Online power supply calculator: why they are useless
Table of contents:
- Online power supply calculator
- The results, sometimes, are not the most recommended
- Can you measure the energy that our PC consumes?
- It is better to pass us, than to fall short
- Conclusion about calculators
Many people use a power supply calculator to find out how many watts their equipment needs. Inside, we tell you why not use it.
Ignorance can be a bad enemy when we want to know how many watts our power supply needs. This question arises when we have multiple hard drives, a high processor TDP, or a powerful GPU. In this way, people go to an online calculator that " promises " to tell us how many watts our equipment requires. We do not recommend this practice for what we mention below.
Index of contents
Online power supply calculator
In principle, we only get estimates that give us an idea of how many watts our PC needs. However, these online calculators do not take into account the watts that the processor or graphics card usually demands when we overclock, for example.
When we overclock a component, it will consume much more energy. And when I say a lot more power, I mean that the TDP of my Ryzen 1600 is 65W, but it is difficult to determine how many watts it consumes in each circumstance. We know that the processor does not consume the same at idle (IDLE) as at full load (FULL).
In a power supply calculator we can determine the voltage and GHz at which our CPU goes, for example. As we have said before, this is of no use because, depending on whether or not we “tap” the processor, it will consume one energy or another.
The same goes for graphics cards that are overclocked. Logically, they consume much more; in fact, the difference between IDLE and "gaming" can be around 150W more, in others much more. Therefore, all the calculations that we obtain are going to be estimates.
The results, sometimes, are not the most recommended
In my case, I have tried these calculators and, according to my PC, I would need a 550W power supply, which is not entirely recommended. In fact, we can find that they recommend a 500W power supply from one brand, and 600W from another. This is very confusing, especially for the consumer who has no knowledge of what font they need.
For dessert, in my case they recommended a 550W source, but, below, the ideal source (according to the calculator) was 650W, which leaves you even more confused. Therefore, the results are not at all clear and can be quite a hassle for those who do not know how many watts is normal in a source.
It is true that we can find really good and sufficient 550W power supplies; but, perhaps, it is not the most recommendable for the future. We talk about the case that we buy a power supply having a GTX 1060, for example, and later we change it for an RTX 2080.
Not only can we have a bottleneck, but we may not get the necessary performance for our GPU because the font falls short.
Ok, but how do I know how much a graphics card consumes at full speed? To do this, you have to review the product specifications , such as see reviews or analyzes that show changes in consumption from IDLE to "gaming" or "boost".
To give you an idea, we just did the review of the Asus RX 5600 XT in which we showed the changes in consumption. Without overclocking, the RTX 2080 and all the equipment consumes 334W, imagine how much it will consume with OC. Do you think that your 550W source will suffice at a peak load? Sure, but if the difference is small it is better to choose a 650W, for example.
Can you measure the energy that our PC consumes?
In principle, yes. There are devices such as individual electric power meters, which have a plug that tells us how much our PC consumes or any device that we connect to it. For me, it is the most accurate because, depending on what the PC asks for; watts will vary. Here is an example of one.
- Energy Meter: Measure and calculate the energy consumption and cost of your connected equipment, helping you save electricity and save money. Use - Energy Monitoring / Power Meter / Energy Meter. Monitors time, voltage, current, frequency, power factor, operating time, power consumption, etc. Suitable for a variety of devices, such as computers, game consoles, printers, televisions, set-top boxes, routers, hi-fi equipment, players from DVD / Blu-ray or, for example, espresso machines. Reliably detects power consumption of home and office electronic devices The power meter has power off protection: its readings and measurement settings are saved even if you unplug the unit from the power outlet Digital LCD display - Simple operation via 2 buttons to display various data, measurements and calculations of energy consumption (0.00 - 9999.9 kWh), active power (0.1 - 3, 680 watts), mains voltage (200 - 276 volts) and energy costs (0.00 - 99.99)
It is better to pass us, than to fall short
In terms of energy, it is always better than over, to be missing. In this sense, I always recommend 500 to 600 W as a minimum on any computer that has a decent graphics card. Think that in a PC we not only have a processor and a graphics card, but there is also the RAM, the fans, the heatsink, the hard drives, any PCI card that you have installed, etc.
WE RECOMMEND YOU The best PC power supplies 2019However, more watts is not better. What matters here is the efficiency curve. For this, we recommend you go to the ranges with " Gold " or " Platinum " certifications because they manage energy much better, since they are more efficient.
So here we can't skimp on watts because our performance might drop because the source doesn't give the circuit enough power. Unfortunately, its price is much higher in options starting at 600 W. Many things come into play in the price of power supplies:
- Modular or semi-modular. Connections or cables. Efficiency. Certification Noise
Our power supply specialist prepared a couple of super useful tables for us:
| Minimum Rec | Rec. Baggy | Rec. Overclock | |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 2000 series | |||
| TITAN RTX | 550W-650W | 650W | 650W-750W |
| RTX 2080 Ti | 550W-650W | 650W | 650W-750W |
| RTX 2080 SUPER | 550W-650W | 650W | 650W-750W |
| RTX 2080 | 550W | 550W | 650W |
| RTX 2070 SUPER | 550W | 550W | 650W |
| RTX 2070 | 450W | 450W | 550W |
| RTX 2060 SUPER | 450-500W | 450-550W | 550W |
| RTX 2060 | 400W | 450W | 500W |
| GTX 1600 series | |||
| GTX 1660 Ti | 350W | 400W | 400W |
| GTX 1660 | 350W | 400W | 400W |
| GTX 1650 | 300W | 350W | 400W |
| GTX 1000 series | |||
| GTX 1080 Ti | 550W | 650W | 650W |
| GTX 1080 | 450-500W | 550W | 550W |
| GTX 1070 Ti | 400W | 450W | 500W |
| GTX 1070 | 400W | 450W | 450W |
| GTX 1060 | 350W | 400W | 400W |
| GTX 1050 Ti | 300W | 350W | 400W |
| GTX 1050 | 300W | 350W | 400W |
| GT 1030 | 250W | 350W | - |
| Minimum Rec | Rec. Baggy | Rec. Overclock | |
|---|---|---|---|
| RX 5000 SERIES (NAVI) | |||
| RX 5700 XT | 550W | 550W | 650W |
| RX 5700 | 500W | 550W | 550W |
| VEGA SERIES | |||
| Radeon VII | 650W | 650W | 750W |
| RX Vega 64 | 550W-650W * | 650W * | 750W * |
| RX Vega 56 | 550W-650W * | 650W * | 750W * |
| RX 500 SERIES | |||
| RX 590 | 500W | 550W | 650W |
| RX 580 | 450W | 500W | 550W |
| RX 570 | 400W | 450W | 550W |
| RX 560 | 300W | 400W | 450W |
| RX 550 | 250W | 350W | - |
| RX 400 SERIES | |||
| RX 480 | 400W | 450W | 500W |
| RX 470 | 400W | 450W | 500W |
| RX 460 | 300W | 300W | 400W |
Remember that buying a good certification will save us more money each year on electricity bills. We can see differences of up to € 20 between a PLUS certification and another Platinum.
Conclusion about calculators
The online power supply calculator is for estimates only, not actual calculations. There are many variables that come into play to assess 100% what power supply we need.
In this way, pay attention to the technical specifications of the consumption of your components and look for reviews on your graphics card or processor to know what they usually consume at maximum performance, which is what you are interested in knowing.
We hope this post has helped you and you can tell us your questions below. We will be delighted to answer you!
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