PSU Wattage (1050 vs. 1250) for Gaming Build

JThorpe · Jul 30, 2013

Hello All,

I believe I have put together my final gaming build and I had one question on which PSU wattage I should go with. My choice is 1050 watts vs. 1250 watts.

One note on usage, I will be using this build for the next 4-5 years, at about 15-17 hrs a day, of heavy gaming.

I have gone to PSU calculator sites, and I think that I can go with a 1050 watt, but when it comes to aging, it shows that I would need more power later on.

Here is the link to my build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1mld2

I do plan on in the future adding an additional SSD ( Samsung 840 EVO) and a sound card.

On the two Corsair SP120 2-packs, those are for the H100i in a push/pull configuration.

On the GPU’s, those are a place holder for the EVGA GTX 780 Classifieds (http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=03G-P4-3788-KR )

Thank you in advance for the advice.

EarthDog · Jul 30, 2013

You could EASILY run on a 1KW PSU... I would honestly say 850W is PLENTY for that setup.

Those cards are around 250W MAX stock, and with their 6% power limit increase, at ABSOLUTE WORST 265W each (you wont reach that value without modifications either, likely).

SSD is a couple watts, negligible.

I say Corsair AX850 will be plenty now, with everything overclocked, and in the future.

YOu can also buy a much less expensive motherboard too. Im not a fan of the sabertooth and its 'armor' and marketing. At that pricepoint, an MSI Mpower/MAX would be on my list. But truth be told, you could easily be in the $180 range and where you should be with any fiscal responsibility in mind (you are paying for what amounts to nothing on the sabertooth).

Frag_Maniac · Jul 31, 2013

MSI and EVGA would advise a 900w PSU w/ 63a for that setup, and most decent 850w PSUs would have enough amperage. My XFX 850w has 70a.

drdeathx · Jul 31, 2013

The 1050 watt will give you headroom when you lust the 3rd GPU LOL

D007 · Jul 31, 2013

Overkillllllll! crash brawww zoom powie!!
Yea 850 could er just fine with room to spare.
Even the 1K is overkill.
If you insist, go with the 1k.

manofthem · Jul 31, 2013

That's a nice looking build; you're going to have a lot of fun with it

Gotta say, 15-17 hrs/day of gaming is intense! :eek:

McSteel · Jul 31, 2013

I was going to say that 850W is plenty even with serious overclocking... But what the hell, you're dropping $3k on a gaming build that you intend to exploit 16 hrs a day - go crazy and take the 1250W one. You've got both money and time to burn, so why save $50-70 on the PSU, when such a sum obviously doesn't make a difference.

There's no kill quite like overkill.

JThorpe · Jul 31, 2013

Thank you for the answers, they have been beyond helpful.

Now I have one more question.

Platinum or Gold Certified? Is the extra cost for Platinum certified worth it?

Frick · Jul 31, 2013

Worth it as in saving you money? Not really. But as McSteel said, why cheap out now?

CORSAIR AX1200i 1200W Digital ATX12V v2.31 and EPS...

d1nky · Jul 31, 2013

manofthem said:
That's a nice looking build; you're going to have a lot of fun with it
Gotta say, 15-17 hrs/day of gaming is intense!

meh its only max of 31,025 hours in game.

i done more in a weekend lol :rockout:

and overkill is good, means itll withstand any upgrade you throw at it!

RCoon · Jul 31, 2013

Everyone is correct, 1K is overkill unles you have efficiency in mind. I have a 1K PSU, purely for the efficiency at 50-60% load. Saving me all the pennies, over about 50 years I might be able to buy a drink or something with that saved monies. The difference in efficiency is like 2%.

EarthDog · Jul 31, 2013

RCoon said:
Everyone is correct, 1K is overkill unles you have efficiency in mind. I have a 1K PSU, purely for the efficiency at 50-60% load. Saving me all the pennies, over about 50 years I might be able to buy a drink or something with that saved monies.

