BroFister420

Honestly, it's really difficult to tell the difference between mainstream and enthusiast SSDs for average users. I used to use an Intel 530 SSD, switched to a cheapo Sandisk Ultra Plus, nearly half the price for the same size. Didn't notice much a difference. Maybe Windows loaded a second faster? But that's all within margin of error, were I to benchmark it.

When people look for power supplies, they usually have some arbitrary wattage number in mind. When they don't, they'll ask around and many people will recommend a similar number. Many will even recommend higher range for that rare case where you decide to "upgrade." But they never have a calculated number when determining their build for optimal efficiency.
 
2 parts: efficiency and $ cost $
 
First off, we know a few things:
-Running below 20% capacity is the least efficient.
-Running around 50-60% capacity is the most efficient.
 
I'll start with one of my rigs. After seeing the parts, guess how much wattage is used before looking at the answer.
This is on a Seasonic 550w 80+Gold
 
AMD 3670k OC 3ghz
Gigabyte Radeon 7870 OC 1.1ghz
5 * HDDs
1 * SSD
3 * 120mm fans
1 * PCI sound card
1 * PCIe USB3.0 card
1 * USB3 card reader
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
idle / load
76w / 328w
 
Sound right? Or surprised? Let's recap the TDP on the parts from wikipedia charts:
AMD 3670k = 100W
Radeon 7870 1ghz edition = 175w
5 HDDs = ~40w (8w each, I always keep my HDDs spinning)
With this, we already have 315w. That leaves about ~13w to cover the rest of the minor stuff, which is about right (SSD, fans, etc.).
 
Now that load # will rarely ever be hit in actual usage; I was maxing out prime95 and Furmark at once.
In fact, I'd say about a good 80% or more of my personal usage will be at idle. Pretty much, whenever I'm not gaming or doing something that's clearly going to require some hefty power. Could be listening to music, browsing, doing homework, etc.; still considered idle.
 
So, 76w. That's about 13-14% of my PSUs capacity. That's a really inefficient area! Considering that usage is what my PC is mostly at, I'm getting very bad efficiency. When you hit really low numbers, the efficiency scale can go way up in %. But at the same time, the amount becomes closer and closer to being negligible. (Need 1w, but pulls 2w)
 
However, on the load side, I'm at a nice 59%, which is in the most efficient bracket. This is the perfect sweet spot, as the most power you can pull will also be the most efficient.
 
-----------------------
 
The above covers the efficiency part. So let's look at the cost side of things. There are 2 targets to aim for:
Sufficient wattage
or
Optimal efficiency
 
For reference, I'm going to refer to these 2 PSUs. 1 is 80+gold 550w for $100. The other is just 80+ 350w $40.
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=76942&vpn=SSR-550RM&manufacture=Seasonic%20Electronics
 
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=30144&vpn=SS-350ET%20APFC&manufacture=Seasonic%20Electronics
 
Optimal efficiency would be hitting the 50-60% sweet spot to get the most of out your PSU. Pretty straightfoward.
 
Sufficient wattage is basically what you need, and only that. For my system, I'm pulling 328w on 100% load. And while they don't make that exact wattage in PSUs, a 350w psu is what I would use.
"OC CPU and a 7870 on a 350w PSU?! You're obviously crazy!"
Well, no. This may have been the case in the past, when quality OEMs were hard to come by. The rated wattage is there for a reason. Quality PSUs will go through vigorous testing to make sure they don't explode or catch fire. That's what you pay for.
 
So that's a $60 difference between extreme efficiency vs. necessity.
For this example, let's say I pay $0.15/kW and the system wattage required is 80w/330w (idle/load).
The computer is used 8 hours a day, every day for a year.
50/50 time spent in idle and load.
550w 80+Gold @ 87/90% efficiency.
350W 80+ @ 80%.
 
Here's the formula used the gold efficiency:
8 * 365 = 2920 / 2 = 1860
330 * 0.1 = 33w load waste
80 * 0.13 = 10.3w idle waste
(((33+10.3)*1860)/1000)*0.15 = $12.08 / year
 
8 * 365 = 2920 / 2 = 1860
330 * 0.2 = 66w load waste
80 * 0.2 = 16w idle waste
(((66+16)*1860)/1000)*0.15 = $22.88 / year
 
If I were to get the 550w instead of the 350w, I would save $10.80 / year on electricity with this system. I'd have to use this system for almost 6 years to get my cost back from getting the better and higher wattage power supply.
 
