• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Which PSU should I get?

Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
47 (0.01/day)
Processor i7-7700K @4.7GHz
Memory G.Skill Trident X 16GB 2400
Video Card(s) R9 290
Hey guys,

I'm thinking of building a new PC specifically for gaming, and am wondering which PSU I should get.
I'm really troubled by this since I don't know the first thing about PSU, so hoping for your help with this.

Here are the components I'm getting:

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
Mobo: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
RAM: G.Skill Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
GPU: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Tri-X Video Card

This is the store I'm using as I can get a special deal there:
https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/index.phtml?bid=9


But like I said before, I really don't know anything about power supplies, and really confused when looking at this list:
http://au.pcpartpicker.com/parts/power-supply/#sort=d6

I have no idea what the different efficiencies are, what are the recommended watts for my build and whether it's modular or not,
since this is my first time building a PC.

Here's some additional information, I don't know whether they are useful or not:
1. Yes I'm planning on overclocking in the future, but not decided on air or liquid cooler yet, should I leave more headroom for this?
2. I'm not using an optical drive.
3. I will buy a SSD later as well.


And for the PSU, are there some brands or series which are better than the others? And should I leave more headroom (more watts)
for the PSU for future proofing, so I can switch out parts like the GPU in the far future without hassle?

I'm really looking for the best bang for the buck here, but don't want to damage those expensive parts I paid and also not too limited as well.

Anyways really appreciate any help you guys can give!

Best Regards,
sapped
 
Joined
Mar 21, 2009
Messages
6,176 (1.13/day)
Location
Midlands,UK
System Name Ultraman
Processor Intel core i9 13900HK
Motherboard Alienware/Dell inverted motherboard
Cooling Alienware/Dell cooling solution + IETS GT500 cooling pad
Memory Alienware/Dell 32GB 6000mhz DDR5
Video Card(s) Nvidia RTX4080 12GB
Storage 1TB Dell supplied NVME + Samsung Evo 1TB NVME
Display(s) AOC Gaming CU34G3S/BK
Case Alienware X16
Audio Device(s) onboard/Speakers: Logitech G560
Power Supply Alienware/Dell battery + 330W charger
Mouse Microsoft Pro Intellimouse - White
Keyboard Ducky One2 SF White MX cherry Red
Software Windows 11
650W should be enough for the system,maybe a bit more for more future expansion. In terms of brand XFX,seasonic and Corsair be good choice. Others will require doing bit more research.
 
Joined
Apr 10, 2010
Messages
1,828 (0.36/day)
Location
London
System Name Jaspe
Processor Ryzen 1500X
Motherboard Asus ROG Strix X370-F Gaming
Cooling Stock
Memory 16Gb Corsair 3000mhz
Video Card(s) EVGA GTS 450
Storage Crucial M500
Display(s) Philips 1080 24'
Case NZXT
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Enermax 425W
Software Windows 10 Pro
650w for that rig is nowhere near enough; just the 290 alone can pull 22A. And he's overclocking, I would say 850w minimum.
 
Joined
May 25, 2011
Messages
374 (0.08/day)
Location
Netherlands
Processor Core i5 4690K @ 3.5 GHz \\ C2Q Q6600 @ 3.4 GHz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 SLI \\ Asus P5K Deluxe
Cooling Thermaltake Water 3.0 Performer \\ Xigmatek Dark Knight
Memory Crucial Ballistix Sport 2x 4GB \\ Corsair XMS2 2x 2 GB
Video Card(s) GIGABYTE GTX 970 G1 Gaming v1.1 (Hynix) \\ Sapphire HD 6850
Storage Kingston SV200, 3 TB Seagate 7200.14 \\ 2x 320 GB WD Blue
Display(s) LG 24MP56HQ
Case Corsair Carbide 200R Windowed \\ CM 690
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1150 \\ Audigy 2 ZS
Power Supply Adata HM850 \\ Corsair HX520
Mouse Logitech G602, SteelSeries Sensei Raw Frostblue, Corsair M65
Keyboard Logitech Media Keyboard Elite
Software Windows 10 Pro x64 \\ Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Joined
Jul 2, 2008
Messages
8,068 (1.40/day)
Location
Hillsboro, OR
System Name Main/DC
Processor i7-3770K/i7-2600K
Motherboard MSI Z77A-GD55/GA-P67A-UD4-B3
Cooling Phanteks PH-TC14CS/H80
Memory Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) LP /4GB Kingston DDR3 1600
Video Card(s) Asus GTX 660 Ti/MSI HD7770
Storage Crucial MX100 256GB/120GB Samsung 830 & Seagate 2TB(died)
Display(s) Asus 24' LED/Samsung SyncMaster B1940
Case P100/Antec P280 It's huge!
Audio Device(s) on board
Power Supply SeaSonic SS-660XP2/Seasonic SS-760XP2
Software Win 7 Home Premiun 64 Bit
650w for that rig is nowhere near enough; just the 290 alone can pull 22A. And he's overclocking, I would say 850w minimum.
What!? 22A x 12 volts = 264 watts. They need (850-264) 586 watts to run the rest of their system?
 
Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
47 (0.01/day)
Processor i7-7700K @4.7GHz
Memory G.Skill Trident X 16GB 2400
Video Card(s) R9 290
Hey guys thank you so much for all your replies, really appreciate this.

So 750W is the best bet for future proofing? I forgot to mention this last time, but I'm also planning to add a SSD
sometime in the future as well. So would rather spend a little more now and not be limited in the future.

Also an important thing I'm wondering is, is it justifiable to get the 80+ Platinum over the Gold ones?
Since these ones generate less heat, runs quieter, and also consume less electricity/power, but by how much?

If it is significant I would very much like to spend on the platinum ones.
 

Ebo

Joined
May 9, 2013
Messages
778 (0.20/day)
Location
Nykoebing Mors, Denmark
System Name the little fart
Processor AMD Ryzen 2600X
Motherboard MSI x470 gaming plus
Cooling Noctua NH-C14S
Memory 16 GB G.Skill Ripjaw 2400Mhz DDR 4
Video Card(s) Sapphire RX Vega 56 Pulse
Storage 1 Crucial MX100 512GB SSD,1 Crucial MX500 2TB SSD, 1 1,5TB WD Black Caviar, 1 4TB WD RED HD
Display(s) IIyama XUB2792QSU IPS 2560x1440
Case White Lian-Li PC-011 Dynamic
Audio Device(s) Asus Xonar SE pci-e card
Power Supply Thermaltake DPS G 1050 watt Digital PSU
Mouse Steelseries Sensei
Keyboard Corsair K70
Software windows 10 64 pro bit
I have a 700 watt PSU to run my system, and thats enough.
Should I get a new PSU today I would seriously consider the EVGA Supernova ver. 2 in either 750 or 850watt, if you wants to go for xfire in the future.
 
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
12,280 (2.37/day)
Location
Oregon
System Name Juliette // HTPC
Processor Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s) ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s) ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s) Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro
650w for that rig is nowhere near enough; just the 290 alone can pull 22A. And he's overclocking, I would say 850w minimum.

Its just one 290 right? A 550 watt would run that system. A Seasonic 620w Bronze would do nicely and often go on sale. Or Corsair HX750
 
Last edited:
Joined
Apr 10, 2010
Messages
1,828 (0.36/day)
Location
London
System Name Jaspe
Processor Ryzen 1500X
Motherboard Asus ROG Strix X370-F Gaming
Cooling Stock
Memory 16Gb Corsair 3000mhz
Video Card(s) EVGA GTS 450
Storage Crucial M500
Display(s) Philips 1080 24'
Case NZXT
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Enermax 425W
Software Windows 10 Pro
What!? 22A x 12 volts = 264 watts. They need (850-264) 586 watts to run the rest of their system?

Ok, sorry; I might have exaggerated a bit. If it's single rail he'll be fine, but if it's multi-rail it might trigger the OCP.
 
Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
47 (0.01/day)
Processor i7-7700K @4.7GHz
Memory G.Skill Trident X 16GB 2400
Video Card(s) R9 290
Alright thanks, looks like the best price is the G2.

