Building a new comp – need to know what wattage PSU to get
January 27th, 2020
core i7 920
Asus p6t SE MB
896 mb GTX 260
8 gig ram
3 case fans
2 sata HDs (80gig and 320 gig)
1 sata DVDrw
running vista 64bit
My question is, what wattage PSU should i get? Ive used a few different PSU calculators on the net which all sort of give me the range of 500 – 600 watts so I was going to get a vantec ion 620watt PSU. Will that do the job? I want to make sure Ive got the wattage nessasary and then some because I plan to run the system pretty damn hard so I dont want to get a PSU that barely provides the power at idle then dies when i put it under load.
On some of the MB or CPU reviews ive read, on their test systems (which are very similar to mine) i see them using maybe 800 watts or even 1000watts PSU. obviously it makes a big difference to my budget if i go for the 600watt range instead of 800 – 1000watts, so can anyone pls give some advice on what a good wattage to aim for my system would be??
Thanks in advance guys.
Cheers John
Id go 750watts, just to be on the safe side.
You of course need a few things to keep in mind.
An 8pin ATX 12v connector is mandatory for Core i7 systems
2x PCI-E 6pin connections minimum
At least total of around 36A on the 12v rail of the PSU according to NVIDIA requirements.
In benchmarks when a single component is tested usually everything else is always the most high end or near high end available to to measure the performance of the single product.
An 8pin ATX 12v connector is mandatory for Core i7 systems2x PCI-E 6pin connections minimum
At least total of around 36A on the 12v rail of the PSU according to NVIDIA requirements.
that sounds like fantastic advice, but id love to know a bit more because im a bit of a noob as far as PSUs go (never really paid em much attention before). what are the 2xPCI-E 6 pin connections used for? Are they both used for the GTX 260?
also, i dont understand the whole “rails” thing with PSUs. obviously its to do with the power provided to the system, but beyond that Im lost. what are rails? how do i know how much voltage is needed from them? are there any guides out there that would explain it for a noob like myself? thanks for your reply theDA **EDIT actually what would be better is if it was possible could you suggest a good PSU for me to get that will fulfill all the requirments? **
@ , because i like to know how everything works, whats the reasoning for your suggestion of 750 watts? can you break it down a bit (that way ill hopefully learn something about this whole business), maybe what parts are using what amount of power? thanks man.
Cheers John
what are the 2xPCI-E 6 pin connections used for? Are they both used for the GTX 260? Yes the 260 requires 2x 6-pin connections. For SLI it would require 4 and so on.
also, i dont understand the whole "rails" thing with PSUs. obviously its to do with the power provided to the system, but beyond that Im lost. what are rails? how do i know how much voltage is needed from them? are there any guides out there that would explain it for a noob like myself? thanks for your reply theDAIf you’ve studied physics you’d know that there’s two thingsin electricity. One is polarity which’s force is measured in Voltage and the amount of charge flowing which is in Amperes. Wattage/Joules is the product of the two. If you got high number of watt you can assume safely there’s more amount of amps than a psu with less watt. The main thing to look for is the amps not the product of I and V which is W as it can be misleading. Different components of the PC require different levels of power and that’s what rails are for. One rail will have the 12v, others with 3.3v, 5v. The PSU specs should give you detailed info on this. If the PSU has more than one 12v rail just add all of them together to get total amps on 12v. For the GTX260 NVIDIA recommends 36A on 12v. 36A is not for the graphics card alone it’s an estimate for the total required based on the average hardware it will be put together with with a bit of extra added since no PSU works at 100% efficiency.woah! that makes so much sense. thanks for that awesome explanation man
that will make things a lot easier in terms of finding the right PSU, would you be able to suggest any PSUs that would suit my system?
very helpful subject. i am starting with a 680 watt PS for an AMD phenom 2 955 Quad. but i am building this just for blu-ray video appz & won’t require the power demands of dual PCIx SLI features. however i’ll check back here to gain more insight as i progress along.
Just get any PSU with those requirements from a good brand like Corsair, Seasonic, PC Power and Cooling, Antec, Thermaltake etc. Basically any of the big name brands.
im def going for a big name brand, no generic crap in my new system. so in the end, what wattage should i be looking for? i could spend weeks looking through all the different available PSUs and still feel like i dont know everything there is to know about it and possibly still make a mistake, thats why it’d be so useful to see what youd recommend im still going to go away and have a look at differnet brands, but having you point me in the right direction would be really helpful.
Cheers man
All depends on what you’re able to spend buddy.
very true. prob…up to $180 (AUS)?
i was looking at the Coolermaster Real Power Pro 650w – what do you reckon?
Checked some AUS sites I know of. Try one of these. Can’t go wrong with either.
http://itsdirect.com.au/com_products.php?view=detail&category_id=41&Product_ID=2278&sub_category=52&keywords=Corsair_TX_650_650W_Power_Supply_Unit
http://www.mwave.com.au/newAU/mwaveAU/productdetail.asp?CartID=mAU@IU1TFCDBF4YQCUKVXZTCVH63U92V5D11RI1HPYMYOR91ZV&sku=34040078Edit: The CM is good too.
sweet man thank you so much
dont just think of what you need now you will no doubt want more later so subject to the good advice given get the highest you can afford
Nice specs.. :O
Does an 8 GB RAM even exist?
here is a new mobo that can utilize up to 16GB
http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=161&l3=0&l4=0&model=2546&modelmenu=2 64 bit dual channel RAM architecture are the newest kid on the block.What the hell would you need a 16GB RAM for…
I’m on 3 GB and I feel like it’s enough.
This is like whoa..
i have the same exact system u have other then the mobo im running a 750 corsair and its working fine but i wold not go with 700. Get a toughpower thermaltake 750 or a corsair 750 i took corsair but its ur call.
Nice specs.. :ODoes an 8 GB RAM even exist?
think he /she means in total
What the hell would you need a 16GB RAM for…I’m on 3 GB and I feel like it’s enough.
This is like whoa..
haha well i do a lot of 3d graphics i use mudbox, cinema 4d/maya and a lot of the adobe programs. the more ram you have in that sort of situation the better because its so easy to eat through ram (just think of loading uncompressed HD video for editing etc). a lot of the pros in 3d have workstations with 24 gigs of ram. haha i dont think ill ever need that much ram but i am planning ahead.
@, are you saying i should get more than a 650watt psu? im currently looking at a Coolermaster RealPower Pro 650w which should be ample for my setup. or is it? :S
What the hell would you need a 16GB RAM for…I’m on 3 GB and I feel like it’s enough.
This is like whoa..
when dino the dinasaur step out of the cave, he thought his 3″ fangs was the cutting edge till a t-rex came along… and growl….