Thread: Power supply

How do you determine what kind of power supply you need for a computer?

Building a desktop? Depends on the other components. Especially the video card. I'd go ahead and get a 600W-650W anyway, but that's just me.

Well if I get a power supply that is a lot more than I need, would I blow the computer up?

Originally Posted by Seismosaur

Well if I get a power supply that is a lot more than I need, would I blow the computer up?

No, you would just waste a lot of money and have a power-supply cooling setup that is probably way out of proportion.

There are 2 good calculators on the net. Please ask Google. Also, you should know some stuff about power supplies and voltages in PCs. You should know that most power is needed on the 12V rails, for example. Also, you should know that efficiency and sound levels depend on load.

Generally, for a modern standard system (let's say 1 Quad-core, 1 modern GPU, 2 HDDs, ...) you would be absolutely fine with a 450W PSU (such as the Corsair VX450W). You need to know that even with a fully loaded rig, it is almost impossible to go over 300W, let alone 400. In fact, for example the very high-quality Enermax Modu82+ 425 with 425W is specified for safely powering a rig with 2 Quad-cores, 2 graphics cards and 12 hard drives.

Now, you don't want to let your PSU run on full load all the time because that's just loud as hell, even with a quiet one. So depending on what you have, you would want to go with a 420-450W PSU or possibly a little higher, around 500-520. Also consider whether the cable set is modular. I am using a modular Corsair HX520W and it is completely inaudible, because the load is never above 50%.

silentpcreview.com also has some good info on PSUs.

Cool, thanks for the info.