PSU help

livewire222

6 months ago

I'm looking to eventually build a new rig with either a 2600x or Ryzen 3000. GPU will be 1060 for now and eventually upgrade to 2060. Is 550w PSU enough? How do I determine how much wattage I need in a PSU?

6 months ago
2 points

550w is plenty. Figure 100+ for the CPU, 200-ish for the GPU, maybe 50-100 for the rest of the parts. A 2600X will not draw much more than its rated TDP even overclocked. We don't know how the 3000 series behaves.

If you want to leave some headroom, 650w is somewhat reasonable, but higher is completely unnecessary.

A Scythe Mugen 5 or equivalent cooler will cool just about any Ryzen out today, stock or overclocked. Again, it's unknown what the 3000 series will be like, but I'd expect a Mugen 5 to handle all but maybe the hottest of that line as well.

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livewire222
submitter

6 months ago
1 point

Is Deepcool GAMMAXX GT any good?

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6 months ago
1 point

I don't think there is anything special about it, but the reviews I've seen say it's a decent cooler with somewhat better than average noise levels.

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livewire222
submitter

6 months ago
1 point

What are other good options besides the Mugen 5?

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6 months ago
1 point

Thermalright Macho and Macho Direct (the latter is a bit smaller), beQuiet Pure Rock, Arctic Freezer 33/34 and variants are a few that come to mind. The Cryorig M9a is a great value at $25 for a 2600/2600X but not beefy enough for serious overclocking. I'm sure that there are other good quality coolers in the $35 to $50 price range and I don't pretend to know all of them.

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6 months ago
1 point

I suggest go with a 650w-750w decent brand PSU (are you going to OC?). Nice to have a slightly beefier PSU for future expansion(s).

I always think build what you MIGHT want in the future..not build a system for now.

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livewire222
submitter

6 months ago
1 point

I was leaning towards a 650w but wasn't sure. I'm not going to overclock because I don't know how and I don't know what a good cooler to use would be. What upgrades would the added wattage help with? CPU or GPU?

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6 months ago
1 point

GPU by far will add wattage. I doubt, lets say, 2 ssd's will willing put a damper on the power.

How mans fans on the case could add a few but again not a big dent in the PSU (now water cooling I do not know how much watts that could add) and there are some really great CPU coolers out there that does not put a big dent in the PSU..of course when one adds everything up you could be looking at maybe, guessing..ballpark'ish.. between 300-400 watts.

Of course what GPU makes the difference and I have read one should give maybe 150-200w extra for OCing (I know you said you will not BUT OC'ing is really easy), GPU grabbing more power now and then when needs to and a few more etc etc's.

But it sounds like a 650w will do you very good for quite a while. :)

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livewire222
submitter

6 months ago
1 point

That sounds like a safe bet. Thanks for the advice about OCing. I'm waiting for the new Ryzen 3000 series to launch to see what CPU to get. Do you know any good air coolers to get if I wanted to OC a Ryzen CPU?

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6 months ago
1 point

550w will work fine, but in the future might be pushing it tight if you upgrade. If you can afford a 650 or 750w PSU, definitely get it, but if you have to sacrifice other components or can't afford it i wouldn't be worried.

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livewire222
submitter

6 months ago
1 point

If I upgrade what though? I can get a 650 or 750w but I'm trying to understand how to determine how much extra wattage you need. I included a 2060 in my build and the wattage was under 400. Why would you need a 650w PSU? Just trying to understand how to determine it based on need.

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6 months ago
1 point

well 2 things.

Better efficiency
Say in 2 or 3 years you get a new CPU and GPU you won't need a new PSU

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6 months ago
1 point

It is better to run a larger wattage PSU at half capacity than a lower one near full capacity. Adding extra storage or opting for future upgrades may increase the power requirements of your system. Cable management is an art form that not everyone excels at. Consider whether you really want to deal with all of those cables again, should you need to upgrade to a beefier PSU sooner than you had planned. The price difference between an extra 100W or so is cheaper than buying another PSU.