# Is it worth buying a gold vs a silver PSU?



## sttubs (Jul 27, 2011)

I'm in the market for a new PSU, but I was wondering if the gold series is worth the extra cost over a silver series for a computer that will be on about 90% of the time.


----------



## cadaveca (Jul 27, 2011)

I say yes. I think all PSUs should be capable of "GOLD" ratings or better, and anything less should be removed from the market.


----------



## toastem2004 (Jul 27, 2011)

How much is the cost differance between the two power supplies? Theres a lot that goes into this, (electric rate, power consumption, life span of system) but personally IMO if its more than $20, its not worth it.


----------



## wolf (Jul 27, 2011)

cadaveca said:


> I say yes. I think all PSUs should be capable of "GOLD" ratings or better, and anything less should be removed from the market.



high standards eh? 

well really a sivler or gold rated 80+ PSU is going to be pretty damn good already, I think it's really up to you wether that extra efficiency is worth more beans.


----------



## cadaveca (Jul 27, 2011)

wolf said:


> high standards eh?



Yep. Better for the power bill, better for the environment. There's no question here.


----------



## Mr McC (Jul 27, 2011)

I also say yes, if you can afford it: if you can't, the quality control levels for silver rated psu's are probably stringent enough.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ (Jul 27, 2011)

Its not like you are going to notice a much of a difference if at all in your power bill between the two. However a 80 plus gold rating does kind of say something about the quality of the psu.


----------



## MRCL (Jul 27, 2011)

Even bronze is suficcient if you're not pushing the limits and utilising every last watt. I, too, say: if its a considerable price difference its not worth it, if its not that much and you can afford it, go for it. PSUs aren't hardware you should be all Scrooge McDuck about.


----------



## Fourstaff (Jul 27, 2011)

You will definitely want the bronze level at least, but between silver and gold it depends on how much the price difference it is, and also the make.


----------



## thebluebumblebee (Jul 28, 2011)

Have you seen this thread? http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129456


----------



## TheMailMan78 (Jul 28, 2011)

cadaveca said:


> I say yes. I think all PSUs should be capable of "GOLD" ratings or better, and anything less should be removed from the market.



Knowledge is dropped.......and I agree.


----------



## mlee49 (Jul 28, 2011)

It depends, are you paying the electric bill?

If so you may want to consider a more efficient psu. Even 5% adds up over time, especially if the computer is on for more than 8 hours a day.


----------



## Fourstaff (Jul 28, 2011)

mlee49 said:


> If so you may want to consider a more efficient psu. Even 5% adds up over time, especially if the computer is on for more than 8 hours a day.



Another problem is that modern processors are really capable beasts, the whole rig can sit under 50w idle and that screws the calculations up. Even with light interweb load most of them consume less than 100w, especially the Sandy Bridge ones.


----------



## Kreij (Jul 28, 2011)

Get the Gold PSU. They come with cool stuff like a velvet bag with gold lettering to hold the modular cables and other purdy™ stuff.
Kind of like buying the collectors edition of a game.
Good for the all important e-peen too.


----------



## Funtoss (Jul 28, 2011)

You dont wanna get a cheap psu which would destroy even your components in the PC
get the GOLD


----------



## Frick (Jul 28, 2011)

cadaveca said:


> I say yes. I think all PSUs should be capable of "GOLD" ratings or better, and anything less should be removed from the market.



Awesome, us poor people should just shoot ourselves. I could agree that this is how it "should" be in a perfect world, but it isn't perfect.



Funtoss said:


> You dont wanna get a cheap psu which would destroy even your components in the PC
> get the GOLD



Yes, because non gold units will destroy your computer and your family will be cursed for five generations.

When your system is on and WORKING 24/7 then I'd say it might be worth it. When it will be on but only used for surfing and music most of the time I'd say you have to look at how efficient it is below 20%, which is not covered by the standards. Depending on the size of the unit of course.

Looking at the cheapest rated PSU's here (FSP Group 400W), the bronze unit is €27 and the gold unit is €55. That's almost a €30 difference, and you have to use your computer for some time to make it profitable.

For most users i'd say it's not worth it.


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Jul 28, 2011)

sttubs said:


> I'm in the market for a new PSU, but I was wondering if the gold series is worth the extra cost over a silver series for a computer that will be on about 90% of the time.


