Do video cards make up the majority of power wattage requirements?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
N

NJAldwin

Honorable
Mar 26, 2013
30
0
10,530
I'm looking at building a new PC. My old system was running an i7 920, two gtx 260s, 12 GB DDR3, and with some hard drives and other less power-sucking components. I'd put a 1000W PSU in it, since online PSU calculators had suggested something over 900W, IIRC. The system I'm thinking of building will have an i7 3770, one gtx 680, 16GB DDR3, and some hard drives and other components. The power calculators suggest ~650W, so I'm going to get an 850W PSU to be on the safe side.

It seems surprising to me that an upgrade in quality and performance will come with a downgrade in the amount of power required. Is it mainly because of the 1 instead of 2 video cards? Or is it mainly that CPUs and GPUs are lower power nowadays? Or maybe I'm just being silly and should go with a 1000W PSU for this build too. I'm not sure.
 
Solution
geofelt
Newer cards, like the GTX6xx and amd 7xxx are built using smaller and more power efficient 28nm chips.
So are cpu's.
You are correct, the graphics card configuration is THE prime determinant, assuming a normal complement of cpu and peripherals.
PSU calculators are only as accurate as your inputs. The problem is that we do not know some answers, like what capacitor ageing factor, or, what will you be doing in the future.
It is not wrong to overprovision a bit since a psu will only use the power demanded of it, regardless of it's maximum capability. And, if it is operating in the middle third of it's range, it will operate most efficiently.
Here is a handy chart to estimate your needs ...
Sort by date Sort by votes
geofelt

geofelt

Titan
Oct 9, 2006
54,374
4,184
174,240
Newer cards, like the GTX6xx and amd 7xxx are built using smaller and more power efficient 28nm chips.
So are cpu's.
You are correct, the graphics card configuration is THE prime determinant, assuming a normal complement of cpu and peripherals.
PSU calculators are only as accurate as your inputs. The problem is that we do not know some answers, like what capacitor ageing factor, or, what will you be doing in the future.
It is not wrong to overprovision a bit since a psu will only use the power demanded of it, regardless of it's maximum capability. And, if it is operating in the middle third of it's range, it will operate most efficiently.
Here is a handy chart to estimate your needs : http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
photonboy

photonboy

Titan
Jun 20, 2006
21,567
13
85,015
750W PSU, and my system components:

- Z77 Sabertooth motherboard
- i7-3770K OC to 4.1GHz (on Turbo)
- GTX680 (Asus DC2T aka "TOP")
- 16GB DDR3 2133MHz
- sound card
- 3xHDD
- 4xSSD
- BluRay burner
- *Corsair 750TX (750W PSU)

Summary:
For the above system 750W is probably "perfect." Even a high quality 550W with the correct connections could theoretically work however I'd advise a 750W.

NOISE in PSU's ramps up at about 50% load. This system would probably use up to about 400Watts of power so the noise level wouldn't increase much. Dropping to a 650W would increase the noise level slightly and a 550W significantly.

Conversely, going above 750W is generally overkill. Noise likely won't be much different, and it's likely if you upgrade the GRAPHICS CARD in a couple years (GTX880 ?) the power consumption would be similar to a current GTX680 so again, no worries.

SLI/Crossfire have their own micro-stutter/profile issues so I and many others will only game with the best single-GPU setup.

*Do your RESEARCH on the best Power Supply. Read both user comments and online reviews of the exact model you consider. Do not skimp on the PSU. Also look for comments about "noise" as some models are prone to coil whine or similar issues. The Corsair TX750 is an older model and reliable but it occasionally has small noise issues so it's not the best model around but better than average.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

NJAldwin

Honorable
Mar 26, 2013
30
0
10,530


Yep. That's partly why I'm going with the 850 I picked out -- it seems to be very highly regarded and it has a several year warranty (recently my 1000W PSU blew just past its 3 year warranty period :/ ).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
photonboy

photonboy

Titan
Jun 20, 2006
21,567
13
85,015


So the matter appears resolved.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom