wattage..?

[cachowww]

hey guys, this is my build. I know for sure I'm going to get the corsair cx but am not sure whether or not I should go with the 450w, 550w, or 650w version (my estimated wattage is 314w on pcpartpicker)

[Bombastinator]

27 minutes ago, cachowww said:

hey guys, this is my build. I know for sure I'm going to get the corsair cx but am not sure whether or not I should go with the 450w, 550w, or 650w version (my estimated wattage is 314w on pcpartpicker)

Overclocking eats a lot of voltage fast and most PSUs have maximum efficiency around half power.  By the same token a higher wattage PSU can draw slightly more power than a lower wattage one just by virtue of its size.  Electricity is also usually (but not always) fairly cheap.  It becomes a question of if and how much you want to overclock and how expensive electricity is in your area relative to the increased cost of the larger PSU.  As a result this isn’t an easily answerable question.  I’m going to go for 550w just because it’s in the middle, but overclock would have an effect on that.

[DailyProcrastinator]

450W is perfectly fine even if you want to OC to your full potential, that said PSU's do best when they are not being fully utilized. If you can afford the CX 550W that is what I would recommend. Also gives you room if you upgrade. I have a system with an R7 1700 and a RX580 and I am using a 450W PSU, I have no concerns or issues. Ultimately it is your decision, 450W or 550W, neither is the wrong choice. 

[cachowww]

41 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Overclocking eats a lot of voltage fast and most PSUs have maximum efficiency around half power.  By the same token a higher wattage PSU can draw slightly more power than a lower wattage one just by virtue of its size.  Electricity is also usually (but not always) fairly cheap.  It becomes a question of if and how much you want to overclock and how expensive electricity is in your area relative to the increased cost of the larger PSU.  As a result this isn’t an easily answerable question.  I’m going to go for 550w just because it’s in the middle, but overclock would have an effect on that.

thanks for the advice! I'll probably not dive too deep into overclocking as it's my first build and have no clue what I'm doing when it comes to oc'ing

[cachowww]

17 minutes ago, JM21 said:

450W is perfectly fine even if you want to OC to your full potential, that said PSU's do best when they are not being fully utilized. If you can afford the CX 550W that is what I would recommend. Also gives you room if you upgrade. I have a system with an R7 1700 and a RX580 and I am using a 450W PSU, I have no concerns or issues. Ultimately it is your decision, 450W or 550W, neither is the wrong choice. 

I'll probably go with the 550w just to be safe and allow some headroom for upgrades if I want to in future!

[DailyProcrastinator]

11 hours ago, cachowww said:

I'll probably go with the 550w just to be safe and allow some headroom for upgrades if I want to in future!

Good choice!