Is purchasing an overpowered PSU a poor decision?
Is purchasing an overpowered PSU a poor decision?
Good evening,
I’m looking for the right PSU to purchase for my PC. I found this one on pcpartpicker.com and placed it in a 2-year-old LC-POWER LC8850III V2.3 ARKANGEL 3 / 850W. I understand it might be too much, as it worked well in my gaming PC before. After moving it to a new system, it lasted about a week before failing (burned out). Now I’m considering buying a new one. I’m wondering if using an 850W PSU in a system that draws around 150W max was a mistake. Would you recommend the MASTER V550 / 80PLUS GOLD V2 instead?
a system will only consume the power it needs to operate its parts.
having an "overpowered" power supply would be completely unnecessary and have no drawbacks.
on the other hand, using a lower quality, unreliable model is a serious mistake and likely the main reason for system failures and damaged components.
Cooler
Master produces some high-quality models as well as very low-quality, potentially dangerous ones, but I don’t have any personal experience with this V550 you mentioned.
In certain situations it could be advantageous to use a power supply significantly bigger than the required load. This would improve efficiency and allow operation without the fan running or at very low speeds, resulting in quieter performance. Few people do this due to expense. Most individuals opt for purchasing a larger power supply at comparable cost to a smaller one with lower power ratings. If both options are of good quality, it usually works well; however, this is not always the case. Generally, high-quality power supplies tend to be more expensive and may exceed the budget of many consumers.
A power supply is often one of the most challenging items to acquire because it’s difficult to verify the internal components. This makes it wise to choose a well-known brand and steer clear of cheaper, unproven models even from reputable suppliers.
If you wish to buy a 1500-watt power supply for a machine that only requires 350 watts, the main drawback would be the limited funds remaining in your wallet.
Yeah, "overpowered" isn't really a thing. An 850W PSU no more kills itself because it only puts out 250W of power than a Ferrari blows up because you're only driving 50 mph. Only the power that is because used is relevant and only the powerbeing asked for is being used. It could be something else with the PSU that is unrelated; this PSU looks reasonably competent for an LC-Power, but there's a reason I say
for an LC-Power
. It's a bargain basement company that stuffs as many cheap parts as they can into their PSUs. An 850W Gold-rated PSU with a modern topology but still saved money by not having proper power factor correction is absolutely hilarious, like going to a high-end restaurant and one of the appetizers is "gas station hot dog purchased fresh from the gas station at the corner."
I think you'd do best not obsessing about whether your PSUs are overpowered and thinking a little more about what your PSUs are
good
and whether they're meeting your needs.
The coolermaster V series golds are acceptable, yet there are superior choices that tend to cost less. Adding more power supply units isn't harmful. In the best case, it might slightly reduce efficiency since the load is minimal. Your previous PSU was of poor quality.
I haven't made any changes yet. Would you like me to proceed with adding a dedicated GPU now?