Looking for power supply recommendation.

[Getback]

I will be getting another PS soon. I think the current one has power fluctuations that cause my stick to lose calibrations.

[Skuzzy]

I will be getting another PS soon. I think the current one has power fluctuations that cause my stick to lose calibrations.

If you are running Windows 7 64 bit, there is a bug in the USB support which causes constant USB bus resets when the power level on the USB bus drops low.  Most of the time it is remedied by using an externally powered USB hub.

If this is the issue your computer is having, a new power supply will not fix the problem.  The basic problem is the USB bus chip and how much current it can sink/deliver before overloading.

If I was using Windows 7 64 bit, I would not bother using the computer USB ports except to connect an externally powered USB hub as you cannot know when you get the error.  There is no event log for it.

In all other versions of Microsoft operating systems the USB bus driver does not make any attempt to bring the bus back up, if the load does not change on the bus to remedy the situation and/or it continues to run even when power is low.

[SilverZ06]

a little late to the party but this is the power supply I use and i has lasted over a year and counting. It also modular to boot. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153106&Tpk=black%20widow

[Getback]

If you are running Windows 7 64 bit, there is a bug in the USB support which causes constant USB bus resets when the power level on the USB bus drops low.  Most of the time it is remedied by using an externally powered USB hub.

If this is the issue your computer is having, a new power supply will not fix the problem.  The basic problem is the USB bus chip and how much current it can sink/deliver before overloading.

If I was using Windows 7 64 bit, I would not bother using the computer USB ports except to connect an externally powered USB hub as you cannot know when you get the error.  There is no event log for it.

In all other versions of Microsoft operating systems the USB bus driver does not make any attempt to bring the bus back up, if the load does not change on the bus to remedy the situation and/or it continues to run even when power is low.

It's 64 bit and I use a externally powered USB hub. Just taking a shot at what the potential problem could be. Maybe I need a different hub.

Thanks for the input!

[Chalenge]

It's 64 bit and I use a externally powered USB hub. Just taking a shot at what the potential problem could be. Maybe I need a different hub.

Thanks for the input!

I have a multi-card reader on the front panel that unfortunately runs through the USB bus. If I forget and leave a card plugged in it can cause all manor of havoc with the recognized USB devices including 'losing' my joysticks.

[W7LPNRICK]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151109&Tpk=seasonic%20x1250 I went too small and a poor choice & almost lost my whole build. I had the $$ so went big...If I don't use it all, so what? Thanks for the advice skuzzy. 

[Skuzzy]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151109&Tpk=seasonic%20x1250 I went too small and a poor choice & almost lost my whole build. I had the $$ so went big...If I don't use it all, so what? Thanks for the advice skuzzy. 

Uhmmm, did you read this?

Too big of a power supply can work against you, depending on the supply design.  Switcher power supplies work best when they are under about 80% load.  Less than that and you start getting more ripple in the supplied voltage which can actually cause components to run hotter than they would normally run.  Hard drives make a little more noise, fans are not as quiet and so on.

Do not forget that at power up time there is a surge the power supply has to deal with.  Most quality supplies can actually output higher than they are rated for X number of milliseconds which normally will cover the start up surge.  This is one area cheap supplies forego.

[Masherbrum]

Uhmmm, did you read this?

"I'll take no for $1000 Alex."     

[W7LPNRICK]

  oops!    I have no idea what drain I'm putting on it.  Bigger is not always better...I run overclocked most of the time unless surfin'. Hope that helps... I ain't in wonderland anymore Alice..

[TDeacon]

<snip>
Too big of a power supply can work against you, depending on the supply design.  Switcher power supplies work best when they are under about 80% load.  Less than that and you start getting more ripple in the supplied voltage which can actually cause components to run hotter than they would normally run.  Hard drives make a little more noise, fans are not as quiet and so on.
<snip>

As you say, this seems to depend on the PSU.  Look at this table for this expensive Seasonic unit.  If I am reading it correctly, the least amount of ripple is at 40% load:  http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Seasonic/P1000/8.html  

MH

[Skuzzy]

As you say, this seems to depend on the PSU.  Look at this table for this expensive Seasonic unit.  If I am reading it correctly, the least amount of ripple is at 40% load:   http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Seasonic/P1000/8.html  

MH

I did not bother reading or looking at the article as ripple levels, based on load, absolutely depend on the power supply design.  The biggest influence is going to be passive versus active voltage control.

