Would 550W be enough

[KirbyTech]

I am replacing my PSU since my father wants one and I have been itching to get a better one. I want to be able to run a LGA 2011-3 i7 and sli 970 these parts are for an upcoming build. Working on building the case. CanI get away with 550W or should I go 650W? 

[Zeke]

I'd say 550W will be borderline enough, get 650 if you can.

[Superspeed07]

I am replacing my PSU since my father wants one and I have been itching to get a better one. I want to be able to run a LGA 2011-3 i7 and sli 970 these parts are for an upcoming build. Working on building the case. CanI get away with 550W or should I go 650W? 

 

550w would not cut it, 650 watt is very very borderline, go for 700-800 watt psu - it would be better to go a touch higher and not need the extra

[KirbyTech]

I'd say 550W will be borderline enough, get 650 if you can.

Thanks, I'll go 650 then, the difference is only $10. 

[Redsun20]

I am replacing my PSU since my father wants one and I have been itching to get a better one. I want to be able to run a LGA 2011-3 i7 and sli 970 these parts are for an upcoming build. Working on building the case. CanI get away with 550W or should I go 650W?

550 will be barley enough with everything at stock, I would reccomend a higher wattage for some overhead. Go for at least a 750 watt PSU. Again, if you want to have the best efficiency, you don't want to constantly be maxing out the PSU. Also, it really depends on what parts yu are putting in there and how far and if you plan to overclock

[KirbyTech]

550 will be barley enough with everything at stock, I would reccomend a higher wattage for some overhead. Go for at least a 750 watt PSU. Again, if you want to have the best efficiency, you don't want to constantly be maxing out the PSU. Also, it really depends on what parts yu are putting in there and how far and if you plan to overclock

Currently it is between a 650 gold and a 600 bronze, so I think they should be about the same 

[SeanBond]

550w would not cut it, 650 watt is very very borderline, go for 700-800 watt psu - it would be better to go a touch higher and not need the extra

You have 3 main components with the tdp of about 135w. Throw in another 30w for various other parts. How exactly is 650 very very borderline? Maybe I learned math wrong but I am sure 550 is the borderline for this one. That is with oc and inefficiencies taken into consideration.

[manikyath]

so... you're going enthousiast platform, and want to cheap out on your power supply? this is a fire waiting to happen.

 

depending on the amount of 970s you want around 750 to be safe.

 

EDIT: did a pcpartpicker thing;

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/BKYHK8

 

take in mind: thats *only* cpu and GPUs, and i have no way to tell how acccurate the PCPP wattage calculator is.

 

*if* its 100% accurate, you have around 20% headroom with a 750W power supply. (please correct me if my math is a wreck, i slept terribly)

[KirbyTech]

You have 3 main components with the tdp of about 135w. Throw in another 30w for various other parts. How exactly is 650 very very borderline? Maybe I learned math wrong but I am sure 550 is the borderline for this one. That is with oc and inefficiencies taken into consideration.

On PC partpicker it says 520w without drives so 650 might be low

so... you're going enthousiast platform, and want to cheap out on your power supply? this is a fire waiting to happen.

 

depending on the amount of 970s you want around 750-900 to be safe.

Not cheap but I don't feel like buying more than I need. I am planning to buy a decent psu for the amount of watts I need. 

[GrimNeo]

Thanks, I'll go 650 then, the difference is only $10. 

I would suggest you get an EVGA psu

[2G_Tony]

My 500watt barely powers my single 970 and 6300. Go with a 650/750 before you cheap out ;-;

[KirbyTech]

I would suggest you get an EVGA psu

That is who I am looking at, their GS line up. 

[SeanBond]

Drives are only going to use a few watts. Motherboard is the only other component that uses a noticeable amount of watts.

 

I suggest listening to pc part picker, it always has the most accurate calculator for maximum load, which you will rarely ever hit. IF you ever even do. As @GrimNeo said, go with an evga power supply if you want something top tier, 750g2 is the one to go for. However if you are getting a 650w DO NOT get the g1 650 or it is also called evga nex. It's not a good power supply. If you really want to cheap out and go for something 650w the rosewill capstone is very cheap and has electrical performance somewhere around that of a corsair RM except it's half the price. Even the 750 capstone isn't a bad alternative.

[manikyath]

so, i did a math (again) and a pcpartpicker with random parts to decide where exactly wattage will be, according to PCPP a 650watt power supply will have about 10% headroom when going 2-way SLI, while going for 3-way SLI requires a 750W power supply.

[KirbyTech]

so... you're going enthousiast platform, and want to cheap out on your power supply? this is a fire waiting to happen.

 

depending on the amount of 970s you want around 750 to be safe.

 

EDIT: did a pcpartpicker thing;

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/BKYHK8

 

take in mind: thats *only* cpu and GPUs, and i have no way to tell how acccurate the PCPP wattage calculator is.

 

*if* its 100% accurate, you have around 20% headroom with a 750W power supply. (please correct me if my math is a wreck, i slept terribly)

Take a gpu out you have 1 too many.

Drives are only going to use a few watts. Motherboard is the only other component that uses a noticeable amount of watts.

