I've tried to get a grip on the everlasting question of "how much voltage/power does my new system require" but all threads on the subject (that I can understand) seems to be a well out of date. So here is my question:
I will buy a new computer, mainly for video editing and music recording/mixing. And NO gaming whatsoever. This means that the hard disk will run a lot when I for example load large virtual instruments that stream from disk while I at the same time record my music. I've been considering something like this:
- Intel i7 920
- Antec P183 or P193
- OCZ Vertex 60 Gb for OS and Samsung F1 1Tb for storage
- Plextor DVD drive/burner
- 6Gb 1600 MHz RAM
- ATI 3650 Silent graphics card
I've been recommended a CM 700W silent PSU but I'm a bit concerned with that PSU's behaviour at 200-300W. Is it possible to estimate what the power consumption of my PC will be at normal usage and at "running hot" usage as described above (using large sample instruments etc.)?
/Jonas
i7 system - requirements on PSU?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
700W?!?! That's way more than you need.
The new Intel chips do use quite a bit of power, but overall, they're not that much worse than P4s. I can confidently say that system would not pass 300W under load. A hard drive doesn't use much power once it's started. Hard drives require significantly more power while it's spinning up, than when it's running, but generally, they never exceed 5-10W (if that) even during power up.
Considering the low-end graphics card, I'm pretty sure the computer will idle close to 100-125W and get up to maybe 225-250W under load (gaming). A 350-500W PSU should be all that you need, however, you might want a higher capacity one that won't ramp up its fans until about 300W.
You can find more info on system power consumption of i7 powered machines by googling: core i7 power consumption. There are lots of system benchmarks of power consumption out there, but most of the core i7 ones are matched with high end graphics cards, which consume as much power as a CPU. Even with the high end graphics cards, they usually don't exceed 300W for a single CPU and GPU combination.
The new Intel chips do use quite a bit of power, but overall, they're not that much worse than P4s. I can confidently say that system would not pass 300W under load. A hard drive doesn't use much power once it's started. Hard drives require significantly more power while it's spinning up, than when it's running, but generally, they never exceed 5-10W (if that) even during power up.
Considering the low-end graphics card, I'm pretty sure the computer will idle close to 100-125W and get up to maybe 225-250W under load (gaming). A 350-500W PSU should be all that you need, however, you might want a higher capacity one that won't ramp up its fans until about 300W.
You can find more info on system power consumption of i7 powered machines by googling: core i7 power consumption. There are lots of system benchmarks of power consumption out there, but most of the core i7 ones are matched with high end graphics cards, which consume as much power as a CPU. Even with the high end graphics cards, they usually don't exceed 300W for a single CPU and GPU combination.
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MikeC
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We measured an Asus 3650 card power at 18w idle, 37w peak.
Let's accept Intel's TDP of 130W for the i7 920.
The SSD - a watt.
The Samsung HDD -- 25W max peak at startup, 7-11W in normal use.
Optical drive -- probably a watt or less just sitting there, maybe 5W in actual use.
Let's be really generous and say the RAM + motherboard + fans, etc take 50W. Tops.
That gives us a theoretical maximum of <250W -- if you could max out every one of the above components power consumption simultaneously. Impossible, really. A more realistic max peak is probably closer to 200W. Give yourself some headroom, and expansion capability... how about double?
So... a realistically rated (ie good quality) 400W PSU will give you about twice the power your system will actually use.
Let's accept Intel's TDP of 130W for the i7 920.
The SSD - a watt.
The Samsung HDD -- 25W max peak at startup, 7-11W in normal use.
Optical drive -- probably a watt or less just sitting there, maybe 5W in actual use.
Let's be really generous and say the RAM + motherboard + fans, etc take 50W. Tops.
That gives us a theoretical maximum of <250W -- if you could max out every one of the above components power consumption simultaneously. Impossible, really. A more realistic max peak is probably closer to 200W. Give yourself some headroom, and expansion capability... how about double?
So... a realistically rated (ie good quality) 400W PSU will give you about twice the power your system will actually use.