does psu of 430W consume 430w ? const. ?

[kazimurtaza]

so as the heading says ... I am buying a new system, and i do not want to overkill it with a high psu, if my system only needs 156w, should i go for 450w psu, which i already have ?, thing is if its drinking around 430W~ its an unnecessary load on my ups ... could someone please clear this out for me..

 

[k1114]

No, the psu only consumes as much as it needs.

 

[kazimurtaza]

No, the psu only consumes as much as it needs.

thanks, and could you also suggest me .. how could i check how is being consumed for 220v electrical system ?

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Nope, the PSU draws as much power as is taken by the components, plus ~15-25% extra inefficiencies.

EDIT: Easiest way is using a Kill-A-Watt or similar power meter. Or just estimate based on what components you have.

 

[dfryda]

Absolutely not. That is the highest output that power supply can safely output. However, in todays world that is pretty small when you consider that most of the higher end video cards use 300 watts or more. Do yourself a favor and don't buy a cheap PSU. I've seen more problems caused by bad power supplies then I can remember. Remember bad power supplies can also cause intermittent problems like BOD's and hardware like CDROMs and Video cards failing from time to time.

 

[Jaxem]

Yep, the rating is how much it can put out, but it will only draw what the components need. Higher wattage PSUs often have and 80 plus rating which actually makes them use less power than a lower wattage PSU because they're more efficient

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Absolutely not. That is the highest output that power supply can safely output. However, in todays world that is pretty small when you consider that most of the higher end video cards use 300 watts or more. Do yourself a favor and don't buy a cheap PSU. I've seen more problems caused by bad power supplies then I can remember. Remember bad power supplies can also cause intermittent problems like BOD's and hardware like CDROMs and Video cards failing from time to time.

Source? TDP of a 780 is 250W. Only cards over that are the 7990, 690, and 7970 GHz edition.

Cheap PSUs are a problem. But a good 450W will run almost any single-CPU, single-GPU build.

 

[kazimurtaza]

Thank you everyone, and as for Kill-A-Watt i have heard of it .. but in my country we use 220v instead of 110v for electrical devices would that not be a problem for Kill-A-Watt ? I so much want this device.. and about the psu .. the one i have is old cooler master psu, I guess I'll buy a new 80 plus psu around 430W~ or 450W~ will go with thermaltake ..

 

[Cons29]

nowadays, the sweet spot (for me) is 550-600w.
as for brands, seasonic is on the top of my list, then corsair and the others.

 

[k1114]

The p3 kill-a-watt meter is just the us version. It is actually manufactured by prodigit, which makes versions for other plug types for other countries. http://www.prodigit.com/index.php?lang=en&op=product&pro_num=1052 You will find many other similar products from many other companies including ones that will work for multiple plug types. Just googling anything available in india (assuming that is where you are) and found this meco kill-a-watt. http://www.ebay.in/itm/Meco-Killawatt-Kill-A-Watt-Type-Energy-Metering-Aka-Power-Guard-PG07-/161104180459

I would not suggest a thermaltake psu, they typically aren't good.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Tier 1, 2, or 2b from here: http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

Or just the brands in my sig. If you tell me where you are I can recommend one.

 

[kazimurtaza]

The p3 kill-a-watt meter is just the us version. It is actually manufactured by prodigit, which makes versions for other plug types for other countries. http://www.prodigit.com/index.php?lang=en&op=product&pro_num=1052 You will find many other similar products from many other companies including ones that will work for multiple plug types. Just googling anything available in india (assuming that is where you are) and found this meco kill-a-watt. http://www.ebay.in/itm/Meco-Killawatt-Kill-A-Watt-Type-Energy-Metering-Aka-Power-Guard-PG07-/161104180459

I would not suggest a thermaltake psu, they typically aren't good.

I am from pakistan, and i am buying thermaltake because its modular and cheapest, i could remove the unnecessary cables, which there will be because its htpc i am building on an itx board with no hard disk and gpu is gt440 xfx .. no power required..

Tier 1, 2, or 2b from here: http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

Or just the brands in my sig. If you tell me where you are I can recommend one.