Power Supply Awareness

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phez

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With all these 1KW PSUs coming out, people really think computers are pretty power hungry now ...

Question: What power supply do you recommend for the following?

(all at stock)

e6300
P5N-E SLI
8800 GTS 640mb
2x1gb DDR2-800 OCZ
2x320gb Seagate SATA3
1xLG DVDRW

2x120mm fans @ 5v
1x92mm fan @ 5v

I've measured the drain on this system (in watts) during a game of supcom with me + 7 AI, all maxed details, at 1280x1024. What do you think the power drain was?
 
A nice 500-600 watt PSU would be more than enough, such as Seasonic S12 or M12, Corsair HX520, ect.
 
Drain is likely less than 300 watts. SupCom is (oddly) not a high-draw game. I've seen this in a review somewhere... cannot remember where.

My machine draws 360ish watts at the wall running STALKER at 1600x1200 maxed settings.

The point of higher end PSU recommendations -- at least when I make them -- isn't that the machines /uses/ all the power, but that around 50% draw you have maximum efficiency with most PSUs (efficiency tends to follow a bell curve), meaning minimum heat, minimum power bill, maximum PSU lifespan.
 
hey guys, im just going around the intertubes gaging just how 'aware' users are as to their power requirements.

the power draw was 245watts (210 from the system at 85% efficiency). the main point of this (atleast for me) is to help "maim" all the marketing being done, trying to push the image of gigawatt requirements for current generation hardware and whatnot. of course, quad-sli/hardcore overclockers/etc are obvious exceptions, but take note that spending the money on a 600watt psu could be wasted :)
 
silent-circuit said:
The point of higher end PSU recommendations -- at least when I make them -- isn't that the machines /uses/ all the power, but that around 50% draw you have maximum efficiency with most PSUs (efficiency tends to follow a bell curve), meaning minimum heat, minimum power bill, maximum PSU lifespan.
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Yes the majority of power supplies are most efficient around 50% load, which also happens to put a user in a nice position to cope with growth later on, temperature derating, or aging.
 
Is it better to choose a power supply so that it is loaded at around 50% during maximum power draw or typical power draw?

A 500W PSU for that system would only run efficiently when running games wouldn't it?
 
puffcap said:
Is it better to choose a power supply so that it is loaded at around 50% during maximum power draw or typical power draw?

A 500W PSU for that system would only run efficiently when running games wouldn't it?
Click to expand...

IMO at maximum. The reason being you aren't going to know things like the derating curve which on some units can be severe. For instance on the OCZ GameXStream 1010w it appears to be around 10w/c above 25c. So at 45c, where I did the review, I lost about 200w of capacity off the top of the unit.

If you just sized a unit based on the average and you lose 10w/c on say a 500w PSU that has a typical load of 250w but a peak load of 350w and is running at 40c.......you are now looking at a loss of 150w of capacity. So what happens when the temp ticks up a degree, or you add a new hard drive, and fire up a game?

All in all end users can't test and size units like OEM's can or that can be done in good reviews so being a little high on the size is better than being on the borderline because when things change there is no margin for error.

Does tha mean everyone needs a 1kw PSU? NO, but running to close to the edge can be a problem.
 
150W micro ATX power supply. No problem.
 
Paul_Johnson said:
If you just sized a unit based on the average and you lose 10w/c on say a 500w PSU that has a typical load of 250w but a peak load of 350w and is running at 40c.......you are now looking at a loss of 150w of capacity. So what happens when the temp ticks up a degree, or you add a new hard drive, and fire up a game?
Click to expand...

You're absolutely right, Paul.

It's important for people to realize that it works both ways, though. A 650W PSU rated at 25C might only put out 500W at 40C or something.

On the other hand, a 650W PSU rated at 50C might put out 700-750W at 40C.

It'd be nice if everyone were required to rate their PSUs at the same temperature level for a standard. One of the big problems in the PSU industry right now is that a 500W PSU is not necessarily a 500W PSU.

In other words, it could look like a duck, tell you it's a duck, and have its manufacturers swear to you that it's a duck, but when you finally get your hands on it you've got an armadillo.
 
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