"Future proofing" PSU?

[whobi]

After upgrading to my current system(which I know is still pretty poor but, hey it was cheap) I need a new PSU for gaming as getting my dell 250w to power a proper system is going to be like powering a city with an electric toothbrush . Am I better off getting a cheaper, but still branded (Corsair, antec etc) ~500W PSU and then upgrading in future if when I can afford Xfire, or are PSUs now so efficient that they will not improve enough to be worthwhile.

I'm between the cheaper Earthwatts (450), the middle-priced Thermaltake ToughPower (675W) and the more expensive Corsair HX650W.

Also when the thermaltake (http://www.scan.co.uk/products/675w-...quiet-fan-atx-) claims to have 2 6 pin PCI-E cables and 2 6+2 pin PCI-E cables, are these 4 all capable of being plugged at the same time or can you only have 2 either 6 or 8 pin cables at any one time?

[Hoonigan]

If you're considering going SLi or X-Fire at any point in the future, why waste money on a less powerful PSU now? Go for what you need and then you'll be "future proofed"

As for the Thermaltake that you posted a link to, from what I can make it, it looks like it can power all 4 cables at the same time.

I have a 625W Enermax, which is 4x 6+2 PCI-E cables, so I imagine a 675W from Thermaltake can also do the same..

[whobi]

Thanks Hoon, I was pretty sure that it was worth going for the Thermaltake over a lower powered PSU. Time for some shopping!

[Hicks12]

thermaltake is a solid psu, i have it Quiet psu, i wont say silent as people hear things differently but in my case my pc is fairly quiet as all i got is watercooling and HDD making noise and i cant hear my psu over any of them, when i stick my head next to the psu i can hear the fan but its really just the air its pushing so yeah its silent unless i go near it (who would O.o)!

Hasnt skipped a beat since i got it and its stupidly cheap with the 5 year warranty, i believe i got mine for £50 or maybe £55 a few months ago to replace my Xclio 700w

[Hoonigan]

So can it power all 4 PCI-E cables, Hicks?

[scaryjim]

I can only assume that you're either buying a new gaming-grade graphics card to go in your existing build, or planning a complete upgrade from scratch, since your existing mobo doesn't support x-fire and your existing graphics card isn't worth x-firing?

If you're just buying a new card, then I think you need to stop being harsh on the Dell OEM PSU. It's almost certainly going to be made by one of the big name OEMs like FSP or CWT, and 250W is actually plenty for your existing rig and a 6750/6770, which is about as high up the graphics ladder as I think it's worth you going with your existing rig. The only proviso to that is how old the Dimension was: if it's a much older model then the PSU will probably be weighted to the 3.3V and 5V lines so won't be suitable for a modern system. Check the current rating for the 12V rail (should be a sticker on the PSU somewhere that gives details) and if it's less than 15A then replace it.

If you're completely rebuilding then obviously get the best PSU that you can afford, but beware the power requirement hype on most graphics cards: the actual power draws are always massively over-estimated. For instance, when Hexus reviewed the GTX580 - using their old i7 990X / X58 testbed which is known to be very heavy on the power - they managed to hit a peak power draw, for any system, of 450W from the wall. Given the typical efficiency of modern PSUs that means the most power being drawn from the PSU in those test was around 400W - meaning a good quality 450W PSU would actually be plenty for every configuration under test. Those configurations? 2 GTX460s in SLI; 2 5850s in xfire; a dual-gpu 5990; the GTX580 itself - all of these drew between 435W and 450W from the wall. That test also included 2 6850s in xfire: they drew 353W from the wall.

So unless your upgrade plans consist of 2 GTX580s in SLI on a SB-E / X79 platform, a branded 500W PSU will actually cover you for most future xfire / SLI plans as well

[Hicks12]

It has 4 connections for 4 pcie cables so yes im pretty sure it can power 4 connections

[Pob255]

Well it's more to do with how much current it can supply in total.
The power demands will depend on what cards you're connecting together, two 6750's will require far less current than a pair of 6970's

A 6770 might be pushing that 250w psu a bit too far, a good 400w to 450w would be more than enough.

unless you are really really sure you're going to go crossfire, then just go with a good psu 450-500w which would be good enough for any single graphics card.

[whobi]

I was planning to get 6850/6870 however now I'm waiting for the 7xxx series. I know that PSU powers are overkill but you can't get a low wattage PSU with enough pcie cables without using loads of adapters. Planning xfire in future when I can afford it, but not with the current card!

[scaryjim]

I was planning to get 6850/6870 ...

In that case a new PSU wouldn't be a bad idea, the 6850 is a bit more power hungry.

And Pob - I refer you to the Hexus 5770 / 5750 review where the i7 965 / X58 system with 5770 only pulls 165W form the wall, the 5750 only pulls 151W. On an X58 platform! Like I said, any PSU that can push > 15A on the 12V line (~180W) should be fine for a 6770 - the only question would be whether the OPs recycled Dell was heavy enough on the 12V to cope. But for anything more than a 6770 then yes, new PSU required

[whobi]

the only question would be whether the OPs recycled Dell was heavy enough on the 12V to cope. But for anything more than a 6770 then yes, new PSU required

Even if the dell would let me run it its not worth the risk as I'd still have to get a new PSU at some point in the near future