Is it bad to buy an overkill PSU?

[EmirPcBuild]

I want to buy a powerfull psu ( EVGA supernova G2 8502 full modular) for my system today its overkill (only a single gtx 970) is this bad? because i want this powerful psu for future upgrades and no worries about "will my psu run this and this?"

i only buy this because It is a long-term investment, but i readed and dont understand the "low load problems" on an overkill psu...

can this damage my system or the evga g2 will only draw the energy that my system needs ?

 

[inerax]

No. The computer will only draw what it needs. You could put a 1200w and not fry anything. I always overkill my PSU for future upgrades. I have the same EVGA you are looking at. Its an great PSU.

 

[junkeymonkey]

whats bad is buying one you find don't cut it so how can any over kill hurt ? you may find your glad you did down the road when you want that higher end higher power use parts
I use a 850w on lees demand the you but if I need it I got it not looking back wishing I had a better unit

 

[Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163]

It's better to buy one that's just right due to the efficiency peak, rather than letting it run at 1/10th it's capacity.

Quality over quantity if you will.

 

[Maarsch]

There's some issues on the extreme low end power use curve wrt to efficiency. A PSU built to provide up to 850W with a 80+ cert will run 80%+ efficiency above 20% power use. But below that it can go down significantly.
So if you have a great deal of Wattage in the PSU and your idle load is very low there might just be efficiency issues. But a good PSU will still not blow up/damage parts.
If you get a cheap 1200W PSU though, you might get some surprises.

 

[EmirPcBuild]

There's some issues on the extreme low end power use curve wrt to efficiency. A PSU built to provide up to 850W with a 80+ cert will run 80%+ efficiency above 20% power use. But below that it can go down significantly.
So if you have a great deal of Wattage in the PSU and your idle load is very low there might just be efficiency issues. But a good PSU will still not blow up/damage parts.
If you get a cheap 1200W PSU though, you might get some surprises.

so "efficiency issues" with a high quality psu like Evga supernova g2 means nothing?

 

[EmirPcBuild]

No. The computer will only draw what it needs. You could put a 1200w and not fry anything. I always overkill my PSU for future upgrades. I have the same EVGA you are looking at. Its an great PSU.

i really like this psu i really know its overkill i could buy cheaper psu but i dont want to upgrade the psu in future...

 

[junkeymonkey]

dude just get the best you can that evga 850w g2 is up there as one of the best and you will look back and think your glad you went with it the psu is the hart and life blood of your build so why sell out short on that ?
[opinion]

 

[Maarsch]

There's some issues on the extreme low end power use curve wrt to efficiency. A PSU built to provide up to 850W with a 80+ cert will run 80%+ efficiency above 20% power use. But below that it can go down significantly.
So if you have a great deal of Wattage in the PSU and your idle load is very low there might just be efficiency issues. But a good PSU will still not blow up/damage parts.
If you get a cheap 1200W PSU though, you might get some surprises.

so "efficiency issues" with a high quality psu like Evga supernova g2 means nothing?

Oh yeah, you're fine.

 

[4745454b]

There's some issues on the extreme low end power use curve wrt to efficiency. A PSU built to provide up to 850W with a 80+ cert will run 80%+ efficiency above 20% power use. But below that it can go down significantly.

This is the only issue. If you are running an 850W PSU and you are just watching stuff on netflix/youtube, etc, then your power draw is ~100W. This is less then 1/8th of the output of the PSU, and well below 20%. I haven't looked up that PSU, but odds are good you'll be below 80% efficiency. What this means is not only did you spend more for that PSU then you needed to over a smaller/less expensive one, but you'll continue to pay more because a smaller one would be more efficient at these lower load times. If you don't mind spending/losing the money you are good to go.

Putting a 850W PSU into a system that needs less then 350W under load won't fry anything. (Wait, even at load you'll be using less then 50% of the output? Why?) It just isn't a smart choice.

 

[geofelt]

Go ahead and buy the 850w EVGA psu. It is as good as it gets.
It is more than you need, but not massively so.
The power requirements for cpu and gpu are getting lower.
The future is likely to bring lower psu needs, not higher.

 

[4745454b]

What is massively so? It's more then twice what he needs, 100W+ more. Even under his biggest loads the PSU won't be outputting 50% of what it can do. If that's not massive, what is?