Power Supply over long time

[Guest]

This is a discussion thread more so. Before you read, yes I read THIS THREAD

 

Someone I know said that my PSU choices were poorly made. I showed him a build plan I was making where I would have a ryzen 5, or 7, & an R9 390. With this build I chose a tier 1 750 Watt Gold PSU.

He argued I'd only need about 350~ Watts and that I was wasting money. He was going to show me a video where a guy powers a gaming PC with a 350~ Watt PSU under huge load, and even did it with modern benchmarks. He also claimed that the 80 Plus certification is a waste of time, and bronze is way more than you'll ever need. Finally he said that tier PSU are not important and had recommended me some EVGA PSU that's about tier 3-4. 

 

Aside from his belief "All PC over 4-6 years old are completely obsolete, and should be thrown in the garbage" I plan to keep this PC for ever/as long as possible as a Linux workstation. I was concerned about degradation of the power supply, fire hazards, the PSU dying, and consistent power reliability/flow. My current PC has a 750 Watt bronze (likely tier 4) with an i5 3450, and GTX 1050 TI. I don't know how much power it uses and I haven't personally had any problems (including that I got it secondhand) 

 

Are my concerns as far fetched as getting sick and dying from a vaccination shot?  (People CAN get sick from vaccines but it's super rare to have a serious problem with getting a Vaccine that it's super worth the 'risk')

Is he right? 

 

Note:

No matter what the outcome of this thread is, I am going to get this high end PSU for my PC (because it's modular, I think it's cool to have overkill components, and I'm going for an all Corsair build)

 

Sources/relevant threads/links:

PSU Tier list I used

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/631048-psu-tier-list-updated/

How many Watts do I need Pinned LTT thread/guide:

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/199255-how-many-watts-do-i-need-check-here/

Build plan with overkill PSU:

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/812439-a-linux-workstation-and-windows-2000s-gaming-pc/

 

[RadiatingLight]

2 minutes ago, fpo said:

He argued I'd only need about 350~ Watts and that I was wasting money. He was going to show me a video where a guy powers a gaming PC with a 350~ Watt PSU under huge load, and even did it with modern benchmarks. He also claimed that the 80 Plus certification is a waste of time, and bronze is way more than you'll ever need. Finally he said that tier PSU are not important and had recommended me some EVGA PSU that's about tier 3-4. 

350W will technically run a system with something like a GTX 1070 + 7700K, but the PSU will be stretched to its limit, which isn't good for the PSU or for efficiency. PSUs are most efficient at around 60% load, so for a system with a 1070 + 7700K, a 500W PSU would be good. more than that is totally fine.

 

PSUs ARE important, but not in the same way as a CPU/GPU. if you have a bad PSU, you might not even realize -- you might just assume that your components don't overclock well, and if your bad PSU never explodes, you'll never realize.

 

however, garbage PSUs can explode, and if you buy a bad PSU, then you'll be really sad that you didn't spend $20 more when a dying PSU kills your Motherboard, CPU, and GPU at the same time.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

PSUs are most efficient at around 60% load, so for a system with a 1070 + 7700K, a 500W PSU would be good. more than that is totally fine.

This was the other thing I forgot about. I was saying the higher efficiency and the fact my PC would sit around 50% (or not... I didn't do that math) I would use less electricity. 

He was saying it's so marginal it's a waste of money. 

 

Does it make much of a difference? 

[RadiatingLight]

5 minutes ago, fpo said:

This was the other thing I forgot about. I was saying the higher efficiency and the fact my PC would sit around 50% (or not... I didn't do that math) I would use less electricity. 

He was saying it's so marginal it's a waste of money. 

 

Does it make much of a difference? 

Not a huge difference TBH unless you're bitcoin mining or something that keeps your PC at 100% load all the time.

but it's not good to have your PSU at 100% load, so at least 450-550W for a single-GPU system, 750-850W for a dual-GPU system.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

Not a huge difference TBH unless you're bitcoin mining or something that keeps your PC at 100% load all the time.

but it's not good to have your PSU at 100% load, so at least 450-550W for a single-GPU system, 750-850W for a dual-GPU system.

Thank you for your input!! 

Glad to hear he was both right, but it wasn't as black and white as he made it seem. 

 

Because I'm crazy, I'm going to get the tier 1 psu for 70~ dollars because the monetary difference is like 30~$ and IF I ever get a second GPU, I'll be set. 

[Stefan Payne]

1 hour ago, fpo said:

Someone I know said that my PSU choices were poorly made. I showed him a build plan I was making where I would have a ryzen 5, or 7, & an R9 390. With this build I chose a tier 1 750 Watt Gold PSU.

He argued I'd only need about 350~ Watts and that I was wasting money. He was going to show me a video where a guy powers a gaming PC with a 350~ Watt PSU under huge load, and even did it with modern benchmarks. He also claimed that the 80 Plus certification is a waste of time, and bronze is way more than you'll ever need. Finally he said that tier PSU are not important and had recommended me some EVGA PSU that's about tier 3-4. 

1, He is correct in many points but also wrong on one or two.

 

Let's start with the truth:
a) yes, you can easily use a Desktop/Mobile PC with a 350W unit

b) You indeed wasted money for buying the PSU and also efficiency under lower loads

c) 80plus Certification is indeed not that relevant,

d) PSU Tier Lists are not important because highly subjective in many ways.

Where he is wrong about:

1) 80plus is kinda relevant as 80plus Silver and lower are only used for Budget/Lower End PSUs. All 80plus Silver and less PSU you can buy today (that are not EOL) fall in that category. High End Models are only available in 80plus Gold and better for many years.

2) there are no 350W units on the market that are of decent quality. All PSU in the 300W range are optimized for cost and have even shorter cables than the 400/450W models of the same series. Sometimes they even use a (completely) different plattform. So you have to go for at least 400 or 450W instead...

 

Where you are wrong:
A higher quality PSU (wich is most likely 80plus Gold or even Platinum) beats the 80plus Bronze model in every way possible.

 

So yeah, a good quality/high endish 80plus Gold unit would have been the better choice for you.

80plus Bronze is only an option if you have to save money on the PSU, otherwise go for Gold.

 

But you always have to take a look at the PSU you want to buy and look for reviews!

Never ever buy by brand!!

Or because you trust that brand.

 

The buttom line:
You probably could have gotten a 450, maybe 550W Bitfenix Whisper M for about the same price as your 750W unit.

And depending on the unit and if it has independent regulation for 3,3V/5V or not it is an OKish or bad buy.

If it is indeed group regulated, it is not reccomended to use on a midrange to high end gaming PC like yours.