Computer power usage

All right, I'm trying to decide how big of a power supply is necessary. I'm not exactly sure on the power comsumption on each of the hardware components, so I was wondering if someone could give me some average watt usage, something that shows how much each component uses, or something like that it would be great

actually wattage doesn't effect the size of the psu.. lol

on a serious note though, we need to know your computer specs. if you plan on using dual GTX 280 cards, then you're going to need something good. wattage isnt the only thing to look at either, a good stable (preferably dual, or even quad) 12v rail is always good. mine has dual 12v @ 22a, even though its a crappy brand... my rosewill has served me well.

That's not possible considering a 6800 GT, would use far less power than say a Radeon 4870. What I'm saying is different parts use different amounts of power. If you give us a list of parts we might be able to recommend a PSU for you.

fade2green514 said:

actually wattage doesn't effect the size of the psu.. lol

on a serious note though, we need to know your computer specs. if you plan on using dual GTX 280 cards, then you're going to need something good. wattage isnt the only thing to look at either, a good stable (preferably dual, or even quad) 12v rail is always good. mine has dual 12v @ 22a, even though its a crappy brand... my rosewill has served me well.

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OK, well I think you got my point... But yeah, what's a rail?
I don't really have any special parts for this one...:
The CPU is an AMD 4600+(65W I think), and then I just have a cheap 7300GT video card. Everything else is just average equipment as well. If you need more info, then I'll post it, but it shouldn't be too hard to determine. I think.

fade2green514 said:

actually wattage doesn't effect the size of the psu.. lol

on a serious note though, we need to know your computer specs. if you plan on using dual GTX 280 cards, then you're going to need something good. wattage isnt the only thing to look at either, a good stable (preferably dual, or even quad) 12v rail is always good. mine has dual 12v @ 22a, even though its a crappy brand... my rosewill has served me well.

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i do disagree with you a little on the 12v part. multiple 12v can actually be a bit of a disadvantage because you have to manually balance the power load versus a single large 12v rail where this wouldnt be a problem. i personally dont care either way but to the inexperienced and/or lazy it may be a problem with multiple 12v rails

Ethan3.14159 said:

i do disagree with you a little on the 12v part. multiple 12v can actually be a bit of a disadvantage because you have to manually balance the power load versus a single large 12v rail where this wouldnt be a problem. i personally dont care either way but to the inexperienced and/or lazy it may be a problem with multiple 12v rails

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Agreed, as you will increasingly see, quality PSU manufacturers are moving back to single rail PSU's because as PC components are increasing their power demands, a 12VAC ATX design with a maximum of 20A per rail, will not be able to deliver the required load. Worse still, under ATX standards, 12V+1 is dedicated to the CPU, meaning if it uses 7A say, then the rest of the rated rail current is effectively trapped. THis is why you cannot simple add the 12V rails together and go "well it has 4 x 16A rails, that means it has 64A". Its a noob mistake, and it does nothing for stability.

Get yourself a quality single rail PSU such as the TX750 from Corsair and you will be sweet. Look for 80% + efficiency (rated at 40oC not 25oC) and active PFC either way.

hmm nice. anyways, i'd still get a dual 12v... wether its 22A per like mine or 40A per.. its like adding cores to your processor, you've got the technology to overclock it but adding another unit helps too.

fade2green514 said:

hmm nice. anyways, i'd still get a dual 12v... wether its 22A per like mine or 40A per.. its like adding cores to your processor, you've got the technology to overclock it but adding another unit helps too.

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fade2green, explain your logic here mate???

HybridGoomba said:

All right, I'm trying to decide how big of a power supply is necessary. I'm not exactly sure on the power comsumption on each of the hardware components, so I was wondering if someone could give me some average watt usage, something that shows how much each component uses, or something like that it would be great

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I'm going to be weird and just answer your question. So you can figure it out by yourself if you ever feel the need.

CPU/GPU, both feed from the +12v: Power consumption is easily found, and highly variable according to age/architecture, and individual specifications (read: clocks, type and speed of DIMMS, etc)

HDD's Draw from the +12v and to a lesser extent, the +5v: rough estimate is anywhere from 5-25w based on idle, read/write functions. The bigger/faster, the more power they pull. When the drive is first initiated, it can and will exceed these number while it does it's thing, though not by much.

RAM, +3.3v ran through MOSFETS (volt. reg.): DDR2 might use 3-10w, according to whom you ask. DDR1 slightly more. higher the clock, the more it will draw.

Optical drivers: Depends on type of drive and what it's doing, but I say 10-20w in general.

PCI cards, expansion card, 3.3v: not alot. The most maybe 15w

The Mobo itself, I believe it pulls from the 3.3v and 5v rails: I'm not too sure on this account, but I'd hazard a guess at anywhere from 30-60w, depending on lots of things. Higher end boards tend to draw alittle more than otherwise.