efficient PSU

[grtmoby]

Hi all and sorry if this is a repeated question but i don't have that much experience as some of u do. I am building my new system;

AMD 4600+ AM2 (cooled with ZALMAN CNPS 9500 AM2)
ASUS Crosshair
2 GB Corsair XMS2 6400C4
1x Raptor 36GB
1x Maxtor 200GB SATA
1x Maxtor 200GB PATA
BFG 7950GT 512MB (may be SLI in the future)
DVD RW and DVD ROM
X-Fi fatality Sound Card
SkyStar2 DVB PCI card
PATA PCI card as only 1 IDE is present on the mobo
plus fans and HDD coolers

I tried the psu calculator and it gave me i need around 750Watt which i don't really think is correct. I think one of the following shall be ok and want ur opinions guys based on durability and stability.

PC Power & Cooling S61EPS EPS12V 610W
Corsair HX620w ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 620W
Thermaltake W0106RU Complies with ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V version 700W
SILVERSTONE SST-ST75ZF ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V 750W
OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W

Thank you so much in advance, i really appreciate your help

 

[paybax]

Dude...........why are you worrying about trying to save a few watts and probably about $ 35.00 diff on PSU's when you can just get enough juice to run your rig?

If the calc says you need it, then why do you want to put yourself through the JIVE of having possible intermittant crashes down the road (then coming back here to inquire WHY) just for the reason to save a few bucks or to save an extra $ 0.50 cents a month on your hydro bill?

I'm not trying to give you a hard time, I just don't get it :? :?

Plus....consider this.....if you plan on adding a different componant down the road ( 3, 6 months, 1 year), then your power requirements WILL change.

Also consider this...the calculator gives you a wattage figure based on a STANDARD load requirement. Once you start to kick ass on F E A R or Oblivion, or whatever, your rig will be sweating bullets.... and WATTAGE for that matter just to keep up.

Don't try to save a few bucks when it comes to powering your rig bro...that's all.

Antec P180 Performance Case
SeaSonic S12 600 PSU
Asus A8N32 SLI S-939 (bios 1103 V02.58 )
RealTek 97 Onboard
AMD 64 X2 4800+ Toledo Core (AMD v 1.3.1.0/MS hotfix/ Dual Optimizer)
2 gigs Corsair 3500LL Pro @ 437Mhz 2-3-2-6-1T
2- BFG 7900 GT OC in SLI (NV 91.31)
WD RAPTOR 74.3 gig HDD / XP Home / SP2 & Apps
Maxtor SATA II 250 Gig /Gaming / Movies / MP3's
Maxtor SATA II 250 Gig /backup (unplugged)
Sony CDrom 52X
Plextor 708-A DVD/CD rom
Razer DiamondBack Optical mouse
Logitech Z-5500 Dolby Digital 5.1 THX 500watts

 

[grtmoby]

it is really not saving is the main point but if i go after the psu calculator then i would go for a 1KW psu and this is really expensive (~450$). from what i have seen so far in the forum many have equivalent systems or higher and not use the 1KW. this was my point to ask not just to save. hope u got me by now and so u can advice of which psu to get, thanks.

 

[paybax]

AHHHHH yesss 8O I would say a Kw PSU is a bit pricy. However if you look at the Enermax PSU's, they are not as bad and they are very reliable. YOu can get a 620 or there a bouts for app $ 190,00 CDN or about $ 150 USD depending on where you are. Check out NewEgg.
But I would DEFINITLEY say you don't need a 1 Kw PSU...at least not yet he he
Who knows where power requirements are going with rigs now days eh ?

 

[doolittle]

I ran it through eXtreme's psu calc and got this:

eXtreme PSU calc[/url]"]System Type: Single Processor
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ 2400 MHz AM2 Windsor
CPU Utilization (TDP): 100% TDP

RAM: 2 Sticks DDR2 SDRAM
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT
Video Type: Single Card

IDE HDD 7200 rpm: 1 HDD
SATA HDD: 2 HDDs

CD-ROM Drive: 1 Drive
DVD-RW/DVD+RW Drive: 1 Drive

Sound Blaster - All Models: Yes
PCI IDE Controller Card: Yes

Fans
Regular: 1 Fan 80mm; 1 Fan 120mm;

Motherboard, keyboard and mouse: Yes

PSU Utilization: 100 %

Total: 344 Watts

© 2004 - 2006 OuterVision.com and it's licensors. All rights reserved.

and with SLI it was 436w total.

To estimate your worst-case +12 draw, you can see what the psu calc values are per-component by deselecting them and recalculating, then take the watt difference and calculate the 12v amps for each:

CPU - 89w (7.42A)
GPU - 82w (6.8A)
SLI - 92w (7.7A)
IDE - 15w (1.25A)
SATA - 13w (1.1A)
DVDRW - 25w (2.1A)
80mm - 2w (.2A)
120mm - 7w (.6A)
sound card - 7w (.6A)
ide pci - 20w (1.7A)

So max 22.9A for the single GPU and 30.6A for SLI on your +12v.

As far as "real world" power testing the x2-4600 can hit up to 104w so that is 8.7A and the 7950gt has been found to be only slightly higher than the 7900gt which is roughly 50w so 55w should be accurate (4.6A, 9.2 for SLI) that brings it to 22A single gpu and 26A for SLI would be more realistic.

Check out the Antec TPII-480 for $75 @ buy.com (33A max combined on both +12v rails) or the Antec TPII-550 for $85 @ chiefvalue.com (36A combined max on both +12v rails)

 

[grtmoby]

@ doolittle

thank you so much for your time and advice. it is really great and so helpfull.