Although something I'm wondering, if I were to upgrade to a crossfire setup sometime in the future, will the 750W PSU be enough?

If I buy a higher watts one (say 1000W), will it consume more power while operating the same setup I got, compared to the lower watt one (say 750W)?
So more heat, electricity cost etc.

Or does it only increase the maximum limit so more possible upgrades can be applied on top?
 

64K

Joined
Mar 13, 2014
Messages
6,104 (1.66/day)
Processor i7 7700k
Motherboard MSI Z270 SLI Plus
Cooling CM Hyper 212 EVO
Memory 2 x 8 GB Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2070 Super
Storage Samsung 850 EVO 250 GB and WD Black 4TB
Display(s) Dell 27 inch 1440p 144 Hz
Case Corsair Obsidian 750D Airflow Edition
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply EVGA SuperNova 850 W Gold
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Logitech G105
Software Windows 10
If you mean will it consume 1,000 watts just because it's rated up to 1,000 watts then no it will only consume what it needs to use. 850 watts is probably enough for CrossFire R9 290s.
 
Last edited:

BUCK NASTY

4P Enthusiust
Joined
Aug 8, 2007
Messages
4,974 (0.82/day)
Location
Port St Lucie, FL. U.S.A.
System Name Main Rig
Processor AMD FX-4130 @ 4.8Ghz
Motherboard ASUS M5A99X Evo
Cooling Coolermaster Hyper 212+
Memory 8GB GSkill DDR3 1600
Video Card(s) ASUS GTX 970 Strix @ 1503Mhz Core
Storage Corsair Force 90gb SSD/ WD Caviar Blue 750gb
Display(s) ASUS 24" IPS
Case Coolermaster Centurion 590
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Antec TP750 80+
Software Windows 7 Ultimate 64
Alright thanks, looks like the best price is the G2.

Although something I'm wondering, if I were to upgrade to a crossfire setup sometime in the future, will the 750W PSU be enough?

If I buy a higher watts one (say 1000W), will it consume more power while operating the same setup I got, compared to the lower watt one (say 750W)?
So more heat, electricity cost etc.

Or does it only increase the maximum limit so more possible upgrades can be applied on top?
PSU's have a sweet spot for efficiency(notably Gold and Platinum). Their highest efficiency is generally achieved in the 50% load range. While I have pushed PSU's to 90%+ load in the past without issue, I'm factoring in the additional efficiency of a 50% load going forward. I just bought a EVGA Supernova G2 1000 and currently have it loaded @ 760W at the wall(680W load) for 24/7 use in F@H. This thing is a beast and is barely breaking a sweat. Definitely an improvement over the PCP&C 750w Silencer Mark VI that sounds like a Wind Tunnel under the same load and saved 100w of electricity in doing so. Looked at the EVGA P2 line and the additional cost is not worth the minimal improvement in efficiency.
 
Last edited:

peche

Thermaltake fanboy
Joined
Nov 7, 2014
Messages
6,709 (1.96/day)
Location
San Jose, Costa Rica
System Name Athenna
Processor intel i7 3770 *Dellided*
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Rev. 1.1
Cooling Thermaltake Water 3.0 Pro + Tt Riing12 x2 / Tt ThunderBlade / Gelid Slim 120UV fans
Memory 16GB DRR3 Kingoston with Custom Tt spreaders + HyperX Fan
Video Card(s) GeForce GTX 980 4GB Nvidia Sample
Storage Crucial M4 SSD 64GB's / Seagate Barracuda 2TB / Seagate Barracuda 320GB's
Display(s) 22" LG FLATRON 1920 x 1280p
Case Thermaltake Commander G42 Window
Audio Device(s) On-board Dolby 5.1+ Kingston HyperX Cloud 1
Power Supply Themaltake TR2 700W 80plus bronce & APC Pro backup 1000Va
Mouse Tt eSports Level 10M Rev 1.0 Diamond Black & Tt Conkor "L" mouse pad
Keyboard Tt eSports KNUCKER
Software windows 10x64Pro
Benchmark Scores well I've fried a 775' P4 12 years ago, that counts?