What's 2% to you?  Silver is 85% and Gold is 87%.  As long as it is 80+ certified, I wouldn't care too much about it.


----------



## Fourstaff (Jul 28, 2011)

Frick said:


> Awesome, us poor people should just shoot ourselves. I could agree that this is how it "should" be in a perfect world, but it isn't perfect.



Once it becomes a law that 80GOLD is the absolute minimum, demand will skyrocket and the economies of scale will kick in. Price premiums will decrease, and the end result is that the 80GOLD PSUs will become only slightly more expensive than the current 80Bronze ones (due to higher quality components and more features). Everybody wins, except your pocket which will need to fork out at most a few more € which can easily be covered by savings in the power bills.


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Jul 28, 2011)

2% is 6 watts on a 300 watt draw machine.  6...watts...


----------



## Fourstaff (Jul 28, 2011)

FordGT90Concept said:


> 2% is 6 watts on a 300 watt draw machine.  6...watts...



Problem is that at low power consumption states, PSUs are really inefficient. But regardless, difference between Bronze and Gold can be justified, but its almost certain that the difference between silver and gold is negligible.


----------



## Hotobu (Jul 28, 2011)

This shit wont mean anything once them platinum PSUs drop. I'm gonna wear one of them around my neck and release a nerd-hop album. I'll have the most power efficient bling in the music industry.

..._Wait what were we talking about again?_


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Jul 28, 2011)

Fourstaff said:


> Problem is that at low power consumption states, PSUs are really inefficient. But regardless, difference between Bronze and Gold can be justified, but its almost certain that the difference between silver and gold is negligible.


80+ = 80% minimum
80+ Bronze = 82% minimum
80+ Silver = 85% minimum
80+ Gold = 87% minimum
80+ Platinum = 90% minimum

The max difference is 10%--not much.


Yes, 80+ says nothing on <20% load (e.g. standby power).  That could have a greater impact on your electric power consumption than how efficient it is when 20%+ loaded.


----------



## TheMailMan78 (Jul 28, 2011)

Frick said:


> Awesome, us poor people should just shoot ourselves.



I agree. Because if your so poor to not be able to afford 20 bucks extra on a power supply then maybe building a computer shouldn't be a priority. Maybe you should focus on food or shelter.

Oh and before you point to my specs and say (You don't have a gold rated PSU) ll tell you right now. I bought that before I knew better. When this one dies Ill be buying a gold rated one.


----------



## W1zzard (Jul 28, 2011)

would be nice to see some math here


----------



## Fourstaff (Jul 28, 2011)

FordGT90Concept said:


> 80+ = 80% minimum
> 80+ Bronze = 82% minimum
> 80+ Silver = 85% minimum
> 80+ Gold = 87% minimum
> ...



I believe there is too much variables for us to say "xxx is better than yyy". A person running simulations 24/7 will see the benefit of Bronze and Platinum, whereas your regular facebooker is better off with the cheapest PSU. Gamers, probably somewhere in the middle.


----------



## Solaris17 (Jul 28, 2011)

TheMailMan78 said:


> I agree. Because if your so poor to not be able to afford 20 bucks extra on a power supply then maybe building a computer shouldn't be a priority. Maybe you should focus on food or shelter.
> 
> Oh and before you point to my specs and say (You don't have a gold rated PSU) ll tell you right now. I bought that before I knew better. When this one dies Ill be buying a gold rated one.



dont try and troll MM you dont need to attack someone because of your personal PSU belifes. No one cares about anyone elses opinion that much in this thread to take you seriously and it certainly looks like your only game because dave is in on it. a watt here or their is nothing no matter what it adds upto over time. maybe to the super OCD or the super enthusiest which BTW if you have enough systems for 80+ to make a diffirence in your everyday computing tasks then maybe you should find a girlfriend and stop bitching about electric you obviously have money. and before you even spout that $20 bullshit try to figure it out first.

80+ silver
SPARKLE 85+ Green 600 R-SPI600ACH5B 600W ATX12V v2...

80+ gold
FSP Group AURUM GOLD 600W (AU-600) ATX12V /EPS 12V...


get it yet?


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Jul 28, 2011)

Fourstaff said:


> A person running simulations 24/7 will see the benefit of Bronze and Platinum, whereas your regular facebooker is better off with the cheapest PSU. Gamers, probably somewhere in the middle.


