when you guys build a pc, how do you determine how many watts of psu you needed?

[Solodays]

do you gather all the watts of each component and add them all up to determine how much psu is really needed? if not, how?

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Solodays
do you gather all the watts of each component and add them all up to determine how much psu is really needed? if not, how?

1) use a recognized good-quality brand, not just anything that happened to come with a case.

2) when in doubt, go big. AnandTech's G80 tests show a dual-8800GTX rig pulls about 520W under load, and they used a 1000W PSU to actually run it. That could be overkill, but with some expensive stuff at stake (not to mention what your data is worth), why mess around with "just enough" when you can get the "towing package" for a little more money and be sure And if the next-gen cards need even more power, you have some available.


Just my 2¢ worth If you need more particular recommendations, post the intended specs with all drives and whether you'd ever go to dual video cards down the road.

 

[mfas]

Try this one: http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp

This might give you a clue if you know what parts you will be putting together.

 

[Solodays]

so how do you guys know how many waatts of psu you needed when building a pc?

 

[tommytran]

Do the math.