Recommended Power Supply Wattage Calculator

Tepid said:

Actually, there are a lot more factors that go into it.
The system in my specs had a 650W. Which is also what most of these calcs recommend for my system.

My Main issue, and with just a Keyboard, Mouse and one other USB Device.......
But, change any of the USB's on the calcs to max and the results don't change much.

I had an older External HDD that did come with a Y Power USB Cable, Power+Data and Power ends
If I plugged in just with the Power+Data cable, it would work fine
But if I added an External HDD or thumb drive, it would then start clicking and stop working,
It require the other power cable.
After adding the 750W, I do not have that issue any longer.

I had that issue with an enclosure that came with a Y cable and I just swapped the cable for one that was not made in the Y fashion and all was resolved.

I don't like to put anything below 500 into a machine, just so that it's not taxed constantly. The Extreme whatsit power calculator is a good guideline I have found.

Without fail, so called psu calculators always output a figure that's far above what an actual machine uses.

Yes, I'm guilty of having a 760 watt psu too, but that's not because I think I'll need that much juice, or because I want "headroom"... far from it... it's because the really nice psu's just don't come in wattages that are more reality based these days.

Power Consumption of Contemporary Graphics Accelerators: Spring 2010. Page 3 - X-bit labs

Very few machines use all the power they possess; in fact, I'm considering hooking up a mini-fridge and microwave to my rig!

[QUOTE=Johnathan Lyman;1394398]To be safe, I like to take the advertised wattage and multiply it by 80% (or .8)./QUOTE]

Great. The PSUs works in their better efficiency when they are (more or less) at 50% of their charges.


So, this gives a lower energy comsumption, and room for upgrades at the same time.

Fumz said:

Very few machines use all the power they possess; in fact, I'm considering hooking up a mini-fridge and microwave to my rig!

Never thought of that!