Out of those three scenarios, the biggest power consumption difference is the middle one.  "Cheapest PSU" often means <50% power efficency and little regard to standby power draw.  In other words, a server running 24/7 with an 80+ certified PSU may easily draw less than a "facebooker" computer on an hour a day with huge standby draw.

People that buy servers usually consider power draw before making their purchase.  Facebookers usually buy whatever John Doe at xyz computer store tells them to.


----------



## TheMailMan78 (Jul 28, 2011)

Solaris17 said:


> dont try and troll MM you dont need to attack someone because of your personal PSU belifes. No one cares about anyone elses opinion that much in this thread to take you seriously and it certainly looks like your only game because dave is in on it. a watt here or their is nothing no matter what it adds upto over time. maybe to the super OCD or the super enthusiest which BTW if you have enough systems for 80+ to make a diffirence in your everyday computing tasks then maybe you should find a girlfriend and stop bitching about electric you obviously have money. and before you even spout that $20 bullshit try to figure it out first.
> 
> 80+ silver
> SPARKLE 85+ Green 600 R-SPI600ACH5B 600W ATX12V v2...
> ...



Ah so when I say something you dont agree with I'm a troll. But if I said something you did agree with I would get a "thanks". Understood.


----------



## Solaris17 (Jul 28, 2011)

FordGT90Concept said:


> Out of those three scenarios, the biggest power consumption difference is the middle one.  "Cheapest PSU" often means <50% power efficency and little regard to standby power draw.  In other words, a server running 24/7 with an 80+ certified PSU may easily draw less than a "facebooker" computer on an hour a day with huge standby draw.
> 
> People that buy servers usually consider power draw before making their purchase.  Facebookers usually buy whatever John Doe at xyz computer store tells them to.



people that want a mainframe dont buy PCs at bestbuy

people that want to game dont buy PCs from sun microsystems


----------



## TheMailMan78 (Jul 28, 2011)

Oh and FYI Solaris I do have "Super OCD" as you say and I work from home and have a wife. Feel better?


----------



## jsfitz54 (Jul 28, 2011)

Economy of scale would also apply to business and government operations as well.  I agree that for 24/7 operation 2% savings is better plus you know that the components are of higher quality, so in that perfect world maybe you get better longevity out of the Gold series.

I'm finding this post very useful as I am looking at new PSUs as well.

My Corsair HX850 reports on some rails just below spec and that spec difference goes lower under SLI load.
Example:3.3v = 2.296, 5v = 4.974, 12v = 12.137... for stock speed and single gpu.
Under OC conditions and SLI, numbers drop; 12v reduced to 11.something.  I don't have those numbers handy as I dropped my settings to stock and removed 1 GPU for summer...due to heat in room.

*Question: For efficiency, should you buy a gold psu based on just what watts you need or should you say add 20% for headroom?  Example: say a 700 watt model is adequate, would a 1000 watt model be better or more efficient?*


----------



## Benetanegia (Jul 28, 2011)

Like many people already said I don't think it's worth it with current prices. I'd say that a $10 or 10 € difference could be justified but no more (and well for 1000w+ PSUs the difference could be higher). 

And in reality all the 80+ cerification is pretty worthless compared to looking at reviews and searching for especifics. Some models might not get the gold certification because they don't meet the requirements at 100% load, but they do meet them at 20% and 50% which is most probably where your actual load will sit.

On top of that some models claim less than what they actually offer (and obviously some claim more than they are which is a scam), like my current PSU (TT Toughpower 775 XT) which is a Bronze PSU, but meets Silver requirements at all loads and even Gold at 20% load (the most important one).


----------



## TheMailMan78 (Jul 28, 2011)

jsfitz54 said:


> Economy of scale would also apply to business and government operations as well.  I agree that for 24/7 operation 2% savings is better plus you know that the components are of higher quality, so in that perfect world maybe you get better longevity out of the Gold series.
> 
> I'm finding this post very useful as I am looking at new PSUs as well.
> 
> ...


 Not more efficient so to say but much more of a future proof solution.

With that being said I doubt you need a 1000 PSU unless you are running three 580's.


