PC hardware: Power supplies for PCs: How much power is enough & what brands are best?
- 10/16/09 3:27 PM
Power supplies for PCs: How much power is enough & what brands are best?
by Lee Koo (ADMIN) - 10/16/09 3:27 PM
Question:
Power supplies for PCs: How much power is enough and what brands are reliable?
I have a technical question. I have a home PC that I built. It is an Intel P4 3GHz with 1GB of RAM. The trouble I am having is with power supplies. I have been through two PSU's already and ready to install the third one in two years. I have been through a 600-watt and now this 750-watt. The ratings on these seem to act like either of these should have been enough. I do have some extras on my system like a Webcam and surround sound, but are these things big eaters of power? Is there any way to be accurate as to what you do need for power and then what company builds the best power supply? I am also thinking of upgrading my PC, so is it a good idea to get the supply for the next PC or for the one I have now as both may have different requirements. Any guidance, advice would be very helpful. Thank you.
--Submitted by Bill G.
Here are some featured member answers to get you started, but please read all the advice and suggestions that our
members have contributed to this question.
Power supplies ..... --Submitted by Watzman
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7591_102-0.html?messageID=3146112#3146112
750w PSU what are you running??? --Submitted by darrenforster99
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7591_102-0.html?messageID=3146555#3146555
Power supply problems --Submitted by PaulTercier
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7591_102-0.html?messageID=3146182#3146182
PC power Supplies --Submitted by Zouch
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7591_102-0.html?messageID=3146155#3146155
PSUs are getting fatter --Submitted by F_demon
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7591_102-0.html?messageID=3146115#3146115
I'm going to recommend to disregard the advice from others.. --Submitted by Forked_Tongue
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7591_102-0.html?messageID=3150565#3150565
If you have some advice or suggestions for Bill, please click on the reply link and post your answer. Please be as detailed as possible in your answer and if you are referencing information, please provide the link. Thanks!
Seasonic is the best
by diesengine - 10/9/09 4:01 PM In reply to: Power supplies for PCs: How much power is enough & what brands are best? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
In my opinion, I have built PCs and found the most reliable power supplies are by Seasonic. They have the highest energy efficiency, are quiet, and are made to last longer than all the others. For my use 300 Watt power supply is adequate as i am using a single core with integrated graphics. Even on some discreet graphics cards, you can get away with a 300 PSU, if you do not believe me, buy a kilowatt meter and see for yourself. The key is to to look for a 80 plus certified, preferably Seasonic, and measure the power draw. Generally the power draw does not exceed 100 watts for single core/ integrated graphics, and adding low or middle end graphics card should be under 200 watts which is sufficient for an 80 plus certified PSU.
It's your power, not the power supplies
by doctordawg - 10/9/09 4:02 PM In reply to: Power supplies for PCs: How much power is enough & what brands are best? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
There's no way a 3ghz Pentium is burning up a 750 watt power supply. Your wall power is the problem. Buy a quality surge protector, or better yet, invest in an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) and remove yourself from the terrors of grid surge.
As for quality power supplies, look for one made in Japan. It'll cost a bit more, but it'll save you money and data over time.
I can't believe it . . .
by Travelingman626 - 10/9/09 4:51 PM In reply to: It's your power, not the power supplies by doctordawgThere are folks putting in their personal opinions about products instead of trying to be neutral and objective. And as for gettind a PSU made in Japan because they're the best, sorry my friend, evidently you haven't been around in the "real world" enough! MOST of what used to be made in Japan, is now made in China, Taiwan, India or other "cheap labor-cost" countries! For a really good one (if I'm willing to shell out the dough), would probably come out of western Europe (small company, personally visited). I sometimes wonder as I read some of the posts! Oh well . . . .
It's your power, not the power supplies
by ntvinh986 - 11/3/09 1:00 AM In reply to: It's your power, not the power supplies by doctordawgHi all, I am a new member of forum. Would a newcomer be warmly welcome here? Good day you guys!!!
