How do I know what power supply to get

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JohnD77

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Oct 14, 2013
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1. Are there any other specs besides connectors and watts which I should pay attention to when choosing a power supply?

2. How do I know how much watts I need for my PC?....after Ive chosen all the components of the PC, how do I calculate how much watts Im gonna need?
 
Solution
BlankInsanity
hmm, depends, What I do is research the GPU that the build would have, find out the minimum wattage and amps required on the 12v rail not to mention the pins it requires. Then I find a PSU thats 100W higher than the GPU to account for other components as well as give the PSU room for over clocking and stability. Always make sure that the PSU has the required pins.

Companies like Seasonic, XFX and Corsair make great PSUs. The Corsair CX series are for low-budget builds while the TX series are for more higher, pricier builds. XFX makes some pretty good quality PSU(I myself am getting a XFX 650W for my build). I'm not too informed on Seasonic's PSUs but I hear that they make great PSUs

PCpartpicker doesn't really give the best estimated...
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jimthenagual

jimthenagual

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Apr 8, 2012
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I'd suggest looking at two points, the total watts, and the maker. There are other important factors like the energy rating (bronze/gold etc) as well as the number of amps it puts out on the +12v rail(s), but if it is from a maker like seasonic, corsair, xfx, antec, for the most part you can assume it is going to provide enough amps and provide decent energy efficiency. I can't stress enough though, to make sure you don't go cheap on the power supply. If you go through the forum, you'll find thread after thread of issues caused by power supplies.

I'd suggest looking for reviews as well. Here is an excellent collection of reviews of PSUs: http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page541.htm

To calculate how many watts you need, you can use this calculator: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
 
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C

Cons29

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Feb 10, 2010
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well, first, buy a decent brand. avoid those generic ones, even if they say 600w, if it is generic then it is not giving you 600w.
600w nowadays is enough for most builds, unless you have 2 or more gpu

some good brands, SEASONIC (my personal choice, 5yrs warranty), corsair, etc
 
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J

JohnD77

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Oct 14, 2013
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Awesome to know, but I wanna actually know how to calculate it myself....I recently got a job at TigerDirect and I need to know what power supplies to get for customers depending on their builds
 
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BlankInsanity

BlankInsanity

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Oct 14, 2013
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hmm, depends, What I do is research the GPU that the build would have, find out the minimum wattage and amps required on the 12v rail not to mention the pins it requires. Then I find a PSU thats 100W higher than the GPU to account for other components as well as give the PSU room for over clocking and stability. Always make sure that the PSU has the required pins.

Companies like Seasonic, XFX and Corsair make great PSUs. The Corsair CX series are for low-budget builds while the TX series are for more higher, pricier builds. XFX makes some pretty good quality PSU(I myself am getting a XFX 650W for my build). I'm not too informed on Seasonic's PSUs but I hear that they make great PSUs

PCpartpicker doesn't really give the best estimated Wattage. I built a 500W build on it and it reccomended 369W hehe.. Anyway they are some websites out there than can determine the wattage you require as long as you can fill in the details

There's no real way to calculate it yourself without having full knowledge of the components of a customers build, Doing a quick minute research of the most demanding component of the build like the GPU can give you a rough estimate of the PSU required

Hope this helps, remember to pick the best soultion
 
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Solution
newfolder7

newfolder7

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Sep 23, 2013
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To calculate yourself, look at the TDP (thats the maximum power use) for each component and add them up. its a good idea to give yourself around 50 watts of extra (or more) just incase. You also need to take into account if they plan on adding an extra graphics card later as that will need more power. As everyone else has said, you should always buy quality power supplies if you can. Dont get to worried about getting a gold rating efficiency however, because unless they run it 24/7, it wont be saving them money.
 
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