----------



## Solaris17 (Jul 28, 2011)

Solaris17 said:


> people that want a mainframe dont buy PCs at bestbuy
> 
> people that want to game dont buy PCs from sun microsystems





> TheMailMan78 said:
> 
> 
> > Ah so when I say something you dont agree with I'm a troll. But if I said something you did agree with I would get a "thanks". Understood.



no and im not sure were you are getting that. sometimes you say things i understand or accept sometimes you dont and other times your known for trolling on TPU have you seen your infractions list? Thats all irrelevent. and just for the general public i will show the birth cirt for my PC

CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-1000HX 1000W ATX12V 2.2 / ...

80+ not even a silver rating. but thats not what we are comparing here.

im also sure that my other PSU doesnt matter either.

ABS DARK BERET seriesDB1000-M-BRZ 1000W Continuous...

i can provide pictures if you like.

i can also tell you that doeasnt make a diffirence in my powerbill. of course i might be being unfair you might pay $3 kw/h in which case it would make a diffirence at the end of the month and you probably shouldnt have a PC and instead feed family shelter etc.



> TheMailMan78 said:
> 
> 
> > Oh and FYI Solaris I do have "Super OCD" as you say and I work from home and have a wife. Feel better?



not really other then maybe the first line i dont see how anything else i wrote COULDNT have been seen as a general blanket term for anyone else reading.


----------



## TheMailMan78 (Jul 28, 2011)

Solaris17 said:


> Thats all irrelevant.



Correct.


----------



## entropy13 (Jul 28, 2011)

cadaveca said:


> I say yes. I think all PSUs should be capable of "GOLD" ratings or better, and anything less should be removed from the market.



In other words, remove 80% of PSU models...


Well at least you didn't say "I think all PSUs should be capable of "PLATINUM" ratings or better, and anything less should be removed from the market."


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Jul 28, 2011)

jsfitz54 said:


> Economy of scale would also apply to business and government operations as well.  I agree that for 24/7 operation 2% savings is better plus you know that the components are of higher quality, so in that perfect world maybe you get better longevity out of the Gold series.


Efficiency doesn't mean built to last.  For example, heavy, all steel cars of the 1960s can still be reliable today but their fuel efficiency was trash.

An 80+ certified PSU could get 92% 99.9999% of the time.  It only takes one number (say, 100% load) not meeting the requirements to fail 80+ Platinum certification.




jsfitz54 said:


> *Question: For efficiency, should you buy a gold psu based on just what watts you need or should you say add 20% for headroom?  Example: say a 700 watt model is adequate, would a 1000 watt model be better or more efficient?*


When you buy a PSU, you should always aim for about 70% (e.g. 300w load, you should be looking at least at a 420w).  Efficency declines with age and 50% is usually ideal.  You never want to even approach 100% load or else you'll be dealing with a lot of heat, noise, and likely, a premature PSU death.


----------



## jsfitz54 (Jul 28, 2011)

FordGT90Concept said:


> When you buy a PSU, you should always aim for about 70% (e.g. 300w load, you should be looking at least at a 420w).



300 to 420 = 40% increase. We are talking HEADROOM right?
I am misunderstanding what you mean by 70%.  Would you please elaborate.
Is adding 40% the sweetspot?

My UPS reports approx 350 watt draw, that includes a bunch ac adapters.  So is a 490 watt /500watt psu where I should aim, in this given scenario?


----------



## Zyon (Jul 28, 2011)

The price margin from <80 to 80 bronze is usually less than 80 bronze to silver, especially if you're going to buy one from Seasonic or something.

As much as best is always the best, I'd prefer a Corsair 80 bronze over Coolermaster 80 gold.


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Jul 28, 2011)

jsfitz54 said:


> 300 to 420 = 40% increase. We are talking HEADROOM right?
> I am misunderstanding what you mean by 70%.  Would you please elaborate.
> Is adding 40% the sweetspot?


My math sucks.  I'm supposed to be in bed.


----------



## mlee49 (Jul 28, 2011)

FordGT90Concept said:


> What's 2% to you?  Silver is 85% and Gold is 87%.  As long as it is 80+ certified, I wouldn't care too much about it.



I understand your point, and most people will not run their system in the rated efficiency range anyways; but some people do want to gain that 2% because they know the long term savings.

I have a privileged of working in a mass infrastructure industry and spending $100,000 on upgrading power to gain 2% is very much worth it.


