Power supply for this stuff?

[dclive]

Acer E700 (965 chipset) board
4 x 1GB DDR2/667 chips
4 x 500GB 3.5" HDDs
1 x 5.25" DVD +/- RW
1 x EVGA 8800GTS/320
1 x Hauppauge PVR-500 PCI Dual-tuner TV card
keyboard/mouse/USB remote controller for Logitec mouse
Mid-tower case, case fan, fan for CPU
Intel Quad-core 6600 (Q6600) CPU

 

[rise]

i'd recommend a 300w acer

 

[masteraleph]

Based on your other post, the 300w acer as well.

If you wanted my honest opinion though, I'd go higher than that for future expandability. If, say, you switched out that GTS to a GTX, you'd need something a little higher.

 

[rise]

yeah, agreed. i wouldn't run that system on a 300w psu. i'm hoping the psu fan is screaming like an ex.

 

[pcslookout]

350 to 400 watt power supply.

 

[dclive]

Seriously, I'm curious... if I'd noted posted that, I was wondering what people would say.

 

[HardWarrior]

Originally posted by: pcslookout
350 to 400 watt power supply.

Yeah, spend hard money on a power rig and then low-ball its power requirements for "feel good" points. isgust;

500watt plus on a quality unit. If you want the PSU itself to remain relatively cool and ultra stable, go to the "+" side. As someone else mentioned, consider future expansion as well.

 

[dclive]

One could easily say the same about 'feel good points' you get when you buy a massive PSU and don't need half that power. In the Acer Quad hot deal discussion, there's a URL posted with a link showing a 965 chipset box with nVidia 7900GS and single drive takes 130 watts normally and 160watts in worst-case (heavy 3D and GPU) usage.

160 watts. Worst case.

Just food for thought....

 

[HardWarrior]

Originally posted by: dclive
One could easily say the same about 'feel good points' you get when you buy a massive PSU and don't need half that power. In the Acer Quad hot deal discussion, there's a URL posted with a link showing a 965 chipset box with nVidia 7900GS and single drive takes 130 watts normally and 160watts in worst-case (heavy 3D and GPU) usage.

160 watts. Worst case.

Just food for thought....

Yup, one could easily say that, but without foundation in THIS situation. I didn't suggest a "massive" unit in your case, quite the contrary in contemporary terms. Unless, of course, one has been conditioned to to see a 500 watt PSU as over-the-top. "Acer Quad hot deal discussion?" Okay, I'll take your word for it, because I won't waste my time reading it. My experience with internet is this: I can trust ONLY the research that I do before deciding what to buy. Unlike internet crusader-types, pcslookout being a decent example, my only driving considerations are the quality of my gaming experience, bang for the buck and the longevity of the BANG.

I have/and will continue to offer my opinion, and in turn pick up ideas from time to time in places like this. But I don't feel the need to sway anyone towards any particular outcome. I stated my reasons for a bit more hard wattage than one might think is enough at the point of sale. Your may consider those reasons valid, or not.

 

[dclive]

Cool. When you hooked a Kill-A-Watt type device, in your own research, to your PC, what did you find?

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: HardWarrior

Originally posted by: dclive
One could easily say the same about 'feel good points' you get when you buy a massive PSU and don't need half that power. In the Acer Quad hot deal discussion, there's a URL posted with a link showing a 965 chipset box with nVidia 7900GS and single drive takes 130 watts normally and 160watts in worst-case (heavy 3D and GPU) usage.

160 watts. Worst case.

Just food for thought....

Yup, one could easily say that, but without foundation in THIS situation. I didn't suggest a "massive" unit in your case, quite the contrary in contemporary terms. Unless, of course, one has been conditioned to to see a 500 watt PSU as over-the-top. "Acer Quad hot deal discussion?" Okay, I'll take your word for it, because I won't waste my time reading it. My experience with internet is this: I can trust ONLY the research that I do before deciding what to buy. Unlike internet crusader-types, pcslookout being a decent example, my only driving considerations are the quality of my gaming experience, bang for the buck and the longevity of the BANG.

I have/and will continue to offer my opinion, and in turn pick up ideas from time to time in places like this. But I don't feel the need to sway anyone towards any particular outcome. I stated my reasons for a bit more hard wattage than one might think is enough at the point of sale. Your may consider those reasons valid, or not.

I don't do it to sway anyone toward any particular outcome to what pc hardware to buy. I do it just to see the data because the research is interesting to me and maybe it will help someone along the way. I just want it to be data people can use not to sway them in buying a certain piece of pc hardware because thats all you need. Everyone is different and has different opinions. I never want to change that or else this place would be boring.

