is there such thing as too much power? I'm shopping for a power supply and am looking for something to power an x2 4400+, 6800gs, 1 maxtor hdd, floppy/dvdrom. The thing is I will probably upgrade to a 7800 later on. would getting a 550w power supply be overkill on the current setup?
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Too much power?
- Thread starter Clevich
- Start date
Clevich said:
With a modern platform like yours, the total wattage matters less than the total combined amperage on the +12V rails. With that in mind, some 350W units deliver more juice on the +12V rails than some 450W units; in fact, a CoolerMaster Real Power 450W unit would actually deliver less juice on the +12V rails (22A combined) than an Antec TruePower 2.0 380W unit (with 28A combined +12V capacity).
And no, "too much" power will not harm your system - but it may increase your electrical consumption at very low power output, depending on the design of the PSU (and thus resulting in a slight increase in your electricity bill).
so what would be a semi-future proof psu for me? I was looking at the OCZ 52012U-520W Modstream Power Supply, but I heard it had some compatibility issues with the Antec p180 case (cables were too short). What about an Antec True Power 2.0 550W ATX12V V2.0 SLI 120MM Fan Power Supply?
Ice Czar
Inscrutable
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- Jul 8, 2001
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you can't have "too much power"
a power supply simply converts AC to DC as is needed, so even a 1KW monster supply will still only convert 200Watts if that is the load on it
there are those that say its then out of its efficiency sweet spot
meaning its wasting more energy when its converting the power as heat
on the other hand a supply that is loaded nowhere near its total capacity will last considerably longer because its thermal solution isnt being taxed
meaning overall its at a lower temperature even though its slightly less efficient
and operating temperature is the primary mechanism of failure for components
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=761614
the Arrhenius equation
roughly translating to this rule of thumb
Each 10°C (18°F) temperature rise reduces component life by 50%
Conversely, each 10°C (18°F) temperature reduction increases component life by 100%.
(applies to most anything from silicon to a mechanical device, of course there is typically a lower limit which if you pass makes the device unopperable do to tolerances and differing thermal contraction of materials)
future proofing is a very difficult game these days, Id ask you exactly what we are future proofing for?
1. A lean gaming system that could have dual PCI-E cards and limited drives
2. the above with alot of drives and dualcore CPU
3. a workstation with Dual CPU dual cores but lean drives
4. a Server with dual CPU and a butt load of drives
5. A kickass workstation with Dual Dual-core CPU, dual PCI-E graphics cards and a buttload of drives
a power supply simply converts AC to DC as is needed, so even a 1KW monster supply will still only convert 200Watts if that is the load on it
there are those that say its then out of its efficiency sweet spot
meaning its wasting more energy when its converting the power as heat
on the other hand a supply that is loaded nowhere near its total capacity will last considerably longer because its thermal solution isnt being taxed
meaning overall its at a lower temperature even though its slightly less efficient
and operating temperature is the primary mechanism of failure for components
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=761614
the Arrhenius equation
roughly translating to this rule of thumb
Each 10°C (18°F) temperature rise reduces component life by 50%
Conversely, each 10°C (18°F) temperature reduction increases component life by 100%.
(applies to most anything from silicon to a mechanical device, of course there is typically a lower limit which if you pass makes the device unopperable do to tolerances and differing thermal contraction of materials)
future proofing is a very difficult game these days, Id ask you exactly what we are future proofing for?
1. A lean gaming system that could have dual PCI-E cards and limited drives
2. the above with alot of drives and dualcore CPU
3. a workstation with Dual CPU dual cores but lean drives
4. a Server with dual CPU and a butt load of drives
5. A kickass workstation with Dual Dual-core CPU, dual PCI-E graphics cards and a buttload of drives