64K

Joined
Mar 13, 2014
Messages
6,104 (1.66/day)
Processor i7 7700k
Motherboard MSI Z270 SLI Plus
Cooling CM Hyper 212 EVO
Memory 2 x 8 GB Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2070 Super
Storage Samsung 850 EVO 250 GB and WD Black 4TB
Display(s) Dell 27 inch 1440p 144 Hz
Case Corsair Obsidian 750D Airflow Edition
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply EVGA SuperNova 850 W Gold
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Logitech G105
Software Windows 10
Joined
Nov 10, 2006
Messages
4,665 (0.73/day)
Location
Washington, US
System Name Rainbow
Processor Intel Core i7 8700k
Motherboard MSI MPG Z390M GAMING EDGE AC
Cooling Corsair H115i, 2x Noctua NF-A14 industrialPPC-3000 PWM
Memory G. Skill TridentZ RGB 4x8GB (F4-3600C16Q-32GTZR)
Video Card(s) ZOTAC GeForce RTX 3090 Trinity
Storage 2x Samsung 950 Pro 256GB | 2xHGST Deskstar 4TB 7.2K
Display(s) Samsung C27HG70
Case Xigmatek Aquila
Power Supply Seasonic 760W SS-760XP
Mouse Razer Deathadder 2013
Keyboard Corsair Vengeance K95
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores 4 trillion points in GmailMark, over 144 FPS 2K Facebook Scrolling (Extreme Quality preset)
Two 6950s with my overclocked FX 8350 uses about 700w at the wall (an estimated ~600-630 watts) out of my 750w Corsair AX750. It's a little more than I'm comfortable with (the PSU gets a bit of coil whine), but that's Furmark + Prime95. I forgot to check load usage under gaming.
If I recall correctly, the 290 uses a bit more power than my 6950/70, so I'd guess that for crossfire purposes, ~850w would be the minimum with about 1000w or more recommended, if only for efficiency and insurance.
I had two 4870s running off of a 550w PSU back in the day which worked well for a good while, but it slowly weakened the PSU and can't handle that kind of load anymore (running Folding@Home and WCG 24/7 certainly didn't help.)
 

peche

Thermaltake fanboy
Joined
Nov 7, 2014
Messages
6,709 (1.96/day)
Location
San Jose, Costa Rica
System Name Athenna
Processor intel i7 3770 *Dellided*
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Rev. 1.1
Cooling Thermaltake Water 3.0 Pro + Tt Riing12 x2 / Tt ThunderBlade / Gelid Slim 120UV fans
Memory 16GB DRR3 Kingoston with Custom Tt spreaders + HyperX Fan
Video Card(s) GeForce GTX 980 4GB Nvidia Sample
Storage Crucial M4 SSD 64GB's / Seagate Barracuda 2TB / Seagate Barracuda 320GB's
Display(s) 22" LG FLATRON 1920 x 1280p
Case Thermaltake Commander G42 Window
Audio Device(s) On-board Dolby 5.1+ Kingston HyperX Cloud 1
Power Supply Themaltake TR2 700W 80plus bronce & APC Pro backup 1000Va
Mouse Tt eSports Level 10M Rev 1.0 Diamond Black & Tt Conkor "L" mouse pad
Keyboard Tt eSports KNUCKER
Software windows 10x64Pro
Benchmark Scores well I've fried a 775' P4 12 years ago, that counts?
Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
47 (0.01/day)
Processor i7-7700K @4.7GHz
Memory G.Skill Trident X 16GB 2400
Video Card(s) R9 290
Hey guys, some complications just occured, and in dire need of your advices.

Turns out they don't have any EVGA SuperNova G2 750W in stock at that store, they only have the 850W ones.
However I need to buy all the components from that store in order to get the special deal there.
So I really don't know what to do at the moment.

The store staff say they may have new stocks arriving on the 20th of Jan, should I wait until then for the 750W one ($145 AUD),
or just purchase the 850W one ($179 AUD) right now?

750W already seems to be overkill when 650W is already enough for my new rig, and add another 100W on top seems to be a big waste.

