I am being misunderstood.
Again, even though the 80+ Certification is pure marketing hype, the chances of finding a recommendable PSU these days with the
PLAIN 80+ Certification are getting closer and closer to 0%. Taking it further, the chances of any recommendable PSU having at
least the 80+ Bronze certification is getting close to 100%. The chances of a recommendable PSU having at least the 80+ Silver or Gold rating is getting closer and closer to 100% as well. However, this does
not mean that the 80+ Certification is important. It's not!
The 80+ Certification labs test PSUs at only 23°C (room temperature) even though the typical temperature of an engineering room is 25°C. A PSU's efficiency goes down as heat goes up, so a PSU that might meet 80+ Certification standards at their temperature testing levels of only 23°C might not achieve those efficiency numbers in real world conditions of 30-40°C, or worst-case condition levels of 50°C!
So again, the 80+ Certification is marketing hype.
Another reason I was looking at the 500s, they're close to the same price range as the
XFX ProSeries P1-450S-X2B9 450W.
I know getting less power than recommended would be bad, but does the same go for getting too much power?
A friend of mine mentioned that this one would be a good fit as well:
Antec EA-500 Green 500W
Are the modular PSUs actually good/just hype?
You're powering the system below right?
System Manufacturer/Model Number Self built comfuser #5
OS 7 Pro. 64Bit w/SP1
CPU AMD FX 4100, Socket AM3+ - 3.6GHz
Motherboard ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0
Memory 8.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 1600 MHz (2x 4GB Kingston sticks)
Graphics Card ASUS Radeon HD 6670
Sound Card Onboard High Definition Audio Device
Monitor(s) Displays Envision H190L LCD
Screen Resolution 1280x1024, True Color (32bit), 75Hertz
Keyboard AOpen KB-910
Mouse Logitech G500
Case Antec Super Lanboy
Cooling Stock CPU fan + 2 (1 front, 1 back) 120mm Antec fans
Hard Drives WD 750GB, 64MB Cache SATA Drive
Internet Speed Verizon FiOS
Antivirus avast! Internet Security v8
Browser IE8
Other Info 1 LG GH24NS90 SuperMulti DVD Rewriter 1 RocketFish Media Card Reader 1 WD 500GB Passport USB External Drive
The parts to look at are the CPU and the video card. You have a CPU that won't use any more than 95W, and a video card that won't use any more than 66W. Your system, as it is right now, will
never pull more than 250W from your PSU. Here's proof:
http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/graph4278/36851.png
Source:
AnandTech | AMD
They are showing the power draw
at the wall outlet. So, this is what the PSU is pulling from their wall outlet.
With one 6670 in
their power-hungry test system, their PSU pulled 199W from the wall outlet while running Furmark. It pulled 198W from the wall outlet while running Crysis because Crysis is less demanding than Furmark (Furmark is extremely unrealistic) and it includes a bit of the CPU in the mix as well, unlike their Furmark test which is 100% GPU and 0% CPU.
So, their CPU was idling during the Furmark test. Your CPU will never pull more than 95W, so I will add 95W to the 199W power draw which would then make the PSU pulling 294W from the wall outlet. Therefore, if your PSU is 85% efficient while pulling 294W from your wall outlet, then your computer would be pulling 250W (249.9W) from your PSU.
This is an unrealistically high power draw because we're talking about Furmark with your CPU under absolute full load as well. Your gaming power draw will be lower at around 175-225W. This means that the 450W XFX Pro Series Core Edition is major overkill. That means it has more power than you will ever know what to do with. Thanks to the price of this PSU and its quality, it is just about the best PSU to get.
However, due to this extremely tiny power draw, you could also get the 360W SeaSonic G Series which is an even
better unit (it's a very high-end unit).
The 450W XFX Pro Series Core Edition is able to
continuously deliver 450W if it's ever needed. This means that it can deliver 450W "24/7" - again, if it's ever needed. Your power draw of 175-225W while gaming is 38-50% of the total capacity of the 450W XFX Pro Series Core Edition. The 360W SeaSonic G Series is a superior unit and it can deliver 360W "24/7" if it's ever needed. Your power draw of 175-225W will be about 48-63% of its total capacity. Therefore, neither PSU would ever even come
close to breaking a sweat. They would look at you and go,
"Seriously? Is this all you got? Yawn..."
Are you worried about future upgrades? Then go with the 450W XFX Pro Series Core Edition. Let's say that you get the HD 7970. Here's the power consumption:
AMD Radeon HD 7970 review - Hardware setup | Power consumption
With one 7970 under full load in their system, their PSU pulled 355W from the wall outlet. Their CPU was idling, so I will add 95W for your CPU under full load. This makes the PSU pulling 450W from the wall outlet. Don't be confused: it is a coincidence that it happens to match the wattage rating of the 450W XFX Pro Series Core Edition. Anyway, so if your PSU is 85% efficient while pulling 450W from your wall outlet, then your computer is pulling 382W from your PSU.
Again, this is an unrealistically high power draw. Your gaming power draw will be lower at around 325-350W. This is only 72-78% of the capacity of the 450W XFX Pro Series Core Edition. Therefore, this PSU would be in "the sweet spot" for maximum efficiency for your daily average power draw if you had the 7970 in your computer.
The GTX 680 has an even lower power draw!
Are you worried about future CPUs and future GPUs? Don't be, because we have reached a point where each new generation of CPUs and GPUs requires less power than the previous.
If you have any questions, then please ask and I will do my best to answer them.