So what does this all mean? Depending on how long you keep your PC, you may have just saved $30/$40 in that scenario.
In reality, my electricity is cheaper that the example, so I'd have to keep the system for 10+ years to make up the cost of buying that higher wattage and efficiency PSU.
 
 
Yeah...

When people look for power supplies, they usually have some arbitrary wattage number in mind. When they don't, they'll ask around and many people will recommend a similar number. Many will even recommend higher range for that rare case where you decide to "upgrade." But they never have a calculated number when determining their build for optimal efficiency.
 
2 parts: efficiency and $ cost $
 
First off, we know a few things:
-Running below 20% capacity is the least efficient.
-Running around 50-60% capacity is the most efficient.
 
I'll start with one of my rigs. After seeing the parts, guess how much wattage is used before looking at the answer.
This is on a Seasonic 550w 80+Gold
 
AMD 3670k OC 3ghz
Gigabyte Radeon 7870 OC 1.1ghz
5 * HDDs
1 * SSD
3 * 120mm fans
1 * PCI sound card
1 * PCIe USB3.0 card
1 * USB3 card reader
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
idle / load
76w / 328w
 
Sound right? Or surprised? Let's recap the TDP on the parts from wikipedia charts:
AMD 3670k = 100W
Radeon 7870 1ghz edition = 175w
5 HDDs = ~40w (8w each, I always keep my HDDs spinning)
With this, we already have 315w. That leaves about ~13w to cover the rest of the minor stuff, which is about right (SSD, fans, etc.).
 
Now that load # will rarely ever be hit in actual usage; I was maxing out prime95 and Furmark at once.
In fact, I'd say about a good 80% or more of my personal usage will be at idle. Pretty much, whenever I'm not gaming or doing something that's clearly going to require some hefty power. Could be listening to music, browsing, doing homework, etc.; still considered idle.
 
So, 76w. That's about 13-14% of my PSUs capacity. That's a really inefficient area! Considering that usage is what my PC is mostly at, I'm getting very bad efficiency. When you hit really low numbers, the efficiency scale can go way up in %. But at the same time, the amount becomes closer and closer to being negligible. (Need 1w, but pulls 2w)
 
However, on the load side, I'm at a nice 59%, which is in the most efficient bracket. This is the perfect sweet spot, as the most power you can pull will also be the most efficient.
 
-----------------------
 
The above covers the efficiency part. So let's look at the cost side of things. There are 2 targets to aim for:
Sufficient wattage
or
Optimal efficiency
 
For reference, I'm going to refer to these 2 PSUs. 1 is 80+gold 550w for $100. The other is just 80+ 350w $40.
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=76942&vpn=SSR-550RM&manufacture=Seasonic%20Electronics
 
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=30144&vpn=SS-350ET%20APFC&manufacture=Seasonic%20Electronics
 
Optimal efficiency would be hitting the 50-60% sweet spot to get the most of out your PSU. Pretty straightfoward.
 
Sufficient wattage is basically what you need, and only that. For my system, I'm pulling 328w on 100% load. And while they don't make that exact wattage in PSUs, a 350w psu is what I would use.
"OC CPU and a 7870 on a 350w PSU?! You're obviously crazy!"
Well, no. This may have been the case in the past, when quality OEMs were hard to come by. The rated wattage is there for a reason. Quality PSUs will go through vigorous testing to make sure they don't explode or catch fire. That's what you pay for.
 
So that's a $60 difference between extreme efficiency vs. necessity.
For this example, let's say I pay $0.15/kW and the system wattage required is 80w/330w (idle/load).
The computer is used 8 hours a day, every day for a year.
50/50 time spent in idle and load.
550w 80+Gold @ 87/90% efficiency.
350W 80+ @ 80%.
 
Here's the formula used the gold efficiency:
8 * 365 = 2920 / 2 = 1860
330 * 0.1 = 33w load waste
80 * 0.13 = 10.3w idle waste
(((33+10.3)*1860)/1000)*0.15 = $12.08 / year
 
8 * 365 = 2920 / 2 = 1860
330 * 0.2 = 66w load waste
80 * 0.2 = 16w idle waste
(((66+16)*1860)/1000)*0.15 = $22.88 / year
 
If I were to get the 550w instead of the 350w, I would save $10.80 / year on electricity with this system. I'd have to use this system for almost 6 years to get my cost back from getting the better and higher wattage power supply.
 
So what does this all mean? Depending on how long you keep your PC, you may have just saved $30/$40 in that scenario.
In reality, my electricity is cheaper that the example, so I'd have to keep the system for 10+ years to make up the cost of buying that higher wattage and efficiency PSU.
 
 
Yeah...