IF (and I only mean if) we were to do PSU test next month...

What's the general consensus on sweetpoint re wattage at the minute?

We're bickering in a very Top Gear way with me possibly being a bit James May and sensible whilst my colleagues are screaming POWER!!!

What do you guys reckon?

That's IF we decide to do it of course...

 

Good article, wonder where I can read more of your stuff

I was thinking more 'do people want a low, mid or high end round-up'

We can't cover the entire range yet but we want to start reviewing PSUs again so I guess I'm wondering what are people's next upgrade (or possibly down-grade?) plans?

 

I know that I may be a minority view here but the thing that bugs me no end is reading reviews of high end parts that I have real way of affording. Sure they are all very nice and great for the hardcore enthusiast, but I would like to see a good mix of items at a good mix of price points, almost like a budget, better, best for under 500w, 500 - 750w, 750 - 1kw, and 1kw+
I don't really think that it would be practical from your perspective though.

I consider myself a rational sensible adult and for that reason I'd prefer to see sensible psu reviews for sensible people. I have no desire to see reviews for 1500w supplies that I would probably never need.
/my 2 pence worth.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

I would definitely find a <450 W / SFF PSU labs test far more interesting/useful/relevant than a >1000 W PSU labs test

 

with hardware getting more power efficient, monster 1000w plus power supplies are not so important as they once were, unless we are talking Tri SLI or similar. The sweet spot for me is 750watt, but most rigs would struggle to give a high quality 600 watt a good work out.

 

Yes, yes, this! My next build will almost certainly be mITX or at a push uATX, so a SFF PSU test would be brilliant. No need to go mental on the powah either with a SFF build.

Also, any chance you could measure noise levels for PSUs?

 

I tend to go for mid range power supply, as usually don't really have more than 1 gpu in my setup.

 

400-600W without a doubt. The market for silly top end PSUs is relatively tiny and uncluttered. People are starting to focus more on form factor these days, can you name me another fully modular PSU I could have used in the Node 304 with a full length GPU?

Not that easy is it?

 

And one more for this. SFF cases are getting more popular, and there is an increasing demand for compact PSUs. I know that the Seasonic Strider Gold series are going that way.

Esoteric 1200W+ PSU's are nice from an ogling point of view, but I cannot see many people actually needing or buying one.

 

And again. <400w for sure, maybe even a TFX/SFX/Pico roundup?

 

+1 for a sff roundup,

but from a full-sized pc point of view - 600/650w is probably the bracket you should test

 

My Enermax 1250w is probably the best PSU investment I've ever made, for my non SLI rigs 650w is what I go for

 

Anything more than 500-600W is crazy, even SLI rigs can run happily on a 500W.

I presume that tri-SLI would push you over 500W, but then we're talking about a really tiny proportion of the market.

 

Nvidia only recommend a 600W PSU (minimum) for the Titan and the Titan Black, I run a 790 and an i5-2500 @ 4.4GHz with a 550W PSU and not had any problems but it's a quality Seasonic 550W 80 Gold, I was going to upgrade the PSU after I bought the 790 but it doesn't seem necessary.

 

One thing we have to remember when we're talking about "recommended" PSUs is that both AMD and Nvidia need to take into account the proliferation of budget PSUs that can't necessarily output their rated wattage continuously (or at all).

The Strider Gold 550W is designed to output 550 clean, efficient watts all day long without missing a beat. The Ace 550W black probably can't even get close

 

I wonder if Steam statistics would lend at least some indication as to the power requirements of the average user here. Judging from a cursory look at the Steam hardware survey, it appears as though the vast majority of users only have a single video card, and it looks like most users have mid-range systems.

If you want to appeal to the majority of typical users (that is, users who might read a review then click on a partner ad to buy a new PSU), then I would recommend targeting your review at low- to mid- range PSUs.

 

Yeah, but I was talking about normal people.

 

Which would make a really interesting test: compare the same wattage PSU at different price points. What do you get for your money, and how much of a difference does it make to your PC?

 

Great feedback guys, we will do a feature about relative merits of how much grunt you get for your hard earned cash in the coming months. For the group test I'm veering towards 600w type PSUs. Be good to have these types of products featured again, they are hugely important at all levels for builders, folders and overclockers.

Now to actually get it tested and written...

Thanks, John