Originally posted by: Fullmetal Chocobo
Originally posted by: frank84
no OC for me
no gaming for me either (nothing hardcore that is.... no 3D lol)
mostly photoshop, lightroom, and premier pro
that's all
380W sounds great to me
unlesss i have more people saying i need to get 400 or 450
Keep in mind that leaving some headroom also gives room for later expansion. Adding a hard drive or upgrading a component (be it video card, CPU, etc) will likely require more power. And how often do you upgrade your PSU compared to other components?
And that's so true.....the power supply tends to be ignored.
What I can't believe is the number of people saying "Don't buy more than XXXW power supply." I guess running a power supply, to them, so close to its full rated capacity isn't much to think of, but to me, that is a prime consideration in what I purchase.
I much prefer buying one that, with my current config., will top it out at roughly 50% of capacity....which tends to be most power supply's sweet spot for efficiency, lowest ripple and noise production......and puts much less stress on the ps...and creates much less heat than one running at 70% of capacity or more.
I'd buy as big as you can afford.....and then feel good that you bought a better built, quieter and cooler running power supply than buying "Just what you need today."
I say better built because as you move to higher wattage units, the internal componentry tends to be of higher quality, more durable, and will last longer.