[topspin]

Yes, thats about $1000 savings. Also, the 80+ Gold power supply is an inefficient choice given then lack of a second GPU; without the second Titan that 1000W power supply will never see 50% load. If you're over-buying power supplies for future expansion then use an efficient titanium rated supply which will waste less power at low loads. The price difference is $80.

[Klinky]

Not really that inefficient, like a 3 - 5% difference between Gold & Titanium[1]. Additionally the Corsair RM1000x actually breaks into 80+ Platinum territory in testing[2]. Also I am skeptical of a 1KW Titanium rated PSU for under $300 that's actually in stock.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus#Efficiency_level_certi...

2. https://www.jonnyguru.com/blog/2015/10/25/corsair-rm1000x-10...

[Alupis]

I thought the 80+ Certifications were about how efficient the PSU was at not converting electricity into heat, ie. loss? Perhaps I was wrong?

[freeqaz]

IIRC PC power supplies are most efficient at around 80% utilization. Below that they are not able to hit their "rates" efficiencies.

[Alupis]

Hmm, interesting. I've always oversized by PSU's as a matter of course, since I've always thought working at 60% capacity is better than 90% or whatever.

I usually drop a 750 watt 80+ Gold into most of my builds, even though a 500 watt or even a 450 watt would be sufficient with a single GPU, and have no plans for a second GPU.

[paulmd]

aiming for 50-60% capacity during typical operation is the standard recommendation.

Efficiency usually starts tapering off below 50% and below 30% it falls off a cliff - however, that just means instead of an ideal 10W power consumption you're actually pulling 30W or something like that, it is usually not a big deal in absolute terms.

(there are also some exceptions, some of the platium/titanium PSUs actually can hold pretty decent efficiencies right down into the basement.)

750W is a good "standard" recommendation, that's enough for any one GPU on the market.

The rule of thumb is really more to guide people not to buy 1600W or 2000W monster PSUs just because "bigger number is better!".

(Although those giant PSUs do have the advantage that they can often run completely passively under load, they won't kick fans on until 50% or 60% load, which for a 1600W PSU means you can comfortably run a high-end GPU and a high-end CPU completely passively.)

[topspin]

> Perhaps I was wrong?

No, you're not wrong. Not sure how what I wrote conflicts with that. I don't think it does.

[Alupis]

> Also, the 80+ Gold power supply is an inefficient choice given then lack of a second GPU

That's what tripped me up, I think. Even without a second GPU, 80+ Gold or better is a good choice.

Your next sentence makes sense though, 1KW PSU's are usually overkill, even if you like to oversize your PSU like I do.

[topspin]

> 80+ Gold or better is a good choice.

The selection was "gold", specifically. And that's not as bad as it might be, but titanium is better across the board and much better at low load. A titanium supply is more efficient at 20% load than a gold supply at 50%, for instance.

If you're over-sizing your power supply by ~60% (as is the case here) then this is significant.

[Alupis]

I'll keep that in mind on my next build. The pricing steps up quire radically though, it seems.

But, you build enough "rigs", you learn not to skimp on certain components like PSU's, Cases and Motherboards... which is normally where new builders cut corners.