 

[HardWarrior]

Originally posted by: dclive
Cool. When you hooked a Kill-A-Watt type device, in your own research, to your PC, what did you find?

"Kill-A-Watt?" Is this a serious question?

 

[HardWarrior]

Originally posted by: pcslookout

Originally posted by: HardWarrior

Originally posted by: dclive
One could easily say the same about 'feel good points' you get when you buy a massive PSU and don't need half that power. In the Acer Quad hot deal discussion, there's a URL posted with a link showing a 965 chipset box with nVidia 7900GS and single drive takes 130 watts normally and 160watts in worst-case (heavy 3D and GPU) usage.

160 watts. Worst case.

Just food for thought....

Yup, one could easily say that, but without foundation in THIS situation. I didn't suggest a "massive" unit in your case, quite the contrary in contemporary terms. Unless, of course, one has been conditioned to to see a 500 watt PSU as over-the-top. "Acer Quad hot deal discussion?" Okay, I'll take your word for it, because I won't waste my time reading it. My experience with internet is this: I can trust ONLY the research that I do before deciding what to buy. Unlike internet crusader-types, pcslookout being a decent example, my only driving considerations are the quality of my gaming experience, bang for the buck and the longevity of the BANG.

I have/and will continue to offer my opinion, and in turn pick up ideas from time to time in places like this. But I don't feel the need to sway anyone towards any particular outcome. I stated my reasons for a bit more hard wattage than one might think is enough at the point of sale. Your may consider those reasons valid, or not.

I don't do it to sway anyone toward any particular outcome to what pc hardware to buy. I do it just to see the data because the research is interesting to me and maybe it will help someone along the way. I just want it to be data people can use not to sway them in buying a certain piece of pc hardware because thats all you need. Everyone is different and has different opinions. I never want to change that or else this place would be boring.

Lie to me all you want, I can take it, but don't lie to yourself. When is the last time you walked up to a stranger and congratulated them for driving a 4-cylinder as opposed to a big block V8? In the Crysis thread, we were joking about HW requirements, and you took time out of your busy day to express SADNESS at the idea that anyone would go out and buy a 1000watt PSU. Of course you're trying to affect an outcome, and you know it.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: HardWarrior

Originally posted by: dclive
Cool. When you hooked a Kill-A-Watt type device, in your own research, to your PC, what did you find?

"Kill-A-Watt?" Is this a serious question?

Yep. You indicated you'd done your own research to discover your needs:
"I can trust ONLY the research that I do before deciding what to buy. "

If you don't have some way to measure wattage used, how exactly do you do that research? I've shown that on the internet, of people that measure usage, research shows that a 965 machine with basic dual-core CPU and 7900GS takes about 130 watts when browsing the web and 160 or so when doing heavy 3D games. Just curious - what is your research?

 

[rise]

ok, heres my killawatt reading from my apc ups which supplies

e6400@ 3.0
680i mobo
4x 1024 pc6400
8800gts
3x 320gb sata
1x dvd burner
1x pci tuner (theater650)
4x 120mm, 1x 80mm
mcp-350 (swiftech pump, i think thats the #)
canon pixma ip3000 (usb)
22" sammy 226bwt
logitch 25300
router, wireless modem, some usb gamepads and a jump dirve

idle is 315w
dual prime/ burn dvd and transfer files between to other hdd- ~ 340w with 351w peak.

heh, since installing vista 64 i haven;'t got any benches but i'll get 3d06 later.

turning of these reduced the wattage by-

printer 11w
monitor- ~45w

unplugging the speakers and all other usb except my ready boost did almost nothing, a few watts bouncing back and forth.

so idle of the rig itself is drawing ~250w from the wall, less ~ 20% for inefficiency and idle component usage would be ~ 200w. i'll run the stress later but from memory, i'll be around 305w.

edit- adn i'm comfortable with my seasonic m12 500w. i wouldn't say its overkill but it also doesdn't have to run at 90-100% rated capacity to perform.

edit: dual prime with 3d06, no monitor/printer, box only peaks at ~ 350 during graphic tests (firelfy, canyon and the snow one). so again, at 80% efficiency, i'd be using 280w. i wouldn't run that on a 300w psu, brand aside. especially since i think my m12 psu actually does 85% (meaning ~295w actual usage) at that load but regardless, its asking too much of a 300w 24/7.

 

[rise]

OP, what are the specs on that acer 300w anyway?

 

[HardWarrior]

Originally posted by: dclive

Originally posted by: HardWarrior

Originally posted by: dclive
Cool. When you hooked a Kill-A-Watt type device, in your own research, to your PC, what did you find?

"Kill-A-Watt?" Is this a serious question?