Nice. At least you admit you ripped yourself off! Efficiency at say, 80% (which a 850w with this setup isn't at 80% load, more line 60 at most, the ifferences inefficiency, as you mentioned is less than a percentage point which as you allude to, will never be made up.

RCoon · Jul 31, 2013

EarthDog said:
Nice. At least you admit you ripped yourself off!

AH! But the catch is I intend to use this PSU for as long as it lives, for all future builds! So you know, if 5K monies drops on my head, I can buy those three GTX 780's I always wanted. THEN I'LL BE LAUGHING! Pre-emptive PSU requirements.

Oh, and as a personal opinion, I dont like that choice of case with that hardware, far too reserved :laugh:

kajson · Jul 31, 2013

These power supplies you are thinking about are supporting the new low power states? I would like to have those features while you're getting a new system anyways.

Other then that maybe not settle for 128GB SSD? You cant put too many big games on 128GB... And for state of the art gaming, your games need to be on the ssd. Even if you're not using the space the wear and tear will be lower over time.
(doesnt apply if you are planning to buy a newer gen ssd in a year or 2 ofc)

DarkOCean · Jul 31, 2013

go for a bigger ssd, 240-256 gb ones are just a bit more.

Aquinus · Jul 31, 2013

JThorpe said:
One note on usage, I will be using this build for the next 4-5 years, at about 15-17 hrs a day, of heavy gaming.

That's a lot of hours. Hopefully you can find time to do things like, eat, sleep, and live. :laugh:

I can vouch for the SeaSonic Platinum-1000 1000W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PL... . It's an excellent PSU.

shovenose · Jul 31, 2013

Highest efficiency, quality construction, good 7 year warranty and it's 4th gen Core haswell certified:
SeaSonic Platinum-1000 1000W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PL...

JThorpe · Jul 31, 2013

Aquinus said:
That's a lot of hours. Hopefully you can find time to do things like, eat, sleep, and live.

I can vouch for the SeaSonic Platinum-1000 1000W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PL... . It's an excellent PSU.

I should have clarified the 15-17 hours. I share the computer with my wife, so she would use it in the day, I would use it at night, but weekends are a whole different story

shovenose · Jul 31, 2013

Oh and by the way "capacitor aging" is bullshit.

purecain · Jul 31, 2013

just when I thought I would never have to buy another psu.... they add haswell compatability....

lets just hope its a gimmick.....

EarthDog · Jul 31, 2013

purecain said:
just when I thought I would never have to buy another psu.... they add haswell compatability....

lets just hope its a gimmick.....

Lifts up rock... oh there you are!

Its fine. No worries on that stuff. If you are worried you can disable the deep sleep states.

purecain · Jul 31, 2013

lol.... thanks EarthDog....

JThorpe · Jul 31, 2013

Thank you all for the replies.

I believe I will be going with the Seasonic 1000w Platinum

shovenose · Aug 1, 2013

JThorpe said:
Thank you all for the replies.

I believe I will be going with the Seasonic 1000w Platinum

Great choice.

Aquinus · Aug 1, 2013

shovenose said:
Great choice.

Excellent choice. Barely makes any heat at 50% load. I know this from experience. :cool:

Also don't be scared if the PSU fan doesn't come on with it set to hybrid mode. It won't come on unless the PSU is hot enough and it's a pretty cool running PSU.

System Name	Long Term Gaming Build
Processor	i7-4770K
Motherboard	Asus Maximus VI Hero
Cooling	Corsair H100i
Memory	GSkill Ripjaw X 2133
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 780 Ti ACX Superclock (x2 SLI)
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256GB and Seagate Barracuda 2TB
Display(s)	Samsung SyncMaster PX2370 (23inch)
Case	NZXT Source 530
Audio Device(s)	N/A
Power Supply	Seasonic X-1000 Platinum

