Raistline said:
I would like to make a minor correction for a statement made earlier, It was made a few pages back.
To the person that suggested a 400W PSU for a 4770k paired with a GTX 980, this is a very bad idea.
For a gaming machine (especially if you plan to overlcock anything) you should always buy a PSU that is rated at least %20 higher than the actual system draw, even if you have a Platinum rated PSU. The reasoning behind this is that if you buy a PSU that is too closely rated to your actual draw the PSU will be working at full capacity at nearly all times of operation. This will cause an early failure of your PSU, random reboots, BSOD's during power spikes among other PSU related issues.
If you get a PSU that is rated at lest 20% higher than actual draw on your system it will not run as hot, will last longer and even after a few years when it is no longer able to run at maximum efficiency it will still be able to power your system without the above motioned issues.
A 4770K (or comparable CPU), with 2 drives (any combo of SDD, HDD, and ODD), and a GTX 980 should have at least a 550W Silver rated PSU for the best stability over the long term. (this assumes a typical system with 3+ fans and 2-4 USB devices connected at all times)
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Seconded, ideally you want to be aiming for load usage of 75-85% of the maximum capacity of the PSU, depending on the rating (gold, silver, etc), not only are you less likely to have a meltdown, but it's also the sweet spot for maximum efficiency.
If you are adding up the power consumption of the various parts, and, for example, getting a figure like 443 watts, you should be buying a 550W or 600W psu, NOT a 450W psu.
