Is 350w enough?

[phatrix_god]

Im currently running:
i3-7100
8gb ddr4 vengeance 2400mhz ram
2 x 5.4k HDD
5 Fans(140x2,3x120)
NVIDIA GT 710(my HDMI port is acting odd)
Corsair VS350w PSU

Cooler master says 156w load wattage and recommended 206w but in reality, is it enough?

I also want to upgrade to:

i3-7100
16gb ddr4 vengeance 2400mhz ram
2 x 5.4k HDD
2 x 240Gb SSD
5 Fans(140x2,3x120)
NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti
Corsair VS350w PSU

I get told that the load is 225 w and its recommended I get 275w but once again, in the real world is that safe to run? and if I don't change my PSU, how long before a potential accident would happen with the PSU?

 

[bjornl]

It is not a very good power supply.
https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/631048-psu-tier-list-updated/

I would encourage you to replace it. You can get a decent one for not much money.
https://pcpartpicker.com/products/power-supply/#sort=price&m=71
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003BIEOCI/?tag=pcpapi-20

But yes, 350w should be enough. But I would not trust your PSU to provide enough power reliably.

 

[Barty1884]

51W CPU, 75W GPU, say 50W for the balance at load.

A 350W unit should be fine. The VS lineup isn't the best as far as quality goes, so it's not ideal..... but I wouldn't expect any issues realistically.

FWIW though, if you're ok with rebates, the CX450 is only $25 and is substantially better in quality - and would give you more headroom for future GPU upgrades beyond the 1050TI too.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($23.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $23.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-01-02 16:14 EST-0500

 

[gussrtk]

Your PSU should work, but it would be better to get something around 400w to have a little bit of headroom.

 

[dontlistentome]

I would skip the extra 8gb ram, and the extra SSD. So from least expensive to best performance:
i3-7100
8gb ddr4 vengeance 2400mhz ram
1x 240gb Samsung 850 Evo
2 x 5.4k HDD
5 Fans(140x2,3x120)
NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti
Corsair VS350w PSU

Better performance:
i3-7100
8gb ddr4 vengeance 2400mhz ram
1x 240gb Samsung 850 Evo
2 x 5.4k HDD
5 Fans(140x2,3x120)
NVIDIA GTX 1060 3gb
Corsair or EVGA ~430-450W PSU

Later, when memory is cheaper, I'd add the other 8gb. If you have a specific reason you know you need it now, then get it now. Also, later I'd upgrade the mechanical hard drives to at least one 7200 rpm model. 5400 rpm? Are you kidding? lol

 

[agello24]

the system does not come close to 300 watts. so yep the 350 watts will be just fine.

 

[bjornl]

the system does not come close to 300 watts. so yep the 350 watts will be just fine.

That is not how powersupplies work. It is wattage (total) x efficiency. At ideal efficiency his PSU is around 80% (just under 80 as I recall). So max it can actually deliver is 350 x .8 or 280. Now factor in that efficiency drops if you go over 80% load ( or in this case 280 x .8 = 225w). Meaning he has what he needs, but not by some huge margin. A premium PSU can achieve an efficiency much closer to the total.

Not the bible, but of possible interest:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus

 

[turkey3_scratch]

the system does not come close to 300 watts. so yep the 350 watts will be just fine.

That is not how powersupplies work. It is wattage (total) x efficiency. At ideal efficiency his PSU is around 80% (just under 80 as I recall). So max it can actually deliver is 350 x .8 or 280. Now factor in that efficiency drops if you go over 80% load ( or in this case 280 x .8 = 225w). Meaning he has what he needs, but not by some huge margin. A premium PSU can achieve an efficiency much closer to the total.

Not the bible, but of possible interest:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus

That is incorrect, a 350W power supply is rated for 350W output, not input.

 

[Barty1884]

That is not how powersupplies work. It is wattage (total) x efficiency. At ideal efficiency his PSU is around 80% (just under 80 as I recall). So max it can actually deliver is 350 x .8 or 280. Now factor in that efficiency drops if you go over 80% load ( or in this case 280 x .8 = 225w). Meaning he has what he needs, but not by some huge margin. A premium PSU can achieve an efficiency much closer to the total.

That's also not how PSUs work?

Assuming a quality unit capable of actually providing 350W* to the setup, the efficiency side of things is what it's pulling from the wall.

A 200W(ish) system drawing from a (theoretical) 350W unit is operating around 60% load.
80+ Bronze should be 82% efficient at that point...

So, drawing 200W (for example) @ 82% efficiency is pulling ~244W from the wall.

Assuming the PSU *can* actually do 350W, would be 100% load @ 82% efficiency.
That means the "350w" PSU is actually pulling around 425W from the wall.


*I'm not saying the VS350 can actually do 350W sustained - I've already mentioned it's poor quality.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

A 200W(ish) system drawing from a (theoretical) 350W unit is operating around 60% efficiency.
80+ Bronze should be 82% efficient at that point...

I think you mean 60% load, not efficiency.

 

[Barty1884]

I think you mean 60% load, not efficiency.

Sure did. Fixed that.

 

[phatrix_god]

Didn't expect a war to break out over power efficiencies...

Thanks for the replies and 5.4k's are enough for now, they are cheap mass storage and thats what I intend for them to be, the 500gb one was just laying around from an old desktop TBH and the 2tb one was on sale.

 

[Karadjgne]

To answer Op, the CoolerMaster guesses at wattage for the systems are pretty spot on, the recommended wattage is bunk. For more than one reason. The wattages themselves are max wattages, which never happens. It's almost impossible to run the fans, cpu, gpu, ram, drives at 100% loads simultaneously, as the cpu/gpu relationship is never equal, it's always off balance. For gaming purposes, figure on @70% of max draw for heaviest workload, that's attainable as an average of everything. The other reason being that psus basically come in certain sizes in aftermarket psu. 300,400,450 etc. There are some odd balls like 430 or 520, but that's limited to a few brands like Corsair and Seasonic. The majority are pretty standardized.

So the top build at 150w max would be closer to @100-110w under heavy usage. For a psu, almost all psus find best outputs and efficiency @50-70% load. So double your used wattage and you get 200-220w would be ideal psu size, the heavy load coming in at @50% efficiency.

For the lower build at 225w max, that's @170w under heavy load, or 340w psu, so the ideal size being a 350w psu.

At 200-250w, you are looking at basically OEM units, a 300 in ATX is small and not easily found, it's usually in non-atx units you'll find that range easier, 430-450 being far more common for ATX.

The VS 350w isn't exactly top line quality, or actually even close, but for the workload it's decent and Corsair's protection circuitry is far better than most. I'd not be worried about it at all affecting other components.