolutely. WAY overthinking it.

You wrote a ton of stuff but nothing really useful for the problem at hand. What GPU and CPU? That's all that's really needed to pick a PSU.
 
Thanks for responses.
I was able to find the power usage of my PSU and CPU.
My CPU is Intel i3-4130, seems to be 54 W
My GPU is MSI Radeon R7 240, seems to be 30 W
source: https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=radeon+r7+240

While I understand that the CPU and GPU can make up the bulk of the power usage on many systems, it seems like other things can also take up a fair bit of power. For example, 7200 rpm HDDs. Source:
http://www.buildcomputers.net/power-consumption-of-pc-components.html
Another example is external monitors that are powered through USB. While it would be pretty rare for me to have that hooked up to my desktop computer, I would probably do that occasionally.

Here are the specs:
Pegatron Memphis-S motherboard (not using on board video)
Intel i3 4130
MSI Radeon R7 240
Sata 7200 rpm HDD
Sata DVD Drive - Samsung CDDVDW SH-216DB
SanDisk SSD Plus 480GB 2.5-Inch SDSSDA-480G-G25
USB devices - Thinkpad trackpoint keybaord, mouse, wireless sensor for gamepad, USB headset.
Casefans and ram - I assume that's so low that you should just use a ballpark number and it doesn't really matter.
 
I think that mobo is for an 1150 H87 from an HP? If so the highest wattage cpu it could support is the 4790k at 88watt. Assuming you get something stupid overkill like a GTX1080ti thats only another ~250watts.

So even if we round up to 400 and add 100 for misc components and overhead, a reputable 500watt PSU would be plenty.

Don't overthink it, Most people run way more PSU than they need. There should be plenty 5-600watt PSUs in the $45-65 price range that would work great.
 
I missed your most recent post. Given your specs I would be shocked if you use more than 150watts. Your stock PSU is probably fine.
 
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