Is this a normal watt range?

[DragonSwagger]

According to Kill-A-Watt:
60-90W when on idle or web browsing
110-120W when gaming on max settings (Sims 3, CS 1.6, RCT3)

When running 3D Mark 11 Benchmark: 160-195W

Radeon 6870
Intel i5 2500K
Antec 620W Eco PSU

 

[Profumo]

Somewhat low, run OCCT and come back with the results.

 

[Obsidian86]

run furmark and linx

 

[DragonSwagger]

For some reason OCCT only supports the CPU tests. How long should I run the test for?

 

[Profumo]

10 min at most, run furmark in parallel too and get the top values, it should pass 300W.

 

[DragonSwagger]

Ran the Furmark benchmark and the watts came up between 230-240W.

GPU: 2886 points, max temp 73C
FPS min 48, max 50

Ran OCCT and it came up to 130-140W for the CPU stress test. No errors.

No problems during the benchmark test. Is there any way I can calculate the min/mid/max wattage use for my gaming PC using a certain formula? I've tried several sites I've found on Google where you input your PC specs and I get results like 366W, 410W, 655W, etc. It just doesn't sound right to me at all.

 

[Profumo]

The values you listed are normal, ignore the various online power calculators, they are shit.
The 6870 will always stay below 170W outside Furmark at stock voltages.
The 2500k will similarly stay below 110W at voltages up to 1.5v.
Nothing to worry about, people tend to overestimate their power requirements and it's why you usually end up with bad info pretty much everywhere.. unadvised suggestions and commonly accepted ignorance tends to spread a lot faster than good advice

Again, run both stress tests simultaneously and you'll see values above 300W, which is what you can expect for such a system.. gaming and other typical desktop workloads will still keep it around ~ 200W though, that's why you shouldn't buy power supplies based on stress test values

 

[DragonSwagger]

So basically it'll only run over 300W if its under heavy load (max settings for gaming) and around 200-250W when using mid-gaming or web browsing??

I hardly ever push my gaming rig to the edge and never even achieve those high ratings. I usually idle at 28-41C on Speedfan even during gaming.

 

[wtourist]

Sounds about correct. Killawatt may record a little low at idle, may not.

 

[Profumo]

So basically it'll only run over 300W if its under heavy load (max settings for gaming) and around 200-250W when using mid-gaming or web browsing??

I hardly ever push my gaming rig to the edge and never even achieve those high ratings. I usually idle at 28-41C on Speedfan even during gaming.

It will only pass 300W in synthetic benchmarks like Furmark/Lynx/Prime/Kombustor.. you'll never see such values in any normal use(gaming at extreme setting or insane multitasking still qualifies as "normal use").

What resolution are you playing at?

 

[dandragonrage]

The values you listed are normal, ignore the various online power calculators, they are shit.

You know what else is crap? Kill-a-watt. It's inaccurate with reactive loads.

 

[DragonSwagger]

It will only pass 300W in synthetic benchmarks like Furmark/Lynx/Prime/Kombustor.. you'll never see such values in any normal use(gaming at extreme setting or insane multitasking still qualifies as "normal use").

What resolution are you playing at?

1600x900 on my Acer LED monitor

 

[Profumo]

That explains the little stress put on the 6870 when gaming

 

[DragonSwagger]

So should I game at a smaller resolution like "x" x 720?

 

[Profumo]

Nope, you're stressing the card when the frame rates drop and that happens when you increase resolution(and settings) not when you decrease it .. but really, the Furmark results were eloquent, nothing wrong with your rig(you could get a 1080p monitor tho, you do have the card for it)

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

Nothing to worry about, people tend to overestimate their power requirements and it's why you usually end up with bad info pretty much everywhere.. unadvised suggestions and commonly accepted ignorance tends to spread a lot faster than good advice

Agreed.

There is something to be said for erring on the side of caution when getting a PSU considering the cost when one blows, especially if you want to leave room for future upgrades, but I have seen some advice on forums (here and elsewhere) seriously overdoing it.

I'd rather have a lower powered GOOD power supply, than a 1500W noname piece of crap.