Too much power?

[preolt]

Hey TH, I have a quick question about psu's. I have recently been building what I would consider my first real ground up build. (I have done upgrades but never installed and modded my own pc from the ground up)

As I was searching for a psu I knew I wanted one that would support energy eating cards like the nvidia gtx400 series with out sweating. I also wanted to leave head room incase I wanted to sli in the future. So I waited and waited for a nice modular psu to go on sale. Cyber monday hits and I ended up picking up the kingwin 1000W Psu for the same price as the 600W version. I figured hey why not get the 1000W since its on sale and it has a 5 star rating (egg rating) I got it and tested it and it runs great.

Now for the trouble. I went to my local pc store and talked to one of the guys for a bit. When I told him I had a 1000W psu he freaked out and told me that was a terrible idea and that I should purchase a new one. He told me 1000W would be "unstable" in my system. I really dont understand. I figured power supplies will do the job as long as they dont cause your system to brown out or black out or light on fire in your case. Could some one please help me out here?

 

[linh6496]

haha that was one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. A PSU will only output as much power as the system needs and there is absolutely no risk of "overpowering" your system. I suggest you go to the local store and punch that guy in the face.

Back to the PSU selection part, I think you would find it better to purchase a top quality 750w - 850w PSU like the Corsair TX 750 rather than purchasing an average PSU like a kingwin, you will find it having much better build quality and therefore better effieciency > saving on your electricity bill.

 

[davcon]

Too much power is not an issue.
Your system will only use what it requires.
Too little power is far worse.

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

The only real downside to having a power supply that's rated far higher than what you need (like you have) is that power supplies tend to be most efficient when loaded to 50-60% of maximum.

Most single-GPU gaming systems average around 170W doing normal stuff, peaking around 400W or so when gaming and doing other intense tasks that fully load both the CPU and GPU.

 

[Paperdoc]

I don't know who "one of the guys" was, but do not ever trust him for advice again - and be wary of the store that employs him! The ONLY time a PSU might be unstable because it is oversized is if it is being used at an extremely low fraction of its capacity - probably below 5% of capacity. So his advice either was technically wrong, or morally corrupt - that is, maybe he knew he was misinforming you in a deliberate attempt to sell you something.

 

[bnot]

LOL, this just made my day, I literally LOLLED out loud. XD, and no it's not too overpowering.

 

[preolt]

Thanks guys, psu is one of those things im ignorant on. I read Kingwin had some good psu and I checked and made sure it was made at a reliable factory and passed code for 80+ gold rating.

I am picking up a gtx 480 for just 120$ from a close friend who upgraded the second the 580 came out. It is basically brand new and runs great, but I want to sli it probably at some point when the gtx 480s come further down in price. With this psu I dont need to worry about their absurd energy consumption just the heat dissipation.

Thanks guys for your help

 

[preolt]

Best answer selected by preolt.