Is 500wts enought for corei7 920?

hi, i plan to buy a psu for a corei7 setup.

i dont have plans to spend more than $100 yet on a psu.

looking at that price range, i see there
are 500w-560w (silversone, coolermaster, odin, corsair).
like
ODIN Pro 550 Watts (SLI/Crossfire)
Silverstone SST-ST56F 560 Watts
Cooler Master - Realpower 550 WATTS (SLI)
Corsair - CORCMPSU-520HX 520watts

i do have plans, to go SLI/crossfire later. probably 6months-1year from now.

im asking this is because from all the reviews and websites i see, most of them uses 700watts to 1000 watts, which "kind-off" a) expensive b) overkill.

specs probably
1 vga card (9800gtx or 1 ati 4870)
around 5fans in full tower
2-hdd
+ 3 ddr3 rams

so i guess im asking,
will 500-600 watts be enough for a corei7?

thanks advance

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For $90 after rebate you really can't beat this P C Power and Cooling 750w. 2 HD4870s in crossfire demand it, an i7 system deserves it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341011

Reply to dirtmountain

500-600W should be ok if you arnt going to use a top graphics card.

My i7 and 280GTX is powered by a 650W CoolerMaster PSU.

Reply to merlinbadman

500-600W is ok for your current setup, but for SLI, it's worth thinking bigger.

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Reply to mi1ez

The psu requirements for an i7 cpu by itself are minimal.
What determines the power required is primarily the vga configuration.
In simplistic terms, look at the number and type of pci 6/8 pin connectors your anticipated vga card/s need. Then find a QUALITY psu that has at least that number of connectors. Quality units are corsair, seasonic, PC P&C, antec, to name a few. This somewhat dated list might give you guidance there:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forum [...] p?t=108088
Wattage is not the best indicator of capability for a number of reasons.
For <$100, the 750W PC P&C unit suggested by dirtmountain is very good.

Reply to geofelt

Here are some psu within your budget.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341019
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817703005
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371015

Reply to invisik

thankyou very much for all your replies.

Reply to jiro

@dirtmountain
"deserves it"? Should your personal effections for a piece of metal really guide OP psu choice?

@Merlinbadman
I'll give you a free pc if you are able to find graphicards that require more than a 600 watt psu.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to daskrabbe

daskrabbe wrote :

@Merlinbadman
I'll give you a free pc if you are able to find graphicards that require more than a 600 watt psu.

600w PSU 12v + 14v rails
Nvidia 295 with a 46A 12v rail recommended requirement.

You ok shipping my PC to the UK? Or do i get as free holiday in USA to pick it up? :lol:

Message quoted 1 times

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Reply to pr2thej

Quote :

500-600W is ok for your current setup

True, but if the power supply is of low quality, it could potentially take the rest of the system when it goes.

Quote :

You ok shipping my PC to the UK? Or do i get as free holiday in USA to pick it up? :lol:

Hey, if you pay for a first class round trip ticket, I'll gladly bring it over

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to g3force

g3force wrote :

Hey, if you pay for a first class round trip ticket, I'll gladly bring it over

Well funny you should say, I saw this in the paper today:

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT:

The UK is currently not accepting foreign visitors due to a small puddle in the Heathrow staff cafeteria.

Thank you for your interest in our nation though.

Regards,

The PM

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Reply to pr2thej

pr2thej wrote :

600w PSU 12v + 14v rails
Nvidia 295 with a 46A 12v rail recommended requirement.

You ok shipping my PC to the UK? Or do i get as free holiday in USA to pick it up? :lol:

I'm sorry... Was I talking to you?
Btw. You do know you are linking to a 520watt psu, right? And you do know that recommended requirements are highly overestimated?

Reply to daskrabbe

So it was a 520w....well im sure i could find a 600w thats inadequete if i could be bothered. Point stands, dont take PSU specs so lightly.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by pr2thej on 02-04-2009 at 10:50:14 AM

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Reply to pr2thej

pr2thej wrote :

Point stands

No, your opinion stands.

