"Future-proofing" a PSU

[julianspiteri]

I know most of you hate the word future-proofing, but I was wondering how much buffer i should leave for future expansion. My build will begin with a 4790k and a 970, but am obviously planning to upgrade in the future. My build will probably always be a mid-range systmem , and i don't intend on going over 2-way sli. Right-now, 850w is enough for even the most high end nvidia cards in sli. My question is, do you think that new cards coming out will consume less power or will the be more power hungry than cards now, meaning ill probaby have to buy a new psu anyway and shouldnt bother getting 850w.

 

[Kenji the Uke]

I'd say less power consumption, honestly. MORE EFFICIENCY AND MORE POWAH.

[yannickverc]

Newer GPU and CPU's that come out tend be to be more power efficient.

 

So I'd say you get a 80+ plat 850w PSU and you'll be good for a few years.

[Guest]

Everything gets more and more power efficient so i would get a quality 650w.

[SPAS-ID]

get 850W

[Nexxus]

Everything gets more and more power efficient so i would get a quality 650w.

Really? the 970 requires a 500w Minimum ...to close for comfort for me and hes fucked if he goes SLI

[z0ne]

Found this chart below as an example, it's not perfect but it works. I don't think there's going to be very power hungry cards compared to cards right now. maybe just a few exceptions, but remember that mobile is "the future" most desktop chips are just beefed up mobile chips, and mobile chips use less power. So an 850 will be fine for the coming years.

Edit: And take into account when looking at the chart that the wattage needed listed on nvidia for the 970 is 145W

[Coombzy]

Really? the 970 requires a 500w Minimum ...to close for comfort for me and hes fucked if he goes SLI

What it requires and what it actually uses is entirely different. a 970 under full load uses less then 400w. 750w and 850w are pefect for 970 SLI.

[Nexxus]

What it requires and what it actually uses is entirely different. a 970 under full load uses less then 400w. 750w and 850w are pefect for 970 SLI.

I never said 750 and 850 were bad. I said 600w is 

And frankly I wouldnt care if it uses less then 100w id rather air of the side of caution and follow nvidias min specs on psus frankly, they did manufacture the thing after all. 

[Guest]

Really? the 970 requires a 500w Minimum ...to close for comfort for me and hes fucked if he goes SLI

"and i don't intend on going over 2-way sli."

besides, you can run 970 sli on a quality 650w

[z0ne]

I never said 750 and 850 were bad. I said 600w is 

And frankly I wouldnt care if it uses less then 100w id rather air of the side of caution and follow nvidias min specs on psus frankly, they did manufacture the thing after all. 

Nvidia lists system wattage recommended is 500W. the card(reference-non OC) itself uses 145W. 

[Nexxus]

"and i don't intend on going over 2-way sli."

besides, you can run 970 sli on a quality 650w

Exactly, his statement implies he might go sli but not over 2 cards.

[Nexxus]

Nvidia lists system wattage recommended is 500W. the card(reference-non OC) itself uses 145W. 

im aware

[Guest]

Exactly, his statement implies he might go sli but not over 2 cards.

650w is just fine, next generation will most likely even more power efficient (even if its only slightly).

[z0ne]

im aware

 

Ah my bad, i'm with you that I wouldn't pick a 650W if you're planning to go SLI later on. PSU's deteriorate after long periodes of use. you want to have at least about 100 watts spare. 750-850 is fine though. (with a decent certified PSU) 

[julianspiteri]

Was thinking of picking corsair's rm850i, since it is modular and seems to be very reliable with extremely small ripples (I don't understand much about this) and also has corsair link as an added bonus. So if I understood correctly, cards will be becoming more efficient, so I won't be need a larger capacity any time soon right?

[Guest]

Was thinking of picking corsair's rm850i, since it is modular and seems to be very reliable with extremely small ripples (I don't understand much about this) and also has corsair link as an added bonus. So if I understood correctly, cards will be becoming more efficient, so I won't be need a larger capacity any time soon right?

anything more than 850w waste

even AMD are putting much development into energy efficienty