What kind of PSU do I need?

[surfallday2]

Hey all, I'm here to ask you all what kind of PSU I need. I'm building a new computer from scratch, and I'm not quite sure how many Watts I need and/or how many slots I would need on the PSU for power. I'm a gamer that is looking for enough power for my needs as well as enough to expand for the future (possibly go SLI or add more HDD's).I don't really plan on overclocking, so that is a non-issue. If you suggest any PSU's, please refer me to a PSU chosen either from Compusa or Tigerdirect

I have tried many PSU calculator sites, and I can never seem to get a reading that sounds accurate (Maybe I'm wrong)... If anyone could help me, It would be greatly appreciated!

Here's my Hardware:

Case: Coolermaster 932 HAF Full Tower (1x 140mm fan, 3x 230mm fans--1 LED) No LCD screen, Just USB's, SATA port and audio/video jacks.

Mobo: Asus P6T Deluxe V2

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 2.66 Ghz

VC: Geforce GTX 285 OC Edition (Might add another card for SLI in the future)

RAM: 3 Sticks of 2GB DDR3 Tri-Channel

Sound Card: Creative Labs SB X-FI Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCIe

1x DvD Rom Drive

1x DvD RW+/- Drive

2x 3.5" 500GB 7,200rpm internal hard drives (preferably WD)

Fan Controller: NZXT Sentry LX LCD Fan Controller

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If you need links to any of these products, please ask and you will receive Once again, thanks for any help!

 

[Helloworld_98]

a good 750-850w.

 

[shubham1401]

Corsair TX 750 would be ideal.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

A high quality 750 watt power supply can easily handle and Intel Core i7 with two GTX 285 video cards operating in SLI mode. The Corsair TX 750 mentioned by shubham1401 is an excellent choise. PC Power & Cooling and Seasonic also offer high quality 750 watt psu's.

 

[surfallday2]

Cool Cool....Thanks guys. May I just ask how you figured that out so that I can learn to better judge wattage?

 

[JohnnyLucky]

There are technical reviews and articles about power supplies, video cards, and power consumption. Some of them are right here at Tom's hardware. Others are at jonnyguru.com, hardwaresecrets.com, and xbitlabs.com. There are many more.

Here are links to two of the reference charts I check:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-radeon-power,2122-6.html

http://archive.atomicmpc.com.au/forums.asp?s=2&c=7&t=9354

If the charts do not list one of the newer video cards I just search google for reviews of the new card.

The big problem I keep running into is that different sites will measure power consumption differently and produce different results. There is no universally accepted standard.

There are two good general rules of thumb:

1. A high quality 500 - 550 watt power supply can easily power a single video card.

2. A high quality 700 - 750 watt power supply can easily power two video cards operating in dual mode.

 

[shubham1401]

Nice answer by johnny........

The simplest way is this link.
But only tells abt Corsair PSU.

http://corsair.com/psufinder/default.aspx

 

[CTU]

I agree with shubham 1401, a Corsair TX750 will do the job for you.....

 

[Shadow703793]

+1 for 750TX.

@OP: Here a a good site with many reviews of PSUs: http://www.jonnyguru.com/
He's THE man for PSU review. Also, you need to take a look at amount of Amps on the +12,+5, and +3.3 rails. A decent quality PSU will have more than 30A on the +12 rail(s). High end PSUs from Corsair,etc have 50A+ on the +12.

Remember: W = A*V (A= Amps; W = Watts, V = Voltage).