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80+gold, silver or bronze?

post #1 of 8
10/1/12 at 12:29pm
Thread Starter 
i am planning on buying a new power supplier but i dunno were these labels stand for?
i just want to be able to overclock a bit nothing extreme and run dual crossfire on it, is 750W enough?

thanks for the help.
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post #2 of 8
10/1/12 at 12:41pm
80+ Gold, Silver, Bronze, etc are efficiency ratings. The highest being platinum which is followed by gold then silver then bronze and finally 80 +. Generally, the higher rated power supplies are better built and are much quieter than their lower rated counter parts. For most people, the money saved from electric bills for an 80+ Gold or Platinum power supplies supplied only amounts to a few bucks a year. So if you're looking for something cheaper, go for a silver or bronze rated PSU. 750 Watt will be enough for overclocking and crossfire/SLI. Just make sure to buy a power supply that is manufactured by a reputable company, ie Corsair, Antec, Seasonic, otherwise you risk frying your build.
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Panda
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post #3 of 8
10/1/12 at 12:42pm
Efficiency is basically how much energy is being wasted during the AC to DC conversion. Let's say you are drawing 500w from the wall and 400w is being supplied to the computer. This would mean at that load it is 80% efficient, and 20% (or 100w) of that energy is being wasted as heat.

The 80 Plus certification represent how efficient a PSU could be. Not only it can help with your electricity bills, it will allow your PSU to run cooler, which in turn will allow the fan not ramp up as much for a more quite working regimen. Be wary though, there are PSUs out there that are label with a false efficiency badge that is higher than it is supposed to. Also, just because it is Gold or Platinum rated doesn't necessary mean it's a good unit.

Anyways, if you want a recommendation of a PSU, it would be helpful to know the specification of the computer it will be powering, your budget, and as well as where are you buying it from (links to the store will be very helpful).
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post #4 of 8
10/1/12 at 12:49pm
I would pick at least Silver, preferably Gold (Platinums tend to be too expensive for my pocket). You get better internal components with those levels too that often translates also into cleaner power, more reliable operation ... and longer life down the road smile.gif
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R3C0NF1GUR3D
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post #5 of 8
10/1/12 at 1:01pm
Thread Starter 
im going for a computer with 2 radeon HD 6770's
a core i 5 processor
3 or 4 bars of RAM (10 or 12 GB)
a blu ray player
a cd player.
a hard drive and motherboard....(logic, i love it)
and that is about it

i want to get the cheapest pretty much. cause with the configuration i want i will be spending 800 euros on it..... so if i can save money then always ^^

i have one site........ but it's frensh..... i will link it anyway http://www.materiel.net/alimentation-pour-pc/
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post #6 of 8
10/1/12 at 1:28pm
Why would you want Crossfire HD 6770s? (I hope you own at least one of them already, if not both.) Anyway, moderate OC i5 and HD 6770s should be okay on 500W or so.

As explained above, 80 plus ratings are just about efficiency, so if you're going for lower cost, you don't need to pay attention to them. You don't get better quality with higher efficiency—you get designs optimized for efficiency at the expense of cost and sometimes performance. It just happens that consumers expect premium products to be efficient, so the high-end stuff is great on top of being efficient. There are ordinary-quality 80 plus gold power supplies and even 80 plus platinum.

At those prices, get the OCZ ZS 550W (62 euros), a decent-quality mainstream power supply:
http://www.materiel.net/alimentation-pour-pc/ocz-zs-series-550w-69453.html
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post #7 of 8
10/1/12 at 1:38pm
Thread Starter 
i am going to crossfire them and yes i already own one luckely ^^;
i will go with a bronz then. thanks for all the help people. this forum never dissapoints me.
thumb.gif

THANKS!
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post #8 of 8
10/1/12 at 2:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lolplayer101 View Post

i have one site........ but it's frensh..... i will link it anyway http://www.materiel.net/alimentation-pour-pc/
smile.gif
i love your English.... for some reason I read it in a Soko accent.

ps. the ZT 550 is a good choice! smile.gif
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