AMD power usage misconception

[App4that]

I hear a lot of talk about how AMD GPU's use a lot of power. So I spent 20 bucks on a wattage meter, I also wanted to make sure my 750w PSU was OK with having two big GPU's to feed, it is.

 

First photo is at idle running the two monitors, crossfire enabled. 147w

 

 

 

Second photo is running Valley, crossfire enabled. 621w, I reached 660w when I overclocked to 1100MHz on both cards.

 

 

That's my entire rig. An overclocked 4690K, a Vapor-x 290, a Nitro 390, and ten frigen case fans all pumping out hot air. At 660w max. On a 750w Corsair PSU.

[Senzelian]

-snip-

Don't worry, we all know that...

But there are simply a lot of AMD haters our there or just people that don't understand what TDP actually means.

I should probably spend a few bucks on a Kill-a-watt, too. Could be interesting to messure what my SLI setup actually needs.

A lot of people recommended to get at least a 850w PSU for a two-way SLI setup with GTX 980s...   Stupid people.

[Syntaxvgm]

Don't worry, we all know that...

But there are simply a lot of AMD haters our there or just people that don't understand what TDP actually means.

in order to dissipate x watts, at least x watts must be consumed. 

We fucking know what TDP is. 

[Senzelian]

in order to dissipate x watts, at least x watts must be consumed. 

We fucking know what TDP is. 

 

Who is "we" ?

Trust me. At least half of users on this forum don't know what TDP means.

[Syntaxvgm]

Don't worry, we all know that...

But there are simply a lot of AMD haters our there or just people that don't understand what TDP actually means.

I should probably spend a few bucks on a Kill-a-watt, too. Could be interesting to messure what my SLI setup actually needs.

A lot of people recommended to get at least a 850w PSU for a two-way SLI setup with GTX 980s...   Stupid people.

are you kidding? It' snot stupid. It's safe. 

What if you have a 5960x with a decent overclock, 4 hard drives, 1 ssd, 2 980s or 980tis, an AIO, some fans....do the math for me?

How is that stupid? 

How is airing a little on the generous side on a system that you spend 1000$ on the gpus alone fucking stupid? 

[App4that]

Who is "we" ?

Trust me. At least half of users on this forum don't know what TDP means.

I have no idea what it means :lol:

[App4that]

are you kidding? It' snot stupid. It's safe. 

What if you have a 5960x with a decent overclock, 4 hard drives, 1 ssd, 2 980s or 980tis, an AIO, some fans....do the math for me?

How is that stupid? 

How is airing a little on the generous side on a system that you spend 1000$ on the gpus alone fucking stupid? 

There's error on the safe side, and paranoia. When it comes to PSUs I see a lot of paranoia.

[Syntaxvgm]

There's error on the safe side, and paranoia. When it comes to PSUs I see a lot of paranoia.

does anyone here actually know shit about power supplies? Do you factor in capacitor aging? You should add in 10-15% for that. I add in more as I have full load 24-7 for most of the year. 

it doesn't happen evenly to all PSUs, or as extreme as people claim, but it's better to overbuy slightly then to regret it some years down the road

[SpaceNugget]

Don't worry, we all know that...

But there are simply a lot of AMD haters our there or just people that don't understand what TDP actually means.

I should probably spend a few bucks on a Kill-a-watt, too. Could be interesting to messure what my SLI setup actually needs.

A lot of people recommended to get at least a 850w PSU for a two-way SLI setup with GTX 980s...   Stupid people.

nvidia suggests a minimum of 500w for a single 980 system and each card draws 165w at full load so the absolute minimum recommended wattage is 665w for 2 way sli with 980s. 850w is actually a pretty safe bet.

[Syntaxvgm]

nvidia suggests a minimum of 500w for a single 980 system and each card draws 165w at full load so the absolute minimum recommended wattage is 665w for 2 way sli with 980s. 850w is actually a pretty safe bet.

Don't follow what NVIDIA or AMD suggest. It's always way over, as not everyone has the same system. 

[Senzelian]

are you kidding? It' snot stupid. It's safe. 

What if you have a 5960x with a decent overclock, 4 hard drives, 1 ssd, 2 980s or 980tis, an AIO, some fans....do the math for me?

How is that stupid? 

How is airing a little on the generous side on a system that you spend 1000$ on the gpus alone fucking stupid?

I was talking about my scenario.

I have an i5-4670 and two GTX 980s. Obviously also storage, coolers and other stuff.

When I asked for a recommendation a lot of people just recommend at least a 850w PSU. I guess they did that just to get another post on a forum and to be sure not to get blamed if something goes wrong. That is for me a bad recommendation.

I ended up buying a 760w PSU, which is still quite a bit over what I actually need. But because I bought a lower wattage PSU I could afford one of the best ones available.

So instead of a good PSU with 850w I got an excellent PSU with 760w and that is probably safer.

So, can we now relax or is your pulse still on 180?

There's error on the safe side, and paranoia. When it comes to PSUs I see a lot of paranoia.

This is very true. A lot of people are just scared.

[App4that]

does anyone here actually know shit about power supplies? Do you factor in capacitor aging? You should add in 10-15% for that. I add in more as I have full load 24-7 for most of the year. 

I know they are the most efficient when close to their rating. Would a 850w PSU be a better choice for me, absolutely. Having that headroom wouldn't hurt. But I bought the wattage meter when I saw people advising switching out PSU's like my 750w to crossfire. As you can see the 750w is fine, I could even overclock.

[watts300]

I want one of those Kill-A-Watts just for fun to use on lots of things in my house. 

[App4that]

I want one of those Kill-A-Watts just for fun to use on lots of things in my house. 

