CORSAIR GS PSU 800W --- Too strong for my system?

[Kristijonas]

Hello, I have bought a new PC and awaiting its delivery!
Naturally I'm worried if everything will be okay.

I would appreciate if someone could warn me or comfort me with good news about this. Thing is, I took Corsair 800W PSU. I know, I'm dumb, but it's done.

My other hardware is:

ASUS GTX 560Ti

Intel i3 2120 processor

4gb 1333mhz, non-dualchannel RAM

This case: http://www.aerocool.com.tw/index.php/products/30-pgsv/67-vx9-w

This MB: http://www.skytech.lt/h61-s1155-matxh61mue35-msi-p-60578.html#tabs-2

Um, a fan: http://www.skytech.lt/titan-case-fan-120x120x25mm-pwm-zaxis-p-59908.html

And samsung F3 1tb Sata2 7200RPM 32mb Hard drive.

Now, on idle, my PC will probably drain less than 200W! Which means a very low efficiency level (whatever that means, I only know it's bad?!)

The official specs of this power supply can be found here:

http://www.plugloadsolutions.com/psu_reports/CORSAIR_CMPSU-800G_ECOS%202175_800W_Report.pdf
http://www.corsair.com/power-supplies/non-modular-psus/gaming-series-1/gs800w.html

So, if you have knowledge about PSUs, could you tell me, if you think I could have problems while running PC on idle? (let's say if it drains only 100W?)

 

[TemjinGold]

Yep it's overkill. You could really do with a PSU roughly half that size. Having said that, it isn't like the difference in electric bill will be THAT much unless you live somewhere where electric is crazy expensive.

 

[Kristijonas]

No, electricity is fine here, and I mean the PSU only takes as much W from the source as it needs. So I don't think it's an issue. And I know it's overkill. But I'm worried if there could be any problems? Like a power shortage as paradox as that sounds? Because I'm not sure if an 800w psu can work properly at 100w load.

 

[TemjinGold]

It should be fine. Yes, the psu only takes as much as you use but a lower efficiency means it will take more for the same load than something more efficient. But like I said, the difference in electric bill is pretty small.

 

[Kristijonas]

If that's the only difference, then I'm glad it's alright Thank you!
I hope the total overkill PSU will be worth it, atleast in terms of low noise levels and low temperature.

 

[dualsmp]

I have a similar system.

i3 530 @ 4.0Ghz
EVGA GTX 460 SC
4GB Corsair 1333Mhz
1 TB Samsung Eco
Hauppauge dual TV tuner
Corsair VX450.

Full load during "Crysis 2" - 265w (AC) or ~220w (DC)
Idle - 60w (AC) or ~45w (DC)

Like TemjinGold said your PSU is way over powered, but it will work fine. If you ever upgrade your core components your PSU won't need upgrading for many years except for the most extreme system upgrades..

 

[Kristijonas]

Yeah, with a three year guarantee, this PSU will probably be of good condition for at least 5 years (at the rate I will be using it), so I don't really regret it. I will possibly be upgrading at winter or spring anyway (probably just a processor change to Ivy Bridge and 8gb RAM)

Wow! Only 60w when idle!

 

[BoomerD]

That 800 watt PSU won't be quite as efficient pulling 100 watts, but otherwise, it won't hurt anything.
A computer with a single video card with nothing overclocked will draw a surprisingly low amount of power at idle

I ran some quick tests back in January after I built my new rig:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2138210

 

[bntran02]

800W is overkill but doesnt really hurt anything.

Bases on an anand review of a 750w corsair PSU, these PSU's are in general very efficient:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4311/corsair-tx750-v2-new-and-improved/5

The PSU you have is rated to be at least 80% efficient at 20-100% load (when you are using 160W to 800W). Which means if you are pulling 100W then the system may be only 79.5% efficient (for example) which results in an extra 0.5 watts that is wasted when pulling 100 watts for the system. Corsair PSU's are generally really good so i would not expect a huge drop in efficiency if you are below 160W.

To put things into perspective with my example, you would need to have 120 times more electrical waste to equal the power a single standard 60w light bulb.

 

[yottabit]

You will pull much less than 100W at idle (DC) and that will hurt your efficiency substantially, but will you notice? Probably not