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Manufactureres, and rails
by krueskrewer - 10/9/09 4:08 PM In reply to: Power supplies for PCs: How much power is enough & what brands are best? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
My recommendation goes from personal experience with problems as well. I have had PSU's short out motherboards and fry CPUS as well as melt capacitors rendering board useless or some rails useless. you should spend some time looking into the difference between single and multiple rails on a processor. I will always go with a single rail for many reasons. First it is steady power, no need for extra components to split or divert power, it just goes where it is needed. That leads me into the next point. With multiple rails they divert an allotted non-selectable amount of power to each rail. So in some cases an amount of power that is allotted for one rail but not all is used gets wasted because another rail cannot use that power. PC Power & Cooling is my brand of choice. For a LOT more info and some insight on power supplies please read http://www.pcpower.com/technology/myths/ You can then make an educated decision on what PSU you are looking for. Other brands such as OCZ, CoolerMaster, and Antec have proven to be quite reliable as well but some features i would say are lacking on most brands that are included in PC power and cooling PSU's
Power supplies for PC's, etc., etc.
by Travelingman626 - 10/9/09 4:13 PM In reply to: Power supplies for PCs: How much power is enough & what brands are best? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
You only made a mention of PART of what you have, but not of ALL of what you have or want! And the first and foremost item above all, is your Motherboard; then your CPU; then your RAM (all of it); your Graphic-card(s); your DVD-ROM / RAM (Blu-Ray), etc. You HAVE TO take EVERYTHING into consideration (don't forget your fans), and to be on the safe side, add a minimumm of 15 % to everything, and you should be good to go. I use only ASUS Motherboards, and at their website, you can use their configurator (only works with ASUS boards), to see just what your power requirements should / might be!
I just think at the moment, that you're NOT taking EVERYTHING into consideration! Also, go with good reliable products for the really tough stuff; if you power fluctuations because you're using a cheap PSU, you might also be damaging other components of your system! Personally, Corsair makes GOOD memory, but PSU's??? Be quiet is primarily known for their PSU's, and so forth.
What?
by zerokewl - 10/19/09 4:50 AM In reply to: Power supplies for PC's, etc., etc. by Travelingman626Wait a second here, this is the same person saying to to use "cheap labor" country products, and yet you are specifically using an ASUS motherboard? I think you need to keep traveling,man in your mazda 626!
Power supplies .....
by Watzman - 10/9/09 4:14 PM In reply to: Power supplies for PCs: How much power is enough & what brands are best? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Most people are clueless when it comes to how much power they actually need; they need far LESS than they think that they do. There are very few (almost NO) systems that actually use more than about 350 watts, unless you get into extreme high-end gaming system with multiple video cards, etc.
There are a number of good online power supply calculators that will let you ESTIMATE the amount of power you need. DO NOT use the one at Newegg; they are selling power supplies, and it estimates high, in my view. A better one, in my opinion, is at http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
Alternatively, get yourself a "Kill-A-Watt" power consumption meter, from p3international, and MEASURE the amount of power you are ACTUALLY using. [Note: power supply ratings are based on the power supply OUTPUT. The Kill-A-Watt measures power supply INPUT. Most power supplies are between 70% and 85% efficient. An 80% efficient power supply capable of delivering an OUTPUT of 400 watts (it would be called a 400-watt supply) will itself consume 500 watts, as meaured on the Kill-A-Watt.] Do a search for "Kill-A-Watt" and you will find it. These things can be bought for $20 or less, although they are sometimes priced as high as $39.95.
Anyway back to your situation: I doubt that there is anything in the system that is "killing" the power supplies, and I believe that the power supplies are probably far LARGER than you need. So, bottom line, it's coincidence, or you are buying cheap, crappy power supplies.
A couple of things to note: Power supplies have a total power rating (e.g. it's a 400 watt power supply) AND they also have a separate rating for each output (each voltage). If you add up the ratings for each voltage, it will almost always exceed the rating of the power supply. You cannot exceed EITHER the rating for each voltage, OR the total rating for the supply [MANY power supplies also have a maxiumum rating for some pair or set (more than 2 but not all) of the outputs; if so, you cannot exceed that rating, either]. Also, many power supplies now "split" their +12 volt output into two (or even sometimes three) separate "rails". In this case, you cannot exceed the rating for any individual rail, or for any other output or combination of outputs, or for the total power supply consumption. Sizing a power supply is not as simple as one single number (e.g. "500 watts"), but, that said, there are VERY few typical, average, non-gaming or non-ultra-high-end computers that cannot be run (within all specs) from a 500 watt supply.