I do like what you said about it only taking one load to offset the efficiency rating. Many may not realize the efficiency curve varies per supplier.

Here's SilverStone's 80+ Gold curve






Here's Thermaltake's 80+ Gold curve:








edit,  interesting reading here:

http://www.plugloadsolutions.com/80PlusPowerSupplies.aspx


----------



## jsfitz54 (Jul 28, 2011)

mlee49 said:


> I do like what you said about it only taking one load to offset the efficiency rating. Many may not realize the efficiency curve varies per supplier.



So for max efficiency if you use 500watts you should buy 1000 watt PSU, if I am understanding chart and concept?


----------



## mlee49 (Jul 28, 2011)

jsfitz54 said:


> So for max efficiency if you use 500watts you should buy 1000 watt PSU, if I am understanding chart?



Only if you can guarantee to use 500W ONLY. Once you tip over that(or under) you'll drop the efficiency.


----------



## sneekypeet (Jul 28, 2011)

jsfitz54 said:


> So for max efficiency if you use 500watts you should buy 1000 watt PSU, if I am understanding chart and concpt?



I got an AX1200 for this exact reason, my full loaded PC hits the most efficient band of the PSU


----------



## jsfitz54 (Jul 28, 2011)

mlee49 said:


> Only if you can guarantee to use 500W ONLY. Once you tip over that(or under) you'll drop the efficiency.



My question is based on how much headroom is recommended over what current draw you use.

So, for anyone buying a PSU, they should look to oversize by 100% approx for best performance, regardless of Gold, Silver or other rating?

Those wattage calculators, for example on Newegg, are they good?

Does TPU have a wattage calculator?...If not, that may be a good thing to add to this site.


----------



## Benetanegia (Jul 28, 2011)

sneekypeet said:


> I got an AX1200 for this exact reason, my full loaded PC hits the most efficient band of the PSU



But when on idle or low load (i.e movies) efficiency is probably very bad. Most PSUs don't have good efficiency at below 20%.

If you really want to go for efficiency and efficiency alone (disregarding heat/noise) you should aim at 70% for when your PC is fully loaded, and 20% for idle, also knowing that most of the time when gaming/working the PC will be somewhere in between, and thus matching the average load on your PC to 50% PSU load.


----------



## Hotobu (Jul 28, 2011)

Benetanegia said:


> But when on idle or low load (i.e movies) efficiency is probably very bad. Most PSUs don't have good efficiency at below 20%.
> 
> If you really want to go for efficiency and efficiency alone (disregarding heat/noise) you should aim at 70% for when your PC is fully loaded, and 20% for idle, also knowing that most of the time when gaming/working the PC will be somewhere in between, and thus matching the average load on your PC to 50% PSU load.



Tacking onto this the 80+ ratings only kick in at 20% for this very reason. Unfortunately for the person that bought the 1200 20% of that is 240 which most people will idle well under so the gold efficiency will rarely be seen. 



W1zzard said:


> would be nice to see some math here



Ok:

So the difference between levels is anywhere from 2-3% So let's do the calculation with the higher number.

This means that at best a person will save 3W per 100W of usage by increasing a level in efficiency. In order to convert to killowatt hrs (Kwh) we'll multiply this by 60/1000 this reduces to 9/50 (KwH). 

Now we need some electricity rates. According to this the US average is $.127/KwW (so rounding to $.13 and multiplying by 9/50 we get) $.023/KwH. Here's your proportionality constant.


But lets put in some dummy numbers to get a hypothetical range...

Let's say we've got one user that averages 200W per day, 8 hours per day for 30 days:

So that's  ($.023/KwH) * 8 * 30 *(200/1000) =  $1.10 per month

aaaand lets say we've got Mr. Folding @ Home whose computer is never off and has higher average loads (don't know what the average is so I'm gonna just guess that its 350 W and he's got his computer on 24/7)

($.023/KwH) * 24 * 30 *(350/1000) = $ 4.95 per month

To make ONE last note we have to remember that I did my calculations based on the higher 3% number. The difference is really between 2-3% so these savings could drop by as much as 33%. 

_Someone feel free to check these numbers, but I'm pretty sure they're correct_.


