How Much Wattage Does One Reallly Need?

[mcattack77]

So for your typical crossfire/sli build, how much wattage is considered enough without paying for more than you need? I see all types of power supplies that are 750W+ and I think to myself wow thats a bit overkill unless I am rocking some of the higher end cards/cpus or multiple drives, overclocking etc....

I guess I am looking for a general mid range performance feeler, how much power would one need with a decent quad core cpu(~PH II 955), 4GB ram, 1 hard drive, and lets say a single 4870 gpu? How about crossfired? CPU overclock?

I just see 750 watts as being a bit overkill. I'd be more inclined to go with a 650 or 620 watt unit instead, even for overclocking. Thoughts?

 

[JohnnyLucky]

The general rule of thumbs are:

A high quality 500 to 550 watt power supply with sufficent current (amps) on the 12 volt rail(s) can easily handle a pc with any single video card made.

A high quality 700 to 750 watt power supply with sufficent current (amps) on the 12 volt rail(s) can easily handle a pc with any two video cards operating in dual mode.

There may be a few exceptions.

Most people think they need a lot more power because they do not do any research and do not know how much power a system at full load will draw at the electrical wall outlet.

 

[brian_1970]

So for your typical crossfire/sli build, how much wattage is considered enough without paying for more than you need? I see all types of power supplies that are 750W+ and I think to myself wow thats a bit overkill unless I am rocking some of the higher end cards/cpus or multiple drives, overclocking etc....

I guess I am looking for a general mid range performance feeler, how much power would one need with a decent quad core cpu(~PH II 955), 4GB ram, 1 hard drive, and lets say a single 4870 gpu? How about crossfired? CPU overclock?

I just see 750 watts as being a bit overkill. I'd be more inclined to go with a 650 or 620 watt unit instead, even for overclocking. Thoughts?

While it is true any power supply with 520 to 680 watts is good for a gaming system, you have to consider the GPUs. High performance, dual GPUs, like NVIDIA TESLA, can use up to 700 watts. In addition, if you are trying to play online games with multiple opponents, you are going to need a minimum of about 1100 watts. Again, that's for high end gaming systems to be used online, however. I know it seems like overkill, but you can't even log onto certain game rooms using under 1100 watts. Even at 1100 watts, your gaming system will crash. So, for the purpose of gaming online, I've learned to be comfortable with 1200 watts.

 

[delluser1]

It's a 3 year old thread and that's some pretty sad misinformation you're spouting
Tesla gpu's with the same amount of power connector's as a mainstream card can magically use a boatload of power huh ?
Can't log onto a game without an 1100 watt psu?
I hurt myself when I hit the floor

Moderator

 

[Mousemonkey]

It's a 3 year old thread and that's some pretty sad misinformation you're spouting
Tesla gpu's with the same amount of power connector's as a mainstream card can magically use a boatload of power huh ?
Can't log onto a game without an 1100 watt psu?
I hurt myself when I hit the floor

Moderator

I laughed as I banned! :lol: