Power question

[Serenity]

Question for you folks.

I'm currently running a 600W power supply. I get this "feeling" that it's not really enough, but I'm not seeing any signs of it i.e. all of my lights and fans work just fine, nothing seems to be out of place. However, I was wondering if there was a program I could run to monitor how much power my computer as a whole is drawing vs how much is actually being supplied by the PSU (As I have heard that they don't always put out the full rated power).

Also, when the time comes for an upgrade, this is the PSU I'm looking at. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182239

Admittedly, I picked this one for the pretty-pretty-lights. (I have a thing for lights...) The reviews seem mostly positive, but I'm still fairly new to the whole legitimate gaming computer thing, so I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be throwing away money.

[Bino]

Based on posts in this forum, I only buy Seasonic...

http://kenshelby.us/docs/pc-parts.htm

YMMV   

[ebfd11]

Question for you folks.

I'm currently running a 600W power supply. I get this "feeling" that it's not really enough, but I'm not seeing any signs of it i.e. all of my lights and fans work just fine, nothing seems to be out of place. However, I was wondering if there was a program I could run to monitor how much power my computer as a whole is drawing vs how much is actually being supplied by the PSU (As I have heard that they don't always put out the full rated power).

Also, when the time comes for an upgrade, this is the PSU I'm looking at. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182239

Admittedly, I picked this one for the pretty-pretty-lights. (I have a thing for lights...) The reviews seem mostly positive, but I'm still fairly new to the whole legitimate gaming computer thing, so I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be throwing away money.

I have the 1300 watt version of that PSU for the last 2 years and have had no problem whatsoever.. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182063 So for 30 dollars more you can get 300 wats more for those purdy lights you will be installing..LOL

The best part of that PSU ... you use only what you want for the cables and your case is not cluttered.

LawnDart

[Serenity]

I have the 1300 watt version of that PSU for the last 2 years and have had no problem whatsoever.. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182063 So for 30 dollars more you can get 300 wats more for those purdy lights you will be installing..LOL

The best part of that PSU ... you use only what you want for the cables and your case is not cluttered.

LawnDart

Would it be worth going higher? I've already got a bunch of case and fan lights running on a 600W PSU. Would I NEED 1300?

[oboe]

One thing you you can do is enter your components into the system build section of the pcpartpicker website.  It'll calculate the power draw of your components, I suppose under some typical or average load.  At least it would give you an idea of what your power requirements are.

I would think if your system drew more power than your PSU could provide comfortably, you'd be noticing errors or shut downs, your PSU would be excessively hot and maybe even blow its fuse.

Case fans and lights don't draw much power compared to the CPU and GPU.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Would it be worth going higher? I've already got a bunch of case and fan lights running on a 600W PSU. Would I NEED 1300?

Case lights and fans take maybe 30 watts total lol. If you run a single display card a 600W quality PSU is enough. It's not even good to have too big a PSU you want to run your PSU at around 50-60% load.

[Serenity]

Thanks for the input guys! I haven't seen any errors, I just see so many recommendations for bigger PSUs on (what I believe are) comparable computers to mine, so I was concerned.

One thing you you can do is enter your components into the system build section of the pcpartpicker website.  It'll calculate the power draw of your components, I suppose under some typical or average load.  At least it would give you an idea of what your power requirements are.

I would think if your system drew more power than your PSU could provide comfortably, you'd be noticing errors or shut downs, your PSU would be excessively hot and maybe even blow its fuse.

Case fans and lights don't draw much power compared to the CPU and GPU.

Fantastic! I'll give this a go!

[SilverZ06]

If it ain't broke don't fix it 

[guncrasher]

think it's been posted here that either not enough or too much power is not really good for your system.  1000 power supply was kindda needed a few years back but now from video cards to cpu's they're requiring less and less power to run.


semp

[SirNuke]

600W is all you need for a single CPU system, and yes seasonic

[100Coogn]

Power you say...



Coogan

[Bizman]

This one is a good power supply calculator since it knows all components from the past till today: http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp. Pcpartpicker is a good site but they only show components currently available.

A little headroom is always good to have, but I recommend considering a couple of things:
First, current components use much less power than their previous generations. Also the efficiency of the power supplies has improved, they produce more power instead of heat.
Second, if your power supply is too powerful, it may cause all kinds of problems. Remember the law of conservation of energy! Although there are mechanisms to adjust both intake and output, power supplies aren't intelligent devices. It's like with shoes: A couple of sizes bigger is good if you have to stand all day, but you don't need clown shoes unless you're Bigfoot.

As SirNuke said, a good quality 600W is all you need for a single GPU system (typo corrected).

[Serenity]

Thanks for the input guys. Even if I went up to  card like a 970, 600W would have me covered?

[Bizman]

Thanks for the input guys. Even if I went up to  card like a 970, 600W would have me covered?

Yes, according to geforce.com the required minimum for a 970 is 500W.

As has been previously told, quality matters. Putting a sticker on a cheap PSU saying "Ultra Power, Ultimate Efficiency" doesn't cost more than a cent but it can fry your computer. By the way, do you know the quality of your current PSU?

[Skyyr]

Thanks for the input guys. Even if I went up to  card like a 970, 600W would have me covered?

If it's a quality PSU less than five years old, probably. If it's a no-name/budget PSU, or older than five years, it's iffy. This assumes everything else you have is decently power hungry. If it's not, then you're probably good to go.