PSU - Really that important?? Really!?

Christo

Christo

Christo

Soldato
Joined
28 Oct 2002
Posts
9,482
Location
Returning some videotapes
I have a 300W Silverstone PSU in my PC with x2 1Tb hard disks 4gb RAM, E6400, overclocked and a Radeon 5700. Ok not the highest of specs but the PSU is only 300W..

Now Im building a PC for my brother with:

i7 950
8Gb DDR3 RAM
Geforce FX460
60Gb SSD
500Gb Hard disk

..and I selected an OcUk value 450W PSU, now reading some comments Im a little worried, but should I really be that worried!?
 
Before You PC Power Supplies

The way I see it, if your going to build a quality computer (I see the i7, SSD etc), why skimp on the PSU?

Power supply units (PSUs) are often overlooked when building a computer system. A poor quality PSU can greatly reduce the life span of a good system or cause instability. A high quality PSU can also help reduce the noise or heat generated within a computer system.
Click to expand...
 
Yes.

The PSU is the only part of your computer that can damage (and even destroy) the other parts. Using an inadequate power supply is a saving of ~£20 that could quite easily wreck your expensive parts and leave you with a pile of junk. £50-60 can get you a high-quality, reliable PSU. That's not a lot to pay!

Buy a decent PSU, both for you and your brother. Don't even switch them on without replacing this part. I'm amazed your PSU has coped up till now.
 
You may only have a 300W PSU, but it is a great quality 300W PSU. This means that the power output will be stable and it can provide the full 300W to your components. However, if you cheap out on a PSU then this is no longer the case.

When you are spending ~£1000 on PC components you really want a solid bit of kit providing power to your system - the OCUK value 450W is not it. However, that doesn't mean you need to spend hundreds, this one for example has the two PCIe power connections the GTX 460 requires and is a solid PSU from a good brand.
 
No one builds a i7 950 with 8GB of RAM, it needs to be 6GB or 12GB to make sue of the triple channel RAM controller on the CPU.

Do not skimp on the PSU, never ever.

Besides I doubt if the 450w value PSU will be sufficient to power a meaty CPU like the 950 and a graphics card such as the 460, especially if you overclock.
 
The issue is, Im under a REALLy tight budget and have gone over already so have put all the money in high end parts - so scrimped on the PSU. What minimal PSU (cost) do you think I could get away with? a 450W mid range quality PSU?

Tealc - I put 8Gb in there (2x 4Gb with the option of possibly upgrading in a few months - will it really make a massive difference??)
 
If your budget is really tight, why not look around the MM on here, you could even start a wanted thread.

Better to buy a good quality 2nd hand unit than a poor quality new one
 
Or speck up an great i5 760 rig - massive saving on mobo and chip.
Who really needs 8 core? other than render or folding farms.

You also get the power saving features that the i7 doesn't have, four cores so completely future proof, and only need a quality 400-450psu like the corsair CX

Edit: maya - that explains the multi cores - not sure you need a 460gtx it's only doing 3d view, all the renders are cpu I believe.
You could save on the mobo - as maya doesn't like oc's, and getting a lost frame or error is not acceptable with professional work.
- so slower but tight timing ram can be used.

linky - i7 + 4/8gb of ram + Nvidia G80 or later
note cpu and ram are more important (but why 6gb isn't used with a i7 I don't know - only work in duel channel?)
 
Last edited:
Christo said:
I have a 300W Silverstone PSU in my PC with x2 1Tb hard disks 4gb RAM, E6400, overclocked and a Radeon 5700. Ok not the highest of specs but the PSU is only 300W..

Now Im building a PC for my brother with:

i7 950
8Gb DDR3 RAM
Geforce FX460
60Gb SSD
500Gb Hard disk

..and I selected an OcUk value 450W PSU, now reading some comments Im a little worried, but should I really be that worried!?
Click to expand...

Do it if you want, only then when the PSU explodes and takes the i7 build with it, you'll understand.

For your current rig, you have a Silverstone PSU which is probably a decent build, and your E6400 & HD 5700 under load does not consume more than about 250w either, you can check with a Kill-a-watt meter (you must take effiency into account aswell).

An i7 and GTX 460 build would consume about 300-350w under full load however, the value 450w are cheap generics and therefore are not really 450w's, I would estimate about 250w, load up Prime95/LinX + Furmark on that PSU and I garauntee you'll see sparks.

A PSU is the most important component in your PC, when will people learn? Don't screw your brother over.
 
Last edited:
Get the Corsair CX 500W for £50. That's an absolute minimum, you shouldn't run a system (unless it's a budget build) on less than that.

Switch the 2x4GB for 3x2GB of Triple Channel RAM. You'll get far better performance for less money.

If you're building a gaming PC, I'd get a cheaper 1156 mobo, an i5 760, and 2x2GB of RAM. Spend the rest of his money on upgrading the graphics- you might be able to get 2 460s in SLI for the same price, but make sure you up the PSU to 650 to compensate.
 
Christo said:
Tealc - I put 8Gb in there (2x 4Gb with the option of possibly upgrading in a few months - will it really make a massive difference??)
Click to expand...

I'd imagine so yes. You'd also have to populate both channels of RAM which makes overclocking trickier.

Can X58 even run dual channel or would it drop to single channel? I don't know.

Buy a triple channel DDR3 1600Mhz kit designed for the CPU and put the saving towards a decent PSU.

No one buys dual channel RAM for i7 9xx CPUs, unless they don't realise.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom