500W PSU enough?
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I might be getting some money to fix my computer so I was thinking of upgrading and making it "silent". I was thinking about getting the Kingwin Stryker (newegg, jonnyguru) but it is "only" 500W (rate 80+ plat @ 500W, otherwise 80+ gold @ 600W).
From the "PSU calculators" floating online, I've seen my build will need anywhere from 300 to ~600W of power... so I wanted the forum's opinion:
Intel i5 2500K or i7 2600K (no to moderate OCing at most)
8 now, upgrade to 16GB RAM
at least AMD 6870 or Nvidia 560
BR burner
(NOT water cooled, maybe an AIO or a silent air HSF)
Not sure if I would keep my Corsair 600t and which mobo I would get if i upgraded, but my feelings is that this PSU would work, but wouldn't be the most efficient for my build. Am I correct on that assumption? Or would 500W be more than enough? Do I need something more powerful?
From the "PSU calculators" floating online, I've seen my build will need anywhere from 300 to ~600W of power... so I wanted the forum's opinion:
Intel i5 2500K or i7 2600K (no to moderate OCing at most)
8 now, upgrade to 16GB RAM
at least AMD 6870 or Nvidia 560
BR burner
(NOT water cooled, maybe an AIO or a silent air HSF)
Not sure if I would keep my Corsair 600t and which mobo I would get if i upgraded, but my feelings is that this PSU would work, but wouldn't be the most efficient for my build. Am I correct on that assumption? Or would 500W be more than enough? Do I need something more powerful?
More about : 500w psu
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The Corsair Enthusiast "TX" line is more or less silent to my ear. I'd say your fine with 500W on that setup as it's the recomended minimum for the GTX 560 Ti. If it's any help, I'm running twin 560's in SLI on a Corsair TX750 and I've never had any issues. Each card is rated at 170W, so 750-170 would be the equivalent of 480W for a single card. You'll never run everything in your system at full blast aside from a brief start-up spike, so there should really be no need to worry if you go for a 500W PSU.
Best solution
The GeForce GTX 560 draws slightly more power than the Radeon HD 6870 so I'll use it as the basis for PSU sizing.
For a system running with a single GeForce GTX 560 NVIDIA states that the power supply should have a minimum of 450 Watts or greater with a combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 24 Amps or greater and with at least two 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors.
The Seasonic SS-460FL Active PFC F3, 460W Fanless, with its +12 Volt continuous current rating of 38 Amps and two 6+2-pin PCI-Express supplementary power connectors is more than capable.
The KINGWIN Stryker Fanless 500W (STR-500), with its +12 Volt continuous current rating of 45 Amps, two 6-pin and two 6+2-pin PCI-Express supplementary power connectors is also more than capable.
The Super Flower Golden Silent (Fanless) 500W (SF-500P14FG) is the same as the KINGWIN Stryker Fanless 500W (STR-500) since Super Flower is the OEM.
For a system running with a single GeForce GTX 560 NVIDIA states that the power supply should have a minimum of 450 Watts or greater with a combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 24 Amps or greater and with at least two 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors.
The Seasonic SS-460FL Active PFC F3, 460W Fanless, with its +12 Volt continuous current rating of 38 Amps and two 6+2-pin PCI-Express supplementary power connectors is more than capable.
The KINGWIN Stryker Fanless 500W (STR-500), with its +12 Volt continuous current rating of 45 Amps, two 6-pin and two 6+2-pin PCI-Express supplementary power connectors is also more than capable.
The Super Flower Golden Silent (Fanless) 500W (SF-500P14FG) is the same as the KINGWIN Stryker Fanless 500W (STR-500) since Super Flower is the OEM.
Any PSU calculator that doesn't show you what the continuous current rating on the all critical +12 Volt rails should be taken with a grain of salt.
Just being given a total Wattage value is not enough because it can lead you to purchase a power supply with an inadequate +12V rail and you'll be left wondering why your system is having power problems.
You just have to look at eXtreme Outer Vision's eXtreme Power Supply Calculator as an example. With the free Lite version they only give you a Wattage value. With their Pro version, that you have to pay for, they give you the useful Amperage values.
Just being given a total Wattage value is not enough because it can lead you to purchase a power supply with an inadequate +12V rail and you'll be left wondering why your system is having power problems.
You just have to look at eXtreme Outer Vision's eXtreme Power Supply Calculator as an example. With the free Lite version they only give you a Wattage value. With their Pro version, that you have to pay for, they give you the useful Amperage values.
Sorry for my lack of activity, been busy with work (in fact, im at work right now... shhh!!) so I have to keep this response brief.
-- ko888, thank you. Your response was very helpful.
-- With the exception of a potential wifi card, I think I have listed all my "power draw" items.
-- As for OCing, like i said before, it would be zero to moderate and I would make do with the PSU that I get.
-- I would like to keep SLI/Xfire an upgrade possibility but in all honesty, I don't think I would go dual card on this build
-- Reason I haven't listed a mobo is because I haven't decided what form factor i will go with yet.
-- ko888, thank you. Your response was very helpful.
-- With the exception of a potential wifi card, I think I have listed all my "power draw" items.
-- As for OCing, like i said before, it would be zero to moderate and I would make do with the PSU that I get.
-- I would like to keep SLI/Xfire an upgrade possibility but in all honesty, I don't think I would go dual card on this build
-- Reason I haven't listed a mobo is because I haven't decided what form factor i will go with yet.
kire said:
Sorry for my lack of activity, been busy with work (in fact, im at work right now... shhh!!) so I have to keep this response brief.-- ko888, thank you. Your response was very helpful.
-- With the exception of a potential wifi card, I think I have listed all my "power draw" items.
-- As for OCing, like i said before, it would be zero to moderate and I would make do with the PSU that I get.
-- I would like to keep SLI/Xfire an upgrade possibility but in all honesty, I don't think I would go dual card on this build
-- Reason I haven't listed a mobo is because I haven't decided what form factor i will go with yet.
NVIDIA's power supply specifications:
GeForce GTX 560
SLI (2-way): A minimum 600 Watt or greater power supply with a combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 37 Amps or greater and with at least four 6-pin PCI-E Supplementary Power Connectors.
GeForce GTX 560 Ti
SLI (2-way): A minimum 700 Watt or greater power supply with a combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 44 Amps or greater and with at least four 6-pin PCI-E Supplementary Power Connectors.
If using a single graphics card only, with no intention of CrossFireX/SLI in the future, a Micro-ATX form factor motherboard will be fine.
With a possibility of 2-way CrossFireX/SLI in the future then choose a full size ATX motherboard because of the better PCI-Express x16 slot spacing allows for proper graphics card cooling.
Again, I apologize for my lack of activity. Finding components for my build hasn't exactly been on the top of my to do list... =/
Ideally, I would want the i7-2600K with a single 6950 or 560 Ti (or next gen equivalent). From the impression I am getting form ko888, 500W should be enough for this build assuming I don't go dual GPUs and don't do any heavying OCing.
Thank you everyone. I think I have a good reference point and a few PSUs to look into for my build.
Ideally, I would want the i7-2600K with a single 6950 or 560 Ti (or next gen equivalent). From the impression I am getting form ko888, 500W should be enough for this build assuming I don't go dual GPUs and don't do any heavying OCing.
Thank you everyone. I think I have a good reference point and a few PSUs to look into for my build.
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