Blogs Does anyone really need a 1Kw PSU?

Fixed, sorry about that!

 

Most tend to be oversized yes. Running the PSU with too little load isn't great for efficiency, right?
I'd guess 600-650 watts would do for that system (to get down from 90+% load to 80 ish)

 

50% load is ideal. Quad SLi GTX480 with a heavily OC'd 980X can draw over 1.5KW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V13ZGIZgYY

 

I tend to add on about 30% for a bit of head room based on my components maximum possible power draw and have found this a good rule of thumb.

For the system in this article I would have aimed for a PSU around 750w and a high efficiency branded model.

I have used cheap no-name brands before when things were tight and though some held their own, inevitably when things got hot and they had been in constant use for a couple of years they began to fail and cause system instability.

 

...quad SLI...I rest my case

 

I used to believe 650W and up was overkill until my 500W coolermaster fried by powering 6 HDDs and the rest of my sig bellow

Now there is no way I will risk my rig again. Over power cheesecake

 

I recently (ok, christmas) upgraded from an old EuroCASE 500W PSU (yeah, I didn't think so either ) to a Corsair VX550. And I'm aware it's overkill for a single 4850 + an OC'ed Q6600 (I mean, 3.2 GHz isn't much of a clock), with some fans and a couple of hard drives. I think I have enough headroom for even the beefiest ATI card with the PSU, so I see no reason to go higher than that in any configuration I might think of

 

I'm running a 600W OCZ StealthXStream with a stock Q6600 and a 9600GT.

Mostly because it was cheap (sales), and I won't need to upgrade my PSU for a long time, freeing up cash for other more important hardware. ;D

 

I'm using the PC + PSU in my sig purely because when I bought it I thought I was going to Xfire the 4850 (though I still might)

 

Please don't make statements like "50% is ideal" without proof and/or without specifying the PSU it's optimal for. Comments like that just don't serve any purpose other than lowering the general level of comments.

I'm running HD4890 and overclocked Q9450 with a couple of hard drive from a 400 W power supply (passively cooled, mind you) and it's just fine. I think people still get confused by the power consumption measured from the wall, especially when those include the whole setup and they've been reading a graphic card review. Yes, it's always clearly stated, but I just think nothing else explains why just about every newer geek over-estimates the power consumptions.

 

Only Fermi's and dual gpu cards (not SLI or Crossfire) would need over 800W PSU. Single-cards from the 5870 down would only need at max 850W PSU in Crossfire or SLI arrangement. Kilowatt PSU's are for rich enthusiasts, I have a friend of mine that wanted to buy the Koolance 1600W watercooled PSU and besidee it's already prohibitly expensive with p&p from USA to Portugal it would be non-sense. If you want such a thing, by 2 800W psu's and join them together, it's cheaper and safer

 

so for quad sli

you need a 3kw psu for 50% is ideal

LOL LOL LOL

your a noob cyberpower

as a 3kw psu doesnt even exist.

1 in a billion people probably have quad sli 480 gtx

now back to real world

were the avr build is still in the £400-600 bracket

now tell me you need your 1kw psu.

i run my current pc on a 750 seasonic psu

i980 (4ghz water cooled overclock) + 5870 1 ssd 2 * 1tb drives few case fans

at the wall it uses 500 watts

if i added in a 2nd 5870 i could still run it of the same psu

system is nearly silent in use

 

well the PSU calculator worked out that I need 940W for my system:

i5 750 at 4.5ghz
4 sticks DDR3 2000
24 phase high end mobo
GTX480 (which i'll be over volting and overclocking - so thats not included)
4 7200rpm drives
11 x 120mm fans, 1 x 250mm in my case atm
fan controller 30w per channel and a 18w DDC2 pump

right now i'm running a 650w corsair with a GTX260... so lets see when i get my gtx480 what happens...

I'm probably gonna need a 850w to be safe...

 

It's not really all about wattage anyway, never has been.

Your either incredibly stupid or a really not that amusing "funny guy", which in itself makes you a fool.

 

HELLO!

No I don't. I need at least a 1100W PSU .

 

Yes some do, most don't.
Main question - why - not 2 psu's

 

I once asked the members of my clan to take pictures of their PC and the surrounding area.

Exactly 2, out of 57 had their pc set up in an area with adequate flow of air.

Nothing I say will change anyone's mind, if you want to buy a PSU every year or two for your new PC, go for it. I have a 1250 that is in its 2nd computer.
The online calculators for wattage that I have seen put me above the anemic PSU BT constantly recommends.
I do find it interesting that here we have someone saying that running at 50%-75% is best, which would make all your recommendations for PSUs void.

I simply want my Gaming experience to be optimum, my PSU is pretty much the highest watt PSU one can buy (that is real high quality).
I build my computers like I play my Games, aim to be the best and fix it if I am not.
I sincerely hope that your PSU does not burn out when you are running a 650 watt PSU with high end procs and gpus. I have seen PSUs fail it is not pretty. If you insist on running a PSU at close to 100% please spend the money on a fire extinguisher, oh wait, that money could have be rolled into a better PSU.

Either way, no ZOMGS from me, you can make your own choices, and live (hopefully) with the consequences.

Yours in Quantum Singularity Powered Plasma,
Star*Dagger


P.S. FFS stop using XP, lol

 

Probably already said but ya you need a 1kw for running those poorly designed nVidia fermi cards.

 

I run a 1.2KW Akasa. On a system that ran happily on a 500W. Why? Because at £60, I couldn't pass it up. Does it need it? Not by a long shot. But, given that I test all sorts of kit for all sorts of people, then it's nice to have it, should I need it.

I also have plans to build a nice little 48 core system, which should stress it a little more ;-)

 

You tend to get less heat and more life out of a system if you use a slightly more powerful supply than you actually need. Ultimately it's all about the Wattage/Amperage on the rails though, and not what wattage the supply is. I certainly don't need a 1KW supply and I doubt most people who have one need it either.