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80 PLUS Efficiency and What It Really Means

I don't know if it's appropriate for this topic but I saw one thing in the thread and got triggered (this isn't from the OP though so OP is fine)

 

TDP is not power consumption. TDP is a measurement of how much heat energy a cooler must dissipate to meet the manufacturer's spec to maintain safe operating temperature while running a typical load. Energy over time is measured in watts, regardless of which type it is.

 

But alas, I'm seeing marketing and review websites using TDP and [electrical] power consumption interchangeably. :\

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4 hours ago, M.Yurizaki said:

I don't know if it's appropriate for this topic but I saw one thing in the thread and got triggered (this isn't from the OP though so OP is fine)

 

TDP is not power consumption. TDP is a measurement of how much heat energy a cooler must dissipate to meet the manufacturer's spec to maintain safe operating temperature while running a typical load. Energy over time is measured in watts, regardless of which type it is.

 

But alas, I'm seeing marketing and review websites using TDP and [electrical] power consumption interchangeably. :\

Eh, it's not really but there should be a pinned post on this subforum explaining that TDP != power draw.

|PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. 

My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon ||

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  • 1 month later...

I bought an AX1200i 80 PLUS platinum PSU back in 2012 under the assumption I'd keep it for at least the 7 years the warranty covers and longer if there's no issues. I think at the time I paid close to 400USD for it.

 

Now if I make a little bit of math, my PC consumes around 400W/hour (output power) and I've used it at least 12 hours/day over the past few years. That's 4.8kWh/day, let's roun it to 150kWh per month for simplicity's sake. We pay about 0.10USD/kWh, so I'm paying about 15 USD/month. Over the past 5 years that's around 900 USD on electricity bills just for my PC. I could have bought a much cheaper 80 PLUS model for 200 USD that would have been around 10% less efficient. Over these past 5 years that would have cost me an extra 90 USD in power bills. Now like I mentioned I plan to keep this PSU for the nest 5 years or so. At that point it will have saved me 180 USD in energy bills, but it still comes off at a 20USD disadvantage. I would argue this is more than worth it for me, since because of its high efficiency the PSU fan never turns on and I highly value silence. Also, better build quality from a more expensive product means it's more likely to actually last 10 years compared to a budget PSU. 

 

In conclusion: If you fork out the extra cash for an 80 Plus Platinum PSU, make sure you plan to keep it for a long time through multiple hardware refresh cycles, otherwise you're just throwing money away. 

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  • 4 months later...

So if I had a gaming PC with a worst case scenario max power draw of ~450W would something similar to a Cooler Master B2 Series 600W do the job?

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7 hours ago, IWHBYD said:

So if I had a gaming PC with a worst case scenario max power draw of ~450W would something similar to a Cooler Master B2 Series 600W do the job?

Most PCs don't use that much power and the ones that do I would highly recommend getting a better PSU for.

 

A 6800K and 1080 Ti would use about 450W under load, maybe.

|PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. 

My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon ||

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10 hours ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

Most PCs don't use that much power and the ones that do I would highly recommend getting a better PSU for.

 

A 6800K and 1080 Ti would use about 450W under load, maybe.

My bad. I got my predictions horribly wrong. The predicted load draw of the system would be ~375W.

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10 hours ago, IWHBYD said:

My bad. I got my predictions horribly wrong. The predicted load draw of the system would be ~375W.

Do you have a spec list?

|PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. 

My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon ||

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  • 2 months later...

Hello, I still a bit iffy on which PSU to get for my build. My build can be found below.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/YVH8gL

CPU: Ryzen 7 1700

Motherboard: Asus Crosshair VI Hero (Wi-fi AC)

Memory: G. Skill Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2X8) DDR4

Storage: Samsung 960 EVO 250 GB M.2-2280 SSD

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB 2.5" SSD

Storage: WD Blue 3TB 2.5" 5400RPM HDD

GPU: GTX 1080 TI

Case: Corsair 760T White Full Tower

Misc: EK-Coolstream PE 360 (Triple) Radiator

EK-Supremacy EVO AMD - Nickel CPU Block

D5 X-Res 100 CSQ Pump Combo

3 X Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition High Static Pressure 120 mm Fans

Rated Power: 444 W

 

I've been told that an 850W PSU would be the right choice for this build especially if I want to do SLI, which results in a power rating of 694W. I know this does not take into account OC'ing and the custom water cooling.

 

The two PSU's that I've decided on are the RM850x Gold and the HX850 Platinum. I chose these PSU's because they are the cheapest ones as of writing this reply. If you have any other suggestions then please let me know. Any help is appreciated.