Also, FWIW, I'll take a 350 watt QUALITY power supply over a 500-watt "$20 wonder" every time. [BTW, a good, high quality power supply is going to cost at least $50 to $60 or so].
OCZ StealthXStream 400 Watt
by Ju1iet - 10/16/09 8:08 PM In reply to: Power supplies ..... by WatzmanI was cluless about PSUs as you'd said before when I was building my system last year. It has a Radeon HD3850 PCI-E graphics card. It's not a power hungry card but the manufacturer, HIS advises to use a minimum 450 Watt PSU for one card and 550 Watt for CrossFire configuration. I was afraid when I read these under System Requirements on the box. Because I bought a microATX case, AOpen G326 that had a built-in 300 Watt (350 Watt peak) PSU. So, I chose a power efficient CPU that was a Brisbane Athlon 5400 in order to compansate the video card. It has a 65 Watt TDP. In fact I wanted to buy 4850e or 5050e. They are more power efficient AMD CPUs. (45 Watt TDP) But also more expensive and I couldn't find any of them in Turkey. Anyway I built the system and it has been working correctly since then.
In short a real 350 Watt PSU is enough for most of the end users. I'm now using OCZ StealthXStream 400 Watt. I'm glad to have it. You can buy it for 55 bucks. It's very quiet, efficient (%83) and cheap. The only absence is the modular design that high wattage PSUs have. The cables are tidy though. They are individually wrapped in plastic shields. Also, look at HighPower and PCPower&Cooling models.
OCZ StealthXStream 400 Watt
by NBK_Viper - 10/16/09 8:49 PM In reply to: OCZ StealthXStream 400 Watt by Ju1ietYou can't even run a PCIe 7600GT card with that, it may have been great in the AGP days but any computer gamer worthy would have nothing less than 700 Watt minimum. The Dell Dimension's we have at work have 500 Watt Certified PSU's in them, and they are nothing more than Microsoft Office workhorses or used with Autocad. You can never have enough power ever, period end of statement.
say what
by larryandcathie - 10/16/09 9:50 PM In reply to: OCZ StealthXStream 400 Watt by NBK_ViperI am running a phenom 3550 with 4 gigs of ram 2 harddrives a dvd R/W drive Xfi extreme Music sound card a fire-wire card a Diamond hd3650 video card with 1 gig of video ram a couple of usb hubs with various USB items plugged in all on a Sparkle 400 watt Power supply it has run great for over a year . It really bugs me to see the amount of snake oil being sold to people .
I agree
by qcbiker - 10/17/09 4:55 AM In reply to: say what by larryandcathieI think people way over estimate what they need. I've got a 550w Antec. My systm has a Core 2 Duo E8500, Radeon HD3870, X-Fi Extreme Gamer, BlueRay/DVD-RW, 4x1GB DDR2-1066 RAM, 3 SATA hard drives, TV tuner card, 3 120mm fans, and my scanner is powered by the USB port. Sitting at idle it draws 186 watts, at full load...276 watts.
Snake Oil
by NBK_Viper - 10/18/09 7:54 PM In reply to: say what by larryandcathieNo snake oil. I am running a Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (not overclocked), Dual Lite-On DVDR/RW drives (SATA2), Maxtor 500GB SATA2 HDD, Creative Labs X-Fi Fatality Championship Edition PCI (Not PCIe), 4GB DDR2 PC6400 Corsair XMS2 Ram, eVGA GeForce 9800GTX SSC (512MB DDR3). Its all 3yrs old. My Cooler Master 500Watt PSU could barely run it. So I bought a Spire 650Watt PSU, it could barely run it (But it runs my kids computer just fine.). I ended up buying a Corsair TX850 True Power PSU just to make sure I had enough power that it didn't choke on itself. Before you can call someone a snake oil salesman try building your own computer and leave the HP @ Best Buy. You have no idea what upgrading is because when your machine gets tired in a year and you can't use all the latest software you'll go buy a new computer and call it the greatest machine ever because you don't know the difference. Call me when you get out of Graphics Design school, get you Microsoft certification or a computer technology degree.
could barely run it.?
by larryandcathie - 10/18/09 11:23 PM In reply to: Snake Oil by NBK_Viperjust curious as to your definition of just barely runs it is? as for running ?
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