Hardware Power Consumption-Picking a new Power Supply

[abyoung35]

Ok, so it's time again for me to pick a new power supply, however, I'm in need of some help determining the appropriate wattage for my hardware setup.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 45nm AM3
GSkill Ripjaw X 16.0 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 668MHz (9-9-9-24)
Corsair TX750w (I dont think its the V2)
ASUS M5A97 (AM3r2)
***here are the voltages listed on speccy*** (if they are of any use??)
+12V 11.731 V
+5V 4.935 V
CPU CORE 1.284 V
VIN3 1.668 V
VIN4 2.148 V
+3.3V 3.132 V
VIN6 1.092 V
VIN7 1.632 V
VIN8 1.668 V
ASUS ATI Radeon HD 5870 (x2 in Crossfire @ 158w ea)
59GB Patriot Pyro SE SSD
31.3GB OCZ OCZ-ONYX SSD
LG HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NS90 ATA

I have terrible luck with random bsod's and power supplies pooping on me, I want to pick one this time that will last me. Also, I have my power running through a Monster Power HT700, I live in a new apartment so the wiring should be ok, I've dusted out all of the components inside the case, double checked my connections, all that jazz. I've got a cooler over my memory, I am still using my stock cpu cooler, but thats changing soon (I get crashes @ idle too) Any help I could recieve I would appreciate, thanks

Andrew

 

[AbMaster]

You have pretty much the same problem as me (getting BSOD's randomly). For me it's bulging capacitors on motherboard. You should take a closer look for capacitors on your motherboard. Dead capacitors look something like that:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Defekte_Kondensatoren.jpg

 

[abyoung35]

This is a brand new board, I'm familiar with the capacitors bulging and I don't see any sign of mine doing that

 

[ignatzatsonic]

The Corsair TX 750 is made by Channel Well as far as I know.

Channel Well would not be my choice.

750 is plenty of power, but I would try to find a Corsair 750 TX version 2, which is made by Seasonic.

Or a Seasonic in that power range.

Or an XFX in that power range (made by Seasonic)

 

[Dwarf]

The XFX Pro Series 850W Semi-Modular unit should serve you well.

 

[abyoung35]

What should I be looking for? I know the more 12v rails the.better and the platinum certified thing, what else? How can I add all my stuff together to tell?

 

[Phone Man]

Check out this site to calculate your power needs.

eXtreme Outer Vision - eXtreme tools for computer enthusiasts

Check out this Seasonic PSU, one of the best on the market.

Newegg.com - SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Read the review at this site. He really puts the units through some tough tests.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=192


Jim

 

[ignatzatsonic]

What should I be looking for? I know the more 12v rails the.better and the platinum certified thing, what else? How can I add all my stuff together to tell?

Other than the 12 volt rail, about all you can do is look for a quality manufacturer and a good efficiency rating. A highly efficient PSU might save you 5 dollars a year in power costs.

There aren't many quality manufacturers. Most PSUs are not made by the name on the label. They are built by one of a few subcontractors according to the specifications of the contract---to hit a certain price point or market segment.

Most of the power draw on modern PCs is through the 12 volt rail. A rating of 30 amps on the 12 volt rail equates to 360 watts (12 x 30).

The good PSUs can run at their rated maximums for long periods of time. Cheesy PSUs can't.


Good manufacturers can make excellent PSUs or average PSUs or poor PSUs--to meet whatever specs they are asked to meet by the brand. The PSUs that manufacturers sell under their own name are typically their best technology since the brand name is at stake.

AMD's Phenom II X4 955 processor - The Tech Report - Page 1

Above link says the TDP of your processor is 125 watts

Add in your own figures for the 2 video cards: ASUS ATI Radeon HD 5870 (x2 in Crossfire @ 158w ea)

That's 441 watts.

The rest of it can be estimated.

Hard drives use under 10 watts.

The last figures I saw for motherboards were 20 or 30 watts.

DVD drives maybe 20 when in use.

RAM sticks maybe 10

Fans a couple of watts.

Above estimated figures for components are from 5 or 6 years ago and may be higher than current technology?

So maybe 600 watts under extreme load and a lot less most of the time.

For 15 or 20 bucks you can buy a Kill-a-watt and connect the PC to it to see what it actually draws under various conditions.

It will probably use less than your estimates most of the time.

Here is a sample set of specs, for the Seasonic fanless 400 and 460 watt models. The "+12v" column is the important one.

 

[raideruk]

http://www.coolermaster.outervision.com/. Great little tool to calculate the PSU recommended wattage.

 

[abyoung35]

awesome thanks guys, so i need to pat attn to the amp rating per 12V rail? so theoretically if i could find a psu with 2 12v rails at 35 amp ea. @ 840w total, that would be a good one? (based solely on numbers) I go through psu like nobodies business, and I wan't to get one that I dont have to replace in 6 months, so im trying to approach purchasing a psu differently than i have in the past.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

awesome thanks guys, so i need to pat attn to the amp rating per 12V rail? so theoretically if i could find a psu with 2 12v rails at 35 amp ea. @ 840w total, that would be a good one? (based solely on numbers

No.

A "good one" is a PSU with adequate power for your particular requirements, from a reliable manufacturer.

You can all finds of lousy PSUs that have good specifications on the label. The specs for those PSUs mean very little because you don't know if the specs are true. And even if "true", under what circumstances were they measured? 840 watts for 10 seconds, then fails? 840 watts in a highly refrigerated room?

And you need to pay attention to TOTAL power. A PSU that has two 12 volt rails at 35 amps each may be able to supply only 700 watts total at any time.

Check reviews and comments at jonnyguru.com.

 

[abyoung35]

i purchased the corsair h60 and my cpu temp has not gone over 53C, I've had less crashes, but a few still linger around. I've chosen the Seasonic X750 Gold, its at least 100 w over my required. I'm ordering it next monday

Newegg.com - SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply

 

[Phone Man]

Its on sale at Newegg until Thursday night.



I have the X650. Great product.

Jim

 

[Trucidation]

Just a heads up. I noticed we were having PSUs die on us fairly regularly and the culprit eventually was traced to an unstable (?) wall socket. What clued us in was the bulbs for the light on the wall the socket was on seemed to flicker randomly and also kept dying and needing to be replaced in very often (3-4 months per bulb). Moved the computer to a different outlet, hey presto, no more problems. Bad wiring I guess.

 

[abyoung35]

Yeah I've had that issue in an older house I lived in, our apts were built like 3 years ago so that's ruled out. I did get my psu installed yesterday, it finally arrived I've come the conclusion I need a bigger case though, but it all fits and so far so good, 2 days no bsod.