It would not be too surprising to see those large wattage power supplies being quieter at less loads, given the fact computers are using less and less power with each generation.  Even video cards are ramping down on power requirements, per cycle.

The down side of a light load not causing any ripple usually indicates higher loads will induce even more ripple than a design which is optimized for 80% loads.

It is prohibitively expensive to design a power supply which has very little ripple, across all loads.  It would require both passive and active control circuitry with multiple paths for each voltage rail, based on loads.  It would easily double the cost of any given size power supply.

[W7LPNRICK]

This is my build with the DxDiag. Remember I had the Rosewill CAPSTONE Series CAPSTONE-650 650W Continuous @ 50°C, 80 PLUS GOLD Certified...
fail on me & was afraid I'd lost more. Can you see potential problems? After your post this morning I felt more safe about the power supply. What do you think?


SeaSonic X-1250 1250W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply

MSI P67A-G45 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard


ENERMAX FULMO Advance ECA892AG-BL Black SGCC 0.7mm ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support ...

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-

Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics ...


------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 8/23/2012, 11:53:39
       Machine name: HOME
   Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.120503-2030)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: MSI
       System Model: MS-7673
               BIOS: BIOS Date: 04/14/11 10:01:35 Ver: 04.06.04
          Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.1GHz
             Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 8162MB RAM
          Page File: 1787MB used, 14535MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
    DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
   User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
 System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
    DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
     DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 64bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
      Display Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 3: No problems found.
          Input Tab: No problems found.
 Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti
       Manufacturer: NVIDIA
          Chip type: GeForce GTX 550 Ti
           DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
         Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1244&SUBSYS_15563842&REV_A1
     Display Memory: 4049 MB
   Dedicated Memory: 977 MB
      Shared Memory: 3072 MB
       Current Mode: 1600 x 900 (32 bit) (60Hz)
       Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
      Monitor Model: HP 2009
         Monitor Id: HWP2828
        Native Mode: 1600 x 900(p) (60.000Hz)
        Output Type: DVI
        Driver Name: nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um
Driver File Version: 8.17.0013.0142 (English)
     Driver Version: 8.17.13.142
        DDI Version: 11
       Driver Model: WDDM 1.1
  Driver Attributes: Final Retail
   Driver Date/Size: 5/15/2012 03:48:00, 18044224 bytes
        WHQL Logo'd: Yes
    WHQL Date Stamp:
  Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-5104-11CF-7C5B-5B351FC2C535}
          Vendor ID: 0x10DE
          Device ID: 0x1244
          SubSys ID: 0x15563842
        Revision ID: 0x00A1
 Driver Strong Name: oem9.inf:NVIDIA_SetA_Devices.NTamd64.6 .1:Section015:8.17.13.142:pci\ven_10de&dev_1244
     Rank Of Driver: 00E62001
        Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_C ModeVC1_C ModeWMV9_C



---------------
EVR Power Information
---------------
Current Setting: {5C67A112-A4C9-483F-B4A7-1D473BECAFDC} (Quality)
  Quality Flags: 2576
    Enabled:
    Force throttling
    Allow half deinterlace
    Allow scaling
    Decode Power Usage: 100
  Balanced Flags: 1424
    Enabled:
    Force throttling
    Allow batching
    Force half deinterlace
    Force scaling
    Decode Power Usage: 50
  PowerFlags: 1424
    Enabled:
    Force throttling
    Allow batching
    Force half deinterlace
    Force scaling
    Decode Power Usage: 0

[Skuzzy]

You may never have any issues.  Again it is dependent on the supply design.  I would have to put the oscilloscope to it in order to provide a quantitative answer.

It is just better to use a power supply closer to what you need, than to go overboard.

You are far better off with the Seasonic supply than anything Rosewill would have to offer.