----------



## Frick (Jul 28, 2011)

Fourstaff said:


> Once it becomes a law that 80GOLD is the absolute minimum, demand will skyrocket and the economies of scale will kick in. Price premiums will decrease, and the end result is that the 80GOLD PSUs will become only slightly more expensive than the current 80Bronze ones (due to higher quality components and more features). Everybody wins, except your pocket which will need to fork out at most a few more € which can easily be covered by savings in the power bills.



The difference in power bills will not be a lot. Most people will probably not even notice it. For high end users and companies and whatnot it might matter but for the avarage guy? Not a chance. And I'm also not sure if it would be the way you say it will. Higher quality components are more expensive to produce, it's as simple as that and the components in regular 80+ PSU's will be used in other stuff anyway so they will still be manufactured. And I for one think it is nice that there is some room to play here. The crap PSU's should be removed, yes, but there are a lot of PSU's that are not gold and are pretty darn good.



TheMailMan78 said:


> I agree. Because if your so poor to not be able to afford 20 bucks extra on a power supply then maybe building a computer shouldn't be a priority. Maybe you should focus on food or shelter.



Meh, it's more about wanting to spend money. As I said, I would not notice a whole lot of difference in power draw going to a gold unit. Lets scale up a bit and look at prices for 600W units, regular 80+ and 80+ Gold. FSP units is a bit unfair to look at as they are dirt cheap compared to .. anything really. The usual difference between a solid 80+ unit (like the Corsair CX V2) and a gold unit is €40-50. YOu have to use a whole lot of power to make up for it.

I mean it's good to buy gold units, but it's not bad to not buy them. I for one would rather spend that cash on other things. But if you do have the cash and want to buy one, go nuts.


----------



## cadaveca (Jul 28, 2011)

Hotobu said:


> ($.023/KwH) * 24 * 30 *(350/1000) = $ 4.95 per month



Now multiply that by the 6 people I have in my family, and the 6 PCs i have running now, including my review rig and HTPC, and it adds up fairly quickly.

Contrary to most people, I have a large family, and all of us, besides my youngest, who is three, use PCs, whether for work or gaming.

2%, across 6 PCs, is 12%. Of course, if you don't care about the GOLD rating, most likely you aren't even gonna get  SILVER PSU, you'll get bronze, or just 80+ making that 7% x6....equals a potential 42% "worth" of wattage saved.

Of course, it's really only a straight 7%, but the actual cost I save means that half of one PCs usage, technically, is "free".


Of course, jsut because my perspective differs from others, doesn't mean I'm right and thier wrong, of vice-versa...it just means we have different priorities.


My priority is offering my kids the best I can, and that also means having a minimal environmental impact. We've already discussed on the forums here how I do not drive, and now, do not even buy gas, at all, other than to heat my home in winter.

Yes, my standards are high, but for what I see as good reason. Money, to me, takes second fiddle, and my family comes first. Your family too.


----------



## thebluebumblebee (Jul 28, 2011)

Sorry cadaveca, you would not save 12% on your electric bill, or even the usage from your PC's by switching to Gold.  You can't add the percentages.  You can add the watts saved, but not the percentages.  Think of it this way, could you really save 100% if you went and got 50 PC's running Gold?


----------



## cadaveca (Jul 28, 2011)

thebluebumblebee said:


> Sorry cadaveca, you would not save 12% on your electric bill, or even the usage from your PC's by switching to Gold.  You can't add the percentages.  You can add the watts saved, but not the percentages.  Think of it this way, could you really save 100% if you went and got 50 PC's running Gold?





cadaveca said:


> Of course, it's really only a straight 7%, but the actual cost I save means that half of one PCs usage, technically, is "free".



 Reading skills...

I used the numbers in that fashion to lead up to saving the power consumption, in wattage, to half a pc. Multiply the wattage x $$$ = bigger savings for me. I already covered that my numbres weren't wholely accurate, so I fail to see what you're trying to say...


----------



## Robert-The-Rambler (Jul 28, 2011)

*Yeah...*



cadaveca said:


> I say yes. I think all PSUs should be capable of "GOLD" ratings or better, and anything less should be removed from the market.



And I want a toilet made out of solid gold but it is just not in the cards.


----------



## cadaveca (Jul 28, 2011)

Robert-The-Rambler said:


> And I want a toilet made out of solid gold but it is just not in the cards.



Yeah, I get that, but $30 more for a PSU is no big deal to me. I mean, that's what my Silverstone 750W gold cost over the Corsair TX 750W...