Reply to daskrabbe

ok wait.

according to power supply calculator
http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/Power
or
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
(these sites, tend to estimate the maximum watts i need)

singlesocket - corei7
high end desktop
2hdd
6led fans
1 soundcard
2 Cathodes
1lcd frontbay display

For ati 4870
it says i only need 375watts
under crossfire it says i need 475 watts.
+50watts for liquid coolers

For gtx280 and it goes up by additional 100watts
single card - 405 watts
SLI - 530watts

For gtx295
single card - 450 watts
SLI - 620watts

400-500watts should be enough for a single card
500watts - 600watts should be enough for a dual sli (not quad sli)
600watts above for high end cards like GTX???

so i should be safe around 600watts. right?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to jiro

They did look a little low, and then i spotted this at the bottom:

"Electrolytic capacitor aging. When used heavily or over an extended period of time (1+ years) a power supply will slowly lose some of its initial wattage capacity. We recommend you add 10-20% if you plan to keep your PSU for more than 1 year, or 20-30% for 24/7 usage and 1+ years."

Honestly i was thinking the deficit was down to not considering output efficiency but similar numbers are applied.

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Reply to pr2thej

i have core i7 920, intel MB, 2 DDR3, nVidia GTX260, 1 HDD, 1 DVD-RW
First i bought Chieftec 700W PSU and it was not enough for this system, playing the games PC sometimes switched off.
Then i changed it to Chieftec 850W Super series. And now everything works fine.
So if you want to make a SLI or Crossfire with nowdays top GPUs u need 1000W brand PSU.
Without crossfire or SLI 850W will be enought, but i suggest you to buy brand PSU like Chieftec or Thermaltake.
P.S. Be attentive, my MB needs 4 power connectors, one of them is 2x4 pin. Not all PSU has it. So be be sure your PSU has 2x4 pin power connector.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by Regent on 02-04-2009 at 02:48:29 PM

Reply to Regent

Regent wrote :

i have core i7 920, intel MB, 2 DDR3, nVidia GTX260, 1 HDD, 1 DVD-RW
First i bought Chieftec 700W PSU and it was not enough for this system, playing the games PC sometimes switched off.
Then i changed it to Chieftec 850W Super series. And now everything works fine.
So if you want to make a SLI or Crossfire with nowdays top GPUs u need 1000W brand PSU.
Without crossfire or SLI 850W will be enought, but i suggest you to buy brand PSU like Chieftec or Thermaltake.
P.S. Be attentive, my MB needs 4 power connectors, one of them is 2x4 pin. Not all PSU has it. So be be sure your PSU has 2x4 pin power connector.

Ahh... From the logic that brought us voodoo and religion. Please use a single personal experience to make general rule.

I've run 4870 oc, 4 ddr2, 2hdd in raid0, agressively overclocked q6600, 5 fans on the 430watt psu that came with the case. And it is not even sweating.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to daskrabbe

daskrabbe wrote :

Ahh... From the logic that brought us voodoo and religion. Please use a single personal experience to make general rule.

I've run 4870 oc, 4 ddr2, 2hdd in raid0, agressively overclocked q6600, 5 fans on the 430watt psu that came with the case. And it is not even sweating.

I've just wrote my suggestion from my own expirience to help man not to make mistakes like i did. By the way, you even never tried i7 & DDR3 but you very sure that 430 will be enough Why?) Voodoo?)

Reply to Regent

I used a personal experience to disprove a general rule, not to make one myself. Theres a difference .
If you look at http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 122-3.html for the GTX 260, you'll see that it uses 336 watts at socket. Assuming 90% efficiency that is just around 300 watts for the system under load.

So what you are saying is that i7 motherboard/cpu uses 400watts more than a Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 system?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to daskrabbe

daskrabbe wrote :

I used a personal experience to disprove a general rule, not to make one myself. Theres a difference .
If you look at http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 122-3.html for the GTX 260, you'll see that it uses 336 watts at socket. Assuming 90% efficiency that is just around 300 watts for the system under load.

So what you are saying is that i7 motherboard/cpu uses 400watts more than a Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 system?

