The amount of people with underpowered PSUs is too high

[flexy]

I don't know HOW many threads I read just this week on various forums where people have some dinky 500W (mostly BeQuiet for some reason) PSUs with a max peak of 425W...asking whether it would be fine with their systems such as running it with a a MSI Lightning R9 290X (yes you read right, a MSI Lightnig R9 290X which alone has a theoretical maximum of 386W and peak during gaming 293W... ), 8 core AMD FX CPUs whatsoever.

Worse if you tell those people their PSUs are underpowered and those people respond (after a whole bunch of knowledgeable people replied already they should get a more powerful PSU first thing) like they don't believe you and still insist "well I give it a try anyway, shouldn't be a problem since I don't overclock".

WHY are people always skimping and wanting to "save money" on their PSUs? I don't get it...

 

[Valantar]

PSU power requirements seems to be very, very hard to grasp for most people, especially when taking into consideration efficiency. Basic users seem to think "if I add the TDPs of all my hardware, the total equals what PSU I should get," which is plain stupid. On the other hand, PSU manufacturers differing between labeling units with peak or continous output has led to quite a lot of (understandable) confusion, so it's not that odd all in all.

And, not to mention, all the people running ridiculously overpowered PSUs "because they overclock." The amount of 800w+ (not to mention 1000w+) PSUs out there is in no way proportional to the actual market for these. Single GPU setups, no matter what GPU, do not need more than 600-650W (unless you are combining that with an 120+W TDP CPU and a bunch of 3.5" HDDs, in which case you have a very oddly balanced setup).

Most people seem to fall into two camps: either the ones that don't understand that loading your PSU at near 100% (or more at peak loads) over time isn't good, or the ones that overestimate their needs and think that doubling the maximum TDP of all parts combined is a good calculation. Adding the CPU and GPU together, plus a bit extra depending on your setup, and adding 50% to that has become my guideline. Keeps you around peak efficiency, usually quiet enough, and you avoid running your PSU at <5% at idle.

 

[Charlie98]

For a while I was running my GTX560Ti with a CX430... knowing full well I was flirting with disaster when I was running benches and stuff.

Seems like PSU buyers fall into 2 camps: PSU is the least sexy part of a system, so just get the cheapest thing out there and be done, or... the other camp that wants moar powar and gets a 1000w Double-extra-Gold modular for a single GPU setup.

Part of the problem is the 'minimum PSU' standards... understandably, they are a little vague at best, overkill at worst, leaving proper PSU selection as a bit of guesswork... especially if OC'ing.

 

[gdansk]

I've a decent PSU now. But I did have an old 300W 7970 GHz edition in a PC with a 140W CPU and 450W PSU. It worked fine even running benches (Furmark, 3dmark, Cinebench, etc). 300W+140W = 440W. I'm sure some other parts were putting that PSU well over the edge. I did replace the PSU because I knew that'd be bad in the long run. But it worked fine for about a month of fairly heavy use.

I suspect it's far worse for long-term use rather than short-term use as it might wear down the PSU.

 

[GoStumpy]

We must be in different parts of the forums, because I see overpowered PSU's more often than underpowered ones... lol

 

[dave_the_nerd]

...(unless you are combining that with an 120+W TDP CPU and a bunch of 3.5" HDDs, in which case you have a very oddly balanced setup).

Where I'm from we call those servers.

But they're usually fine with a <650w PSU because, hey, no GPU.

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

My first build was a FX-55 all brand new(bought the main board on flee bay) and I got an ULTRA PSU. Of course it wouldn't fire up, I learned right there that the power supply is the most important part of a computer. You wouldn't put a cheap pace maker in yer chest if you needed one right! Yes save money in some other part of the build, power supplies usually go on to other builds(in mine they do). So over kill is OK, I bought an EnerMax 1000K for that build. I think EnerMax replaced that unit twice no questions asked. My current units Corsair AX1200, EVGA G2 1300, Corsair TX 750, and 2 spare units I got used off flee bay they work great for testing hard ware.
One thing (trick) I have learned you can do everything correct get a great PSU, but sometimes for what ever reason the PSU and the mother board do not want to work together(a few EVGA boards).

 

[Torn Mind]

Capacitor quality, solder joint quality, silicon manufacturing quality, and proper circuit design are some of the most important factors in determining whether a PSU will last. The capacitors are usually the first to fail on a properly rated PSU. Improperly rated PSU will die out because their component(s) are subjected to more electrical energy than said component(s) can handle. There's also power delivery quality to deal with in many locales, even in the USA, but certainly in foreign countries like India, where electrical subsidies lead to inconsistent service. But hey, how can anyone know these things just by looking at the PSU. You need someone in the know to tell you these things.

