Been out of the game, what power supply to get?

JC316 · Oct 2, 2011

Ok, I am looking to build a desktop computer again, but I have been out of the game for a while. I am seeing a ton of 400-500W power supplies, but when I left that was nowhere near enough juice.

So, the system that I would be building would be an AMD Athlon II X4 640, or a Phenom II X4 955BE, one DVD RW, one HDD, and a single HD6870. How much power am I going to need?

Forgive the noobishness, when I left, I had had a Core 2 duo E4300 and a 3870X2 and a 750W power supply.

DannibusX · Oct 2, 2011

Shouldn't need much more than what you had. A good 750W PSU should push all that just fine.

JC316 · Oct 2, 2011

DannibusX said:
Shouldn't need much more than what you had. A good 750W PSU should push all that just fine.

Been hearing conflicting stuff. Some say a quality 450W is all that system needs.

DannibusX · Oct 2, 2011

I've never used less than 700W for any system in the last 5 years. I'm sure it would be fine.

TIGR · Oct 2, 2011

Welcome back to the game.

If you were planning to keep everything stock, a 400w PSU would be fine. A 500w unit will give you more headroom for moderate overclocking. If you think you'll add another video card down the line, a 600w model would do the trick fine.

This all of course assumes you'll use a PSU that's truly good for its rated output.

JC316 · Oct 2, 2011

TIGR said:
Welcome back to the game. If you were planning to keep everything stock, a 400w PSU would be fine. A 500w unit will give you more headroom for moderate overclocking. If you think you'll add another video card down the line, a 600w model would do the trick fine.

Thanks. My laptop is nice, but starting to chug, so it gets donated to my sister and I get a new desktop. Looking to OC some, nothing insane though.

Was looking at this:
PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II 500W High Perf...

or this
OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W Modular High Performance P...

TIGR · Oct 2, 2011

I was just recommending that OCZ model to someone else earlier today. A nice deal with the MIR.

JrRacinFan · Oct 2, 2011

LEPA N Series N500-SA 500W ATX12V Power Supply

Inexpensive CWT built model.

m4gicfour · Oct 2, 2011

TIGR said:
I was just recommending that OCZ model to someone else earlier today. A nice deal with the MIR.

Yup I like OCZ and Corsair, neither brand has ever had a failed unit so far in my experience, including rigs I've built for others. I don't know about others, but I have never received a single rebate from OCZ. YMMV

LordJummy · Oct 2, 2011

Been hearing great things about the latest Enermax PSU's. I'm personally a fan of seasonic, xfx, corsair, or anyone who uses seasonic guts lol. Also pc power n cooling, silverstone, antec, thermaltake, etc, etc, etc, etc.

Check reviews here and at HARDOCP to find EXACTLY what you need and want.

System Name	Budget Gaming
Processor	AMD FX6300
Motherboard	Gigabyte 880GMA-USB3
Cooling	Coolermaster Hyper 212+
Memory	8GB Ripjaws DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	HD7850 1GB
Storage	1TB Sata2
Display(s)	Acer 24" LED
Case	Generic black
Audio Device(s)	Stock onboard
Power Supply	FSP Aurum Gold 650W
Software	Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

System Name	Aluminum Mallard
Processor	Ryzen 1900x
Motherboard	AsRock Phantom 6
Cooling	AIO
Memory	32GB
Video Card(s)	EVGA 3080Ti FTW
Storage	SSD
Display(s)	Benq Zowie
Case	Cosmos 1000
Audio Device(s)	On Board
Power Supply	Corsair CX750
VR HMD	HTV Vive, Valve Index
Software	Arch Linux
Benchmark Scores	31 FPS in Dalaran

System Name	Budget Gaming
Processor	AMD FX6300
Motherboard	Gigabyte 880GMA-USB3
Cooling	Coolermaster Hyper 212+
Memory	8GB Ripjaws DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	HD7850 1GB
Storage	1TB Sata2
Display(s)	Acer 24" LED
Case	Generic black
Audio Device(s)	Stock onboard
Power Supply	FSP Aurum Gold 650W
Software	Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

