However, many people like to go overboard with overpowered PSUs when it’s not necessary.

However, that couldn’t be further away from the truth.

For some perspective, let’s look at an extremely high-end PC scenario.

650W Power Supply in a MSI Trident

Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek

Nvidia recommends an 850W PSU at minimum, and our system here would likely work without issue.

Keep in mind that manufacturers err on the side of caution, so these wattages are slightly inflated.

So, even this jot down of system can’t make use of a 1,000W+ PSU.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPU inside a gaming PC.

Justin Duino / How-To Geek

There’s also the power efficiency argumenta higher-wattage PSUwastes less power for the same workloadas a lower-wattage one.

However, the answer isn’t as clear-cut as it seems.

is a common line of thinking among PC builders.

CPU power supply circuit on a motherboard.

Skrypnykov Dmytro/Shutterstock.com

We can see the significant efficiency leaps by comparing GPUs within the same tier.

For instance, theRTX 4060uses60W less while achieving ~60% better FPSthan theRTX 3060.

As for CPUs, the same general principles apply.

These electronics slowly degrade over time, affecting the performance of your PSU.

Although it’s extremely rare,old capacitors can explodeand create a serious fire hazard.

If your new system necessitates a higher-wattage PSU, this is your chance to upgrade.

Although it’s still functional, I’ll replace it soon as a precaution.

you’re able to also use anonline PSU calculatorto make calculating the wattage easier.

However, it’s still a good idea to get something slightly more powerful than the bare minimum.

In our mid-range scenario here, I recommend a 650W PSU, such as theEVGA SuperNOVA 650 GT.

Remember, this mid-range system is just one example, and your scenario might look vastly different.

There’s no need to overpay for a PSU that you’ll never fully utilize.

That extra $100 could be spent on anupgrade that improves performance.

it’s possible for you to leave those 1,000W power supplies to computer workstation users.