Which power supply/ies do you suggest? Help!

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Which power supply/ies do you suggest? Help!

by thecoolman3060 Oct 3, 2012 12:28AM PDT

I am looking forward to building my own gaming & productivity PC, however I am having trouble with which power supply should I use for it.

Here is the list of the other components I want to put in my PC (from Newegg):

MSI B75A-G43 LGA 1155 Intel B75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

MSI N660 Ti PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K

Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 999002

OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-35SAT3-120G 3.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Seagate Barracuda ST3000DM001 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

LITE-ON 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner with 3D Playback iHBS212-08 LightScribe Support

TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 Wireless N Dual Band Adapter IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n PCI Express x1 Up to 450Mbps Wireless Data Rates Support 64/128 bit WEP, WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK, 802.1x

EVERCOOL HD-F117 Aluminum HDD Cooling Device

Now here are the Power Suppies:

XCLIO GREATPOWER X14S4P3 500W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Antec TruePower New TP-750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply

Which one of these Power Supplies do you guys suggest?

If neither, then here are my expectations:

I don't want my PC to take up a lot of power (energy efficency and the lowest possible wattage (minimum of 450 W))

My budget range for a power supply is $50 - $200 (< $150 will be great).

Your suggested power supply at least has to come from Newegg (if possible).

Oh yes, and here is the PC case (also from Newegg):

COOLER MASTER Storm Sniper SGC-6000-KXN1-GP Black Steel, ABS Plastic, Mesh bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Thanks

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So...

by thecoolman3060 Oct 3, 2012 1:10AM PDT

So what is your conclusion? The second PSU I posted?

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No link, no specs.

by r. proffitt Forum moderator Oct 3, 2012 1:19AM PDT

I would never pick a PSU given the specs above. I will advise you get a PSU with 2x (double) the Watts capability with a single rail unless you are comfortable with checking the Amperes of your devices and knowing there is 2x the available power on all rails.

Bob

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Thanks!

by thecoolman3060 Oct 3, 2012 1:23AM PDT

I double-checked the specs on the 2nd PSU (Antec 750 W) I posted and it's promising. Thanks for your insight. If I misunderstood anything, please let me know.

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Also...

by thecoolman3060 Oct 3, 2012 1:19AM PDT

Did you mean that PSUs are flexible in terms of the watts usage?

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Maybe you were thinking....

by r. proffitt Forum moderator Oct 3, 2012 1:29AM PDT

I'm guessing here you thought a 750 Watt PSU would consume 750 Watts regardless of the PC's needs.

I can see why folk might think that. When you buy a light bulb, a 100 Watt bulb consumes about 100 Watts.

Power supplies are not rated like that but are rated by capability. As the PC actually pulls quite a bit less Watts the only thing the extra CAPABILITY does is to keep the machine from failing if the PC actually needs a few more Watts or if you fit a small CAPABILITY PSU and stress the PSU.

If there is a lesson to be learned, it's that you don't want to stress the PSU.
Bob

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Thanks.

by thecoolman3060 Oct 3, 2012 1:43AM PDT

You know you could of just said a simple answer like "yes, PSUs are flexible, because the PC only pulls less watts then what's said on the PSU".

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I've tried that short answer before.

by r. proffitt Forum moderator Oct 3, 2012 3:43AM PDT

And then folk tell me I was being short with them. Hard to find the happy medium.
Bob

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PSUs use the power needed to run the system components up

by VAPCMD Oct 3, 2012 9:43AM PDT

to the limits of the PSU. If your system components use 400 watts of a 400 or 450 watts PSU, you're really pushing the PSU. You need some reserve wattage over the system component requirements including the motherboard, CPU, Video, GPU, RAM, fans, etc.,) and the better the PSU, the more efficient it usually is.

An inexpensive 600 W PSU may draw 500 watts to create the 320 watts of power needed by the system. A more efficient PSU, might draw only 400 at 80% efficiency to deliver to deliver the 320 watts. A better PSU usually costs more but could easily make up for it in power used on your electric bill.

If you're wondering what to get ....I'd head over to Newegg.com to see what's available at what price and what the buyers think of them. My money has gone to PSUs made by Corsair, PCPower and Cooling, Seasonic, etc., Newegg also has a PSU calculator that can help give you a sense of what power you might need to run your system.

Let us know how it works out.

PS....Why are you getting 12GBs RAM.....3 DIMMs x 4GBs ? Your system is optimized to run best with RAM in pairs...in your case you probably want to get 2 DIMMs or 4 DIMMs for a total of 8 or 16GBs.

VAPCMD

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r. proffitt · Accepted Answer · Oct 3, 2012 1:02AM PDT

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You words concern me.

by r. proffitt Forum moderator Oct 3, 2012 1:02AM PDT

You wrote "I don't want my PC to take up a lot of power (energy efficency and the lowest possible wattage (minimum of 450 W))"

The size of the PSU does not set the consumption of the PC. I can fit a 450 or 1000 Watt PSU and the PC should draw about the same Watts. In fact think about this next issue.

-> Let's say your PC is about 400 Watts so you fit a 450 Watt PSU. That's like taking your car to the Indy track and driving it at 120 MPH. It won't last long.

That's why we usually fit a PSU with double the Watts needed. That way we not not have spare power but it's not stressed.
Bob

Which power supply/ies do you suggest? Help!

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