Is 1000 watts really insufficient?

DOOMaddict · Apr 21, 2017

Hello dear reader!
I've during the last 2 years burned my way through 3 PSUs.
1 fractal newton 1000W 80+ platinum.
2 different Seasonic 1050W SnowSilent 80+ Platinum.
All were RMA'ed and I got a full refund.
I contacted Seasonic and they confirmed that my system should not require a more powerfull PSU.
They did an estimate of round 900 watts.

Thhe following is my setup and seasonics estimate:

MB: MSI Z97 M-Power = ~50W max.
CPU: 4690K @ 4,5Ghz Core / 4,0Ghz Cache 1,220V = Didn't find any accurate info, would say 100 to 125W max.
CPU Cooler: Fractal kelvin AiO 2x 120mm Noctua Industriel fans (Liquid) =~6W for the fans, ~15-20W for the pump
GPU: 2x MSI R9 290X Lightning @ 1100Mhz Core / 5200Mhz Memory (+10% Max power) = Average is around 295W and you have some peak (benchmark or gaming) >350W. This is per unit.
Fans 3x 140mm Corsair Case fans (2 With LED) = ~9-10W for the fans
HDD/SSD: 1x 5400 RPM 800Gb Western digital / 1x Samsung Evo 850 256Gb SSD = 15W max for HDD, 5W max for SSD.
Extra: 1x 2 TB Seagate External HDD = 15W max.

So my question is, should i buy a new -seasonic @ 1050 watts but this time a Prime 80+ Titanium or should i go for a 1200 watts Prime 80+ Platinum?

Is 1000 watts insufficient, and the reason they malfunction?
Or is it just incredibly bad luck with PSUs?

SlitelyOff · Apr 21, 2017

My son has a very close setup to yours. 4690K (NOT OC'd) on an AsRock Z97Pro, Dual R9 390, 256SSD and 512M.2 Drives, 6 system fans. I installed a Corsair 750W supply and he has had ZERO issues for the past year. I am not sure why 1000W wouldn't be able to handle what you have.

DOOMaddict · Apr 21, 2017

SlitelyOff :

Bear in mind that my entire rig is OC'ed and that the 290X is a bit more powerhungry than the 390.
This said i agree that 1000W seems excessive. However if 1000W is enough then I must be really unlucky!

Eximo · Apr 21, 2017

That is certainly strange, could be random failures. But the consistency points to another problem. I would check the circuit the system is plugged into and any other appliances on that circuit.

Try getting a UPS power conditioner, could just be dirty from the power company.

A bigger supply won't hurt with that much hardware in the system.

johnbl · Apr 21, 2017

it depends on what the problem you are getting. having a 100 watt psu does not help if something is being powered has a 75 watt power limit.

for example, a pci/e slot on the motherboard. if it goes over its power limit, the motherboard logic will reset the CPU and your machine will reboot with a bugcheck 0x124 if you have a crappy motherboard, the PCI/e slot might melt or catch fire.

it would also depend on the design of the PSU single rail designs cost more but can allow more power to be used on the connection that needs the power. multi rail designs will have limits on each power lead.

you should also check the power that is coming into the PSU, IE I have seen people have cheap power strips that cause problems. I have seen people who plugged in their computer on the same circuit that had a electric motor on it. In this case every time the refrigerator kicked on while he was gaming his CPU would reset.

DOOMaddict :

Kurz · Apr 21, 2017

Do you have a quality surge protector? IE ~30 bucks?

captaincharisma · Apr 21, 2017

unless you're going to be running a 2- 3 GPU SLI/Crossfire setup then you do not need a 1000W PSU

Eximo · Apr 21, 2017

Seasonic Silent Snow is a single rail design with 1044 W on the 12V rail, so not really an issue there.

Power supply failures have little to do with an excess of power.

The only real way to know if the system is exceeding the power supplies specifications would be to slap current meter in series with the the 12V rail. Not something a typical person can do safely, and a decent meter/oscilloscope is required.

DOOMaddict · Apr 21, 2017

johnbl :

it depends on what the problem you are getting. having a 100 watt psu does not help if something is being powered has a 75 watt power limit.

for example, a pci/e slot on the motherboard. if it goes over its power limit, the motherboard logic will reset the CPU and your machine will reboot with a bugcheck 0x124 if you have a crappy motherboard, the PCI/e slot might melt or catch fire.

it would also depend on the design of the PSU single rail designs cost more but can allow more power to be used on the connection that needs the power. multi rail designs will have limits on each power lead.

