PSU forum rant

[godspanther]

Ok I have a bone to pick with some of the folks on the forum. Which ones? Well if you have ever told someone "You don't need a PSU that puts out that many watts" or something similar then it is you. If you are one of those people then please Shut The Hell Up. A good PSU is something that can carry over from build to build. If your is powerful enough you can re-use it from one upgrade to the next without giving it a second thought. That makes a high quality PSU an excellent investment and the bigger the better. Not only are lower wattage PSU's not going to be able to keep up with the demands of your hardware as you upgrade but they tend to be less reliable. In the long run cheap low wattage PSU's are a waste of money.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Major difference between high quality and overspecced.

Also, few people upgrade to dual-GPU setups, even when they say they might. Something like 5% of the ones who say they'll do it later.

A good 550W PSU will do all single-GPU single-CPU setups.

 

[emdea22]

This shows how misinformed you truly are in regards to PSUs.

Using a 10 year old PSU in a new system is not a good thing - no matter what brand or wattage because of architectural changes.
Using a PSU at low power and low efficiency for an extended period of time makes it less likely to cope with a high and sudden load.
What makes you think you'll need a higher wattage in the future? Right now AMD, nvidia and intel are trying hard to lower power consumption by any means.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

No major architectural changes in the last ten years, and it's unlikely for the next ten years. Exception is SATA, which is a simple adapter. There was a big change from 5V sourced to 12V sourced for stuff like CPUs and GPUs, but that was earlier than that IIRC.


Never heard of the issues with low power usage preventing later higher peaks. Source?

 

[i7Baby]

Single GPU PSU - you need 600W for eg R9 280X, 290 or 290X

I've seen people with 1000W PSUs for single GPUs or 2 x small GPUs - because they got it cheap. I think that's dumb. It's a waste of electricity - through running at the inefficient level for the PSU.
So I'd be one of the people who'd say 'you don't need a psu that big'

 

[emdea22]

No major architectural changes in the last ten years, and it's unlikely for the next ten years. Exception is SATA, which is a simple adapter. There was a big change from 5V sourced to 12V sourced for stuff like CPUs and GPUs, but that was earlier than that IIRC.


Never heard of the issues with low power usage preventing later higher peaks. Source?

I was responding to the OP and my source is basic knowledge of electronics since i;ve been repairing them for years now...

 

[godspanther]

No major architectural changes in the last ten years. In other words we are due. As a guy who has been in a situation where I reused a 1000w PSU in a new build and found myself under powered I stand behind my assertion that bigger is better. After that fiasco I went with a LEPA 1600w and haven't had a problem since.

 

[i7Baby]

Depends on the build and the PSU quality.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

No major architectural changes in the last ten years. In other words we are due. As a guy who has been in a situation where I reused a 1000w PSU in a new build and found myself under powered I stand behind my assertion that bigger is better. After that fiasco I went with a LEPA 1600w and haven't had a problem since.

You're in the top tenth or hundredth of a percent if 1kW isn't big enough. Must have at least three GPUs, which most motherboards can't handle.

Since when does nothing changing recently mean we are somehow 'due'? TCP/IP has been around for decades, perhaps we're about to replace that?

And if it were 'due', wouldn't that be an arguement to not over-spec, because it'll all be moot in a couple of years?

No major architectural changes in the last ten years, and it's unlikely for the next ten years. Exception is SATA, which is a simple adapter. There was a big change from 5V sourced to 12V sourced for stuff like CPUs and GPUs, but that was earlier than that IIRC.


Never heard of the issues with low power usage preventing later higher peaks. Source?

I was responding to the OP and my source is basic knowledge of electronics since i;ve been repairing them for years now...

Similar here.

 

[g-unit1111]

No major architectural changes in the last ten years. In other words we are due. As a guy who has been in a situation where I reused a 1000w PSU in a new build and found myself under powered I stand behind my assertion that bigger is better. After that fiasco I went with a LEPA 1600w and haven't had a problem since.

If you haven't noticed PCs are getting smaller. Especially with the specifications proposed by Valve for Steam Box based computers. mITX and mATX are becoming the norm. The days of huge towers and 1600W+ power supplies are coming to an end. You also don't need optical drives either since streaming and cloud based services are also becoming more widely used. I suggest reading up a bit.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

You can't even build an Nvidia based system that needs 1600 watts. The closest you can come is 4 x GTX 480s or 4 x GTX 580s needing 1500 watts. 4 x 290s or 4 x 290X in Crossfire needs 1600 watts. Or 295X2s in Crossfire.

I have to think you are either a troll or at the least you are hugely misinformed.

Not only are lower wattage PSU's not going to be able to keep up with the demands of your hardware as you upgrade but they tend to be less reliable.

Proof? From any reliable source? And some random guy's youtube video or blog doesn't count. Because I think you are just making stuff up and this forum exists to give correct information.