How much power does a Q6600 need?

[Gerbil333]

I have been running the following system for over 2.5 years:

Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Toledo
Corsair 2x1GB TWINX2048-3200C2PT
Radeon X800 XL 256MB w/Zalman VF700-AlCu @5V
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
Western Digital 74GB Raptor
Samsung 500GB HD501LJ SATA II
NEC 3520A 16x DVD+/-RW
Lite-On 52x32x52x16 Combo Drive
Enermax EG495P-VE 485W Noisetaker ATX 2.0

I need more computing power for heavy signal processing and CAD/CAM work am considering upgrading the mobo/CPU/RAM to the following (and, sadly, switching to Vista 64-bit):

Asus P5K-E/WiFi-AP
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800


Will the Enermax 485W still be enough, even with quad cores? I'm noticing 700, 800, and 1000W power supplies these days. What happened to efficiency?! Or are these targeted at SLI systems? I will eventually upgrade the video card, but not for quite a while.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

your enermax 485 should be fine. i'm not too sure about capacitor aging after 2.5 years tho. my FSP Epsilon 600 is going 2 years strong

 

[mpilchfamily]

Yes your current PSU will be fine. If you where to upgrade to a better video card they you might need a better PSU.

The higher wattage units like you mentioned would be for a system like yours but running more then 4 HDD and SLI'ed 8800 Ultras with everything water cooled. When you say what happened to efficiency, that tells me you don't really understand efficiency.

Efficiency has nothing to do with the total output of the PSU. Lets consider a 500W unit. If a 500W PSU was 100% efficient then it would be pulling 500W from the wall when fully loaded. But no PSU is 100% efficient. Most PSUs average about 80% efficiency. So if the 500W unit had a 100% load and is 80% efficient then it would be pulling about 625W from the wall. The reason for this is when a PSU is converting the AC power to DC it looses power to Heat. So in the end a more efficient PSU is going to help you save some money on your power bill.

 

[Gerbil333]

Originally posted by: mpilchfamily
When you say what happened to efficiency, that tells me you don't really understand efficiency.

Hehe, I'm an electrical engineer, man. I understand efficiency quite well. I was sarcastically questioning why power requirements have ballooned in the past five years. One high-end video card of today can consume more power than entire gaming rigs could in 2000--and some people are installing not one, but two of these current-hungry beasts.

The C2D is electrically more efficient than its predecessor, but my point is still valid: Current requirements for computers have been increasing for years and there seems to be no end in sight. This is to be expected, but in my opinion of estimation, the mid- and high-end computing market is now pushed so hard by consumers that R&D is struggling to keep up. Consequently, video cards have grown 10 feet long and emit enough wasted energy to heat a small room. And we all know that in a matter of years, the same GPU crunching ability achievable only with an 8800 GT will be available in the form of integrated graphics of a $399 desktop at Wal-Mart...

Originally posted by: mpilchfamily
Yes your current PSU will be fine. If you where to upgrade to a better video card they you might need a better PSU.

I'll probably pick up a mid-range video card next year with similar power requirements to my present X800 XL.

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
your enermax 485 should be fine. i'm not too sure about capacitor aging after 2.5 years tho. my FSP Epsilon 600 is going 2 years strong

Capacitor aging will, at worse, result in a "dirtier," less steady signal. Average output will be affected, but should not depreciate noticeably. Unless serious portions of my PSU have died out, in which case I think I'd have noticed other effects, its current and voltage output should be almost as strong as it was when new. I remember a maximum +12V line fluctuation of +/- 0.05 V back in 2005 on this machine; its output was extremely steady. Glancing at Everest for a second, I have just observed a maximum fluctuation of -0.2V (12.1 down to 11.90, and now holding steady at about 12.03V). While software readings are not to be trusted and an oscilloscope would provide more truthful data (not to mention I'd I have nothing to compare it against from 2.5 years ago), I think it's safe to say the output is not as steady as I remember it. That's capacitor wear.

A power supply should last years, though. I have an Enermax 460W in another machine that has now been going for 5, maybe 6 years.


I digress. Anyway, I was simply curious as to the typical Core2 + PSU combo. For instance, 400-500W PSUs were common-place in 2005 for single core A64 systems.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Don't believe all the stuffs you read on the internet. I have the same PSU. Voltage regulation is just as good today after 2 years of service. As for power consumption, an overclocked Q6600 @ 3.7GHz will draw about 200 watts under full load. Add another 25 watts if you have those inefficient 8 phase Asus boards. Add 15 watts for each additional HDD. Add 100 watts for a high-end GPU. Add 5 watts for each additional 120mm fan.

 

[Gerbil333]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
Don't believe all the stuffs you read on the internet. I have the same PSU. Voltage regulation is just as good today after 2 years of service. As for power consumption, an overclocked Q6600 @ 3.7GHz will draw about 200 watts under full load. Add another 25 watts if you have those inefficient 8 phase Asus boards. Add 15 watts for each additional HDD. Add 100 watts for a high-end GPU. Add 5 watts for each additional 120mm fan.

What stuff do you doubt? I actually didn't expect to see any change in voltage fluctuation. I blame it on the added secondary hard drive and upgrade to a dual core CPU I've made since I last checked up on voltages. I bet the PSU has hardly changed at all.

Do you have a link for "inefficient 8 phase Asus boards"? More circuitry can consume more power, but 8 phases of regulation sounds mighty nice, and I've yet to be disappointed by an Asus board.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

I had an Asus P965 with 8 phase. Load increase measured with an AC ammeter. This board pulls an additional 20 watts all the time compared to Abit IP35-E. Surely as an EE, you should know the Pros and Cons with 8 phase regulation. There is no free lunch.

 

[Gerbil333]

*nod* I believe I just wrote that. I couldn't tell whether you had quoted an arbitrary figure or not. I don't believe all the "stuffs" on the internet, you see...