System Name	Space Station
Processor	Intel 13700K
Motherboard	ASRock Z790 PG Riptide
Cooling	Arctic Liquid Freezer II 420
Memory	Corsair Vengeance 6400 2x16GB @ CL34
Video Card(s)	PNY RTX 4080
Storage	SSDs - Nextorage 4TB, Samsung EVO 970 500GB, Plextor M5Pro 128GB, HDDs - WD Black 6TB, 2x 1TB
Display(s)	LG C3 OLED 42"
Case	Corsair 7000D Airflow
Audio Device(s)	Yamaha RX-V371
Power Supply	SeaSonic Vertex 1200w Gold
Mouse	Razer Basilisk V3
Keyboard	Bloody B840-LK
Software	Windows 11 Pro 23H2

System Name	Halloween Boo!
Processor	Intel Core i7 3770K
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z77-Up7
Cooling	Custom Water/ Thermalchill TA 120.3/ Swiftech Apogeee XT/ MCP655/ Swiftech M icrores/ XSPC RX 240
Memory	16G G.Skill trident 2400MHz
Video Card(s)	3 x Radeon 7970
Storage	OCZ Revo Drive 240G
Display(s)	24 inch Viewsonic
Case	Phobia WayCoolIt Test Bench
Power Supply	Nexus 1100 watt

System Name	HAL
Processor	Core i9 13900k @5.8-6.1
Motherboard	Z790 Arous master
Cooling	EKWB Quantum Velocity V2 & (2) 360 Corsair XR7 Rads push/pull
Memory	2x 32GB (64GB) Gskill trident 6000 CL30 @28 1T
Video Card(s)	RTX 4090 Gigagbyte gaming OC @ +200/1300
Storage	(M2's) 2x Samsung 980 pro 2TB, 1xWD Black 2TB, 1x SK Hynix Platinum P41 2TB
Display(s)	65" LG OLED 120HZ
Case	Lian Li dyanmic Evo11 with distro plate
Power Supply	Thermaltake 1350
Software	Microsoft Windows 11 x64

Processor	3900X @ 4.0
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix X570-E
Cooling	DeepCool Castle 360EX
Memory	G Skill Trident Z Neo 32GB 3600
Video Card(s)	RX 5700 XT Pulse
Storage	Sabrent Rocket Q 1TB
Display(s)	LG 34UC88
Case	Thermaltake P3
Power Supply	Super Flower Leadex III 750w
Mouse	Logitech G900
Keyboard	G Skill KM570 MX Silver
Software	Windows 10 Pro

PSU Wattage (1050 vs. 1250) for Gaming Build

JThorpe

EarthDog

Frag_Maniac

drdeathx

D007

manofthem

WCG-TPU Team All-Star!

McSteel

JThorpe

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

d1nky

RCoon

EarthDog

RCoon

kajson

DarkOCean

Aquinus

Resident Wat-man

shovenose

JThorpe

shovenose

purecain

EarthDog

purecain

JThorpe

shovenose

Aquinus

Resident Wat-man

System Name	Chaos
Processor	Intel Core i5 4590K @ 4.0 GHz
Motherboard	MSI Z97 MPower MAX AC
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer i30 + MX4
Memory	4x4 GB Kingston HyperX Beast 2400 GT/s CL11
Video Card(s)	Palit GTX 1070 Dual @ stock
Storage	256GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD + 1 TB WD Green (Idle timer off) + 320 GB WD Blue
Display(s)	Dell U2515H
Case	Fractal Design Define R3
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Corsair HX750 Platinum
Mouse	CM Storm Recon
Keyboard	CM Storm Quickfire Pro (MX Red)

System Name	Black MC in Tokyo
Processor	Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard	Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling	Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory	2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage	Kingston A400 240GB \| WD Black SN750 2TB \|WD Blue 1TB x 2 \| Toshiba P300 2TB \| Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s)	Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Line6 UX1 + some headphones, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
VR HMD	Acer Mixed Reality Headset
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Rimworld 4K ready!

