80 PLUS Efficiency and What It Really Means

[LegacyStijncat]

                                                                                               X / Y= Z

                                                                                       1000W / .80 = 1250

X represents the wattage you're using (say 350W with an overclocked i5 4690K and R9 290X under 100% system load), Y represents the efficiency in decimals (an 85% efficient PSU would be .85), and Z represents your total system draw from the wall. For this calculation we're assuming that the PSU in question has exactly enough wattage to power the system at 100% load and is 87% efficient at 100% draw, making it an 80+ Gold efficient power supply.

So in our case with the 4690k and R9 290X:

 

                                                                  350 / .87 = 402 watts drawn from your power outlet

Excuse my bad knowledge / denseness here, but does this mean that the more efficient your PSU is, the more power is drawn and the more power is also consumed? (I'm so sorry if this makes you cringe lol)

[STRMfrmXMN]

Excuse my bad knowledge / denseness here, but does this mean that the more efficient your PSU is, the more power is drawn and the more power is also consumed? (I'm so sorry if this makes you cringe lol)

No worries man! And no, less power is drawn from the wall with a more efficient PSU. Under very few circumstances would a more efficient PSU draw more power from the wall - one of those cases being something like this:

System pulls 150W from wall. One PSU is 80+ Gold, the other Platinum. This platinum PSU happens to be 450W as well as the Gold one, however, as 33% load is not a standard 80+ efficiency measurement the Gold can actually be more efficient at this load, though it's not super likely.

If you're asking if a more efficient PSU demands more power from a system then no, it does not. The PSU just donates however much power the system asks for.

[LegacyStijncat]

No worries man! And no, less power is drawn from the wall with a more efficient PSU. Under very few circumstances would a more efficient PSU draw more power from the wall - one of those cases being something like this:

System pulls 150W from wall. One PSU is 80+ Gold, the other Platinum. This platinum PSU happens to be 450W as well as the Gold one, however, as 33% load is not a standard 80+ efficiency measurement the Gold can actually be more efficient at this load, though it's not super likely.

If you're asking if a more efficient PSU demands more power from a system then no, it does not. The PSU just donates however much power the system asks for.

Alright, thanks! So in the scenario you gave, the 80+ Gold could draw less, not will right?

I'll be getting a build around 470 Watts. I'll be overclocking both CPU and GPU. I may be crossfiring in a few years. Would it be adviseable to go with 850W? Or will it be better to upgrade the PSU later on?

[STRMfrmXMN]

Alright, thanks! So in the scenario you gave, the 80+ Gold could draw less, not will right?

It could, not will, draw a larger/smaller amount of power from the wall, correct!

 

 

I'll be getting a build around 470 Watts. I'll be overclocking both CPU and GPU. I may be crossfiring in a few years. Would it be adviseable to go with 850W? Or will it be better to upgrade the PSU later on?

Well, it sounds like you have a single GPU system and no single GPU system uses that much these days. Most struggle to go much higher than 300W. But, say, you Crossfire SLI/ 980s or 390s down the road then yeah, nothing wrong with 850W.

[LegacyStijncat]

It could, not will, draw a larger/smaller amount of power from the wall, correct!

 

 

Well, it sounds like you have a single GPU system and no single GPU system uses that much these days. Most struggle to go much higher than 300W. But, say, you Crossfire SLI/ 980s or 390s down the road then yeah, nothing wrong with 850W.

Alright! I'll be going RMi/x or Dark Power Pro 11 then! Thanks for the help!

[STRMfrmXMN]

Alright! I'll be going RMi/x or Dark Power Pro 11 then! Thanks for the help!

Alrighty, see ya round man!

[STRMfrmXMN]

Added some resource links and resized the images to hopefully look better for those poor souls on mobile and lighter on those with bandwidth caps.

[STRMfrmXMN]

@SurvivorNVL

As a guy that isn't super into PSUs is this guide pretty easy to pick up and understand? Anything I could change?

[SurvivorNVL]

@SurvivorNVL

As a guy that isn't super into PSUs is this guide pretty easy to pick up and understand? Anything I could change?

It is very easy to pick up and understand.  

[STRMfrmXMN]

It is very easy to pick up and understand.

OK tanks fam

[Redicat]

Or just only buy high capacity Gold Ratings when they are cheap, effiecancy DOES not work when the PC isnt under FULL LOAD.

