With all this powerful hardware, it’s time to think about which power supply should power the PC. Basically, you can simply use the known performance specifications to get a rough idea. In my case, these would be:
| Component | Count | Power consumption |
|---|---|---|
| Processor Intel Xeon E5-1680 v2 | 1 | Original 130 watts TDP, maximum overclocked probably towards 200 watts and more |
| Graphics card Nvidia GTX TITAN X | 4 | 250 watts TDP per unit, so easily 1000 watts for four, and that’s without overclocking |
| Mainboard ASUS Rampage IV Extreme X79 | 1 | Assumed to be 50 watts |
| Storage devices 8 SATA-Ports vorhanden, Vollbestückung ist angedacht | 8 | Assuming 20 watts per port, for a total of 160 watts |
| Remaining system | Approximately 100 watts for RGB, fans, additional power supply | |
| Total ca. 1510 Watts |
Of course, these are all maximum values, which is why the number is so high. Not so long ago, there wasn’t much choice in the ATX form factor in these performance ranges. Today, the range of high-performance power supplies is changing for the better virtually every day*, due to the high power consumption of modern graphics cards and the resulting demand.
What is possible?
For many years, my first choice for power supplies has been Corsair, especially the AX and HXi/HX series. My second choice would be BeQuiet, also in the upper efficiency segment (Dark Power). Otherwise, I would go for either Seasonic or EVGA.
Here, too, after observing the market for a long time, I found what I was looking for in the classified ads: an EVGA Supernova T2 with an impressive 1600 watts, which was probably used for mining. It cost me €200, with all the original accessories in the original packaging.
⧉ EVGA
⧉ EVGA
⧉ EVGA
⧉ EVGA
⧉ EVGA
⧉ EVGANote the non-standard C19 socket and C20 plug, as the maximum continuous current load of the commonly used C13/C14 variant would be too close to the limit at 10 A at full capacity.
Technical specifications
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Model | 220-T2-1600-X2 (EU) |
| Efficiency | 96 % at 230 V AC (80 Plus Titanium) |
| Maximum performance | +3.3V – 24 A +5V – 24 A total 120 Watts +12V – 133.3 A = 1599.6 Watts -12V – 0.5 A = 6 Watts +5Vsb – 3 A = 15 Watts |
| Connection options | 1 x 24 Pin ATX (600 mm Cable) 2 x 8pin (4+4) EPS (CPU) (2 x 750 mm Cable) 9 x 8pin (6+2), 5 x 6pin PCIe 14 x SATA 5 x Molex |
| Fan | 140 mm, temperature-controlled, 0 dB mode |
| Miscellaneous | MTBF 100,000 hours, 100% Japanese capacitors |
That looks like a good fit.