Desktop power supply?

Question

I'm looking at a desktop and the options for the PSU are

750 watts

1,000 watts

1,200 watts

1,500 watts

I'm thinking of going with the 1,000 but I was wondering how the 750 would work out.

Here are some of the other features:

-A performance fan pack for overclocking

-Intel quad core i7 CPU at 3.5GHz; it's also overclocked with turbo boost to 3.9GHz and it has its own liquid cooler.

-2x4GB (8GB) memory

-AMD Radeon HD 7970

-1 TB HDD

So, could 750 watts power all of this?

Update:

Yes it is for gaming, I use games like BF3 as a standard.

Update 2:

Also I know that the specs are pretty high. That's partly because I don't want to have be upgrading again for a looong time.

Update 3:

Another reason for asking about the PSU was that I was thinking of saving money and putting that towards another 1 TB HDD or just one 2 TB HDD. So yes, MAJOR gaming.

Answer 1

Favorite Answer

A good branded 750W PSU is more than enough for a single HD7970:

500W (or greater) power supply with one 150W 8-pin PCI Express power connector and one 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connector recommended

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/70...

So, for me 600W is the best to get on a system such as yours of which the CPU is overclocked and has a single HD7970.

But for crossfire (if you want to have such a setup in the future), since your CPU is overclocked, it is better to get at least 850W:

Here is Guru3D's power supply recommendation:

Radeon HD 7970 - On your average system the card requires you to have a 550 Watt power supply unit.

Radeon HD 7970 Crossfire - On your average system the cards require you to have a 750 Watt power supply unit as minimum.

If you are going to overclock GPU or processor, then we do recommend you purchase something with some more stamina.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_radeon_hd...

Answer 2

A good quality 750W unit from Corsair, Antec, XFX, OCZ etc would be fine.

You only need to go above 750W when running multiple high-end GPUs in SLI/Crossfire.

Answer 3

Is for gaming?

if so then no need for i7, i5 3570k more than enough. No need for 7970, 7950 is more than enough to max out any game. 650W enough for even future upgrades if you go with 3570k and 7950

If for heavy music/video editing, then 750 more than enough for the listed spec, requires wattage is only 550W, so extra 200W for future upgrades.

Answer 4

750w should be plenty for that build. You don't need to get more.