System Name	Aluminum Mallard
Processor	Ryzen 1900x
Motherboard	AsRock Phantom 6
Cooling	AIO
Memory	32GB
Video Card(s)	EVGA 3080Ti FTW
Storage	SSD
Display(s)	Benq Zowie
Case	Cosmos 1000
Audio Device(s)	On Board
Power Supply	Corsair CX750
VR HMD	HTV Vive, Valve Index
Software	Arch Linux
Benchmark Scores	31 FPS in Dalaran

System Name	TaichiTig
Processor	i7 6800K
Motherboard	ASRock X99 Taichi
Memory	32GB DDR4 3200
Video Card(s)	RTX 4070
Storage	SSD + Misc. HDDs in DrivePool
Display(s)	BenQ PD3200U, Samsung C32HG70
Case	Antec Twelve Hundred
Audio Device(s)	Behringer UMC404HD, LSR308, Shure SRH840, AKG K612, Etymotic HF5
Power Supply	Corsair 750TX
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Deck Legend Ice Tactile
Software	Win10

Been out of the game, what power supply to get?

JC316

Knows what makes you tick

DannibusX

JC316

Knows what makes you tick

DannibusX

TIGR

JC316

Knows what makes you tick

TIGR

JrRacinFan

Served 5k and counting ...

m4gicfour

LordJummy

New Member

System Name	Dual Build Streamer
Processor	Ryzen 7900x3d : Ryzen 4600G
Motherboard	AsRock B650E Steel Legend : Giga B450i Aorus
Cooling	Custom Water 1x420 : Stock
Memory	32GB T-Force Deltas : 16GB Dominator Platinums
Video Card(s)	PowerColor 7900 XTX Liquid Devil: iGPU
Storage	20+ TB
Display(s)	Sammy 49" 5k Ultrawide
Case	Custom White Painted Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2
Audio Device(s)	Onboard : Onboard
Power Supply	EVGA 1200W P2
Mouse	Corsair M65 RGB Elite White
Keyboard	Hyperx Origins 65
Software	Windows 10

Processor	Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard	MSI MAG X570S Tomahawk Max WiFi
Cooling	EK Supremacy EVO Elite + EK D5 + EK 420 Rad, TT Toughfan 140x3, TT Toughfan 120x2, Arctic slim 120
Memory	32GB GSkill DDR4-3600 (F4-3600C16-8GVKC)
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte Radeon RX 7900XTX Gaming OC
Storage	WDBlack SN850X 4TB, Samsung 950Pro 512GB, Samsung 850EVO 500GB, 6TB WDRed, 36TB NAS, 8TB Lancache
Display(s)	Benq XL2730Z (1440P 144Hz, TN, Freesync) & 2x ASUS VE248
Case	Corsair Obsidian 750D
Audio Device(s)	Topping D50S + THX AAA 789, TH-X00 w/ V-Moda Boompro; 7Hz Timeless
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000i
Mouse	Sharkoon Fireglider optical
Keyboard	Corsair K95 RGB
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	Workstation1 \| Asus G55VW-DS71
Processor	i7 970 3.8GHz \| i7 3610QM
Motherboard	RIII Formula
Cooling	EK 360 Supreme HF \| Asus G55VW
Memory	24GB Dominator \| 12GB DDR3
Video Card(s)	2x Diamond HD 6970 \| GTX 660M
Storage	2x Vertex4 256GB \| 256GB Vertex4 & 750GB HDD
Display(s)	3x Crossover 27" LED S-IPS + 30" DELL IPS
Case	Corsair Obsidian 800D
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro + Gigaworks G550W
Power Supply	HX1000 + NZXT Black Sleeved Extensions
Software	Win7Ult64Bit
Benchmark Scores	ballz