Power budgeting for new PC build

Aren't modern GPUs more in the 200-500W range? They've gotten very power hungry recently.
- remember when they just plugged into the motherboard and didn't need multiple external power connections?
  
  I built a PC out of some spare parts recently, and was marveling at not having to plug a power cable into the graphics card (a 1050 Ti). The sacrifices we make for graphics quality...
- The days of powering your computer with a potato are long behind us comrad
  
  Haha one of my earliest PCs didn't even have a CPU fan!
- Can't speak for the most modern ones which I know are worse, but I was pretty surprised when I recently got a smart plug with power monitoring recently to find that my system with a 3080 (though, undervolted slightly), 16-core cpu, way too many peripherals, eight various drives, several small screens and dual monitors, only pulls 600-650W under full load.
  I got the plugs to help me choose an appropriate UPS, and I don't need one as powerful as I'd thought I would.
  
  I need to get one of those. I have 5 spinning disks + 1 SSD, though not much else high powered - it's a file server, CPU is at least 8 years old, and GPU (if you can even call it that) is passively cooled... I just replaced my 500W power supply because its fan had died (explains why occasionally I'd come home and find it powered off) and nothing under 650W had enough SATA power connectors, so that's what I ended up with. Curious how overkill it is...
- I hope people are using that power for worthwhile things.
  
  Uhh yeah, totally! Hides AI-generated image of a scantily-clad anime girl with twelve fingers and three tits.
- RX 560 runs at 50w and can run old games at 1080p
  
  Is 7 years old modern though?

I still don't see the appeal of RGB in your computer, personally. I just don't think it looks good.
- I don't mind RGB as long as it's easy to turn off and it stays off forever.
  What I do mind is that my desktop turned on the RGB is off, but as soon as I shut it down it turns on. And guess what's at the perfect angle to get blasted with the light? My bed. I eventually found the SEPARATE TOGGLE FOR RGB IN S5 STATE, but guess what constantly gets turned back on with every bios update?
  
  My fucking RGB is hardwired, meaning I can't turn it off because it doesn't communicate with the motherboard. I did not ask for nor pay for this, it was an "add on" that Cyber Power tossed in for free...I hate it so much.
- It really sucks, indeed. But I upvote the meme.
- I'm in the same boat, wasted of time and money. I want a black box that is functional, not a night light with all the colors.
  
  I did full RGB/water cooling (AIO)
  One of the fans went wonky and the wiring is a nightmare. RMA’d the unit, bought a bunch of black high-end 120mm fans, black d15 cooler, black (faster) RAM, and a 1000w PSU. The wiring is SO MUCH CLEANER in the back, the machine is completely silent, and no more wonky flashing fan. I can’t even tell when it’s on. I love it.
- The only RGB I have is a tiny module in my mouse's scroll wheel, and that's it. I didnt realise the mouse had that module when I bought it and I was quite irritated because of that but I've grown to actually like it.
  On another note, I'm using an old keyboard that's basically at death's door because it seems like it's literally IMPOSSIBLE to find a good keyboard without RGB in it. It's insane.
- Had one back when it was the hype, but its just annoying. Nowadays my case is a huge (enormous, but much space for cable management and airflow) black box. No panels, no light. Feels better
- Preach. I don't even have a window on mine. I want my machine to blend into the room. All the showy stuff feels like you need to show off to justify the price.
  
  I just realized that my PC doesn't have any RGB. My previous one had it on basically everything but the RAM. Now it's just my keyboard which is set to white.
- As someone who keeps his pc on and has it in his bedroom they are a bane of my existence. All I need is my keyboard when I am using it.
- its like ground effects for cars, no one needs them but some people like to be fancy
- It's a cancer on humanity. Nowadays you have to pay extra if you want for example a keyboard without the pointless rainbow lights.
  
  A cancer on humanity? That's a bit dramatic.
  You know you don't have to have it dancing in rainbow patterns right? You can choose any color you like and even have it be static. I have most of my keys in blue, with the function and numpad in a soft white. This is a relaxing layout for me that helps me focus. But if you hate it so much, simply turn the lights off, that was always an option. Plus I think you are overreacting a bit, there are plenty of good keyboards out there without rgb that don't cost much.
  
  Plenty of non-rgb keyboards, like anything aimed at business. But also you can just turn the rgb off.
- I think it only looks cool as an accent or whenever it has a proper diffuser to highlight a key spot like certain RGB fans with a case that has a clear front or side.
  Then you can go set the color and brightness to make a theme.
- I love when it’s well integrated with a game and I feel it adds to the experience. I don’t see a problem as long as it can be turned off for the people who care.
- Monkey brain likes the lights.
- Same. I bought a prefab desktop last year and it came with RGB and there was no way to disable it though the software. I just ended up removing the jumper for it.