Every time was a DIFFERENT issue. Firstly the fractal PSU. With more than avarage load the entire system rebooted.
Second psu seasonic, I could not power on the system without first wiggling the 230V input plug in the back of the PSU. (Wierd)
Third time around Seasonic again, With High loads aka Benchmarks static sound would appear especially with scene changes in Unigien Heaven. The static sounds were followed by severe drop in frames per second. However the static sounds would also appear sometimes when scrolling up and down i a web browser.

I do bellive that the seasonics are a single powerful12V rail.

ARICH5 · Apr 21, 2017

ya, in my experience ive built computers for people before where it works fine for 2 years in one house with a 80+gold psu then they move to another and boom, they blow psu's all the time. i agree with a line conditioner and a uninteruptable power supply setup.

DOOMaddict · Apr 21, 2017

Eximo :

Yes I thought so myself. I am an electrical engineer and electrican by trade and education, so I could do this safely. But I was hoping that I could avoid getting hold of a Watt-meter.

DOOMaddict · Apr 21, 2017

Kurz :

No I do not.

DOOMaddict · Apr 21, 2017

Eximo :

I will try and get one even though I do not think this is the issue, the power here should be rather stable.

DOOMaddict · Apr 21, 2017

So it seems people agree that it is not because the PSU is too small.

DOOMaddict · Apr 21, 2017

captaincharisma :

I AM running 2x CrossfireX MSI R9 290X Lightning @ 1100Mhz Core / 5200Mhz Memory (+10% Max power)

Tech_TTT · Apr 21, 2017

man stop wasting your money ... upgrade to GTX 1080 and you wont need that huge power supply ever again .. and will have the same performance of your dual cards .. if not better , because it is a single card.

dont waste your money on large PSU .. sell your cards and get GTX1080 or GTX 1080 ti , for the same price you are paying for expensive Powersupply + sold cards

DOOMaddict · Apr 21, 2017

Tech_TTT :

Yea, thought about it. However I recently bought a 27" 1440P 144HZ Freesync monitor :S

Tech_TTT · Apr 21, 2017

DOOMaddict :

Okay get the AMD Vega then when it is soon to be released, it is rumured to be the speed of GTX 1080 and cheaper than GTX 1080 ... you are wasting alot of energy and heat for nothing .

DOOMaddict · Apr 21, 2017

Tech_TTT :

DOOMaddict :

Okay get the AMD Vega then when it is soon to be released, it is rumured to be the speed of GTX 1080 and cheaper than GTX 1080 ... you are wasting alot of energy and heat for nothing .

You know what! I actually agree 100% with you. I do think that is the way I'll go. However that leaves me without a PC untill then.

johnbl · Apr 21, 2017

you can have a motherboard sound driver conflict with a GPU sound driver and get lockups and that produce sounds.
or no sound and just a lock up depending on which sound device actually has speakers connected to it.

I have a seasonic power supply, they used to be pretty good but these type of companies get sold so I have to research the brands every few years. Generally, the low cost PSU makers buy out the high end PSU makers.
There is a lot of money in low quality PSU.

DOOMaddict :

Tech_TTT · Apr 21, 2017

DOOMaddict :

Tech_TTT :

You know what! I actually agree 100% with you. I do think that is the way I'll go. However that leaves me without a PC untill then.

so what

take a month or two vacation from PC gaming

Kurz · Apr 21, 2017

DOOMaddict :

Well thats probably why you are going through PSU's all the time.

DOOMaddict · Apr 21, 2017

Kurz :

Okay I hear alot of talk about these surge protectors, UPS back-ups and power conditioners. Is this really nessesary? I live in Copenhagen the captial of Denmark in Scandinavia. Our grid is rather stable and under strict regulation when it comes to power-factor and fluktuations. It seems to me that all these remidies are overkill. I mean we do not have small dropouts in power, we have a stable 3x400V/230V supply. The PSU itself have all manners of over voltage/current protections. What do you base the need for these external regulators on?

DOOMaddict · Apr 21, 2017

Eximo :

Okay I hear alot of talk about these surge protectors, UPS back-ups and power conditioners. Is this really nessesary? I live in Copenhagen the captial of Denmark in Scandinavia. Our grid is rather stable and under strict regulation when it comes to power-factor and fluktuations. It seems to me that all these remidies are overkill. I mean we do not have small dropouts in power, we have a stable 3x400V/230V supply. The PSU itself have all manners of over voltage/current protections. What do you base the need for these external regulators on?

TJ Hooker · Apr 21, 2017

DOOMaddict :

These protections are on the low side, and mainly protect your PC components. They don't protect your PSU from voltage spikes or whatever coming in from the mains.

Is 1000 watts really insufficient?

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