how many watts?

[Fenix-Dark]

I've realized that psu's are being rated for more and more watts, just exactly how many watts does a psu need to be rated for to run you're average high end single gpu computer? Just as a guess, I'm gonna say 400 watts. (Lets say a c2d e6600, 7900GTX, 2 hdds, 2 optical drives and the 975x intel chipset to keep things in perspective)

The power requirements (in watts) on certain items seem way too high, dfi requires a 480+ watt power supply for their nf4 model motherboards. Is that because they need at least 480 watts? Or is it because they are indirectly requiring you to get a higher quality psu?

I'm just tired of hearing those zealots saying "I'm maxing out my 600 watt psu" and having a somewhat high end computer (x2 4400+, nf4-sli chipset, 2hdds, 2 cd drives, 7950GT gfx card)

[jonnyGURU]

Well, first off... I wouldn't look at the watts. PC's today have most of their load on the 12V rail. If a PSU makes up a good bulk of it's total wattage on the 5V rail, that's not going to do you much good.

A decent 500W or 600W (at least 40A or so on the 12V rail) can power most systems with virtually any GPU. But with GPU's needing more juice than anything else, it's when you have two GPU's in tandem you start really sucking up a lot of juice.

[Fenix-Dark]

Yea, I understand that amps on the +12v rail(s) are just as important, if not more important than the wattage that the psu is rated for.

[JEDIYoda]

Does wattage even matter at all?

You would think that as long as the PSU can actually produce the amps stated (be it 12v or 5v) thats all that would matter...

I could be wrong though...

[DvBoard]

Watts = volts * amps

What you need to look at is the watts on your 12 volt line for most modern CPU/GPU. So in that way wattage rating IS important.

[JEDIYoda]

Originally Posted by DvBoard

Watts = volts * amps

What you need to look at is the watts on your 12 volt line for most modern CPU/GPU. So in that way wattage rating IS important.

not necessarily....way to simplistic of an answer,,,IMO

[jonnyGURU]

Originally Posted by DvBoard

Watts = volts * amps

What you need to look at is the watts on your 12 volt line for most modern CPU/GPU. So in that way wattage rating IS important.

Yeah, A * V = W, what are you trying to prove? You're smarter than every one else? You're giving the same answer but wording it differently.

Just trying to not confuse the issue. You look at the label, you look for the 12V rail and under it is what it can do in Amps. Sure, under that it'll have it calculated into Watts. Take your pick. My only point was not to look at the bottom most line.

[DvBoard]

Originally Posted by jonnyGURU

Yeah, A * V = W, what are you trying to prove? You're smarter than every one else? You're giving the same answer but wording it differently.

Just trying to not confuse the issue. You look at the label, you look for the 12V rail and under it is what it can do in Amps. Sure, under that it'll have it calculated into Watts. Take your pick. My only point was not to look at the bottom most line.

Just trying to prove watts do matter .

[jonnyGURU]

Ok... I'll rephrase.... "TOTAL Watts don't matter."

[DvBoard]

Originally Posted by jonnyGURU

Ok... I'll rephrase.... "TOTAL Watts don't matter."

It's a good starting point though. say if your looking for at least 35amps on the 12 volt rail you can rule out any power supply with 420Watts or less before you start even reading the label.

I do agree though that you gotta see where those watts are before you pick your supply.