Yep. You indicated you'd done your own research to discover your needs:
"I can trust ONLY the research that I do before deciding what to buy. "

If you don't have some way to measure wattage used, how exactly do you do that research? I've shown that on the internet, of people that measure usage, research shows that a 965 machine with basic dual-core CPU and 7900GS takes about 130 watts when browsing the web and 160 or so when doing heavy 3D games. Just curious - what is your research?

Oh, I get it now. You were asking for a conclusion to my pre-purchase research, correct? The mistake you made was to assume what parameters I was using. To answer your question, I don't really care what my specific "needs" are in terms of power. I know my box is power hungry just based on the sheer amount of crap I have in it. I was far more concerned about things like efficiency, features, warranty, stuff like that. The fact the I settled on an 850 watter was based on some things I read about trying to keep a PSU well below the 85% utilization boundary, and knowing that my requirements are going to jump markedly over the next 3 paychecks. I'll be upgrading at least two more times during this PSU's likely 2-year life cycle, BTW.

Will I end up with a substantial reserve, even with all the new stuff I'm about to slap in, I hope so. Was it worth it to me, personally, to count beans in an effort to find the slimmest margin between actual need and what's available, nope. I hope this makes my perspective clearer.

 

[rise]

Originally posted by: dclive
One could easily say the same about 'feel good points' you get when you buy a massive PSU and don't need half that power. In the Acer Quad hot deal discussion, there's a URL posted with a link showing a 965 chipset box with nVidia 7900GS and single drive takes 130 watts normally and 160watts in worst-case (heavy 3D and GPU) usage.

160 watts. Worst case.

Just food for thought....

to be fair, until you get said rig running well, that thread is dubious support at best to your claim.

edit- 800-1kw psu's aren't necessary for 99.99 precent of consumers but 400-500w supplies are reasonable for many here.

 

[MarcVenice]

with a 8800gts or 2900xt, and a overclocked PSU, you'd be wanting a PSU that puts out roughly 30a, a 400w seasonic, or enermax will do the job just fine. For 24/7 usage you don't want to be pushing your PSU near it's max though, and keeping future proofness in mind, a 500w seasonic/enermax/corsair PSU will fit about everyones needs, at 40a, it will even handle 2 sli-ed gtx's or 2900xt's.

If you're a little crazy and have a overclocked qaud running at 3.6ghz, pushing mad voltage through it, cooling it with water, sli/crossfired graphic cards, 5 150gb raptors in raid 0/1, 10 case fans, 8gb memory with 2.2v going through it, soundcard and whatever you can think of, you will still not be needing a 750+ watt PSU. In fact, I don't even know why sites bother reviewing them.

 

[Juno]

seasonic s12 380w

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: rise
to be fair, until you get said rig running well, that thread is dubious support at best to your claim.

edit- 800-1kw psu's aren't necessary for 99.99 precent of consumers but 400-500w supplies are reasonable for many here.

So far so good ... it's my media center box, plus it's running 2 servers... what constitutes running well?

 

[HardWarrior]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
In fact, I don't even know why sites bother reviewing them.

You simply HAVE to be kidding here, right?

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: HardWarrior

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
In fact, I don't even know why sites bother reviewing them.

You simply HAVE to be kidding here, right?

I didn't write the original question, but I'd guess due to advertising dollars? Else why bother? Profit margin on those things must be in the hundreds of % (since the price is significantly more for what is essentially similar technology) for the manufacturers.

 

[MarcVenice]

HardWarrior, perhaps. Perhaps it's a poor choice of words. I really wonder who needs 750w + psu's, and if the people reading those reviews on jonnyguru's and such are among those people needing those psu's. So perhaps I should say I don't even know why they bother making those psu's. Unless theres a huge market of people/pc's/servers who need 750w + psu's, that I'm unaware of.

 

[HardWarrior]

Originally posted by: dclive

Originally posted by: HardWarrior

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
In fact, I don't even know why sites bother reviewing them.

You simply HAVE to be kidding here, right?

I didn't write the original question, but I'd guess due to advertising dollars? Else why bother? Profit margin on those things must be in the hundreds of % (since the price is significantly more for what is essentially similar technology) for the manufacturers.

I'm sure that ad revenue plays a part in it, just like it does is lots of things. There's no mystery there. But regardless, why would so many quality sites waste their time reviewing a product if no one was reading those reviews? As for the rest, are you saying that there's no difference between a $30 PSU and $300 PSU? Yes, both units perform the same basic function, but hopefully that's where most similarities end. I won't bother trotting out an analogy (unless you think one would be appropriate", but surely you know what I mean here, right?