 Bad example for you, methinks. It's not that excessive, at all. I have 4 kids, and live off of ~50k a year, in  one of the most expensive cities in this country. If i can afford it, so can anyone else, in my perspective.

I mean, can you even get half a tank of gas for your car for $30?

Of course,  Idon't drive, so that $30 saved in half a tank of gas I never bought weekly, makes it a non-issue for me. It's simply all about priorities.


----------



## Benetanegia (Jul 28, 2011)

Hotobu said:


> _Someone feel free to check these numbers, but I'm pretty sure they're correct_.



Unfortunately I think i's wrong. I don't even know why the 60/1000 thing.

You pay for kWh so using 1kW during 1 hour costs -> 0.13 $
1W -> 1/1000 * 0.13 $/kWh = 0.00013 $
3W -> 0.00042 $

So in your examples:

0.13 kWh * 8 h * 30 * (200/1000) = $6.24 per month for the entire system (200w used)

3% savings -> 6.24 * 3/100 = $0.18 savings per month.

0.13 kWh * 24 h * 30 * (350/1000) = $32.76 per month for the entire system

3% savings -> 32.76 *3/100 = $0.98 savings per month


----------



## cadaveca (Jul 28, 2011)

Benetanegia said:


> Unfortunately I think i's wrong. I don't even know why the 60/1000 thing.
> 
> You pay for kWh so using 1kW during 1 hour costs -> 0.13 $
> 1W -> 1/1000 * 0.13 $/kWh = 0.00013 $
> ...




Those numbers work for me, if I keep PSUs for 3 years.  2.5 years is enough to recoup the extra cost, plus I saved $6 per unit, = $36 total over 6 machines. Of course, I use more than 200W in most machines, unfortunately.


----------



## Benetanegia (Jul 28, 2011)

cadaveca said:


> Those numbers work for me, if I keep PSUs for 3 years.  2.5 years is enough to recoup the extra cost, plus I saved $6 per unit, = $36 total over 6 machines. Of course, I use more than 200W in most machines, unfortunately.



Yeah depending on usage it does make sense. Using the PCs 24/7 you save roughly $1 per month so 12$ per year per machine is something considerable.

Also in your case efficiency is probably more important due to total wattage at home, how much your grid can handle, etc.

But for most people it does not make sense unless gold only costs $10 more or so (0.18 $ *12 months *5 years = $10.8), and keep in mind that an average of 8 h per day is already excessive for 90% of people. However there's many other considerations attached to gold PSUs other than efficiency.


----------



## newtekie1 (Jul 28, 2011)

Looking at the OP's situation, where the PC is going to be on 90% of the time, I don't think it will be worth it.  I assume that by being one 90% of the time we are talking about on, but idle.  In that case you are looking at power consumption way below the 20% mark that 80+ tests at.  We are talking power consumption in the 100w or less range typically.  Now the difference between Silver and Gold is only 2%.  Yes, some PSUs start to really go crazy below 20% load and efficiency really drops on all of them, but you can assume that for the most part the 2% difference in efficiency stays about the same between a Silver and a Gold PSU.

So assuming your computer is sitting idle almost all the time, and it is on 90% of the time.  That means in a 30 day month it is sitting idle about 650 hours.  At 100w usage, the difference between Silver and Gold is a whole 2w.

650h x 2W = 1300 Wh

1300Wh / 1000 = 1.3 kWh

So in a given month you are saving 1.3 kWh by going with a Gold over a Silver.  At $0.13 per kWh, that is a savings of a whole $0.17 per month, or about $2 per year.

It simply isn't worth it.

Now, the most important part we have to remember is that *some Silver PSUs are actually rated as Gold but marketed as Silver*.  I know, sounds strange, right, but it is true.  Corsairs HX850 and HX750(probably the most popular Silver units on the market) are actually rated as 80+ Gold.  Corsair markets them as 80+ Silver so that they don't hurt the sales of their AX line, and fit better with the other units in the HX line.

Also, a unit might be 80+ Silver only because the 100% load number didn't meet the mark, or overall it was only .1% below 80+ Gold.  It is an assumption that because a unit is 80+ Silver it is 2% less efficient than 80+ Gold.  That isn't always case, some Silver units are very very close to 80+ Gold and the difference is only a fraction of a %.


----------

