Advice on a new PSU, £450 budget.

[aaronyuri]

I'd argue that nearly 20% is a fair difference though? So I'd imagine it would be significantly less stressed, load wise?
My C1200 ATX 3.1, was no more expensive than the 850W-1KW go for, so it would have been silly not to buy it at £130 posted, no?

PSUs are designed to be run, and are their most efficient, at approx. 80% load. Whether you over spec the PSU and its load is 20% or 30% is only going to play a part in efficiency. PSUs are measured on their reliability by MTBF and that is not at low loads.

It's not as simple as having more wattage and less load translates to a longer lifespan for a PSU:

Run a 1kW PSU with a 100,000 MTBF at 50% load.
Run a 1.2kW PSU with a 75,000 MTBF at 40% load.

The 1kW PSU should be more reliable. It likely has better quality components and is more resilient when it comes to degradation. The load will play little part if the quality is compromised to increase wattage.

If your 1.2kW PSU has the same MTBF, warranty, quality components, and the same dimensions as the 850-1000, then yes, it's probably a better buy at the same price. However, it will still be more inefficient than a less wattage PSU if it isn't loaded adequately.

There is never a win-win-win situation when it comes to PSUs. There will always be a compromise in some regard.

 

[Deleted member 280263]

PSUs are designed to be run, and are their most efficient, at approx. 80% load. Whether you over spec the PSU and its load is 20% or 30% is only going to play a part in efficiency. PSUs are measured on their reliability by MTBF and that is not at low loads.

It's not as simple as having more wattage and less load translates to a longer lifespan for a PSU:

Run a 1kW PSU with a 100,000 MTBF at 50% load.
Run a 1.2kW PSU with a 75,000 MTBF at 40% load.

The 1kW PSU should be more reliable. It likely has better quality components and is more resilient when it comes to degradation. The load will play little part if the quality is compromised to increase wattage.

If your 1.2kW PSU has the same MTBF, warranty, quality components, and the same dimensions as the 850-1000, then yes, it's probably a better buy at the same price. However, it will still be more inefficient than a less wattage PSU if it isn't loaded adequately.

There is never a win-win-win situation when it comes to PSUs. There will always be a compromise in some regard.

Why would a 1KW PSU have better components than the 1.2KW, that's often a fair bit more expensive?

My PSU is highly rated/reviewed, it's proven to be very efficient, quiet, and handle loads well, hence why I and many others have bought it

If you look at the DB graph versus power draw, that most PSU's provide in their spec's, you'll understand my point relating to having a quieter/silent PSU if you use a way higher wattage PSU for lesser wattage components, which was my other factor/point in buying this.
Along with the fact it was reduced by a lot at the time and no more than an 850W was last year, and the 1KW was at the time of purchasing the 1.2KW. I'd of been stupid to buy the 1KW when it was the same price as the 1.2KW.

But yes, I agree, it doesn't always work out this well, and there is often a trade off, and different brand PSU's offer different pro's and con's when compared

 

[aaronyuri]

Why would a 1KW PSU have better components than the 1.2KW, that's often a fair bit more expensive?

My PSU is highly rated/reviewed, it's proven to be very efficient, quiet, and handle loads well, hence why I and many others have bought it

If you look at the DB graph versus power draw, that most PSU's provide in their spec's, you'll understand my point relating to having a quieter/silent PSU if you use a way higher wattage PSU for lesser wattage components, which was my other factor/point in buying this.
Along with the fact it was reduced by a lot at the time and no more than an 850W was last year, and the 1KW was at the time of purchasing the 1.2KW. I'd of been stupid to buy the 1KW when it was the same price as the 1.2KW.

But yes, I agree, it doesn't always work out this well, and there is often a trade off, and different brand PSU's offer different pro's and con's when compared

You're talking about your specific purchase of a PSU and I'm taking about PSUs in general. What you paid for your PSU has little bearing on the fact that PSUs come in a variety of wattage, component quality, dimensions, efficiency, warranty, MTBF, and price. Having a sound understanding of all of them lead to a wise purchase at the end of it. That's why I said:

If your 1.2kW PSU has the same MTBF, warranty, quality components, and the same dimensions as the 850-1000, then yes, it's probably a better buy at the same price. However, it will still be more inefficient than a less wattage PSU if it isn't loaded adequately.

If the lower efficiency doesn't bother you then you picked the right PSU for you - well done.

