Power Supply for a 4K PC

[SilverPin]

I am planning to build a 4K PC with the specs over here:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JxMdYJ
I am planning to render videos using blender and I am wondering if I am overestimating the power supply I need.
Which one should I use?

 

[badboyrog2]

your psu is overprice and made by FSP
get the evga B2-G2 850W instead

 

[HEXiT]

i wouldnt even go 850w its overkill for that system as it stands and if you want to sli you wouldnt need more than a 650w with the x2 970's assuming it can supply the amps.

if your just gonna stick to 1 card then look at the seasonic 450-550w psu's you can pick 1 up for about 70bux.

why not 850w? the higher the initial wattage the higher drain is needed to reach its efficacy levels. some psu's can hit there efficency at 20% load but most cheaper 1s will start at around 50% load. so you would need 400w or there about befor your psu actually hit its 80+ rating on an 850w psu but the system you have chosen will likely top out at 350w usage so you may never reach the levels needed to save you some cash on running costs.

better to go for a 450-550w 80+gold or better when your dealing with low power draw systems like this 1 if you can.

 

[badboyrog2]

and yes ...850W is overkill for now . since your build not request as much power
but if you want to go on SLI setup in the near futur it will be better to choose a 750W psu and up

 

[MasterMace]

If you're looking to game at 4k, a single 970 will not provide the ponies you need. You will need an 850W to SLI. I'm going to confirm with the PSU experts/enthusiasts on your PSU, because the reviews I've seen are better than what it's ranked.

 

[HEXiT]

^^ you do know the gtx 970 is rated at 150w at the most it will draw 225w.
so a max of 450w for 2 gpu's, 90w for the cpu, 20 for the motherboard. 1 per ssd, 10w per 3 120mm fans 20 per hdd

as you can see you would still have to add a lot more hardware to get close to 600w never mind 850.
if he was going crossfire with amd cards then yeah 750-850w
but on that build its just wasted money buying a bigger than needed psu.

 

[badboyrog2]

well ....having a evga B2 750W for 59$ after post rebate is not a waste of money

 

[ko888]

Rendering videos using Blender may use CUDA. Tom's Hardware's review of the NVIDIA Reference Design GeForce GTX 970 showed that the average power consumption during GPGPU (CUDA) usage was 239.50 Watts (188.96 Watts from the two 6-pin PCI-E power connectors from the PSU, 48.38 Watts from the +12V power lines in the PCI-E x16 graphics card slot and 2.16 Watts from the +3.3V power lines in the PCI-E x16 graphics card slot).

 

[MasterMace]

The GTX 970 by Tom's own testing peaked between 290 and 300W, the 4790k by Tom's own testing peaked at 350W. I certainly don't want to push a PSU to 100% on measurable performance, and prefer to leave a bit of space for other things people do. An 850W would leave that extra space, and would be sufficient if the OP SLIed 2 GTX 980s.

 

[SilverPin]

your psu is overprice and made by FSP
get the evga B2-G2 850W instead

and yes ...850W is overkill for now . since your build not request as much power
but if you want to go on SLI setup in the near futur it will be better to choose a 750W psu and up

So, should I just choose a 500W power supply?

 

[HEXiT]

The GTX 970 by Tom's own testing peaked between 290 and 300W, the 4790k by Tom's own testing peaked at 350W. I certainly don't want to push a PSU to 100% on measurable performance, and prefer to leave a bit of space for other things people do. An 850W would leave that extra space, and would be sufficient if the OP SLIed 2 GTX 980s.

mate that test was for the whole build not just the card.
typically a 970 i5/i7 build will top out at around 350w
add in another card and your still on you 500-550w max
it really is wise to buy based on minimum and maximum power draw not just the maximum.

the psu efficiency is more of a factor at idle because thats where the pc will spend most of its time when on.
unless you use it solely as a work or game rig and use other devices for other media. your barley gonna be using 60w and bounce to 120 under light load.

most bronze/silver psu's dont hit there efficiency till they get in to the 50%+ which means 400w+ power draw is needed before the psu gets to 80% efficient on an 850wpsu so you can see if the pc tops out at 350w the psu isnt gonna even manage the basic efficiency target of bronze.
while a good gold/platinum 550-650w will hit its efficiency as low as 15%-20% load. so will only need a 100-120w load to reach its 80% efficiency. it may only be a few cents a day difference but over the life of the pc it could save you more than the difference in cost between the 850 and higher end but lower power psu.

there is such a thing as to much psu mate and on this build 850w even for sli would be overkill.

but hey its your money, your choice. im just giving opinion

 

[MasterMace]

The PSU you had is Tier 3, due to its platform.

@HEXiT you must be thinking of a different site. Toms had a page dedicated to explaining how they measure the power draw on Nvidia's new cards, directly from the card. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-980-970-maxwell,3941-11.html


There's another site that measures it from the wall, and does 'math' to figure it out, and that's not tom's.

 

[HEXiT]

The PSU you had is Tier 3, due to its platform.

@HEXiT you must be thinking of a different site. Toms had a page dedicated to explaining how they measure the power draw on Nvidia's new cards, directly from the card. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-980-970-maxwell,3941-11.html


There's another site that measures it from the wall, and does 'math' to figure it out, and that's not tom's.

didnt even know that article existed mate. but im pretty sure that the article i did read came from here.
anyways its not exactly rocket science the card has 18 pin and 1 6pin (150w+75) +75w from the pci-e
so even at the most extreme loads which that test eludes to your still looking at around 370-425w max draw...
so for a single card 550w or the 750w for sli would still be my choice to maximise on psu efficency.

im all about quiet running, maxamised functionality and efficent power consumption mate. not every 1 is. so if the op feels safer by getting a higher wattage psu then thats great. just wouldnt be my choice.