Do i really need a 850W PSU?? HELP

[rash219]

I am actually building a new PC first time......and I am not sure if i had entered the specs correctly but accordin to PSU Calculator 2.5 http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine the recommended PSU is 751W.......

My rig contains the

Antec 900 Case
Abit IP35 Pro
Q6600 G0 Step
256MB GeForce 8600GTS OR 256MB GeForce 8600GT
Audigy Sound Card
1 Hard Drive SataII 3.0Gb/s
1 DVD Burner
2 GB Ram DDR2 800 PC6400

Any i am planning of running it 24/7 ( sometimes gaming !!!) and plan of keeping it for 3-5 years....


SO THE MAIN QUESTION Do i really need a 850W PSU??

 

[note235]

no
get a 500 or less one

 

[lopri]

Heh.. I think a good 400~500W would be plenty. I tried running Q6600 @3.20GHz with 4 Raptors (RAID'ed) as well as 8800 GTX SLI off Corsair 620W, on a power-hungry 680i SLI board. It might have been close, but worked fine.

 

[rash219]

I would be very grateful if you could just name a few that will last for 3+ years....

 

[MarcVenice]

the new corsair 450w is a pretty darn good deal, for 80$. http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817139003

 

[Puffnstuff]

I would recommend the enermax liberty series ps's. I run all of my machines on enermax because they've been the best ps I've used to date.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Enermax, PC Power and Cooling, OCZ (uses a rebaded PC Power and Cooling built unit for many of their models) are all good ones. Antec is still decent as well.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: rash219
I am actually building a new PC first time......and I am not sure if i had entered the specs correctly but accordin to PSU Calculator 2.5 http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine the recommended PSU is 751W.......

Under system type you need to select single processor. A dual/quad core only takes up a single cpu socket. The psu calc recommends a 287W psu for your rig.

SO THE MAIN QUESTION Do i really need a 850W PSU??

No, a quality 300W psu will power your rig since you'll be lucky to pull 200W under a full gaming + burn-in load.

I would be very grateful if you could just name a few that will last for 3+ years....

[*]A hot deal on a quality 80%+ efficient psu: [*]Antec EarthWatts 430W w/ 3 yr. warranty - $45 AR shipped
[*]The Corsair VX that Marc mentioned is a solid choice if you can afford it

 

[rash219]

I was wondering will 450 still be enough if i use an AntecP180 cases......and will i have room for FUNN !!!???

 

[dclive]

As John just said, a simple 300W PSU will be plenty, as you'll only pull 200W or so under load. That's a basic system.

I'm running far more (Q6600, 4 drives, 4 memory sticks, dual tv-tuner, 8800GTS/320) with 300W; works great.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Originally posted by: dclive
As John just said, a simple 300W PSU will be plenty, as you'll only pull 200W or so under load.

And how much will the draw be at BOOT? Add a few items, like fans or HDDs, age the 300W unit about 18 months, add in a high ambient temp at BOOT, not something I want.
I want a PSU that's loaded at 40~60% of its rated capacity at full load...not BOOT load.

 

[rash219]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee

Originally posted by: dclive
As John just said, a simple 300W PSU will be plenty, as you'll only pull 200W or so under load.

And how much will the draw be at BOOT? Add a few items, like fans or HDDs, age the 300W unit about 18 months, add in a high ambient temp at BOOT, not something I want.
I want a PSU that's loaded at 40~60% of its rated capacity at full load...not BOOT load.

Then what would you suggest....dclive seems to be running a lot more.....but i want to know what would be enough for some1 who is going to run it 24/7 and be efficient for years to come......Corsair 450VX....has a really good rating specially considering the fact that it is 80+ efficiency certified....but would it last for years to come.....???

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Here is one hit for a Google of Acer 300W http://www.impactcomputers.com/py-3000b-002.html

Its not 80Plus certed, runs a noisy 80mm fan and costs $100. SWELL!
I think you can do ALOT better for the money with a cheap 400W ENP5140GH Enhance that is 80Plus certed, runs a 120 fan and is filled with Teapo caps or a low wattage Seasonic that has a quiet 120mm fan, is 80Plus certed and populated with Nipponese capacitors. Or even a 400W Antec Earthwatts...but that unit is filled with OST...I don't like OST but they seem to do just OK in PSUs.

So, the bottom line for me would be to get a quieter, more efficient unit for less money, plus have a little better over head at 400W.

An Acer 300W unit is in the pipeline for full load testing in the near future. If it could or does match a 300W Zippy/Emacs for sustained full output at 40C...I would consider it a very good unit indeed but until the test...

 

[mxnerd]

dclive 's PSU is

LiteOn PS-6301-08A
12V1 10A
12V2 13A
Combined 12V 20A (240W)
300W max DC Output @ 25C & 270W @ 50C

And he only run his new system 1-2 months.

I really don't think it will last long.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: Fallen Kell
Enermax, PC Power and Cooling, OCZ (uses a rebaded PC Power and Cooling built unit for many of their models) are all good ones. Antec is still decent as well.

