- Sep 6, 2005
- 3,822
- 1
- 81
So, I finally got my hands on a Kill-A-Watt, and I'm convinced that the "need" for high rated power supplies is a scam.
System:
i5-3570k, 4.5 ghz, 1.28V
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H
Patriot Viper DDR3 1600 16GB, 1.5V (stock)
Visiontek 7970 Ghz, 1125/1600, 1.3V (stock)
Intel 330 160GB SSD
Seagate Barracuda 1.5 TB Green
2x 220mm Fans
2x 120mm Fans
DVD Drive
OCZ EliteXStream 800W
Power readings from the Kill-A-Watt:
Idle: ~80-90W
Normal Usage: ~130W
Prime95: ~190W
Heaven DX11, Full Settings: ~280-320W
Heaven Dx11, Full Settings, 7970 @ 1.38V: ~380W
Extrapolating from a review Anandtech did:
That means that with it never dips below 82% efficiency at the ranges I'm running other than idle. To adjust:
Normal Usage: ~107W
Prime95: ~155W
Heaven DX11, Full Settings: ~230-262.4W
Heaven Dx11, Full Settings, 7970 @ 1.38V: ~311W
This is a mildly overclocked system with a large card. At worst, I was delivering 311W to the components. That means a 430W would be able to handle this load, and I might even get away with xfire/sli at 500W, given enough connectors (the 7970 at load only used up another 200W at full OC, and around 100W with a normal OC).
It seems to me like our PSUs are grossly overrated for their jobs.
System:
i5-3570k, 4.5 ghz, 1.28V
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H
Patriot Viper DDR3 1600 16GB, 1.5V (stock)
Visiontek 7970 Ghz, 1125/1600, 1.3V (stock)
Intel 330 160GB SSD
Seagate Barracuda 1.5 TB Green
2x 220mm Fans
2x 120mm Fans
DVD Drive
OCZ EliteXStream 800W
Power readings from the Kill-A-Watt:
Idle: ~80-90W
Normal Usage: ~130W
Prime95: ~190W
Heaven DX11, Full Settings: ~280-320W
Heaven Dx11, Full Settings, 7970 @ 1.38V: ~380W
Extrapolating from a review Anandtech did:
That means that with it never dips below 82% efficiency at the ranges I'm running other than idle. To adjust:
Normal Usage: ~107W
Prime95: ~155W
Heaven DX11, Full Settings: ~230-262.4W
Heaven Dx11, Full Settings, 7970 @ 1.38V: ~311W
This is a mildly overclocked system with a large card. At worst, I was delivering 311W to the components. That means a 430W would be able to handle this load, and I might even get away with xfire/sli at 500W, given enough connectors (the 7970 at load only used up another 200W at full OC, and around 100W with a normal OC).
It seems to me like our PSUs are grossly overrated for their jobs.