 

 

Edited by Dissitesuxba11s
Edited so Dark Theme users can read.
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1 hour ago, Dissitesuxba11s said:

Hello, I still a bit iffy on which PSU to get for my build. My build can be found below.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/YVH8gL

CPU: Ryzen 7 1700

Motherboard: Asus Crosshair VI Hero (Wi-fi AC)

Memory: G. Skill Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2X8) DDR4

Storage: Samsung 960 EVO 250 GB M.2-2280 SSD

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB 2.5" SSD

Storage: WD Blue 3TB 2.5" 5400RPM HDD

GPU: GTX 1080 TI

Case: Corsair 760T White Full Tower

Misc: EK-Coolstream PE 360 (Triple) Radiator

EK-Supremacy EVO AMD - Nickel CPU Block

D5 X-Res 100 CSQ Pump Combo

3 X Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition High Static Pressure 120 mm Fans

Rated Power: 444 W

 

I've been told that an 850W PSU would be the right choice for this build especially if I want to do SLI, which results in a power rating of 694W. I know this does not take into account OC'ing and the custom water cooling.

 

The two PSU's that I've decided on are the RM850x Gold and the HX850 Platinum. I chose these PSU's because they are the cheapest ones as of writing this reply. If you have any other suggestions then please let me know. Any help is appreciated.

 

 

A. Pls fix formatting so dark theme users can read it. Thank you!

 

B. Please don't buy the 250GB 960 EVO, It's legitimately worse than a 250GB 850 EVO which is a SATA SSD and can withstand sustained loads better while being much cheaper. Heck, I'd still argue you don't even need the 850 EVO and the cheaper sk Hynix SL308 is a better buy. 

 

C. 850W would be fine for SLI yes. 650W would be fine for one GPU. I'd get the RMx and save some money.

|PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. 

My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon ||

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21 hours ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

A. Pls fix formatting so dark theme users can read it. Thank you!

 

B. Please don't buy the 250GB 960 EVO, It's legitimately worse than a 250GB 850 EVO which is a SATA SSD and can withstand sustained loads better while being much cheaper. Heck, I'd still argue you don't even need the 850 EVO and the cheaper sk Hynix SL308 is a better buy. 

 

C. 850W would be fine for SLI yes. 650W would be fine for one GPU. I'd get the RMx and save some money.

A. Fixed. Sorry about that. Looks like if I copy and paste from another thread it does this for some reason.

 

B. I have been told that M.2 is not necessarily needed in my build and I do agree. I kept it in so that if I do decide to take advantage of the M.2 slot, my PSU is enough, even if it only consumes minimal power. The 850 EVO was actually given to me by a friend so I might as well use it. I've never heard of SK SSD's before. If you recommend it, I'll look into them

 

C. Awesome, I guess I'm getting the RMx then. Thank you :)

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16 minutes ago, Dissitesuxba11s said:

A. Fixed. Sorry about that. Looks like if I copy and paste from another thread it does this for some reason.

 

B. I have been told that M.2 is not necessarily needed in my build and I do agree. I kept it in so that if I do decide to take advantage of the M.2 slot, my PSU is enough, even if it only consumes minimal power. The 850 EVO was actually given to me by a friend so I might as well use it. I've never heard of SK SSD's before. If you recommend it, I'll look into them

 

C. Awesome, I guess I'm getting the RMx then. Thank you :)

For B. I'd just not get an NVMe SSD. You'll see no performance gain for 99% of applications and it doesn't get passively cooler by a shroud around it, requires finicky Windows installs (AKA I'm 99% certain you HAVE to do an EFI install which isn't a huge hassle as its what I do every Windows install, but it's not forgiving if you do a Legacy install which is what most people do) and it's far, far more expensive than any SATA 250GB SSD.

|PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. 

My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon ||

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24 minutes ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

For B. I'd just not get an NVMe SSD. You'll see no performance gain for 99% of applications and it doesn't get passively cooler by a shroud around it, requires finicky Windows installs (AKA I'm 99% certain you HAVE to do an EFI install which isn't a huge hassle as its what I do every Windows install, but it's not forgiving if you do a Legacy install which is what most people do) and it's far, far more expensive than any SATA 250GB SSD.

And here I was thinking that it would just be a simple "plug and play" like the regular SSD's. I guess I might just steer clear from them for now especially since they cost quite a lot for such small amounts storage. Thanks for the heads up.

