Power Supply Too Much?

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MrN1ce9uy

MrN1ce9uy

Judicious
Aug 20, 2009
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Should I sell my SeaSonic PRIME 1200W Gold since I'm no longer mining with it? It will just be in a casual gaming rig that wouldn't use any more than 300-400W max on occasion. I would rather keep it and use it, but is there anything wrong with using it at much less than half capacity?
 
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Nope, won't hurt a thing. It might be a percent or two less efficient at such a low load but you'll never notice it.

You could sell it and get a 650w Prime Titanium and probably pocket a few $$. But there's no harm in keeping it.
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Deleted member 217926

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Nope, won't hurt a thing. It might be a percent or two less efficient at such a low load but you'll never notice it.

You could sell it and get a 650w Prime Titanium and probably pocket a few $$. But there's no harm in keeping it.
 
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thx1138v2

Splendid
Jun 18, 2011
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No, there's nothing wrong with using it at lower capacity. It's only going to use the amount of power drawn by the system it is used in so you won't be consuming more electricity than that actually needed.

It would have been a waste of money to buy it for a system that only needs 300-400W but since it's already purchased that's not an issue.
 
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cryoburner

cryoburner

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Oct 8, 2011
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There's not really anything "wrong" with using it in a lower-powered system, outside of being a much more expensive PSU than what the system will actually ever need. Plus, if the computer is idling at under 100 watts, it might not meet its stated energy efficiency levels, since the 80 plus ratings are measured at 25% capacity at the lowest, and efficiency can drop quite a bit at the low end of a PSU's range. I believe this PSU was tested by Cybenetics though, who do more thorough efficiency testing, so you can view the efficiency levels they measured at various load levels here, assuming that's the same PSU that you have...
https://cybenetics.com/a/vkP/

Going by their graph, it looks likes energy efficiency should be over 90% from about the 175 to 800 watt range, stays above 85% down to about 75 watts, and above 80% down to 50 watts, so it's still reasonably efficient at those lower load levels.

One advantage of running the PSU at low loads will be that it should be fairly quiet, since it likely has big, overbuilt heat sinks that can keep the PSU cool without its fan spinning much.

On the other hand, if you think you can sell it for a good price, there are certainly other good PSUs that would meet the system's requirements at a much lower price.
 
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