Best 20 bucks I've ever spent. Want to know if a gaming rig or a Refrigerator use more power? So do I.

[Senzelian]

I want one of those Kill-A-Watts just for fun to use on lots of things in my house.

It's always impressive to see modern tech-product's power consumption. There are notebooks that don't even need more than 25 watts.

[SpaceNugget]

Don't follow what NVIDIA or AMD suggest. It's always way over, as not everyone has the same system. 

Did you read my post? I said 850w was a safe bet for a system that nvidia recommends 665w for. thats 27% more than the manufacturer suggested.

[Syntaxvgm]

I was talking about my scenario.

I have an i5-4670 and two GTX 980s. Obviously also storage, coolers and other stuff.

When I asked for a recommendation a lot of people just recommend at least a 850w PSU. I guess they did that just to get another post on a forum and to be sure not to get blamed if something goes wrong. That is for me a bad recommendation.

I ended up buying a 760w PSU, which is still quite a bit over what I actually need. But because I bought a lower wattage PSU I could afford one of the best ones available.

So instead of a good PSU with 850w I got an excellent PSU with 760w and that is probably safer.

So, can we now relax or is your pulse still on 180?

This is very true. A lot of people are just scared.

either is fine, but if you are spending THAT much on GPUs alone, you can spend on your PSU. Getting a higher wattage doens't mean you should go for a janky one at higher wattage, it means get a nicer one at higher wattage. 

I mean fuck people buy the best damned PSU you can get, no matter the wattage. Most important competent of your build, and reusable! 

 

I don't have a problem with not overbuying, I have a problem with people recommending the bottom capacity PSU for the situation- like 550w in your case. 

Not a great idea. 

[App4that]

either is fine, but if you are spending THAT much on GPUs alone, you can spend on your PSU. Getting a higher wattage doens't mean you should go for a janky one at higher wattage, it means get a nicer one at higher wattage. 

I mean fuck people buy the best damned PSU you can get, no matter the wattage. Most important competent of your build, and reusable! 

 

I don't have a problem with not overbuying, I have a problem with people recommending the bottom capacity PSU for the situation- like 550w in your case. 

Not a great idea. 

All true, but that doesn't mean advising someone get more PSU than they'll ever use or get the most efficiency out of because they're not loading it properly is a good idea ether. I see that EVERYWHERE on this forum. You're wasting money both in purchase price and in efficiency by over buying a PSU.

[Syntaxvgm]

This is very true. A lot of people are just scared.

Some take components with them when they fail.

I've had psus catch one fire. One that did more than smoke, a cooler master one, literally went up in flames. 

Hell, I had a dell PSU literally explode when I plugged in in while testing a stack of computers. Was touching the case and it shocked me pretty good.

So I've had plenty of 'respect the psu'  experiences. 

[Syntaxvgm]

All true, but that doesn't mean advising someone get more PSU than they'll ever use or get the most efficiency out of because they're not loading it properly is a good idea ether. I see that EVERYWHERE on this forum. You're wasting money both in purchase price and in efficiency by over buying a PSU.

It's a good thing to consider, but 

hitting the right load for efficiency matters 0 to me unless you are under running multiple systems or using your system on full load 24-7 like I do. When it's idling or even gaming in some scenarios, you likely aren't hitting that sweet spot anyway. 

[harrynowl]

TDP is a cooling spec.

[App4that]

Some take components with them when they fail.

I've had psus catch one fire. One that did more than smoke, a cooler master one, literally went up in flames. 

Hell, I had a dell PSU literally explode when I plugged in in while testing a stack of computers. Was touching the case and it shocked me pretty good.

So I've had plenty of 'respect the psu'  experiences. 

Don't let junk PSU's make you jaded. I completely agree that your PSU should match the rest of your build. I've lost count of the Skylake builds with CX PSU's, that's why I avoid the build suggestion area.

[Senzelian]

All true, but that doesn't mean advising someone get more PSU than they'll ever use or get the most efficiency out of because they're not loading it properly is a good idea ether. I see that EVERYWHERE on this forum. You're wasting money both in purchase price and in efficiency by over buying a PSU.

Exactly.

So many people are probably just scared to get accused for recommending a PSU with a low wattage, that they automatically add 100 or 200 watts.

"This guy is probably fine with a 500w PSU, but I'll recommend him a 600w PSU, so that if anything happens it's not my fault", is probably what they think. If they would at least admit that they aren't sure about their recommendation...  :rolleyes:

[Syntaxvgm]

Exactly.

So many people are probably just scared to get accused for recommending a PSU with a low wattage, that they automatically add 100 or 200 watts.

"This guy is probably fine with a 500w PSU, but I'll recommend him a 600w PSU, so that if anything happens it's not my fault", is probably what they think. If they would at least admit that they aren't sure about their recommendation...  :rolleyes:

If the systems pulls 500w under load (mind you most calculators do 90% cpu load, this is NOT idea for certain scenarios), you should add in 10% (or more) for aging, bringing you to 550w. 600 watts sounds great, factoring in small things like extra hard drives or heavier decay. You should add a bit. 

[App4that]

Exactly.

So many people are probably just scared to get accused for recommending a PSU with a low wattage, that they automatically add 100 or 200 watts.

"This guy is probably fine with a 500w PSU, but I'll recommend him a 600w PSU, so that if anything happens it's not my fault", is probably what they think. If they would at least admit that they aren't sure about their recommendation...  :rolleyes:

I used to be a mechanic. I see the same thing there. "You're X away from your wear indicator on your tires, time to change them." No, you change them when you HIT it, that's why it's there. So that guy who goes 100w over is trusted by someone who does the same, and pretty soon you have people advising a 1050w PSU for a crossfire set up like mine. Yes I saw that here.