System Name	Zotan
Processor	i9-10850K
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z490 Gaming X AX
Cooling	H100
Memory	32GB Viper 3200
Video Card(s)	Zotac RTX3080
Case	Airflow 275R
Power Supply	RMX850
Benchmark Scores	d1nky@hwbot.org

System Name	HP Omen 17
Processor	i7 7700HQ
Memory	16GB 2400Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s)	GTX 1060
Storage	Samsung SM961 256GB + HGST 1TB
Display(s)	1080p IPS G-SYNC 75Hz
Audio Device(s)	Bang & Olufsen
Power Supply	230W
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD+
Software	Win 10 Pro

System Name	"the strong silent type"
Processor	i5 3570k
Motherboard	Asus Maximus V Gene
Cooling	Thermalright Archon
Memory	G.Skill RipjawsX D3 8GB 1866-899 RipjawsX K2 GSK
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950 1GB dualfan
Storage	Crucial M4 128GB / Samsung F3 HD103SJ 1TB
Display(s)	LG W2253V
Case	CM 690 II Advanced
Power Supply	Coolermaster Silent Pro Gold 600w
Software	Win 7 Ultimate 64bit

System Name	Apollo
Processor	Intel Core i9 9880H
Motherboard	Some proprietary Apple thing.
Memory	64GB DDR4-2667
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon Pro 5600M, 8GB HBM2
Storage	1TB Apple NVMe, 4TB External
Display(s)	Laptop @ 3072x1920 + 2x LG 5k Ultrafine TB3 displays
Case	MacBook Pro (16", 2019)
Audio Device(s)	AirPods Pro, Sennheiser HD 380s w/ FIIO Alpen 2, or Logitech 2.1 Speakers
Power Supply	96w Power Adapter
Mouse	Logitech MX Master 3
Keyboard	Logitech G915, GL Clicky
Software	MacOS 12.1

System Name	Sierra ~ Server
Processor	Core i5-11600K ~ Core i3-12100
Motherboard	Asus Prime B560M-A AC ~ MSI PRO B760M-P
Cooling	CM 212 Black RGB Edition ~ Intel Stock Cooler
Memory	64GB (2x 32GB) DDR4-3600 ~ 32GB (4x 8GB) DDR4-3200
Video Card(s)	XFX Radeon RX 6950 XT ~ EVGA GeForce GTX 970
Storage	4TB Samsung 990 Pro with Heatsink NVMe SSD ~ 2TB Kingston NV1 NVMe SSD + 500GB WD Blue SATA SSD
Display(s)	2x Dell S2721QS 4K 60Hz ~ N/A
Case	Asus Prime AP201 - Open Frame Chassis
Power Supply	Thermaltake GF1 850W ~ Thermaltake Smart 500W
Software	Windows 11 Pro ~ Proxmox VE
Benchmark Scores	Laptops: Dell Latitude E7270, Dell Latitude 14 Rugged 5420.

System Name	ROG 7900X3d By purecain
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7900X3D
Motherboard	ASUS Crosshair X670E Hero
Cooling	Noctua NH U12A
Memory	64Gb G.Skill Trident Z5 neo RGB 6400@6000mhz@1.41v
Video Card(s)	Aorus RTX4090 Extreme Waterforce
Storage	990Pro2Tb-1TbSamsung Evo M.2/ 2TbSamsung QVO/ 1TbSamsung Evo780/ 120gbKingston Now
Display(s)	LG 65UN85006LA 65" Smart 4K Ultra HD HDR LED TV
Case	Thermaltake CoreX71 Limited Edition Etched Tempered Glass Door
Audio Device(s)	On board/NIcomplete audio 6
Power Supply	Seasonic FOCUS 1000w 80+
Mouse	M65 RGB Elite
Keyboard	K95 RGB Platinum
Software	Windows11pro
Benchmark Scores	[url=https://valid.x86.fr/gtle1y][img]https://valid.x86.fr/cache/banner/gtle1y-6.png[/img][/url]