I7 5960x power consumption gaming? What to expect under loads?

[justinshaf1213]

Okay so im fairly new to pcs and this group but the community has treated me well so far. My pc runs optimally as of right not but im worried about my psu considering my cpu. What the heck is the high end power consumption on this thing? I dont do vr or anything just average fps gaming.

My specs are as listed
I7 5960x

H100i v2

X16 16gbs 2400 ddr4

Msi x99a gaming 7

Msi gtx 1060 gaming x 6gb

2 ssds

3 120mm fans.

Corsair cx650m psu. 650 watts 80% bronze.

Do i have room? Or am i pushing it. Help would be greatly appreciated and as my knowledge increasing ill return the help back to the community.

 

[volkgren]

The i7-5960X consumes around 190W at full load - http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/core-i7-5960x-5930k-and-5820k-processor-review,8.html

The GTX 1060 about 120W.

The rest of your system around 100W give or take.

You've got room but that's only a decent quality power supply to be running over half capacity (50% PSU load is best efficeincy).

 

[justinshaf1213]

So I should be good for right now? Whats a good recommended psu? Im not pushing it to hard rn am I? Claims 85% efficiency. I wont be going near max load im sure. Highest ive seen is like 26% on corsair software.

 

[volkgren]

If you are gaming you probably aren't using your CPU 100%.

Are you saying 26% CPU usage that you see?

You should be fine for just gaming. But if you like to stress test your system with max CPU and GPU load often, I'd recommend an upgrade on your PSU.

Corsair RMx
EVGA G2, G3
SeaSonic FOCUS Plus or PRIME Gold

 

[justinshaf1213]

Yes 26% usage. I saw it in task manager. Thats the highest i ever saw it. If i get a good psu is 650w enough or should i exceed that limit?

 

[volkgren]

Yes 26% usage. I saw it in task manager. Thats the highest i ever saw it. If i get a good psu is 650w enough or should i exceed that limit?

650W is enough especially if it's a really good unit like those I mentioned, but it wouldn't hurt to go higher to 750W just for future upgrade possibilities.

I mean you could still run a GTX 1080 Ti with a 650W good quality unit, but with your CPUs capability at 100% load I'd want a 750W for good measure.

 

[justinshaf1213]

Okay awesome man! Thanks for the help. Just to get things clear im in the safe zone for right now with not exceeding insane cpu loads just like gaming and keeping it below 50% usage? I just dont wanna risk frying anything. Like i said i havent had any issues so far.

 

[justinshaf1213]

I mean realistically if i just game new games that come out i shouldnt reach anywhere near even half of its capability huh.

 

[volkgren]

I think you are good even if you did happen to max out your CPU here and there. Even if you did your PSU would hold up well enough for some time. It's just a budget-minded power supply (one of the better budget-minded at that) you paired with a High-End Desktop CPU; but you also have a low power consuming GPU so that helps.

You can install HWInfo64 and monitor CPU and GPU power draw.
https://www.hwinfo.com/download.php

Add them together and then add 100W for good measure for the rest of your system. The CX650M is a a decent quality PSU that should holp up.

Realistically, you probably would only reach 50% wattage load of your PSU; so maybe I was overreacting.

 

[The Original Ralph]

my 5960x is OC'd to 4.3, system is described in signature below

when rendering video files, with CPU hitting 97-98% load, i'm seeing 384 watts max on my CyberPower watt meter ( a little desktop gidget that shows watts being drawn from the CyberPower UPS). Back out of the 384 watt total, the 35 watts approx that my monitor is drawing from the UPS, means 350 watts max.

OCing your CPU will increase power draw

fwiw

 

[justinshaf1213]

Is that cpu wattage?!?!?! Or just overall. My specs are a little less then yours. If total then im good right? Nothing to worry about.

 

[justinshaf1213]

My cpu is straight out of the box factory.

 

[The Original Ralph]

Is that cpu wattage?!?!?! Or just overall. My specs are a little less then yours. If total then im good right? Nothing to worry about.

