How many amps does a modern gaming computer use on +3.3v and +5v, and is too much a bad thing?

Hi everyone,

I am considering upgrading my PSU's on my 2 Desktop PC's because I don't trust the current ones (Rosewill Capston 750w Gold, and Rosewill Capstone 550w Gold) with my PC's anymore. Reason being, when I use a graphics card on either computer, I sometimes get post errors, and the optical disc drive LED blinks endlessly as if it doesn't have enough power or short circuiting or something.

Now I am trying to decide between two very attractive offers: (1) Corsair HX1000i Platinum with single or multi-rail switching design, and 100% Japanese capacitors for long-term reliability and 7 year warranty, or (2) EVGA P2 1000w Platinum with 100% Japanese capacitors, ECO mode, and 10 year warranty.

In terms of power, both PSU's +12v is 83.3 amps, but the Corsair has 25 amps on both the +3.3v and +5v, but the EVGA has 20 amps on both +3.3v and +5v.

My question is: How many amps are needed on the +3.3v and +5v for a modern gaming rig, and is too many amps a bad thing?

Info:

Computer A:
Intel Core i7 3770 3.40 GHz,
Sparkle NVIDIA Geforce GT 640 1GB (Plan to Upgrade to 1080 Pascal when it arrives)
ASUS P8Z77-V LE PLUS,
32 GB (4 x 8GB) Kingston HyperX Genesis 1600 XMP,
1 x Samsung 850 Evo 250 GB SSD (OS Drive), 1 x Samsung 840 Series 500 GB SSD ( D: )
2 x LG Blu-Ray M-Disc Ready Burners
1 x SIIG 3-port 1394 (FireWire) PCI adapter Model NN-400012-S8
1 x StarTech Parallel + Serial RS232 PCI Combo Card PART# PCI2S1P
Rosewill Capstone 750w Gold

Computer B:
Intel Core i3 3220 3.30 GHz,
Intel HD Graphics 2500 (On CPU) (Plan to Upgrade to 1070 Pascal when it arrives)
ASUS P8Z77-V LE PLUS,
32 GB (4 x 8GB) Kingston HyperX Genesis 1600 XMP,
1 x Intel 335 Series 240 GB SSD (OS Drive)
1 x ASUS Blu-Ray M-Disc Ready Burner
1 x SIIG 3-port 1394 (FireWire) PCI adapter Model NN-400012-S8
1 x StarTech Parallel + Serial RS232 PCI Combo Card PART# PCI2S1P
Rosewill Capstone 550w Gold
 

Chayan4400

Honorable
It is extremely rare that you'll run into overload problems on the 3.3 and 5V rails. It's the 12V rail that matters the most, as that's the rails that supplies the bulk of the power for the CPU and GPU.

You're overthinking this; you can judge how much power you'll need by comparing your build's estimated power consumption (Sum of your CPU and GPU's TDP, plus 50W) against PSU rated wattages. This is true only if you're considering a Tier 1 or Tier 2 PSU from Tom's Hardware's PSU Tier List (Link in signature). There is no need to look at individual rails.

1000W is far too much for both your builds, even with your upgrades. Computer A needs a good 650W PSU, and B is fine with a 550W, both assuming you aren't overclocking the GPU. Keep in mind that B will have a major bottleneck as an i3 is far too weak to handle a 970, let alone the 1070. The Capstone series is very good. Both will handle your upgrades no problem. Are you sure they are the cause of your troubles? Exact post codes would help identify the real problem. If you're reallly set on a 1000W PSU then get the EVGA P2. But the PSUs I'd recommend for both your builds would be the EVGA 650W and 550W G2 respectively:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $89.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-03 10:02 EDT-0400

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($75.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $75.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-03 10:02 EDT-0400

Both are top of the line PSUs.
 


When my computer doesn't boot normally, I have counted 8 short beeps, then the regular post beep, I have no idea what that means because I don't see beep codes in my motherboards manual (even the online version).

As far a stability goes, Computer A and B are both running Windows 10 Pro, but computer A freezes, and glitches, and restarts Windows Explorer a whole lot more than Computer B. In fact I don't even remember the last time Computer B restarted Windows Explorer :??:. However, It should be noted that besides the standard web browsers (Chrome 64-Bit, Firefox 64-Bit, and Opera), and CCleaner, Computer B only has Windows Store Universal Apps installed. Also, I use computer A much, much more than Computer B.

I have lost an Intel 180 GB 520 Series SSD from computer A, as well as a priceless LG HD-DVD/Blu-Ray Burner (which had the same strange continuous LED blinking, and back and forth seeking before it died) from it as well, so not wanting to lose anymore hardware from a highly unstable system, I wanted to make sure every component had sufficient power, and the PSU wasn't dying, and the data cables were both high-quality, and secure. Both computers, at one time, had 3.5" USB 3.0 card readers much like this one, but of a more generic brand, attached internally to UTechSmart 7-port USB 3.0 PCI-E Card that I plugged the power adapter into, and computer B fried a chip in it's card reader, before I realized that something was amiss.

So, at this point, I'm just really concerned about the future of these systems, with the instability, component loss, and all.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

About wanting a 1000 watt PSU:

I would much rather have a powerful future-proof expensive PSU with room to grow, and room to breathe, than have to replace it in another build, or upgrade, down the road when my PC requirements go up.
Also, I have heard that Crysis 3 maxed out will cook a modern PC to pieces, so being a very active Steam member, I'm just trying to make my PC stand up against, not only Crysis 3 (with ease, and at low temps when I get my GeForce GTX 1080), but also future games of, and exceeding, it's graphical caliber. I figured, with the amount of horsepower coming out of the GTX 1080, it will need quite a bit of juice, and having some breathing room for the PSU, after this upgrade will extend it's overall lifespan, and performance, not to mention assure me that my problem (above) is not with the PSU.

I'm just trying to use PoE, to determine where the problem lies, and given the variety of the types of components I've lost on Computer A, the PSU aroused suspicion as the first part on the list to check off.