Will my PSU produce enough Wattage?

[JB00Junior]

Hi There guys,

I'm quite new on this site so I'm not exactly sure what goes for what
However it might say, I've recently just bought a new PC with these specs:

CM HAF 922 ATX CHASSIS
XFX PRO850W CORE EDITION 80+ B
ASUS P9X79 DELUXE MOTHERBOARD
INTEL CORE I7 3930K 3.20GHZ 12
KINGSTON 16GB 1600 MHZ DDR3
CORSAIR HYDRO H100 CPU COOLER
PATRIOT PYRO 60GB SATA 3, 2.5"
SEAGATE 1TB 7200RPM 64 MB
LITEON 24 X DVD WRITER SATA
EVGA NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 SC Signature

Few days ago I decided to go to 3D and bought a Samsung 27 inc 3D Monitor. The bummer is that I just found out that 3D gaming takes alot more GPU power that 2D gaming so I ordere another EVGA NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 SC Signature for SLI. My question is, will my power supply be big enough for all the hardware or do I have to upgrade that as well? Also, I have a 7.1 headset, gaming mouse and keyboard which I presume also draws its power form the PSU?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm not an expert on PC's so I ask you guys , I just want this to be right.

 

[DarkOCean]

Everything is fine .

 

[JB00Junior]

Everything is fine .

Thanks DarkOCean, but are you sure about that? I don't want some hardware to get less power than it actually requires. If that is the case, will there be a sign or faulty error or something that I can deduct from that the PSU is not good enough?

 

[DarkOCean]

Thanks DarkOCean, but are you sure about that? I don't want some hardware to get less power than it actually requires. If that is the case, will there be a sign or faulty error or something that I can deduct from that the PSU is not good enough?

There will be signs like random restarts, instability etc,but trust me 850w is enough for that pc.

 

[JB00Junior]

Many Thanx for the help, really appreciated

 

[cadaveca]

I can run on a really good 750 W, even overclocked, with 2 cards.


Say 250 W for GPU, 250 W for CPU, 75 W for motherboard, that leaves 275 W for the rest, and those numbers are "PEAK" power consumed, not average. You system's average power consumption should fall somewhere between 375 W - 475 W when gaming.

 

[JrRacinFan]

Rest assured, that PSU is plenty.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

Rest assured, that PSU is plenty.

And if you are still not satisfied, buy a watt meter. Newegg has it this week for $18 with free shipping.

 

[JB00Junior]

Thanx Guys, will get that powermeter later on

 

[cadaveca]

Oh, you are going dual card? i missed that. you may want to consider a bigger PSU if you are planning on overclocking.


550 W - 550 W singlecard, 750 W - 1000 W dualcard, 1000 W - 1500 W triple and quad card.

Personally, I'd step up to a 1000 W unit with dual 680's. If you plan on running stock, no overclocking, 850W should be perfectly fine.

 

[JB00Junior]

Jup, it's two 680s. the cards are allready factory overclocked so I guess I won't be needing to overclock for some time. Everything will be running on stock clock speed for now. . .

 

[cadaveca]

GTX680 is a 225 W card.

so 450 W for the two.

+ 130 W for the CPU @ stock.

+75 W for motherboard.

So we're up to 650 W, without drives, fans, etc, which should all fit into that extra 200 W offered by a 850 W unit.

 

[JB00Junior]

If I do decide to overclock, which I won't unless games start getting more power hungry that I have to overclock for smoother fps. Say I do that and my PSU does not supply enough power and the system shuts down or shomething due to not enough power. Can that be harmful to my GPU's or other system components?

 

[cadaveca]

If I do decide to overclock, which I won't unless games start getting more power hungry that I have to overclock for smoother fps. Say I do that and my PSU does not supply enough power and the system shuts down or shomething due to not enough power. Can that be harmful to my GPU's or other system components?

There is a little bit, very small potential for that, but mostly, the issue is that a lack of power will affect the system's ability to reach maximum clocks. As the PSU gets close to reaching its maximum power, the PSU will have worse line regulation, and introduce ripple that can affect stability. It should not actualy harm anything, it will pull power quickly from idle to load, not have enough, and then shut down. Most PSUs are built to shut off in situations where they might cause damage, but it is always best to properly equip your rig with enough PSU.