I don't think I will go CrossFire since there's a lot of compatibility problems associated with the games I play. But on the slim chance that
I do decide to pick up another Sapphire R9 290 card in the future, will the 850W PSU be enough considering I'm also heavily overclocking
my CPU (i7 4790k) to 4.7Ghz? And add multiple fans, maybe even water cooler on top.

So I'm really lost on what to do. If I just stick to a single R9 290 in the future, will the 850W be a wastage? Like will it even be in the optimal
efficiency range for different load levels?

If so then I don't think there will be any point in spending more money on a less efficient PSU for my need. Although should I leave more
headroom anyway if I decide to upgrade to a new GPU many years later?

So what are your opinions about this? Really appreciate any feedbacks.
 
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
12,280 (2.37/day)
Location
Oregon
System Name Juliette // HTPC
Processor Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s) ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s) ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s) Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro
Its your preference. The 850w will be slightly more efficient. But not enough to justify the $. How about another brand? Seasonic. Corsair?
 
Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
47 (0.01/day)
Processor i7-7700K @4.7GHz
Memory G.Skill Trident X 16GB 2400
Video Card(s) R9 290
Hey bro, thanks for your reply

After some extensive research, the only ones I'm considering to buy are from the tier one on the PSU tier list here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

And these are the ones available in store:

https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.ph...
https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.ph...
https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.ph...
https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.ph...
https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.ph...
https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.ph...

However these ones are also incredibly overpriced, even the Seasonic X-650W one cost more than the EVGA G2-850W.

What's even more outrageous is that their ripple supression and voltage regulation are worse compared to the
EVGA SuperNova G2, even those Platinum ones from Corsair and Seasonic!

http://www.overclock.net/t/1482157/700-750-watts-compar...

It looks like there's really not much choices to be had...
 

64K

Joined
Mar 13, 2014
Messages
6,104 (1.66/day)
Processor i7 7700k
Motherboard MSI Z270 SLI Plus
Cooling CM Hyper 212 EVO
Memory 2 x 8 GB Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2070 Super
Storage Samsung 850 EVO 250 GB and WD Black 4TB
Display(s) Dell 27 inch 1440p 144 Hz
Case Corsair Obsidian 750D Airflow Edition
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply EVGA SuperNova 850 W Gold
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Logitech G105
Software Windows 10
Hey bro, thanks for your reply

After some extensive research, the only ones I'm considering to buy are from the tier one on the PSU tier list here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

And these are the ones available in store:

https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.ph...
https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.ph...
https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.ph...
https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.ph...
https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.ph...
https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.ph...

However these ones are also incredibly overpriced, even the Seasonic X-650W one cost more than the EVGA G2-850W.

What's even more outrageous is that their ripple supression and voltage regulation are worse compared to the
EVGA SuperNova G2, even those Platinum ones from Corsair and Seasonic!

http://www.overclock.net/t/1482157/700-750-watts-compar...

It looks like there's really not much choices to be had...

Since the EVGA Supernova G2 is less than those Seasonics then I would definitely get the EVGA. It's a great PSU.
 

peche

Thermaltake fanboy
Joined
Nov 7, 2014
Messages
6,709 (1.96/day)
Location
San Jose, Costa Rica
System Name Athenna
Processor intel i7 3770 *Dellided*
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Rev. 1.1
Cooling Thermaltake Water 3.0 Pro + Tt Riing12 x2 / Tt ThunderBlade / Gelid Slim 120UV fans
Memory 16GB DRR3 Kingoston with Custom Tt spreaders + HyperX Fan
Video Card(s) GeForce GTX 980 4GB Nvidia Sample
Storage Crucial M4 SSD 64GB's / Seagate Barracuda 2TB / Seagate Barracuda 320GB's
Display(s) 22" LG FLATRON 1920 x 1280p
Case Thermaltake Commander G42 Window
Audio Device(s) On-board Dolby 5.1+ Kingston HyperX Cloud 1
Power Supply Themaltake TR2 700W 80plus bronce & APC Pro backup 1000Va
Mouse Tt eSports Level 10M Rev 1.0 Diamond Black & Tt Conkor "L" mouse pad
Keyboard Tt eSports KNUCKER
Software windows 10x64Pro
Benchmark Scores well I've fried a 775' P4 12 years ago, that counts?
i would stick to seasonic ... also some EVGA's are made by seasonic, or choose thermaltake which as never dissapoint me ...