Chieftec PSU has 80% of power declared (in worst case)
I've calculated power needed for my system -> the result -> 624 W
0.8 * 700W = 560W that is not enough for peak system load

Reply to Regent

jiro wrote :

ok wait.

according to power supply calculator
http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/Power
or
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
(these sites, tend to estimate the maximum watts i need)

singlesocket - corei7
high end desktop
2hdd
6led fans
1 soundcard
2 Cathodes
1lcd frontbay display

For ati 4870
it says i only need 375watts
under crossfire it says i need 475 watts.
+50watts for liquid coolers

For gtx280 and it goes up by additional 100watts
single card - 405 watts
SLI - 530watts

For gtx295
single card - 450 watts
SLI - 620watts

400-500watts should be enough for a single card
500watts - 600watts should be enough for a dual sli (not quad sli)
600watts above for high end cards like GTX???

so i should be safe around 600watts. right?

The vga card vendors tend to be conservative in their psu recommendations. Still, go to the source, they should know their own products.

ATI: 4870 500watt with two 75w 6-pin pcie connectors. 600w and 4 6-pin connectors in dual mode.
http://ati.amd.com/products/Radeon [...] ments.html

Nvidia: GTX295 680watt, with +12v rating of 46 amp. one 6-pin connector, and one 8 pinconnector.
http://www.evga.com/products/moreI [...] s%20Family
GTX285 550watt with 40 amp on 12v. (not stated, but 2 6-pin connectors)
http://www.evga.com/products/moreI [...] s%20Family
GTX260-216 55nm 500watt 36amp 12v rating and 2 6-pin pci-e connectors.
http://www.evga.com/products/moreI [...] s%20Family

I think the last one is a good value at $250.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130444

Reply to geofelt

"Personal experience" my truck in first gear can go 55 mph with the tach redlined. Does that mean it's a smart thing? In case you don't know for sure, no it's not. Running a system that draws 420w or more at load on a 430w power supply is basically the same thing. Mark it under "things i can do, but don't" Saving $20 -$40 on a power supply when you're spending over $1,200 for a complete system is a waste of time, effort and money.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to dirtmountain

dirtmountain wrote :

"Personal experience" my truck in first gear can go 55 mph with the tach redlined. Does that mean it's a smart thing? In case you don't know for sure, no it's not. Running a system that draws 420w or more at load on a 430w power supply is basically the same thing. Mark it under "things i can do, but don't" Saving $20 -$40 on a power supply when you're spending over $1,200 for a complete system is a waste of time, effort and money.

Good point.

In addition, it is not economical. A psu operates at peak efficiency in the middle third of it's range. It will use only the watts that it needs, regardless of it's rating, but the efficiency of converting wall current to PC needs will be lower outside of it's optimal range.

If you have an under powered psu, it will cost you money over time because 1) Your electricity costs will be more. 2) the psu will age prematurely. 3) The fan will have to spin up to keep the unit cool. This adds wear and noise.
If you have an overpowered psu that operates at <35% of it's capability, the situation is better for noise and wear, but it will still cost you in reduced electrical efficiency.

Reply to geofelt

PSUs operate best at about 90% of their peak load. Keep in mind, some power gets converted into heat (30%-10%)

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Reply to amdfangirl

Check www.Jonnyguru.com , most power supplies hit top efficiency at 60% to 70% of their rated load. Power supply manufacturers usually recommend that the PSU runs 60% at load.

Reply to dirtmountain

this link helped a LOT!
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/736655/+0#entry18440332

If you look at the specification of my PSU, you'll notice that my +12V1 is only 22A (red circle) and my +12V2 is also 22A. So, how can I run my 8800GT (requiring 26A on the 12v rail) with this PSU?????

Well, the answer is that the rating on the 12v rail is the COMBINED amperage. For my Enermax, the combined rating on the 12v rail is actually 32A (blue circle), which would run the 8800GT just fine. Note that this PSU would not be recommended to run the GTX260 or GTX280 as their amperage rating is far higher.

thats all i need. now i can finally start looking for psu. thanx all.

Message edited by jiro on 02-08-2009 at 02:55:04 AM

Reply to jiro

Forum CPU & Components : Power Supplies, PC Cases & Case Mods - Is 500wts enought for corei7 920?

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