 

I suggest listening to pc part picker, it always has the most accurate calculator for maximum load, which you will rarely ever hit. IF you ever even do. As @GrimNeo said, go with an evga power supply if you want something top tier, 750g2 is the one to go for. However if you are getting a 650w DO NOT get the g1 650 or it is also called evga nex. It's not a good power supply. If you really want to cheap out and go for something 650w the rosewill capstone is very cheap and has electrical performance somewhere around that of a corsair RM except it's half the price. Even the 750 capstone isn't a bad alternative.

I looked on Johnyguru and the EVGA GS line is pretty good. might go 650 since I will not be getting both gpus right away and can use the 650 in another build when I get a second 970 once the new cards come out.

[KirbyTech]

so, i did a math (again) and a pcpartpicker with random parts to decide where exactly wattage will be, according to PCPP a 650watt power supply will have about 10% headroom when going 2-way SLI, while going for 3-way SLI requires a 750W power supply.

Here is a pc part picker link with only 1 gpu since I will get the second in a year or so. http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/BvVHjX

[GrimNeo]

That is who I am looking at, their GS line up. 

Nice I just switched from Corsair Ax to EVGA Supernova p2. I like both of them. I upgraded because I did a compelete overhaul of my pc. Are you going to overclock at all?

 

Drives are only going to use a few watts. Motherboard is the only other component that uses a noticeable amount of watts.

 

I suggest listening to pc part picker, it always has the most accurate calculator for maximum load, which you will rarely ever hit. IF you ever even do. As @GrimNeo said, go with an evga power supply if you want something top tier, 750g2 is the one to go for. However if you are getting a 650w DO NOT get the g1 650 or it is also called evga nex. It's not a good power supply. If you really want to cheap out and go for something 650w the rosewill capstone is very cheap and has electrical performance somewhere around that of a corsair RM except it's half the price. Even the 750 capstone isn't a bad alternative.

I agree

[manikyath]

Here is a pc part picker link with only 1 gpu since I will get the second in a year or so. http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/BvVHjX

with 2 970s that build shows 520W on PCPP, which is too close for comfort to me, so i'd DEFENATLY go at least 650W.

 

something you need to think about is the possibility of adding a third card in the future, if you're certain that'll never happen, 650 should be fine.

however, if you dont know for sure, and the chance may exist you're going for a third card somewhere in the future, 650 wont cut it.

 

you also have to count in that the more you load a power supply, the more heat it'll produce: i have a single GTX970 on a 750W power supply, and the power supply pretty much sits idle, meaning its cold, and quiet (the fan doesnt turn on under a certain load).

[KirbyTech]

Nice I just switched from Corsair Ax to EVGA Supernova p2. I like both of them. I upgraded because I did a compelete overhaul of my pc. Are you going to overclock at all?

Yes I plan to overclock some but not a huge amount since this primary focus is not gaming.

[KirbyTech]

with 2 970s that build shows 520W on PCPP, which is too close for comfort to me, so i'd DEFENATLY go at least 650W.

 

something you need to think about is the possibility of adding a third card in the future, if you're certain that'll never happen, 650 should be fine.

however, if you dont know for sure, and the chance may exist you're going for a third card somewhere in the future, 650 wont cut it.

 

you also have to count in that the more you load a power supply, the more heat it'll produce: i have a single GTX970 on a 750W power supply, and the power supply pretty much sits idle, meaning its cold, and quiet (the fan doesnt turn on under a certain load).

Adding a third is pointless unless it is given to you or you get it super cheap. The plan is this is a 3 years build. Meaning it is gone in 3 years, so a third card makes no sense since it will preform as good as I need it to. 

[manikyath]

Adding a third is pointless unless it is given to you or you get it super cheap. The plan is this is a 3 years build. Meaning it is gone in 3 years, so a third card makes no sense since it will preform as good as I need it to. 

in that case, 650 should be just fine.

[SeanBond]

Take a gpu out you have 1 too many.

I looked on Johnyguru and the EVGA GS line is pretty good. might go 650 since I will not be getting both gpus right away and can use the 650 in another build when I get a second 970 once the new cards come out.

I believe the gs series is just a slight variation of the g2 series optimized for noise. The g2 gs and rosewill capstone power supplies are made by superflower, basically the only consumer grade rival to seasonic with much better pricing in my mind. The capstone is an older platform yet still great and comes with a 7 year warranty. The g2 comes with a 10 year warranty. You really can go wrong with neither. I don't know much about the gs but I am going to go ahead and assume it's also top notch. 

[KirbyTech]

I believe the gs series is just a slight variation of the g2 series optimized for noise. The g2 gs and rosewill capstone power supplies are made by superflower, basically the only consumer grade rival to seasonic with much better pricing in my mind. The capstone is an older platform yet still great and comes with a 7 year warranty. The g2 comes with a 10 year warranty. You really can go wrong with neither. I don't know much about the gs but I am going to go ahead and assume it's also top notch. 

The gs 850 got a 9.4 I believe on Johnnyguru.com so I figure it should be pretty good since here is pretty much the best one for PSU reviews. 

[GrimNeo]

Yes I plan to overclock some but not a huge amount since this primary focus is not gaming.

Sounds good KirbyTech. If you have any other questions you can always contact EVGA. They are great at responding.

[SeanBond]

The gs 850 got a 9.4 I believe on Johnnyguru.com so I figure it should be pretty good since here is pretty much the best one for PSU reviews. 

850 g2 got a 9.9