PSU Wattage Recommendation

[Stone9]

Hi guys, in relation to this thread I posted about my PSU probably not being adequate enough for my video card

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareus.inc&cat=33&post=337831&page=1&p=1&sondage=0&owntopic=1&trash=&trash_post=&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0#bas

Can anyone recommend a wattage amount for me? I OC my Core i5 750 CPU, have 16GB of RAM, GTX 570, case fans, 3 HDD's, SSD. I do plan on upgrading to Ivy (Core i7 )sometime next year, so I'd want it to be able to handle that. I'd also have interest in a SLI setup at some point. Would I need 1000W, 1200W, or even higher?

 

[inzone]

There aren't many psu's higher than 1200w , there are a few but not many and the reason for that is that you have to have a lot of power hungry components to go above 1200w. If you do plan on SLI with two 570's and the rest of your selections I would go with the 1200w because it does sound like you could be interested in adding further.

Antec High Current Pro HCP-1200 1200W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
$269.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371043

I have this very same psu and I like it , I do have three 580's , 24gb of ram , a 980X cpu and three 180gb SSD's and this powers all that and other things as well so you should have plenty of head room with this psu.

 

[esrever]

I'd say 800 watt minimal for 570 sli, ivy will use less power than sandy so its fine.

 

[inzone]

The option to go with any psu that you want is yours to make and some will say that you don't need 1200w and that could be true but if you are spending the money and it's your computer then you can do what ever you want. You could also put in a 1000w psu and that might be enough for your needs and still have room to spare for addons. If you want to go with a 1000w psu then you could consider this one.

SeaSonic Platinum-1000 1000W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS PLATINUM Certified Modular Power Supply
$259.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151105

 

[Stone9]

Are the Corsair PSU's pretty solid? I'm pretty pleased with most of my Corsair products, like my 650D, RAM, headphones, and speakers...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139034&Tpk=corsair%201050

Also, what does the bronze, silver, gold, platinum translate into? I see this attached to the names of lots of PSU's.

 

[inzone]

Yes Corsair does make a good psu and they seem to be pretty popular. The bronze , silver , gold , platinum are all ratings of the psu. It is the power efficiency of the psu while under load as to how much of its rated power watts it can provide.

Bronze--- 82%
Silver--- 85%
Gold--- 87%
Platinum-- 92%

80 PLUS Bronze Certified
The 80 PLUS Bronze certified power supply provides high power efficiency of at least 82% at any load between 20% and 100%, saving your money on your electrical bill, reducing heat in your computer's system and prolonging its life.

80 PLUS Silver Certified
The 80 PLUS Silver certified power supply provides high power efficiency at over 85% at any load between 20% and 100%, saving your money on your electrical bill, reducing heat in your computer's system and prolonging its life

80 PLUS Gold Certified
The 80 PLUS Gold certified power supply provides high power efficiency of at least 87% at any load between 20% and 100%, saving your money on your electrical bill, reducing heat in your computer's system and prolonging its life.

80PLUS Platinum Certified
The Platinum Series, certified in accordance to the 80PLUS highest standards, offers the newest technology and innovation for performance and energy savings with up to 92% efficiency and a true power factor of greater than 0.9PF.

 

[jacknhut]

For 1 GTX 570 or any high end single GPU setup including GTX 580 and HD 7970, a quality 650W PSU such as Corsair AX 650W, Seasonic X 650W is enough to power your system.
For 2 GTX 570, a quality 850W PSU is needed (Corsair AX 850W or HX 850W or Seasonic X 850W or OCZ ZX 850W would be the top choices)

 

[davcon]

A high quality 750W is fine for your specs.
850W allows even more headroom.

 

[Stone9]

Hey guys, thanks for the great tips and recommendations. I decided to just get a Corsair 1200W. I figure I'm not really sure what I'll be doing with my system, so I want the flexibility of having plenty of power. It seems that pretty much everytime I got with something that is "good enough" I end up regretting it in the future or it causes me headaches. Or, that could just be me being ridiculous! Either way, the extra $80 didn't seem like a lot especially considering the 7 year warranty.

 

[Stone9]

Best answer selected by Stone9.