Powerful low-power build advice....

[maxinflixion]

After a winter where I blew a breaker every time I tried running my PC, space heater and plasma tv simultaneously, I have decided to finally build a new PC to replace my 2600k system with something more efficient.

Knowing that I want to upgrade performance over the 2600k and Radeon 7950 3gb while using less electricity, what components would you suggest as a base?

 

[doug_7506]

What kind of games do you want to play?

I think your only option in the dedicated GPU category would be a maxwell based gpu.

I say stick with the 2600k as the power difference will be negligible, but remove any overclockking.

Might have to jump to an APU from AMD if that is still too much power.

Also, that plasma TV is sucking entergy. Might want to look into swapping that for an LED (first time I've ever said that)

Edit: 970 sucks down same amount of power as 7950 but is a lot faster. So it won't really help there. I think you might have to go with an APU to really cut down power to a noticeable difference. Maybe get a 290x and then you won't have to run a space heater! Lol

 

[maxinflixion]

What kind of games do you want to play?



Also, that plasma TV is sucking entergy. Might want to look into swapping that for an LED (first time I've ever said that)

I want to play all games. I game in spurts where I binge for a week or two then stop for a while.

The plasma does suck energy, but it's the last of the good Panasonic Plasma (gt65), so it has to stay. It's just a beautiful screen.

I am thinking about testing the power usage of my PC. I may be able to swing a lower power PSU as well.

 

[doug_7506]

I want to play all games. I game in spurts where I binge for a week or two then stop for a while.

The plasma does suck energy, but it's the last of the good Panasonic Plasma (gt65), so it has to stay. It's just a beautiful screen.

I am thinking about testing the power usage of my PC. I may be able to swing a lower power PSU as well.

I feel your pain. I use a Samsung pn64d7000 which ranks up there with the pannys.

Total system power will only be around 300w-400w without OCing.

The problem is that space heater which will easily be close to 1000w.

A 970 will give you a lot more performance, but will still use the same power. Finding a more efficient heating source is about the only thing that I could see working.

 

[maxinflixion]

Thanks man. I think I have a 750 watt in there now. I am thinking about having an electrician come out and beefing up that circuit. Might be a better solution.

That room is at the far end of the house, and heating it is a bitch. My hvac guy has tried everything.

 

[doug_7506]

Depending on how long you'll be there, might be better to run a heavy duty extension cord. I have a garage that I converted into a movie room/office. I put two portable AC units in there along with projector, amp, computer, etc. it was drawing too much power so I ran a heavy duty extension cord to the nearest socket that was on a differnt breaker. Considering I'll only be here a few years, it wasn't worth putting the extra $$$$ into this house that I'll never see any return on.

 

[Dangman]

Thanks man. I think I have a 750 watt in there now. I am thinking about having an electrician come out and beefing up that circuit. Might be a better solution.

That room is at the far end of the house, and heating it is a bitch. My hvac guy has tried everything.

DO note that a PSU will only output the amount of power that the system actually needs. As such, if your system only needs 300W of power, then that 750W PSU will only provide 300W of power. It's not constantly drawing 750W of power.

Anyway, the electrician route is your best bet for a long-term solution. There are ways to cut down the power usage of your system but that would also means significant costs for lesser performance.

 

[lypse]

After a winter where I blew a breaker every time I tried running my PC, space heater and plasma tv simultaneously, I have decided to finally build a new PC to replace my 2600k system with something more efficient.

Knowing that I want to upgrade performance over the 2600k and Radeon 7950 3gb while using less electricity, what components would you suggest as a base?

As people have already mentioned the real solution is not new pc, but install a new breaker+cable for your spaceheater ☺, or if existing cables allow upgrade the breaker ie. 10A to 13A is common here.

If you upgrade your "inefficient" pc and tv, they would produce less heat, and you would turn up the spaceheater? ��