Legit Reviews

I've made it quite clear that I am looking at rebuilding my PC after frying my motherboard. I know that in addition to a new motherboard and some new memory I'm in need of a new PSU to power my 9800GTX+ and to provide a more stable power supply for my investment. I've looked at the power configurators and know that I need atleast 450 watts to smoothly run my system, but when looking at all the PSU's out there and right now there are several good deals to be had, when do you say enough is enough? I've been considering OCZ & Corsair due to all the excellent reviews that you can find out there; however, after comparing prices I'm as stuck now as I was when I first started doing my research. Let me explain....if you compare the OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W @ 64.99 w/ a $25.00 MIR (final price of $39.99) you really find it difficult to pass up, that is unless for $10.00 more you can get the OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP (600W) and then you think, well do I need the OCZ StealthXStream OCZ700SXS (700W) for $10.00 more? It only gets worst the more that I dig, so my question to all of you is, when is enough power enough to run a middle of the road PC?

Q6600 / 980GTX+ / 4 GB's RAM / 1 HD / 2 Optical Drives / standard air cooling options (nothing elaboarate) / standard peripherals, ie keyboard, mouse, printer, speakers.

Razorbacx

Generally more is better, in my estimation anyway. However, when you are running too much power for your setup you are not utilizing the unit. Have you come across those power supply efficiency graphs? Bascially if you are in the "ideal load range" the power supply can give you up to 90% efficiency. If you have too much power then you are only loading the supply with about 30% efficiency (these are estimates). This means that you are wasting power and making the world worse (joke about greenhouse gases).

Bottom line, if you plan on updating in the future and don't want to re-buy ever part then overkill now on the PSU is not a bad idea. In an ideal world every computer part would be getting more power efficient and a big power supply now may be a waste in the future, but it doesn't seem to be panning out that way (see video cards).

If my math is correct and I were to buy a 550 watt PSU and my system required 450 watts I would only be utilizing 82% of the PSU...correct? So, would a 550 - 600 watt PSU be optimal? Still, I do believe that the trend appears to be moving for larger power requirements and with a high quality PSU maybe I should opt to spending the extra dollars to get something in the 700 watt range. Thoughts?

If the higher wattage power supply price difference is menial then spring for it. You might upgrade your CPU and video card one day and need the extra juice.