I am sorry you have no clue what rebadged means....
rebadged means that the exact same unit no variances in the PSU. The exact 100% same PSU is sold under different names.

rebadged has nothing at all to do with the fact that several companys have another company build PSU`s for them.

Which can get very involved to and including what caps are used......style of heatsink....cooling fan...etc.....

There are differences in the models that you mistakenly called rebadged!!

 

[rash219]

Originally posted by: mxnerd
dclive 's PSU is

LiteOn PS-6301-08A
12V1 10A
12V2 13A
Combined 12V 20A (240W)
300W max DC Output @ 25C & 270W @ 50C

And he only run his new system 1-2 months.

I really don't think it will last long.

Well thats what i dont want a system that will run for only 1 - 3 months.....i have alreay ordered my Corsair 450VX http://www.pcper.com/article.p...=438&type=expert&pid=7 based on this review......according to them they are very efficient....... but what i want to know before i rip it out of its packet is will it last for years....on the rig i mentioned.?????

I know my system will run on a 450W but will it last for YEARS???? on a 450W

 

[mxnerd]

450W should serve you well since you have only one drive, and if you PSU's load is low, I think it definitely will last long.

The problem is dclive's setup has 4 HD drives, that definitely generate a lot of heat and will make PSU less efficient. I think he also has 2 CDROM/DVDROMs, etc.

I used to have a P4 3.0G system which use 350W Antec SL350S. The spec on 12V is 21A. I also have 4 drives, 2 CDROM/DVD writers, RAID card, gigabit NIC, and either ATI Radeon 9600 or PNY nVidia 6200, which is not particular power hungry, and several fans.

I also ran 24/7, the PSU can't keep it up. It shuts down randomly, just like someone pull the plug without telling you. I upgarded to Antec 550W and was fine since then.


This guy did not reveal his full spec, but he did have problem with this particular Lite-On PSU.

http://www.devhardware.com/for...itors-help-101082.html

 

[MarcVenice]

It will last for years yes, your system is probably going to pull 250-300w under maximum load, which will make the corsair operate at a pretty good efficiency, and won't make it run to hot, and/or loud because the fan has to spin up.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: mxnerd
dclive 's PSU is

LiteOn PS-6301-08A
12V1 10A
12V2 13A
Combined 12V 20A (240W)
300W max DC Output @ 25C & 270W @ 50C

And he only run his new system 1-2 months.

I really don't think it will last long.

Given I'm running it fully within manufacturer specifications, why do you believe it won't last long?

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: mxnerd
450W should serve you well since you have only one drive, and if you PSU's load is low, I think it definitely will last long.

The problem is dclive's setup has 4 HD drives, that definitely generate a lot of heat and will make PSU less efficient. I think he also has 2 CDROM/DVDROMs, etc.

I used to have a P4 3.0G system which use 350W Antec SL350S. The spec on 12V is 21A. I also have 4 drives, 2 CDROM/DVD writers, RAID card, gigabit NIC, and either ATI Radeon 9600 or PNY nVidia 6200, which is not particular power hungry, and several fans.

I also ran 24/7, the PSU can't keep it up. It shuts down randomly, just like someone pull the plug without telling you. I upgarded to Antec 550W and was fine since then.


This guy did not reveal his full spec, but he did have problem with this particular Lite-On PSU.

http://www.devhardware.com/for...itors-help-101082.html

I have 1 DVD burner; that's all.

From your experience, it sounds like the PSU died, not that 350W wasn't enough. In any case, the old P4 CPUs were far more power hungry than the new low-power Intel Dual Core CPUs, so right there you can save 40-50W.

 

[mxnerd]

Q6600 SL9UM
http://processorfinder.intel.c...tails.aspx?sSpec=SL9UM 105W

Q6600 SLACR
http://processorfinder.intel.c...tails.aspx?sSpec=SLACR 95W

E4300 SL9TB
http://processorfinder.intel.c...tails.aspx?sspec=SL9TB 65W

Pentium D 945 SL9QQ
http://processorfinder.intel.c...tails.aspx?sSpec=SL9QQ 95W

Pentium D 945 SL9QB
http://processorfinder.intel.c...tails.aspx?sSpec=SL9QB 95W

My P4 3.0G
http://processorfinder.intel.c...tails.aspx?sSpec=SL7PM 89W

My old PSU is not dying, just not enough juice. It ran my Athlon XP just fine.

I'm sure Line-On's PSU has better design since it's new, but I just don't want to stress any PSUs now.

I'll stop here.

 

[dclive]

Total power consumption of entire system:
http://anandtech.com/cpuchipse...howdoc.aspx?i=2903&p=7

Highlights:
Intel Core Duo E4300: 171W under load (with entire system)
Intel Pentium D 945: 238W under load (with entire system)
Difference: almost 70W.

"Thermal design power" >< "power actually used when under a load".