People can't tell how a PSU will perform just by looking at it. They need to look for info regarding these things and be able to comprehend at least some of the basics. Well, a lot folks find electricity for electronics not their specialty, and a lot of the finer details are not in your face, so to speak, so buying a PSU is based on the little info readily available, which is just the brand and the info on the label.

The fact that the PSU is in a box and that most of the action is not observable leaves most people, understandably, ignorant about them. Indeed, even knowing a PSU is in a computer is something that is not known among non-DIYers and computer techies.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Actually that's a big problem a lot of PSUs can't actually deliver what they're rated for. To me, this should be illegal. It's false advertising. I'm sure they have some ifs and butts as to what makes it ok. It still should not be ok.

I imagine if someone had lot of time on their hands they could open up a PSU and lookup the component datasheets to see if they're actually rated for what the PSU states it's rated for. For example the capacitors, diodes/bridge rectifiers, power transistors, transformer etc.

Probably find some nasty surprises.

 

[Yuriman]

My current system idles at ~35w and under Prime (AVX) + Furmark, draws about 190w. With a healthy overclock on both (~4.5 CPU) I'm getting closer to 260w total. At stock or with a mild OC and something like a 280x, I'd be at ~300w in a torture test. I just downgraded from a 680w PSU to a 380w, and my idle power consumption dropped by nearly half.

In my wife's Haswell i3 + 7850 system, a quality ~250w unit would have been more appropriate than the 380 that's in it.

 

[TemjinGold]

But but... now you don't have "enough headroom" "future proofing" and other assorted buzzwords!

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

When you get the opportunity to pick up a good 1kW modular PSU for $50, you do it, actual load be damned!
Plus my EX-1000 PSUs are collectibles now that BFG has gone t*ts up

 

[VirtualLarry]

When you get the opportunity to pick up a good 1kW modular PSU for $50, you do it, actual load be damned!
Plus my EX-1000 PSUs are collectibles now that BFG has gone t*ts up

LOL. I remember that hot deal.

I just replaced a friend's ENP-GH5150, whatever that Enhance 500W OEM jobby from geeks.com with the fixed 8-pin EPS12V connector was. Wouldn't turn back on, or took 30-40 seconds after pushing the power-on button after turning it off. Still using one of those in my server with 10 HDDs.

Anyways, my current rig has a G3258 @ 3.8, and a 7950 @ 800/1250 (stock), and the max I was pulling under DC load was around 232W, including 23-25W for the LCD monitor.

I'm using an EarthWatts 500W PSU.

Seems fine, except it's incompatible with my CyberPower UPS when it switches to battery.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Good memory (that deal was back in 2010 IIRC)
My fileservers are overspeced PSU-wise because I'm too lazy/cheap to get a controller with staggered drive spin-up

 

[Red Squirrel]

Video cards and CPUs use a crazy amount of power now days. My core i7 rig uses about 300-400w at the wall. Though that's when I had SLI, I switched to another card and never tested after that. Either way I could get away with like a 500w psu, instead of 1000w. Originally when I build the machine I thought the video card wattage rating was how much the card actually uses, because that would make sense, but it's some ball park figure they come up with to say you should have a PSU at least that big, not taking into account any of the other components you may have, such as if you're doing SLI. At the time I was doing SLI, so the card said 400w, I figured the two cards together would use 800w, so figured 1kw was what I needed as the cpu might use 150w or so and then 50w for all the misc stuff like the motherboard itself, ram, fans, hdd etc. In fact at the time I was even wondering if 1kw would be enough.

Recently built a core i3 based machine and using built on video for now. I've been told that should use under 100w. I have not tested it yet though. I ended up getting a 500w psu for that rig. I do plan to add a video card at some point though so I can try to do triple monitor.

My file server uses two redundant hot swap 1200w psus I think... It's whatever came with the case. 24 bays, and it does not do staggered spin up. It actually pulls less than 100w at the wall without drives, which surprised me. Figured Xeons were power hungry but out of all my machines they use the least power. Even my Atom automation control server uses about 75w without the control circuitry.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

I'd consider myself pretty balanced. I've got a 550w powering an overclocked i5 and 280x. Probably draw about 350-450w when gaming. I'd love to add another 280x for $150 but I'd need a new PSU too.