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1 minute ago, Dissitesuxba11s said:

And here I was thinking that it would just be a simple "plug and play" like the regular SSD's. I guess I might just steer clear from them for now especially since they cost quite a lot for such small amounts storage. Thanks for the heads up.

They're basically plug and play, you just have to make sure to do an EFI install which requires A. EFI enabled in your BIOS (and preferably with CSM/Legacy disabled), for you to do the "Custom" install of Windows rather than the fully auto install, selecting the empty drive in the boot partition/sector window, clicking "Apply" while it's highlighted, then selecting the "Primary" partition and continuing on your way.

|PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. 

My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon ||

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3 minutes ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

They'er basically plug and play, you just have to make sure to do an EFI install which requires A. EFI enabled in your BIOS (and preferably with CSM/Legacy disabled), for you to do the "Custom" install of Windows rather than the fully auto install, selecting the empty drive in the boot partition/sector window, clicking "Apply" while it's highlighted, then selecting the "Primary" partition and continuing on your way.

Dang, I know the process is not really that hard to use the M.2, but I'm not going to go through that extra hassle especially since this is my first build. 

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  • 2 months later...

Reviving this topic from the grave since it hasn't been replied to in a few months:

 

Here's Science Studio's video on 80 PLUS Efficiency. Am I the only one who felt like a lot of the video was a bit verbatim what I wrote here or am I being too critical :P

 

|PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. 

My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon ||

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  • 1 month later...

Linus always wants silent power supply fans, so he always puts double the amount of wattage needed in a system. In this build log with a ThreadRipper 1950X and GTX 1080 Ti, he said the system will need 600W, so he got a 1200W 80+ Plus Titanium power supply. Totally useless. I'll still get a 850W 80+ Plus Gold power supply - same here with my own 8700K+GTX 1080 Ti water-cooled build.

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3 minutes ago, ReyazJunior said:

Linus always wants silent power supply fans, so he always puts double the amount of wattage needed in a system. In this build log with a ThreadRipper 1950X and GTX 1080 Ti, he said the system will need 600W, so he got a 1200W 80+ Plus Titanium power supply. Totally useless. I'll still get a 850W 80+ Plus Gold power supply - same here with my own 8700K+GTX 1080 Ti water-cooled build.

Getting a higher wattage PSU to keep it quiet is stupid. If you want a quiet PSU, you get a quiet PSU. 

At least he went with a decent PSU, unlike in the Holiday buyer's guide.

:)

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Just now, seon123 said:

Getting a higher wattage PSU to keep it quiet is stupid. If you want a quiet PSU, you get a quiet PSU. 

At least he went with a decent PSU, unlike in the Holiday buyer's guide.

You take any power supply of any wattage- the fan won't spin when only under half load. So a 600W power supply's fan won't spin if the system is only drawing 300W. 

That's the way to go if you are hating money and want your system future proof for 2020. 

Btw, I did find some quiet-rated PSUs. Not sure how they run without any fan without reaching uncomfortably hot temperatures to touch. But yeah-those who love their money-should buy these quiet power supplies.

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19 minutes ago, ReyazJunior said:

You take any power supply of any wattage- the fan won't spin when only under half load. So a 600W power supply's fan won't spin if the system is only drawing 300W. 

That's the way to go if you are hating money and want your system future proof for 2020. 

Btw, I did find some quiet-rated PSUs. Not sure how they run without any fan without reaching uncomfortably hot temperatures to touch. But yeah-those who love their money-should buy these quiet power supplies.

Whether or not the fan on a PSU will spin isn't dependent on the load, at least on on any decent PSU. It's controlled by the temperature. 

The PSU will radiate the same amount of heat, no matter what its max capacity is. If a PSU is 85% efficient at 350W load, it will give out the same amount of heat, irrelevant of whether its max capacity is 450W or 850W. 

:)

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3 hours ago, ReyazJunior said:

You take any power supply of any wattage- the fan won't spin when only under half load. So a 600W power supply's fan won't spin if the system is only drawing 300W. 

That's the way to go if you are hating money and want your system future proof for 2020. 

Btw, I did find some quiet-rated PSUs. Not sure how they run without any fan without reaching uncomfortably hot temperatures to touch. But yeah-those who love their money-should buy these quiet power supplies.

No, that's not how it works. The PSU fan spins up when the unit gets hot. The whole thing about load is a common misconception. Also, the majority of PSUs have always-on fans.

|PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. 

My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon ||

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  • 3 months later...
11 minutes ago, Mail me to the Moon said:

A post with a lot of common sense!

Please don't quote the entire post

:)

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