That's total power drawer going to the computer's PSU

your PSU should be fine - a retired electrical engineer gave me a couple of guidelines for sizing a PSU

1) the average or median draw of the computer should generally be in the 50-55% range of the PSU's max output
2) the maximum expected draw of the device (ie spike draw) should not exceed 75-80% of the PSU's output

and PSUs are designed to work inside those guides - on your PSU's manufacturer's website there will be all the usual charts detailing distortion, efficiency etc - you'll notice that they'll all be at their peak around 50% power output. In the case of efficiency, a really good unit will be showing 91-93% efficiency at 50-55% draw, which means, again refering back to the 350 watts being pulled from my UPS, that for every 100 watts being pulled, 7-9 watts are being lost in the PSU, usually in the way of heat. So if we use 91% efficiency, 350 watts x 91% = 318.5 watts total max draw at 98% cpu usage, which is just under 50% of the PSU's max output

As power output of the PSU climbs to 80% or more of it's max output, you'll see efficiency dropping to 85% or thereabouts.

 

[volkgren]

^very good points being made in that post.

The higher past 50% means less efficiency, and less efficiency means more heat (energy lost as heat), and more heat means higher stress on components.

I have a Kill-A-Watt Energy Meter that I use for checking power draw. https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=asc_df_B00009MDBU/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167125429392&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13532114024677989134&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9025744&hvtargid=pla-306572288073&psc=1

 

[The Original Ralph]

yeah, i've got a kill-o-watt, but this "gidget" that came on the CyberPower CD is just handier to use - permanently displays in the bottom right hand corner of my screen (this is on my web browsing computer). But i can set it to show wattage, input or output voltage, battery life remaining if power were to go out, etc
i've got it displaying wattage (108) and time remaining on the battery (1 hour 8 min).

i'm sure there are similiar power widgets out there as free downloads - and actually, it'd be a nice little utility for the PSU mfgrs to include with their product

 

[justinshaf1213]

Does video rendering use the gpu? Ill be gaming on mine and im sure since im not overclocked and nor rendering i shouldnt be seeing even close to 40% cpu usage ever but i will see the 120 watts from the gpu. Theoretically i should be normally consuming about 380-420 watts while gaming. From math and weird in brain calculations thats my guess. Are psu calculators acurate? Those were recommending a 450 watt psu. Im at 650. From your experience and if you game does 420w seem high? Like vw said i should only be around half of my capacity.

 

[justinshaf1213]

As long as you all think im in the safe zone i wont worry XD ive just put alot of money into this rig. Maybe over thought it a little because i calculated power cobsumption based on tdp accidentally :/ but sounds like stock it consumes a little less.

 

[The Original Ralph]

Does video rendering use the gpu? Ill be gaming on mine and im sure since im not overclocked and nor rendering i shouldnt be seeing even close to 40% cpu usage ever but i will see the 120 watts from the gpu. Theoretically i should be normally consuming about 380-420 watts while gaming. From math and weird in brain calculations thats my guess. Are psu calculators acurate? Those were recommending a 450 watt psu. Im at 650. From your experience and if you game does 420w seem high? Like vw said i should only be around half of my capacity.

i think your estimate of your wattage consumption is on the high side - remember, when it's running 350 watts, my cpu is at 97-98% load (sometimes 100%) and overclocked to 4.3 MHz and overclocking on it's own increases power draw

420 watt PSU is low to me though, at 650w PSU you should be fine

 

[justinshaf1213]

Very true sir. Based off of experience maybe from before you overcooked what were you consuming just gaming 1080p. I may be on the high side youre right. Rendering doesnt use gpu power

 

[justinshaf1213]

I think so at least?

 

[justinshaf1213]

My gpu consumes 120w max. Cpu give or take maybe 75 under 50% load? 100 for the rest includinf mobo and ram. Thats where i got my total consumption from. Realistically probs around 300 normal usage. Maybe near 400 under tougher conditions?

 

[justinshaf1213]

Im honestly lost. Based on my setup what are your thoughts on my normal usage consunption

 

[The Original Ralph]

Im honestly lost. Based on my setup what are your thoughts on my normal usage consunption

i'd only be speculating, but probably in the 300-325 watt range - if you're really curious, order a kill-o-watt, and plug it between your computer and wall socket. https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529107829&sr=8-1&keywords=kill-o-watt+meter

Actually you'd be smart to get a sine wave UPS (un-interruptable power supply, it will save you from voltage spikes as well as under voltage, power outages and clean up your power supply some. I run a cyberpower CP1350PFCLCD https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/product/ups/cp1350pfclcd/
street price is usually around $180, and it comes with the wattage gidget i pictured above

and btw, i'm not a gamer so i can't answer about gaming consumption, but 120W for your GPU is not the max it'll draw - there will be peak loads exceeding that wattages

you asked a question earlier i forgot to answer about whether video rendering is run thru the GPU or not - it depends on the software and the application. One software i use, gives me the option to select software rendering, which means the cpu or to use the GPU hardware.