What psu do I need?

[Uncraftable2005]

Budget (including currency): around $500

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Programming, gaming/streaming, emulators, any gamepass games

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

I'm not including the price of the gpu as I'll get the gpu later when prices are back to normal, also storage isn't a issue for me, I have a ton already. I'm trying to figure out what psu I need, its been really confusing as this is my first build.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i5-11400 2.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$188.99 @ B&H
Motherboard	Asus PRIME H570-PLUS ATX LGA1200 Motherboard	$139.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Team T-FORCE DARK Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$81.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB Founders Edition Video Card
Case	Phanteks Eclipse P360A ATX Mid Tower Case	$69.98 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$480.95
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-05-12 00:29 EDT-0400

 

[Chris Pratt]

For that CPU and GPU, 450W is sufficient, probably with some headroom since the CPU is not overclockable. Other than that, check the PSU tier list.

[SavageNeo]

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/FdRFf7/corsair-cx-2017-550w-80-bronze-certified-atx-power-supply-cp-9020121-na

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/cTfhP6/be-quiet-pure-power-11-500-w-80-gold-certified-atx-power-supply-bn901

 

those units are sufficient and decent

[Forleb]

Currently, it would do fine on 450W, but you're going to want 650W once you get the 3060 Ti in there. I'd recommend 80+ Gold or higher, but it's up to you whether modularity is important or not since it sounds like you're going to have several SATA drives in that system.

[RONOTHAN##]

For now, (almost) any PSU 400w+ should function. However, if you do manage to score a 3060 Ti, you're gonna want to get at least a 650w unit. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WDLTKNM?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1

 

This is probably the cheapest one I'd recommend. If you need to save money to get it down to under $500, try to get a cheaper motherboard or go used on your memory. 

[SavageNeo]

6 minutes ago, Forleb said:

but you're going to want 650W once you get the 3060 Ti in there

3060ti uses under 250w power.

then he has 11400 so total power consumption from 12V rail/s would be aroun 300-350w. So if th 450w psu is decent it will have anouhg wattage in the 12V rail/s.

 

7 minutes ago, Forleb said:

I'd recommend 80+ Gold or higher,

Effiency is not indication of quality. Psu manufacturers can make very bad psu and make it 80+ titanium or so. 

There are bad 80+gold, plat and titanium units. There are also better 80+bronze units than 80+ gol units out there.

[dean_5234]

Once you add the 3060 ti, youll need a decent psu.

I would recommend the MSI 650WGF, its A Tier and affordable

https://www.amazon.com/MSI-MPG-Power-Supply-PSU/dp/B08PDV45F8/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=msi+650w&qid=1620797465&s=electronics&sr=1-1

[Forleb]

50 minutes ago, SavageNeo said:

3060ti uses under 250w power.

then he has 11400 so total power consumption from 12V rail/s would be aroun 300-350w. So if th 450w psu is decent it will have anouhg wattage in the 12V rail/s.

 

Effiency is not indication of quality. Psu manufacturers can make very bad psu and make it 80+ titanium or so. 

There are bad 80+gold, plat and titanium units. There are also better 80+bronze units than 80+ gol units out there.

Fair enough on the second part (to which I'll add that the reputable brands out there are Corsair EVGA Thermaltake & Seasonic for example, @Uncraftable2005). However, if you've paid attention to a single PC build video since the launch of Ampere, you'll know that 450W in that system with the 3060 Ti probably wouldn't even boot. Rated TDP on modern hardware is usually quite a ways off from the max draw it can reach, and RTX 30 cards especially can spike high enough that a 650W unit is pretty much standard for that card.

[Jamesev]

4 hours ago, Chris Pratt said:

For that CPU and GPU, 450W is sufficient, probably with some headroom since the CPU is not overclockable. Other than that, check the PSU tier list.

Is there generally a guide on the headroom so if Parts picker says 436W would you go for 450 or 550 to allow additional things like more SATA drives in at a future date.

 

I guess it would come down to buy a $90 PSU now and then a $130 one if you expand or just go higher now if you know you're going to expand later?

[Chris Pratt]

1 hour ago, Jamesev said:

Is there generally a guide on the headroom so if Parts picker says 436W would you go for 450 or 550 to allow additional things like more SATA drives in at a future date.

 

I guess it would come down to buy a $90 PSU now and then a $130 one if you expand or just go higher now if you know you're going to expand later?

A good safe number is around 2x what you actually need right now. It's really about balancing cost (pure power draw). There's no harm in buying more wattage than you need, it's just going to cost more. Basically just go as high as you can reasonably afford. Don't get like a 1600W or anything as that would be obviously excessive, but buying a 750W or 850W would give you plenty of room to grow and won't usually break the bank either.

[Uncraftable2005]

 

7 hours ago, davemc said:

Once you add the 3060 ti, youll need a decent psu.

I would recommend the MSI 650WGF, its A Tier and affordable

https://www.amazon.com/MSI-MPG-Power-Supply-PSU/dp/B08PDV45F8/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=msi+650w&qid=1620797465&s=electronics&sr=1-1

 

7 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

For now, (almost) any PSU 400w+ should function. However, if you do manage to score a 3060 Ti, you're gonna want to get at least a 650w unit. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WDLTKNM?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1

 

This is probably the cheapest one I'd recommend. If you need to save money to get it down to under $500, try to get a cheaper motherboard or go used on your memory. 

Thanks for the suggestions this will help me a lot