PSU for new Build

[Armadillito]

Hi!

I am building my first system very soon and am ordering in the coming week. I am decided on parts, any suggested changes had better be persuasive. The one thing I do want check is:

Do I need a bigger PSU? I have saved myself £15GBP by opting for 550w rather than 650w. I will be running an i5-6600 (possible overclock later) and an R9 380 4GB STRIX edition from ASUS, this pulls 'up to 225 watts' according to ASUS. The PSUs I am looking at are EVGA G2 series ones, they deliver almost all the rated power over the 12v rail, about 540w on the 550w model I believe.

Future cards will be 980 equivalents or lower and more power-efficient, SLI is not planned anytime soon. I may run stress tests and benchmarks but not regularly once it is set up.

 

Thanks in advance! :-)

[N_Bot]

That should be plenty of wattage for your system. But if you want to SLI, I would upgrade the PSU in the future to 650-700 watts. :) 

[Guest]

I would get the 750W G2 as you will not need to buy a new PSU in the future.

It's always a good idea to invest as much as you can into the power supply.

[TheGamingBarrel]

Dont get a 6600, not worth it, try to get a used 290 for £160 or less, get either a Supernova G2 or a SuperFlower Leadex Platinum (And remember alex, i remember where you live, so dont kill anything :))

[DarkBlade2117]

If you plan on getting cards later on for SLI/Crossfire no less then an 850w, especially since by the time you have to upgrade that R9 380, AMDs Polaris and nvidias Pascal are will be out. By the looks of it Polaris will be a bit more power efficient though we cannot tell until they actually launch. A 550w will be enough more than likely for most single GPU setups if not all from the next generation of GPUs and if you want SLI and Crossfire I would just prepare yourself and get an 850w. Also the EVGA G2 is fantastic though you can also checkout the EVGA GS or GQ and any SeaSonic or XFX, they are all wonderful PSUs.

[jakkuh_t]

No. 500w is WELL enough for a single cpu/gpu setup. If you are planning SLI in the future, maybe grab a 750w. You cannot go wrong with any of the big companies PSUs. CM/Corsair/Fractal Design/EVGA

[N_Bot]

1 minute ago, Pearsonia said:

I would get the 750W G2 as you will not need to buy a new PSU in the future.

It's always a good idea to invest as much as you can into the power supply.

Yeah I agree. Get a good one now, and then no need to worry later.

[Armadillito]

Just now, TheGamingBarrel said:

Dont get a 6600, not worth it, try to get a used 290 for £160 or less, get either a Supernova G2 or a SuperFlower Leadex Platinum (And remember alex, i remember where you live, so dont kill anything :))

Er, wow, xD KK The 6600 is no longer on amazon cause I just ordered the last one for a decent price, £160 or so with shipping, similar to 6500.

[DarkBlade2117]

1 minute ago, TheGamingBarrel said:

Dont get a 6600, not worth it, try to get a used 290 for £160 or less, get either a Supernova G2 or a SuperFlower Leadex Platinum (And remember alex, i remember where you live, so dont kill anything :))

The 6600/6500 are jut fine. Toms Hardware recently uploaded a video on overclocking locked CPUs on Z170 boards. AsRock so far is the best for BCLK o locked chips, heck he may as well get the i5-6500 and use the saved money to get a Z170 AsRock Pro4 and overclock that thing to around 4.2-4.4Ghz

[Armadillito]

1 minute ago, DarkBlade2117 said:

The 6600/6500 are jut fine. Toms Hardware recently uploaded a video on overclocking locked CPUs on Z170 boards. AsRock so far is the best for BCLK o locked chips, heck he may as well get the i5-6500 and use the saved money to get a Z170 AsRock Pro4 and overclock that thing to around 4.2-4.4Ghz

I'm getting an MSI one which will do that if I want, I won't at first though, I want lifetime from this system. Thanks anyway.

[DarkBlade2117]

Just now, Armadillito said:

I'm getting an MSI one which will do that if I want, I won't at first though, I want lifetime from this system. Thanks anyway.

BCLK Overclocking is fine along as you have proper cooling. Something as small/cheap as a cryorig H7 or BeQuiet! Pure Rock will do. What MSI board specfically? Most MSI boards are fine but the cheap MSI boards such as the Pc Mate have almost no features and the Power phase of the AsRock Pro4 along with the overclocking ability is better.

[TheGamingBarrel]

Just now, Armadillito said:

I'm getting an MSI one which will do that if I want, I won't at first though, I want lifetime from this system. Thanks anyway.

ASRock have the best Z170 Boards, and overclocking doesnt reduce the CPU to a point where you will notice it, I run my G3258 at 4.5 24/7 And will run my i7 at 5GHz 24/7.

[Armadillito]

2 minutes ago, DarkBlade2117 said:

BCLK Overclocking is fine along as you have proper cooling. Something as small/cheap as a cryorig H7 or BeQuiet! Pure Rock will do. What MSI board specfically? Most MSI boards are fine but the cheap MSI boards such as the Pc Mate have almost no features and the Power phase of the AsRock Pro4 along with the overclocking ability is better.

Ok, I was looking at the PC mate, but they're the same price, you say pro4 is the better one? I'kl have a look, thanks for the tip.

 

[DarkBlade2117]

Just now, Armadillito said:

Ok, I was looking at the PC mate, but they're the same price, you say pro4 is the better one? I'kl have a look, thanks for the tip.

Yeah the PCMate is not bad though for BCLK Overclockign especially on lower end boards AsRock comes out ahead.