Gaming Build $1500-$2000 Budget

[hackerballs]

Darn you just never seem to get what I said!

quote "Buy a 750W if you are going single core...here is a calculator to check and as a general rule I would double the result. (PSU's are more efficient if used at half load) http://www.extreme.outervision.com/p...ulatorlite.jsp
"unquote

2. I said "Your claim that GTX 780 Ti SLI draws 946W is wrong," and "This is just plain wrong. The power draw numbers in that article are for the total system measured at the wall, not the GPU itself. In fact, the chart clearly shows that a fully-loaded GTX 780 Ti SLI system only draws 556W at the wall. Figure an 85% efficiency power supply and you're talking 473W DC." Both of these statements are backed up by evidence (your own link in fact).


I used your 473W at the wall you said.......and I said DOUBLE IT! Just a GENERAL RULE! I never said it used that much power nor do I care....what I am referring too is the PSU. Go big and go safe. A PSU does not like to run full tilt dude, and they also degrade over time. I would be interested to see how little your PSU is? Is it the bare MINIMUM? Why not save the op the added pressure of his PSU overworking and we are only talking a few dollars to upgrade.

Repeat: 750W for one gtx780 and PC "at the wall"
1000W for two gtx780 SLI and PC "at the wall"
and YES...I know it will run with less...but WHY? This is not throwing money away! The PSU and MB are the two things NOT to scrimp on.

Interesting at how everyone has a different calculation number for the draw.

Carry on mfenn with your nice day

 

[mfenn]

I used your 473W at the wall you said.......and I said DOUBLE IT! Just a GENERAL RULE! I never said it used that much power nor do I care....

I'm not sure if you're outright lying or just have extremely selective memory. You said, "Crysis 3 under load with a 780 or 780 Ti will use approx. 350 watts each, (http://anandtech.com/show/7492/the-g...0-ti-review/15 ).", and "(wasn't kidding about x2 your draw...473 x 2 =946 ...in this day and age WHO buys Minimum for a great gaming rig?) ". (Emphasis mine)

And to answer your question. People who want to get the most for their money don't buy ridiculously over-powered power supplies.

what I am referring too is the PSU. Go big and go safe. A PSU does not like to run full tilt dude, and they also degrade over time.

On the contrary, buying a PSU that's too big wastes money. Why? Because PC's spend 95% of their lifetimes at idle, and power supplies get terrible efficiency when they're below 20% of their capacity, and it gets worse the lower you go. If you buy an appropriately-sized PSU, you will save money up front and save money over time.

I would be interested to see how little your PSU is?

Nice ad hom argument. I can do that too:

Why are you posting in threads trying to justify your purchase of a 1000W PSU for a system that draws 350W max?

See how that feels? Next time, think before you post an ad hom.

and YES...I know it will run with less...but WHY? This is not throwing money away! The PSU and MB are the two things NOT to scrimp on.

You're wrong here. The PSU and motherboard are places where most people waste money. Once you have a sufficient motherboard and PSU, buying an "even bigger" does not improve your performance one bit.

You do not need to spend $200 on a motherboard or $150 on a 1000W PSU. If you spend $120 on a motherboard and $80 on a PSU, you can spend that $150 savings somewhere that actually improves performance.

 

[mfenn]

The power levels are measured in Crysis 3, on a 4960X@4.2. That's a fast CPU, but look at the performance results:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7492/the-geforce-gtx-780-ti-review/8

At 2560x1440, the 780 SLI pair scales at 1.78x versus a single 780. The 780 Ti SLI pair scales at 1.62. Now, if this were heat related, it would likely affect both sets of cards. My hunch is that this isn't heat-related, but rather the CPU bottleneck in Crysis 3, which is extremely CPU-intensive. Also note that the 290X pair, which of course is relatively notorious for throttling, uses far more power than the 780Ti pair, but has lower performance - thereby skirting the CPU bottleneck, I presume.

Either way, back to the original question, assuming you have a cooling setup that can accommodate 780Ti SLI and a game that can fully utilize that power, 780 Ti SLI would use quite a bit more than 556W.

Judging by the clock speed table, he is thermal throttling even with a single card, so I would expect two cards to be throttling even more. I don't think that you can also say that heat output versus performance is perfectly linear between the GTX 780 and GTX 780 Ti. The combination of different SM geometry, fan curves, and clockspeeds makes it too complicated.

Ryan is testing in a case, a Phantom 630, whereas most reviewers test in an open bench. So Ryan's numbers are probably more "realistic" for average users with good cooling versus the absolute max performance.

 

[Termie]

Good points, mfenn. You may be right that it's just heat-related. That sure would be a shame, as it would mean utilizing all the power of those two video cards would be quite difficult. It seems like AMD and Nvidia have definitely reached the limit of heat dissipation on a single 28nm GPU.

 

[Torn Mind]

Run electricity within a component's spec, and it will do so until regular failure occurs.

Overspeccing a PSU only protects it against transient loads that pushes the voltages above or below the spec'd input voltages. Superior and more versatile insurance can be obtained by using a line conditioner and/or high-end UPS with AVR.

I suspect PSUs die because the ESR in the capacitors going too high or cold solder joints rearing their ugly heads, both things that are beyond one's control aside from simply selecting a company that has been reviewed well, such as Seasonic, FSP, or Super Flower.

I think an 850 W unit would be adequate for two 780 Tis in SLI, although if one wants better efficiency, a 1000 W unit will provide better efficiency. The TDP of the 780 Ti is a fixed limit, 250W DC is the max it can pull.

 

[hackerballs]

ridiculously over-powered power supplies.


are you serious? You know nothing of what I paid for mine. You know nothing of which builds I have used it in. Why are you saying this?


You're wrong here. The PSU and motherboard are places where most people waste money. Once you have a sufficient motherboard and PSU, buying an "even bigger" does not improve your performance one bit.

You do not need to spend $200 on a motherboard or $150 on a 1000W PSU. If you spend $120 on a motherboard and $80 on a PSU, you can spend that $150 savings somewhere that actually improves performance.

totally disagree with this...(is this allowed?)

ps...we should take a vote, lol, GTX780 SLI ...750W vs 1000W

too much fun

 

[Torn Mind]

This has been discussed elsewhere by others.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1383408/gtx-titan-2-3-4-way-sli-owners-which-psu-are-you-using

Fact is that 850 W units work with a Titan SLI. It makes sense. The absolute maximum the cards can draw is 250 watts each, so 500 watts is the absolute max those cards can draw. 350 leeway watts is plenty for an Haswell quad core. The 50% of the total is only to achieve maximum efficiency.

No different from a 12 gauge wire and 18 gauge wire are both sufficient for a table lamp, but the 18 gauge wire is insufficient for an electric lawn mower or anything else needing 120v and 9 amps.

 

[hackerballs]

case closed...850W it is

 

[mfenn]

ridiculously over-powered power supplies.


are you serious? You know nothing of what I paid for mine. You know nothing of which builds I have used it in. Why are you saying this?

To demonstrate a point which apparently went completely over your head.

My point was that your making an ad hominem argument regarding my personal setup was entirely invalid. Just as invalid as me making an ad hominem argument regarding your personal setup. That's why I said, "See how that feels? Next time, think before you post an ad hom."

totally disagree with this...(is this allowed?)

ps...we should take a vote, lol, GTX780 SLI ...750W vs 1000W

too much fun

Now we're appealing to popularity? What happened to verifiable facts? The logical fallacy train keeps on rolling.

You've quite obviously given up on trying to provide facts, evidence, or reasoning behind your posts.