Power Supplies

[Gabb]

Er if the main poster is right then how come the An and Tech benchmark said 2 geforce 8s in Sli peaked out at 520 Wattage...I mean...that makes it seem like a 550 watts is not overkill at all, in fact not enough.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2870&p=18

[Nitestick]

before you post so arrogantly you may want to consider the fact that that is total system power consumption, and no doubt taken as a measurement from the wall. that means that the inefficiency of the power supply wasn't factored in. hypothetically we'll say it's 80% efficient (which may even be a bit generous) that makes the actual total system power usage something like 416w. now the fact is that oh so many people have power supplies well in excess of what they need. next time don't go out to prove someone wrong just because you can't handle manufacturers' marketing being wrong......

[vaderpro]

Originally posted by TriEclipse
Just another addition to the thread.

Why Watts Don't Mean Jack.

The wattage of a PSU is a lame way to measure the actual output of a PSU. The total wattage given is the sum of all of the rails on a PSU added up (+3.3V, +5V, +12V1, +12V2, -12V, +5VSB). The way PSU companies will trick you, is by bumping up the Amps on the red rails. These rails are relatively minor, and don't really provide power to any of the major components of your system. However, they still count towards the total power output of the PSU, and this can skewer the numbers. The blue rails, are the important ones. The +12v rails are the ones that provide most of the power to the major parts in your system. The more Amps on this rail, the more power will be supplied to your system.

Example; 400W Forton PSU and 580W Hiper. Both are excellent PSU makers. Look at this;

Forton - +3.3V@22A, +5V@21A, +12V1@18A, +12V2@16A, -12V@0.3A, +5VSB@2A.

Hiper - +3.3V@30A, +5V@36A,+12V1@20A, +12V2@18A,-12V@0.8A, +5VSB@2.5A.

The 580W Hiper PSU has 4Amps more on it's +12v rails than the Forton does. Is 4Amps worth the difference of 180W? Don't make me laugh. So that would mean that this Forton that has been "labeled" 400W is near equal in power to a 580W PSU. Wattage doesn't mean jack.

Great thread. Nice to have you on board with an understanding of electricity....this is good reading too:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums...ic.php?t=23916

[vernong1992]

u should make a new thread called y power wattages mean jack, that would be a great sticky

[TriEclipse]

Originally posted by vernong1992
u should make a new thread called y power wattages mean jack, that would be a great sticky

There's already so many good stickies in the Hardware sections of this forum, heaven forbid I add even more to the clutter. Besides, no guarantee that it would be stickied, so putting it inside a present sticky seemed best. Now if only I could get most people to read past the first post.

Originally posted by Gabb
Er if the main poster is right then how come the An and Tech benchmark said 2 geforce 8s in Sli peaked out at 520 Wattage...I mean...that makes it seem like a 550 watts is not overkill at all, in fact not enough.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2870&p=18

Saw that. And yeah, its almost guaranteed that the measurement is out of the wall. And I just made a post about why Wattage doesn't mean anything, and you still use it to justify your argument?

As for being overkill or not; I said that certain 550W PSUs like the Antec True Power Trio were only overkill for a single 8800GTX. It should be just enough for two 8800GTXs. Nvidia recommends 30A for a single 8800GTX, 42A for two should be just inside that recommendation.

[BiGyLiLuPdAmIdL]

Is this power supply pretty good for the price? I don't really know much about rails and volts and psu specs, but is this one pretty good for a sub $30 PSU? I mean its 580watts lol.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817709011

[TriEclipse]

Originally posted by BiGyLiLuPdAmIdL
Is this power supply pretty good for the price? I don't really know much about rails and volts and psu specs, but is this one pretty good for a sub $30 PSU? I mean its 580watts lol.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817709011

Either the meaning of this thread was completely lost on you, or you didn't read it. Read it again, specifically the "Why Watts Don't Mean Jack" section.

[vaderpro]

Yah, I was gonna say something...but I thought I'd let you do it...^

[talldude123]

Originally posted by BiGyLiLuPdAmIdL
Is this power supply pretty good for the price? I don't really know much about rails and volts and psu specs, but is this one pretty good for a sub $30 PSU? I mean its 580watts lol.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817709011

Read the reviews. They're saying that the PSU is actually only 210 watts.

[Ste]

Originally posted by BiGyLiLuPdAmIdL
Is this power supply pretty good for the price? I don't really know much about rails and volts and psu specs, but is this one pretty good for a sub $30 PSU? I mean its 580watts lol.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817709011

No....