PSU MAX vs Continuous
PSU MAX vs Continuous
Is this PSU calculator reliable?
I'm using that system on a Seasonic continuous 550w, with a maximum of 640w.
Is it safe to run it continuously at 24/7? I'm concerned because last time I performed a 7-hour stress test plus 2 hours of gaming, the power supply fan didn't even start.
Psu calculator, believe it or not, this time is right on the money.
Using OC.
Cpu 200w
Gpu 300w
Mobo, accessories & other junk 100w
That's 600w flat out, maxed out, never happen values. Nobody ever runs the cpu, gpu at 100% on both, with hdd/ssd/ram/fans etc also at 100%. So, realistically a 600w psu will work. However, there are no decent quality 600w psus at all. This would require a move to a 620w Seasonic platform or 650w for most other good quality platforms.
Gaming use is generally @60% of total, so roughly 350w, on a 650w psu puts you right in the 50-70% sweet spot for efficiency and performance of a decent psu.
If you aren't pushing that cpu to close to 200w OC, you could easily take off a huge chunk of wattage there...
Based on the PSU calculator and the Seasonic MAX wattage, I was roughly 17 watts above the 12v limit. Reducing the GPU usage by 5% brings it to 17 watts, which is 112% of the power target for EVGA FW3.
The system lists a load wattage of 595W, suggesting a PSU of 645W? That doesn’t make sense. I checked the recommendation for PSU and it seems correct, but the load wattage value is confusing. They mentioned operating at 92% load on the PSU, which is unusual since you usually don’t exceed 75%. Maybe I misinterpreted how it’s written.
Here’s the proper way to calculate:
1. Find the power consumption for an R5-1600X using the OC value.
2. Repeat for the GTX1080Ti (consider the worst case).
3. Add an extra 40W for fans and HDDs.
4. Multiply by 1.33 to get a PSU that’s similar or slightly higher (for quieter operation, some ECO modes need under 50W).
*Keep in mind this is the maximum load scenario for CPU and GPU. Gaming rarely hits that, so using 1.33x might actually mean around 50% load during games.*
For example:
- CPU: 170W
- GPU: 280W
Add 40W → 490W
Multiply by 1.33 → about 650W recommended or more.
But this is for the best fan performance. In reality, it could be closer to 350W during gaming, around 64% load, which is acceptable.
So the worst case is acceptable, typical gaming should work, and everything looks fine.
UPDATE:
Just FYI but it can be difficult to find out the exact power as some people use the WALL POWER DRAW and others use the power drawn by the device itself. These are not the same thing.
Long story short though is I see no reason to be concerned with your 550W PSU.
*I can confirm I have ECO MODE on my PSU so that I'd need to hit 375W for the fan to turn on. It does not. I have an i7-3770K (at 4.4GHz) + GTX1080 (OC) + 16GB so even if you use more than 375W it's doubtful it would be much more.
Psu calculator, believe it or not, this time is right on the money.
Using OC.
Cpu 200w
Gpu 300w
Mobo, accessories & other junk 100w
That's 600w flat out, maxed out, never happen values. Nobody ever runs the cpu, gpu at 100% on both, with hdd/ssd/ram/fans etc also at 100%. So, realistically a 600w psu will work. However, there are no decent quality 600w psus at all. This would require a move to a 620w Seasonic platform or 650w for most other good quality platforms.
Gaming use is generally @60% of total, so roughly 350w, on a 650w psu puts you right in the 50-70% sweet spot for efficiency and performance of a decent psu.
If you aren't pushing that cpu to close to 200w OC, you could easily take off a huge chunk of wattage there, lowering max outputs close to 550w instead of 600w, which would still put gaming values well within the tolerances of a decent 550w psu.
Oh, if you have an eco setting or thermal setting on the psu, the fan won't spin at all until the interior thermistor reaches a certain temp. This temp has relatively little to do with any cpu/gpu /case temps usually as the psu is generally upside down, drawing air from outside, exhausting outside. So the thermistor temp will only be relative to the ambient temp and load. If the fan didn't even engage, you weren't pushing the psu hard enough to get it hot enough to kick the fan on.
Hey, I adjusted the CPU to 3875 at 1.375v and the GPU to 112% instead of 117%. This cut power usage by around 17 watts for the GPU and 8 watts for the CPU, bringing the total down to roughly 640w. The PSU seems capable handling that, even though it's rated for 550w continuous. I just noticed the CPU, motherboard, and GPU power cables have capacitors in their sleeves—something I hadn't seen before.