Regards,
 
Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
47 (0.01/day)
Processor i7-7700K @4.7GHz
Memory G.Skill Trident X 16GB 2400
Video Card(s) R9 290
Since the EVGA SuperNova G2 is really the best bang for the buck, if I were to use the 850W for the single card setup,
would this be recommended? Or would too much resource be wasted?

Sorry I'm really lost again after reading some information from different sites. I don't know if I'm understanding this correctly,
but isn't using a PSU with too much Wattage than required not recommended as well?

Here's the quote:

"Power supplies are also most efficient when between like 50% to 80% usuage. Buying one too big might mean that your usuage won't put you in that most efficient range of the unit"

"but it will waste more power at lower loads because the efficiency will be lower the more wattage extra you got. So you start by spending money you dont need and you then keep wating money on your power bill because of the lower efficiency you get from having too much wattage."

So will I be under the efficiency range if I'm at full load or half load for my rig in order to be most efficient with the power?

Would you recommend to wait 3 weeks for the 750W one or buy the 850W one now? Since it looks like spending more money
is actually detrimental in this case if I understand correctly...
 

64K

Joined
Mar 13, 2014
Messages
6,104 (1.66/day)
Processor i7 7700k
Motherboard MSI Z270 SLI Plus
Cooling CM Hyper 212 EVO
Memory 2 x 8 GB Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2070 Super
Storage Samsung 850 EVO 250 GB and WD Black 4TB
Display(s) Dell 27 inch 1440p 144 Hz
Case Corsair Obsidian 750D Airflow Edition
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply EVGA SuperNova 850 W Gold
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Logitech G105
Software Windows 10
Since the EVGA SuperNova G2 is really the best bang for the buck, if I were to use the 850W for the single card setup,
would this be recommended? Or would too much resource be wasted?

Sorry I'm really lost again after reading some information from different sites. I don't know if I'm understanding this correctly,
but isn't using a PSU with too much Wattage than required not recommended as well?

Here's the quote:

"Power supplies are also most efficient when between like 50% to 80% usuage. Buying one too big might mean that your usuage won't put you in that most efficient range of the unit"

"but it will waste more power at lower loads because the efficiency will be lower the more wattage extra you got. So you start by spending money you dont need and you then keep wating money on your power bill because of the lower efficiency you get from having too much wattage."

So will I be under the efficiency range if I'm at full load or half load for my rig in order to be most efficient with the power?

Would you recommend to wait 3 weeks for the 750W one or buy the 850W one now? Since it looks like spending more money
is actually detrimental in this case if I understand correctly...

If you're going to overclock everything with a single R9 290 then you are going to be close to the peak efficiency of that 850 watt PSU. With a 750 watt it would be slightly less efficient. Maybe 1% or 2%.
To get an idea of how insignificant that is.......

20 hours gaming per week * 450 watts * 1% inefficiency * 52 weeks / 1000 * 12 cents per kWh = 56 cents or $1.12 (if 2%inefficiency) more per year on your power bill. So if you can get the 750 watt power supply for cheaper then I would go that route. It's still more than enough since you eliminated CrossFire.
 

64K

Joined
Mar 13, 2014
Messages
6,104 (1.66/day)
Processor i7 7700k
Motherboard MSI Z270 SLI Plus
Cooling CM Hyper 212 EVO
Memory 2 x 8 GB Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2070 Super
Storage Samsung 850 EVO 250 GB and WD Black 4TB
Display(s) Dell 27 inch 1440p 144 Hz
Case Corsair Obsidian 750D Airflow Edition
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply EVGA SuperNova 850 W Gold
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Logitech G105
Software Windows 10
It's been pointed out to me that I underestimated the power requirements of that card so let's say 600 watts max for the system overclocked. That only changes the additional cost on power bill to $1.50 per year. Of course that's assuming that you are paying 12 cents per kWh but it's still insignificant even if you're paying double that.
 
Top