Does a PSU really matter for performance or is this a myth?

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BrainY

Distinguished
Nov 28, 2012
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I sometimes get suggestions of people to upgrade my PSU. Is this a troll or does it really help the performance of your computer?

Current build:
CASE: Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl (Stock Fans)
CPU: Intel Core i5 4670K Haswell OC @ 4.0GHz with Noctua NH-D14
MOBO: ASRock Z87 Extreme4
GPU: ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1070 O8G-GAMING
RAM: 2 x 8GB G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000)
SSD: Toshiba OCZ TR150 2.5" 960GB SATA III
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB 7200RPM 16Mb 3GB/s
PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W
MAIN MONITOR: ASUS MG248Q Black 24" 1ms @ 1080P 144Hz (Adaptive/Free Sync)
2ND MONITOR: ASUS VS238H-P Black 23" 2ms @ 1080p 60hz
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
Apr 16, 2015
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Depends on the PSU you have.

If you have a poor quality unit, there's potential for instability or worse, as some really poor quality units actually represent a fire hazard.

Not enough information to accurately answer.

Please share you full system spec for a more appropriate answer.
 
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F

finitekosmos

Prominent
Dec 24, 2017
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Really, it depends on what your PSU is currently, and what your power requirements are.

The long answer is that PSU choice is the one area were people tend to under-spec or cut costs which is crazy since it really is the most important part of any PC build. I have a friend who overloaded a 600 Watt PSU by trying to get one to power two 1080 Ti's. When I asked why they spent so much on GPU's and failed to spend anything on a PSU that could, you know, power the rig, the answer was that he could only afford the 1080 Ti's one of which was damaged when the PSU went pop when they turned on the machine and fired up a game.

I had a friend purchase a cheap no name brand PSU for his rig, that started a fire when the CPU tried to draw more AMPS on the 12 Volt rail than the PSU could actually manage. If you think its fine to risk your components by pairing them with a shoddy power source, be my guest. I would literally not touch any system with bare skin that did not have a good quality PSU in it. Especially after working in a PC electronics store for a number of years. I have seen too many flamed out PSU's and components fused together because the PSU didn't manage current demands properly.
 
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Rogue Leader

Rogue Leader

It's a trap!
Moderator
Dec 22, 2014
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To dispel the myth, if you have a good quality properly sized PSU then getting a "better" quality larger PSU WILL NOT improve your performance. However if you have a poor quality or undersized PSU, you can easily decrease your performance, and cause hardware failures.
 
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B

BrainY

Distinguished
Nov 28, 2012
385
1
18,815


Current build:
CASE: Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl (Stock Fans)
CPU: Intel Core i5 4670K Haswell OC @ 4.0GHz with Noctua NH-D14
MOBO: ASRock Z87 Extreme4
GPU: ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1070 O8G-GAMING
RAM: 2 x 8GB G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000)
SSD: Toshiba OCZ TR150 2.5" 960GB SATA III
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB 7200RPM 16Mb 3GB/s
PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W
MAIN MONITOR: ASUS MG248Q Black 24" 1ms @ 1080P 144Hz (Adaptive/Free Sync)
2ND MONITOR: ASUS VS238H-P Black 23" 2ms @ 1080p 60hz
 
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