 

[mattyfez]

PSUs... are their most efficient, at approx. 80% load.

My rm750 is most efficient when loaded from 300-500w, so 40-60% load.

Exhibit A:

Corsair RM Series 750 W Review

We recently tested one of Corsair's RM PSUs and today have the chance to check out the 750 W model. Like all RM units it comes with Gold efficiency, low operational noise, and a fully modular cabling design.

www.techpowerup.com

 

[G J]

As some others have said, return the PSU and use the warranty replacement unless you have a 500w-600w gpu with a 200w+ CPU the 850w should be ok.

 

[aaronyuri]

My rm750 is most efficient when loaded from 300-500w, so 40-60% load.

Exhibit A:

Corsair RM Series 750 W Review

We recently tested one of Corsair's RM PSUs and today have the chance to check out the 750 W model. Like all RM units it comes with Gold efficiency, low operational noise, and a fully modular cabling design.

www.techpowerup.com

It was supposed to be 50% but I've fat fingered it. Oh well. 80 plus ratings are measured at 10%, 20%, 50%, and 100%, with 50% usually being the highest.

 

[orange_smurf]

@sastusbulbas, my PSU is out of warranty, and 850W is more than sufficient for my current setup.

Hi everyone, thanks for your feedback! I've narrowed it down to two options, which are similar in quality. Seasonic has a 12-year warranty and Antec has a 10-year warranty. I have to choose between an "extra" 200W of over-head and 2 more years of warranty. I think the additional warranty is the better option.

• 1 x Seasonic VERTEX PX-1000 ATX 3.1 1000W 80 Plus Platinum Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-08Q-SS) = £219.95
• 1 x Antec HCG 1200 Pro Platinum 1200W ATX3.1 Full modular Power Supply (SKU: POW-ATC-02747) = £209.99

 

[Gray2233]

@sastusbulbas, my PSU is out of warranty, and 850W is more than sufficient for my current setup.

Hi everyone, thanks for your feedback! I've narrowed it down to two options, which are similar in quality. Seasonic has a 12-year warranty and Antec has a 10-year warranty. I have to choose between an "extra" 200W of over-head and 2 more years of warranty. I think the additional warranty is the better option.

• 1 x Seasonic VERTEX PX-1000 ATX 3.1 1000W 80 Plus Platinum Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-08Q-SS) = £219.95
• 1 x Antec HCG 1200 Pro Platinum 1200W ATX3.1 Full modular Power Supply (SKU: POW-ATC-02747) = £209.99

They use the exact same platform (Seasonic is the OEM for the Antec HCG Pro line-up), so you're basically buying the same PSU either way.

Great choices if spending that sort of money regardless.

That said, at a 10 year warranty on the same platform vs a 12 I'd personally opt for the extra 200w. You're not making a bad decision with either choice, both are a lot more power than your need and exceptional power supplies.

 

[Tetras]

Hi everyone, thanks for your feedback! I've narrowed it down to two options, which are similar in quality. Seasonic has a 12-year warranty and Antec has a 10-year warranty. I have to choose between an "extra" 200W of over-head and 2 more years of warranty. I think the additional warranty is the better option.

• 1 x Seasonic VERTEX PX-1000 ATX 3.1 1000W 80 Plus Platinum Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-08Q-SS) = £219.95
• 1 x Antec HCG 1200 Pro Platinum 1200W ATX3.1 Full modular Power Supply (SKU: POW-ATC-02747) = £209.99

There's a fair few HCG Pro owners on the forums and no complaints that I've seen, if that's any reassurance for you.

Not aware of any/many here that own the Vertex, but it has been rather expensive (more than the HCG Pro) 99% of the time, so that's probably why.

Seasonic used to have a great reputation for their UK warranty, but there was a thread recently where someone mentioned they don't have a UK RMA base anymore? Not sure if I'm remembering that wrong.

Antec, I don't know, I believe it was Holland at one point.

 

[Sc00p007]

As others have mentioned, for most 850-1000w is good enough for any single card machine outside maybe 800w Asus matrix 5090. Warranties are often long as they are quality units. However as others have said 0 reasons for higher power, i want to add that for a minority that have silent high spec builds, an overkill psu will often run quieter. I was running a Corsair AX1000 titanium but swapped to a 1600w psu because the ax1000 was clearly audible when gaming which itself was much quieter than my previous 850w (both psu were described as overkill for the time they were bought). The 1600w i've never heard.