Discussion PSU recommendations and power supply discussion thread - Tom's hardware

[Darkbreeze]

It's a pretty apt comparison really, because the bottom line for ALL types of companies, regardless of industry, is that any sourced part that is part of the equation needs to AT LEAST hold up for the warranty period, and preferably at least moderately longer, so that there is no question of the product being designed to fail at a certain point. At least if the company intends to remain in business for a while and not "fly by night".

 

[NightHawkRMX]

EVGA has refurb GT650w PSUs for $45 free shipping, still in stock.

I had a friend that wanted to buy this PSU last week but didn't since it had like $18 shipping. this week the shipping is free, so they bought it.

On paper it looks excellent for a $45 PSU.
100% Japanese caps
80+ gold
50c rated
full set of protections including otp for both primary and secondary sides
fdb fan
7 year warranty
fully modular
compact dimensions

I am curious to see who the OEM is, my money is on FSP. Friend seems just as curious and I think is going to open it up and see the guts once they get it, so I might have some information on the unit soon.

 

[Rogue Leader]

I would trust an AcBell out of a prebuilt Dell over an AcBell boxed unit that sells for cheap. As mentioned QC on the AcBell units sold to Dell likely has to meet a certain minimum as Dell does not want mass returns of their stuff or worse the PR of Dell computers burning peoples houses down.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Exactly. It's like many, probably almost ALL other companies. For example, and I'm sure this is not news to anybody, but there are plenty of companies, like Standard electronics, that make OEM parts for vehicle manufacturers but also make aftermarket parts and while their aftermarket parts are generally fairly decent they are in no way the same quality as what they supply the new vehicle manufacturers with. Same for Bosch. Same for probably MOST companies. You build to a reliability expectation, or lack thereof.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Question - EVGA GT 650w 80+ GOLD Teardown | Tom's Hardware Forum (tomshardware.com)

Got the teardown of the GT. Honestly, seems very good for the money. Would be interested to see a review of this, and im curious of the OEM. My bets on FSP, but HEC is also a possibility,

 

[El_Scorpio]

Hi, I don't understand why Nvidia is recommending 650+ W PSU for RTX 30 series when for example RTX 3070 has one 8-pin and total system power draw is not even 300 W while gaming... I have two 450W PSU. One of them is Corsair SF450 and other one Seasonic G-450 (both are gold rated). I am pretty sure both of them could feed even RTX 3080... Am I right or am I missing something?

 

[NightHawkRMX]

1. Higher power consumption CPUs. Ever since ~2018 or so, it's not uncommon for higher end CPUs to have power consumption well over 200 watts. In testing by Linus Tech Tips, the 11900k drew up to 293 watts peak during prime 95.
2. Spikes. These 30 series cards can have spikes on power draw where they need 100 or more watts above their tdp. Some psus won't handle this well and will just shut off, and this can be remedied by using a higher wattage PSU. SeaSonic in particular has some issues with this.
3. "300w power draw while gaming" isn't relevant for power supply recommendations. The recommendations are based off of the power draw with everything in a system stressed to it's limits, which games don't really do.

 

[madmatt30]

Hi, I don't understand why Nvidia is recommending 650+ W PSU for RTX 30 series when for example RTX 3070 has one 8-pin and total system power draw is not even 300 W while gaming... I have two 450W PSU. One of them is Corsair SF450 and other one Seasonic G-450 (both are gold rated). I am pretty sure both of them could feed even RTX 3080... Am I right or am I missing something?

Mainly because of the new gen Intel i7's easily pulling over 250w if they're overclocked (which some boards do automatically)

The 3070 is a 220w max part (150w pci express power and 75w bus).

So I agree that a very good 450w psu could power one with a sub 100w cpu.

They do tend to spike though fhighr than that.

A 3080 definitely shouldn't be run on a 450w psu no matter how good, its a 300w+ gpu.

 

[El_Scorpio]

So for combo like Ryzen 7 5800X + RTX 3070 I do not need to upgrade PSU...

 

[King_V]

That should work, but, I will admit that, given the possibility of spikes in GPU power demand, and that on max load the 5800X can draw about 140W... I would probably personally be a little uncomfortable doing it.

