[SOLVED] Is my psu enough

Nov 4, 2018
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Hi
I have a 450 w psu made by AcBel.
The psu calculator sad the max load of my system is 400w and recomeded me a 450w psu.
But i heard low quality psu's wont keep up woth that so can i yoise it safely?
Cheers
 
Solution
Only Titanium units are tested for low wattage use, all other efficiency tests are run at 20/50/100%. Many psus don't even like to run at seriously low wattage, which is what's going to happen under anything but gaming type load usage. Just for surfing the web, checking emails etc, most pc's don't even break 100w if they are using a hdd. So it kinda makes absolutely no sense to spend that much extra for a decent 750w vrs a decent 500-550w considering 100% psu load isn't even going to break 450w, and gaming loads will be running closer to 300-350w at best. And I can't see spending $50 on a cheapo unit that claims 750w, yet only has 1x 6pin pcie etc. Better to purchase a good psu that's @50-100w over absolute max, leaving efficiency...


if its like the one I linked to, it technically has 450W, but 150W of that is on the 3.3V and the 5V rail. most power consumption on a PC is from the 12V rail. so having a total 1/3 of the power in a form that is not used is a way to boost the advertising. most quality PSU derive 95% of the rated power from the 12V rail. the EVGA 550W g3 has 549.6W on the 12V rail.
https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.komplett.no%2Fimg%2Fp%2F800%2F267dc105-744b-1369-a5f6-0117cdb6a404.jpg&f=1

 
the AcBel unit is not 450W, it is 300W. its a cheapo unit and will not run under the load you need it to.
if your max usage is 450W I suggest at least a 650W preferably a 750W unit.
having extra power means the PSU will run cooler and more efficient.
using a 500W unit for the load of 450W would wear the PSU down quickly, make it run very hot and very loudly, and cost more money in electricity, than a unit 750W unit with a load of 450W.
 
Pc's are mostly dependent on 12v. The cpu, gpu, fans are all 12v. Most all new power supplies, the 12v is very close to what the unit rating is, so if it says it's 450w, 12v is at least 400w, usually about 430w and sometimes right at 450w. That Acbel is a lie. It's 300w at 12v, they add the other voltages to make it sound bigger.

@R_1,

No. At a 400w load, heat output is still going to be the same, regardless of whether it's on a 500w or 1000w psu, it's still 400w. OP would be far better off with a 500-550w, it'd actually be more economical since even though max load is @400w, normal loads will be far less, averaging 250w to 300w, putting a 500w @50%ish. A 750w psu would be far less, closer to 30%ish for the most part, well below ideal wattage outputs and efficiency.
 


Heat output of the load, i,e, everything in the computer except the power supply, should be the same, but the efficiency will effect the heat output inside of the PSU itself.

As for getting a higher wattage PSU @R_1, some people like to do that. I get that approach. Some others will stick with lower wattage but just pay more for something better quality or more efficient. There's various approaches, no approach is wrong. :)
 
Only Titanium units are tested for low wattage use, all other efficiency tests are run at 20/50/100%. Many psus don't even like to run at seriously low wattage, which is what's going to happen under anything but gaming type load usage. Just for surfing the web, checking emails etc, most pc's don't even break 100w if they are using a hdd. So it kinda makes absolutely no sense to spend that much extra for a decent 750w vrs a decent 500-550w considering 100% psu load isn't even going to break 450w, and gaming loads will be running closer to 300-350w at best. And I can't see spending $50 on a cheapo unit that claims 750w, yet only has 1x 6pin pcie etc. Better to purchase a good psu that's @50-100w over absolute max, leaving efficiency levels during normal usage in the 50-70% range.
 
Solution