Building a PC, Thoughts about this Specs

[vivster]

cpg716 said:

vivster said:

Unless you never do crossfire and sit on wasted efficiency throughout the PC's life. A 700+W PSU will use an unnecessary amount of power on idle systems.

And if OP one day decides to do CF there will be money for a PSU upgrade as well. Though I don't know anyone who would suggest CF on then outdated midlevel GPUs.

Umm. No..  A PSU does NOT use more power the higher wattage you go...  it USES what is USES..   A 1000W does NOT use more power then a 500W .. Unless the parts of the computer are consuming it..    

Also..  It is NOT just about Crossfire..  even PCWORLD recommends this:

"Most power supplies hit their peak efficiency levels with loads in the range of 40 to 80 percent. Building to about 50 to 60 percent of a PSU's capacity is advisable to achieve maximum efficiency and yet leave room for future expansion."   

So again..   a TDP (total design power) of 350W.. it is RECOMMENDED by pretty much most PC builders that you do 700W or more..

The 450W I suggested aren't TDP but the measured actual power consumption of the whole system. Which means the system will actually draw even less from the PSU due to efficiency rate.

And yes, higher power PSUs are very inefficient with idle loads which are usually below 20% or even 10%. At this point the efficiency plummits down to levels of just about 60%.

A 1000W PSU will always draw more power from the socket at idle than a 500W PSU. And both will draw about the same at 450W load.

Add to that the fact that games won't run at the highest power at all times, especially if you lock the FPS. Which means while the load is going down to 300W the 500W PSU will be at peak efficiency while the 1000W PSU will fall a good way below that. Hence drawing yet again more power from the socket than a smaller PSU.