 

Meaning 450W bronze it has to draw atleast 380W in order to see almost full effect 120-150W modern mid to high edn Intel CPU  and  200-345 for MID-HIGH end vidoecard even than the CPU only tuns on 1.2V (Skylake a bit higher? 1.25 i think...) for high end models at default.

 

Don't buy over 600W if you arent putting anything in RAID or Multi GPU config... if you do you'll not be covered off one of these Efficiency ratings it will be worse than expected it to be... 

 

I would only recommend 80+ GOLD -> Platinum if used under small load don't pick too high wattage PSU.

 

Example:

 

[STRMfrmXMN]

Or just only buy high capacity Gold Ratings when they are cheap, effiecancy DOES not work when the PC isnt under FULL LOAD.

 

Meaning 450W bronze it has to draw atleast 380W in order to see almost full effect 120-150W modern mid to high edn Intel CPU  and  200-345 for MID-HIGH end vidoecard even than the CPU only tuns on 1.2V for high end models at default.

 

Don't buy over 600W if you arent putting anything in RAID or Multi GPU config... if you do you'll not be covered off one of these Efficiency ratings it will be worse than expected it to be... 

 

I would only recommend 80+ GOLD -> Platinum if used under small load don't pick too high wattage PSU.

 

Example:

 

I mean, the efficiency does work when the PSU isn't under full load. That's why they have standards for 10% and 50% load.

[Redicat]

I mean, the efficiency does work when the PSU isn't under full load. That's why they have standards for 10% and 50% load.

 

Yeah well its marketing, you might aswell just buy lower capacity's and reach the number anyway...

 

Uh but the deals are soo nice for PSU's in United States you know its easy to get a GOLD/PLATINUM without breaking the bank, here in Europe... it WOULD break the bank a bit...

[Bhav]

I bought an Antec HCP 1300w some time ago because it was on offer for £150. It died. I'm only just getting it RMAd due to upgrades coming up, but might consider selling the replacement and buying a 1000w EVGA Titanium instead.

[STRMfrmXMN]

4 minutes ago, Bhav said:

I bought an Antec HCP 1300w some time ago because it was on offer for £150. It died. I'm only just getting it RMAd due to upgrades coming up, but might consider selling the replacement and buying a 1000w EVGA Titanium instead.

That Antec is a great PSU. Either you had the PSU breathing in carpet or got a dud my friend.

[blnswamy]

On 8/4/2015 at 2:04 PM, Aytex said:

It is impossibru to achieve 100% efficiency

there is always some loss due to environmental factors. 

[STRMfrmXMN]

Edited the original post to include some explanation of US AC sockets and fixed some grammar. 

[STRMfrmXMN]

17 hours ago, rnoises said:

im building a pc that will be used for running many VMs while gaming/entertainment on the host

 

msi x99a gaming 9 ack

6900k

gtx 1080

2 SSDs

 

idk how much wattage it'll take, lets say it'll take 500w

 

What happens if i get a Corsair RM850i?

Will it continously draw 850w from the wall or will it draw what the machine requires?

For whatever suggestion you may give, I'm looking for something reliable and silent that will run 24/7.

 

It will only draw from the wall what the system demands of it. Your system will use around 350W with overclocks. Some efficiency loss equates it to being roughly 430W (didn't actually do the math) from the wall. 

 

TL;DR, the RMi is my favorite PSU and the 850W will work for SLI if you want to do that later, you're fine.

[MaxwellCYK]

On 8/4/2015 at 1:03 PM, STRMfrmXMN said:

-snip-

Very nice. Great thread.

 

[STRMfrmXMN]

5 minutes ago, MaxwellCYK said:

Very nice. Great thread.

 

Thanks man! Could you clip your quote though

[Brucifer]

Why was 80 Plus Silver done away with? 

[STRMfrmXMN]

59 minutes ago, Seralious said:

Why was 80 Plus Silver done away with? 

It's not completely done, some smaller companies still certify for it, but it seems that it was a move of capitalism to kill it off - demand for them was low enough that the standard was foregone almost completely. Some 80 PLUS Bronze units from manufacturers actually qualify for 80 PLUS Silver and yet stick to the bronze label (EVGA B2 is a good example).

[parker3301]

Interesting

[STRMfrmXMN]

7 hours ago, parker3301 said:

Interesting

Second post to good use m8 I r8 8/8

[gun92]

what capacitor did they installed is Corsair VS series and Thermaltek TR2 80plus Bronze ..?