Correction: I would be a bit uncomfortable recommending someone else do it. I've probably pushed limits like that on occasion, though with cheaper/older hardware, and not with a system I needed for daily use.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

I have pushed power supplies within reason and never had an issue. They should deliver a bit more than rated for spikes etc as per Intel's spec, but it's not good to run them past rated wattage for extended periods of time.

But if you can get a better PSU I would recommend it.

 

[Darkbreeze]

So for combo like Ryzen 7 5800X + RTX 3070 I do not need to upgrade PSU...

On a 450w power supply? No possible way in the world anybody would responsibly recommend or agree with that. Regardless of what 450w power supply it was. It's simply not capable enough to cover spikes, PBO or most especially the probable degenerative loss of capacity that those units have undergone if they are a couple of years old, or more. I would never recommend anybody do this, even if it "works".

 

[NightHawkRMX]

EVGA - Products - EVGA SuperNOVA 850 G6, 80 Plus Gold 850W, Fully Modular, Eco Mode with FDB Fan, 10 Year Warranty, Includes Power ON Self Tester, Compact 140mm Size, Power Supply 220-G6-0850-X1 - 220-G6-0850-X1
Why EVGA. The supernova lineup is already diluted to death. Why do we need a G6

 

[maxamillionfeettall]

G6 is speculated to be seasonic, and it sure looks like one as well.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

View: https://youtu.be/r7hNmuizMB8


Not all surprising it is really efficient, it is 12vo. Not sure why dell only advertises it as 80+ (no sufficx) when it should qualify as 80+ platinum.

Good to see another reviewer in the space.

 

[King_V]

That was pretty interesting. A good quality PSU, though hampered by "it's kinda 12v-only, but not 12vo standard, because Dell has to be weird and proprietary."

Why? Just, why?

I couldn't help myself. I watched the review of the G5 it came out of. And again . . "Why?"

I used to like Dell. When I got towers, they at least used standard ATX PSUs. I guess those days are no more.

EDIT: ok, the FIRST Dell I got, a Dimension P133 with a, you guessed it, Pentium 133 CPU, looked like it had a standard 20-pin (at the time) PSU. I'd gotten the impression from various bits I'd read that the pinouts were different from the standard PSUs, though. Never personally tried to confirm it.

Still, by the time I was assembling my own PCs, I was using spare parts from discarded machines from the test lab at work, so I never needed to worry about taking parts from the Dell.

 

[Phaaze88]

Why? Just, why?
I couldn't help myself. I watched the review of the G5 it came out of. And again . . "Why?"

You already know why: the money.

The number of people out there which don't know their way around PCs - or don't want to bother - overshadows those of us who do. This is just another way to sucker more money out of them.
Sure, the proprietary crap ticks some people off, but 'enough' people keep buying their crap, so they have no real reason to stop...

 

[Darkbreeze]

Sure, the proprietary crap ticks some people off, but 'enough' people keep buying their crap, so they have no real reason to stop...

And THIS has been the case, since.............always.

 

[Phaaze88]

And THIS has been the case, since.............always.

And we'll just keep beating that dead horse until... never, never stop.


It's nice to see Gamers' Nexus take up power supplies, though I know some out there can't stand him cause he 'drags on' and doesn't seem to stop talking and take a break at times.
Some of his videos do require me to rewatch them or backtrack a bit, but I didn't see it as a serious problem.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Those same people would find something to complain about no matter who the reviewer was. I don't find his reviewing style to be problematic either.

 

[Hamza Ensar]

Which of these models is better?

Thermaltake GF1 850W

MSI MPG A850GF 850W.

 

[clarkjd]

Which of these models is better?

Thermaltake GF1 850W

MSI MPG A850GF 850W.

Here is a review of the Thermaltake from Tom's:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermaltake-toughpower-gf1-850w-power-supply
My google-fu is weak and I could not find any reviews(other than by vendors) for the MSI.

If those are the only available units, then I would say that the TT is the only known quantity here. YMMV.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

iirc the msi is seasonic based but i could be wrong

 

[maxamillionfeettall]

the msi a-gf is a multi rail CWT GPU. So an enermax revolution d.f by any other name.
Msi customer service for the psu is terribad I've heard.

But the performance of the GF1(CWT GPR) and CWT GPU(msi a-gf is so close, that either would be great. But I lean toward the GF1 for no particular reason.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

i stand corrected.