Concerns about the PSU for my 280x!

[vanguard27]

I'm shortly buying the recommended PSU stated by sapphire for my 280x, which is 750w. Is coolermaster good enough? I'll be getting the gold certified one. So, is the PSU constantly gonna consume 750w or more than that even if I'm just sitting idle, not gaming at all? There's like an auto voltage consumption adjuster right? I'm worried about the electricity bill it might cost me. Thanks in advance!

 

[sheh]

Power consumption is dynamic, so no, the PSU won't use the maximum power it can all the time. But sometimes lower wattage PSUs can be more efficient for low loads. It's not always the case, but quite possible. I'd imagine, without checking, that in extreme cases the difference in these situations could be 20-30W. At higher loads they'd be more similar.

750W PSU for a 280X sounds to me like an overkill, but maybe others can chime in on that.

 

[Makaveli]

I think 750watts is fine thats what i'm using in my machine.

You want the psu to last and getting something slightly higher than your needs will equal a longer life, like a monitor psu's tend to last longer then 1 build. Also please note i'm not telling you to pickup a 1000watt psu.

What is your budget for this PSU purchase?

 

[flash43]

You could probably run a 280X off a 650W fine. Reviews for the 280X GPU don't seem to show it consuming tons of power.

I found a review of a Sapphire card and it's power draw and an overall system power draw with a different model of 280X.

http://www.eteknix.com/sapphire-amd-radeon-r9-280x-vapor-x-oc-3gb-graphics-card-review/15/
http://stablecomputer.com/power-consumption-analysis/

I think Anandtech has a 280X power consumption page as well.

 

[ctk1981]

I got a seasonic x 650 (660?) running an oc'd 280x, 8320 fx oc'd, 2 ssd 2 HDD, three 140mm fans, four 120mm fans and a water pump. No problems here.

 

[Kenmitch]

I'm thinking the 750w is suggested as it most likely will be in the power supplies efficiency sweet spot under loads. Looks to be around 50-60% load on most power supplies.

 

[infoiltrator]

"Suggestions" generally take into account the low end power supply market, where specifications lie.
That said, Cooler Master V series power supplies are getting very good reviews.

 

[Chipfiref]

Your power supply will only pull as much power from the wall as it needs - based on its efficiency rating.

So if it is an 80Plus Gold it should be rated 87% efficient.

So if it needs 600 watts for the PC, it will pull about 690 watts!

For your 280X card alone, you should have 600W available. What about the CPU, CPU cooler, Case fans, hard disks, Optical drive, sound card, NIC, etc. ?

Also the sweet spot for efficiency of your PS is 50%.

So I would get at least the 750W but you really could justify a 1000W+ PS based on the above. Especially in an intense gaming scenario.

For some reason people tell you to get the minimum required PS for your hardware, when in reality you should really have a significant overhead of available power. This goes for Stereos, and any system that has to perform against a load.

Read the stickys in this forum, and see this site for how you will want to calculate capacity for power.

http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

 

[Flapdrol1337]

Look up 280x reviews, you'll usually see a little under 400W being pulled from the wall, if the psu is 90% efficient it only has to deliver 350W.

750W is more than enough, in fact it's even a bit overkill already, especially since it's an 80+ gold psu, which can deliver their whole power rating on 12V and are generally good quality.

 

[TemjinGold]

Your power supply will only pull as much power from the wall as it needs - based on its efficiency rating.

So if it is an 80Plus Gold it should be rated 87% efficient.

So if it needs 600 watts for the PC, it will pull about 690 watts!

For your 280X card alone, you should have 600W available. What about the CPU, CPU cooler, Case fans, hard disks, Optical drive, sound card, NIC, etc. ?

Also the sweet spot for efficiency of your PS is 50%.

So I would get at least the 750W but you really could justify a 1000W+ PS based on the above. Especially in an intense gaming scenario.

For some reason people tell you to get the minimum required PS for your hardware, when in reality you should really have a significant overhead of available power. This goes for Stereos, and any system that has to perform against a load.

Read the stickys in this forum, and see this site for how you will want to calculate capacity for power.

http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

Umm no, he should NOT have 600w alone for the 280X. Where do you get your info? A gfx card like that can't physically pull more than 300w. Not that the 280x on its own will pull anything close to 300w.

 

[Azix]

seasonic, corsair are my choices (plus anything made by sea and sold by others). 750 is fine and you'd only be pulling what you need. For even better power consumption I'd get maybe a seasonic 760 plat or other plat PSU. The best efficiency is around 50% usage so 750-860 is good when full on gaming with a 280 to 290 GPU