If you can pull off 250 watts of RGB you can grow plants in your PC case
- Unironically heard of folks using PC cases to grow weed stealthily

...budgeting? Y'all don't just buy the meatiest beefcake PSU that microcenter has in stock?
- I bought a 1200w PSU in like 2011 and it's chugging along through multiple upgrades and two different builds. They forgot to put the quit in that one
  
  In 2021 I replaced my old PC power and cooling 750w PSU that I bought in like 2009. When I pulling it out I found a build date from 2006 on it. That thing was a great PSU.
- PSUs are waaaaay more efficient when operating closer to their rated capacity. Pulling 200W through a 1kW power supply is like making a marathon runner breathe through a straw.
  
  The sweet spot is the 40-60% load.
  But it doesn't make that much of a difference. The efficiency swing is maybe 10%. Like an bronze 80 rated PSU will have a minimum efficiency of 80%, but even if you're at the 50% load mark it won't be over 90% efficient.
  The main point (to me anyways) is that its dumb to pay more for a power supply just so you can pay "more* on your power bill. If your idle load is 100W and your gaming load is 300W, you've got no reason running more than a 600W PSU
  
  While true. How much would it actually save you in electricity? If you upgrade every year wouldn’t it be cheaper to just buy the bigger psu outright and pay the extra cost in electricity so you don’t have to buy another PSU when you get more power hungry components.
- Is there another option?
  Like if you don't have at least 1kW PSU what happens when you need more power
  
  The streetlights dim when I boot my machine.
  
  The device needing more power won't get it, simple. Depending on what device it is, it will automatically throttle down so it needs less power, but obviously it will also deliver less performance while so throttled. And if the power is missing during a very sensitive part of a process so there's no time to throttle down, your PC could blue screen or restart.
  It's very unlikely to suffer any long-term damage from this.
- Joke if you want but that's actually a really good idea if you want device longevity. And their in-house brand has been rock solid in every build I've made for a reasonable price
  
  Yep. The max wattage on a PSU goes down over time, so you want to overshoot somewhat to keep it useful for longer. Power requirements also typically go up over time with new hardware, but I think that's been slowing down.
- My server/homelab runs on a picopsu.
  
  Wolfgang? Is that you?
- I look at number of connectors... Who cares about wattage, I just need a mass of cables to tuck into every spare bit of space... Fans hate me.
- The closest Microcenter to me is about a fourteen hour drive, so, no. Unfortunately, the closest equivalent in the Pacific Northwest went under several years ago and nobody has picked up the slack.

250W in lightning? Does your system need to be installed in a lighthouse and be visible from miles away???
For reference this literal lighthouse light only draws up to 200W: https://www.sealite.com/lighthouse-led-lights/
- This would actually be really funny. I want my computer to glow like the sun
- Mother of Board will you LOOK at the fucking HEAT SINK!?
  Clan Ghost Bear is angry we stole their tech
  
  I'd rather go with Clan Wolf tech
- 100w of RGB LEDs isn't that much, normal RGB lighting is almost as efficient as fluorescent lights.
  
  What? The leds that go in the bulb sockets take 3W so the RGB ones going into the case probably take like 1.5 to 2W. RGB led strips seem to take 8W per meter. We're talking about 5m of led strips and 25 individual lights and still not hitting 100W.
  I don't put RGB in my cases so I don't know what the trend is. If it's to turn your PC into a Christmas tree then I can understand 100W not being enough.
  
  LED is at leasr twice as efficient as fluorescent.

If your power consumption is actually 250 then go for a 500w PSU. You'll get better efficiency.
Anandtech (rip) used to be my go-to for PSU efficiency curves.
- Also never cheap out on the PSU. If your shit PSU dies, it might fry every component in your PC, if your good PSU dies, you can just replace it.
  
  I once had a PSU fail catastrophically- arcing, visible from around a corner and down a hall, and quite loud. I didn't want to go near it, circuit breakers were closer anyway, but I didn't know which one so I just hit them all. Once replaced, I fired up the machine and... I think the cmos was cleared, but other than that, no ill effects.
- Better efficiency is only part of it, you'll also get better longevity on the power supply.
  I have a few 1k watt PSUs left over from my bitcoin mining days and all but one of them are still good.

Gaming is a naturally social activity, so its only natural to use as a "monitor" a digital projector with enough power for a small cinema room.

Man, is 20w typical for (maybe a PCIe 5.0) SSD? It would be wild if we ditched moving parts in HDDs and ended up consuming more power
- Also RGB doesn't use anywhere near 250w. Given that LED spotlights are usually around 25-75w, at 250w your PC would be too bright to look at. I have 9 RGB fans, along with a GPU and motherboard with RGB LEDs; the difference between RGB off and RGB on at full brightness is ~10w, measured from the wall.
  
  It's very likely that OOP is using hyperbole to be funny.

Might as well add a laser death ray for good measure
- It's for the bugs in the system.

I must be out of touch. What's RGB in this context?
- Ruth Gader Binsburg
- Red Green Blue, got to have a ton of RGB lighting in their PC.
- LED lighting. Usually can adjust to whatever color lighting you like. Pure aesthetic value, no actual benefit to the performance of the machine itself.

The environment: 😢

https://sarahcandersenshop.com/collections/sarahs-scribbles-featured-products/products/rgb-1387-d3-hdism-tee

Does it even go lower?