Wattage Overkill

[Yellowbeard]

I have a basic rule of thumb that is pseudo-scientific in nature regarding PSU recommendations. IMO, the systems' max power draw should equal roughly 65% of the max power output of the PSU to be used. 65% power draw of max is a good spot to hit. It allows for good efficiency, it's not too high, not too low, not too hot, etc. It's the Baby Bear's porridge for Goldilocks.

So, for this topic we started with 500w. Buy a 750w or so PSU and you should be good to go.

 

[Michielhaisma]

It's totally up to what you want to do with it.. myself i have a 25 euro PSU 380W, and a normal rig.. (1 vid card, 1 high end cpu and 1 HDD) it's running 24/7 on OC and i never had 1 single problem concerning PSU.. and if it breaks down by a year.. i just get a new one. and by the time of 2-3-4 years my computer is too much outdated and needs replacement. so thats 50 euros spend... i know alot of people who spend over 100 euros on a PSU and dont do anything special with it (extreme OC, multiple vid cards or RAIDs).. so my call is:
normal rig: cheap cpu, and spend your dollars on a faster graphics card or disk space or whatever
high-end-rig: get a high end PSU
whatever you do, do not buy a 800W PSU for 60 euro's if you are going to use 700W.. just make sure U have 100-200-300 W spare (depending on how much u use)

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: Michielhaisma
It's totally up to what you want to do with it.. myself i have a 25 euro PSU 380W, and a normal rig.. (1 vid card, 1 high end cpu and 1 HDD) it's running 24/7 on OC and i never had 1 single problem concerning PSU.. and if it breaks down by a year.. i just get a new one. and by the time of 2-3-4 years my computer is too much outdated and needs replacement. so thats 50 euros spend... i know alot of people who spend over 100 euros on a PSU and dont do anything special with it (extreme OC, multiple vid cards or RAIDs).. so my call is:
normal rig: cheap cpu, and spend your dollars on a faster graphics card or disk space or whatever
high-end-rig: get a high end PSU
whatever you do, do not buy a 800W PSU for 60 euro's if you are going to use 700W.. just make sure U have 100-200-300 W spare (depending on how much u use)

Thats nice that you feel safe using cheap PSU`s.
Yet there are a lot of people who when there cheap PSU dies and goes to PSU heaven also lose a motherboard or memory or a harddrive besides the PSU!!

So even though you make a good case for purchasing cheap PSU`s the bottom line is it`s better to get a descent quality PSU than a cheap PSU!!

 

[Yellowbeard]

Thats nice that you feel safe using cheap PSU`s. Yet there are a lot of people who when there cheap PSU dies and goes to PSU heaven also lose a motherboard or memory or a harddrive besides the PSU!! So even though you make a good case for purchasing cheap PSU`s the bottom line is it`s better to get a descent quality PSU than a cheap PSU!!

I agree 100%. My last cheap PSU was one of the original Ultra PSUs that came with a cheap case bundle. It died and took an A8V MOBO with it. Also, if you intend to any OCing at all, cheap PSUs suck for stability. Even in a budget build it is best IMO to buy a "decent" PSU and not a cheepie.