I can run on a 750 W, sure, but I use a 1200 W unit, with a 3960X, and dual 6950's. I have a third card I like to try to use from time to time, and having such a large PSU ensures that I will not run out of power.

OF course, depending on PSU design, if it's a multi-rail PSU, individual power lines may not have enough power per rail for decent clocking anyway, dependant on how you wire things up, too. Choosing a PSU for a system actually isn't really just as simple as making sure you have the wattage required.

 

[JrRacinFan]

Just my .02, shouldn't need an overclock on the 3930K just strictly for gaming. Should be enough to push those cards just fine.

 

[JB00Junior]

There is a little bit, very small potential for that, but mostly, the issue is that a lack of power will affect the system's ability to reach maximum clocks. As the PSU gets close to reaching its maximum power, the PSU will have worse line regulation, and introduce ripple that can affect stability. It should not actualy harm anything, it will pull power quickly from idle to load, not have enough, and then shut down. Most PSUs are built to shut off in situations where they might cause damage, but it is always best to properly equip your rig with enough PSU.

I can run on a 750 W, sure, but I use a 1200 W unit, with a 3960X, and dual 6950's. I have a third card I like to try to use from time to time, and having such a large PSU ensures that I will not run out of power.

OF course, depending on PSU design, if it's a multi-rail PSU, individual power lines may not have enough power per rail for decent clocking anyway, dependant on how you wire things up, too. Choosing a PSU for a system actually isn't really just as simple as making sure you have the wattage required.

I see, I'll have to do a bit research on PSUs, haven't gamed in ages so I didn't really keep up with technology,. Well as I mentioned, I just ordered this PC and this is the Powersupply the sales guy quoted me on (in his defence, that was befor I told him to add another GPU) but they are stress testing the system now so I'll probably hear the results tomorrow. Will let you know what they said. Thanks for the info, really helpful. PS, apart from the wattage, do you think the xfx psu that they quoted me on is a good psu?

 

[nleksan]

I am building a very similar system (3930K, R4E, 16GB DDR3-2133, Samsung 830 SSD, EVGA GTX670, plus probably 12 total 140mm fans, MCP35X Water Pump, and then the usual stuff). I am 100% comfortable with my nzxt HALE90 850W PSU, and I would imagine that any equivalent 850W unit would be plenty powerful to run such a rig well even with strong overclocks. That's actually one of the reasons why I am going with 670s, their low power use, although the ridiculous performance for a great price doesn't hurt!

I am confident that you will find your system to be more than adequate.

 

[JB00Junior]

Hi Guys, well the suppliers stress tested my PC and everything ran just fine on the 850. No problems and they are very happy. So you were all right, the 850 is good enough. However, I asked them to rather include a XFX PRO1050W Black Edition, Full Modular, 80+ Gold PSU as I will make a few additions in the future to my pc for which the 850 might not be enough. In future, I want to add a blu-ray player, one or two more HD's, a few extra fans, maby some lighting and of course overclock the CPU in say 2 years from now. So for that the 850 will be a bit too on the light side. Thanx for everyones input

 

[Jstn7477]

Nice, that should leave some healthy headroom in addition to compensating for PSU degradation over time. Since it's an 80+ Gold unit, it should run quite cool and save a little more power as well.

 

[JB00Junior]

Thank Jstn7477, It'll make me sleep better two Guys, I've got a question about monitors as well, but I don't think this is the right blog spot for questions regarding monitors. Anyone know of a website where I can post a question regarding monitors?

 

[Mussels]

Thank Jstn7477, It'll make me sleep better two Guys, I've got a question about monitors as well, but I don't think this is the right blog spot for questions regarding monitors. Anyone know of a website where I can post a question regarding monitors?

i think you need to look up the definition of blog, and compare it to forum. If this is a blog, i'm not where i thought i was.


That said, we dont have a dedicated monitor section of the forum. General Hardware will do just fine.