PowerSpec PSU Selection - Manufacturer Recommendations

PowerSpec_MikeW

I'd like to discuss our power supply qualification process and how we decide if a PSU is adequate for a configuration.

We measure power at the wall and on the system. When we qualify any PSU used on a PowerSpec, we run it, assuming it's gold rated, 10% above the rated output at the wall and we expect the PSU to survive this under and extended period of time. We also test extensively for cold boot issue.

Regarding manufacturer recommendations or requirements, they are recommendations. As an example our recent PowerSpec G722 includes a 750W PSU despite the recommendation from Nvidia of an 850W. First lets look at the fine print on Nvidia's recommendation:

5 - Minimum is based on a PC configured with a Ryzen 9 9950X processor. Recommend PCIe CEM 5.1 compliant PSU. Power requirements can be different depending on system configuration.

Nvidia will always include some type of sample configuration like this. We test the system at max synthetic load, and we target a 65-70% max load under those conditions. This will exceed any load the user likely ever put on the system. The Ryzen 9 9950X will exceed 200W slightly. The Ryzen 7 7800X3D in this system by comparison will max at under 90W.

On the G722 we measured the power consumption at the wall at 542W, minus 10% loss in the AC to DC conversion. Gives us a 488W output from the PSU itself, all measured with at the wall and monitored with OCCT. That's a 65% maximum syntenic load. There's always the possibility of a PSU failing and it usually presents as as system restarting with no crash dumps. But we wouldn't ship a PSU that was inadequate for a configuration. And if you a failing unit, we'll certainly take care of it under the warranty.

If you have any questions about this or any of our testing procedures just post on the forum and I'll answer.