JSohn
LMAO. So much misinformation here. 1600w PSU is not at all more efficient than 850 watt unit unless it's a higher rated unit. In fact it's worse at lower loads since it will sit below 20% load when people are not pushing their rigs like gaming. I expect even those EVGA 650w G2 that I bought years ago to last at least 10 years. My old Corsair (Seasonic OEM) lasted that long, and could still be running. Your an engineer? I find that hard to believe. Engineers usually sit quietly working on stuff. They deal in facts. Marketing, on the other hand, they love to upsell, and make bold claims without any proof.  They deal in hyperbole, and stay firmly in that gray area.

phantomshroom

JSohn
LMAO. So much misinformation here. 1600w PSU is not at all more efficient than 850 watt unit unless it's a higher rated unit. In fact it's worse at lower loads since it will sit below 20% load when people are not pushing their rigs like gaming. I expect even those EVGA 650w G2 that I bought years ago to last at least 10 years. My old Corsair (Seasonic OEM) lasted that long, and could still be running. Your an engineer? I find that hard to believe. Engineers usually sit quietly working on stuff. They deal in facts. Marketing, on the other hand, they love to upsell, and make bold claims without any proof.  They deal in hyperbole, and stay firmly in that gray area.

Never said I was an engineer but if you read any of my other posts you would have known that I have been a licensed electrician since 73 & running my computer business for 45+ years with 7500+ clients in North America & their affiliates in UK, EU. I relied on professional engineers to guide us over the last 50 years & they cannot be disputed since they have never failed us. They informed us decades ago that any PSU that is near maxed out is NOT as efficient as a larger wattage PSU. That is 100% electrical FACT & unless you are an engineer or a licensed electrician you have no clue as to what you are moaning about!

phantomshroom
Many members are misinterpreting my notes.

I am NOT saying that everyone needs to buy a large wattage PSU such as a 1600 W PSU. I am referring to those that are running close to 70% - 80% of their existing PSU loads before they OC. Then once they OC their ram/CPU/GPU, they can get close to 90% or higher based on their scenario. Continual daily/regular loads like this causes major damage to PSUs over time & shortens their life.
Someone that only checks their email, social media, online banking, online purchases, etc. occasionally does not need a massive PSU. Those that are serious gamers, heavy video producers/editors, CAD/CAM, etc. are the ones that need to future proof their systems. Chances are that they will most likely upgrade their systems regularly over the years & to save upgrading the heart of their system (PSU) all the time at extra cost, it is far more economical to buy the larger PSU up front to save costs down the road.

Decades ago when 550 W PSUs were top of the line & overkill for most systems due to GPUs as we call them today did not exist, only PCI & AGP video cards existed & did not draw large TDP. Most systems back then were running 300/350 W PSUs & more than adequate. As time & technology advanced, many had to upgrade their systems to 720/750 W PSUs.

During those years & later on many of my clients learnt the hard way that cheapening out on PSUs was a costly affair. Remember, back then most PSUs only had 1/3/5 year warranties & it wasn't til 2000 + that 7/10 year warranties became the norm.

I totally understand most members only need the 850 W // 1000 W PSUs due to their current system specs & load. I get that & wholeheartedly support them. What I don't get is serious heavy OC'ing gamers spending 2 - 4 thousand $$ on their RAM/CPU/GPU/water cooling system/NVMe/etc. but then cheap out on the minimal wattage PSU.

Computer CPUs/GPUs have a TDP (Thermal Design Power) rating in watts of how much heat they will dissipate under normal conditions. Earlier CPUs/GPUs one could find pin-outs & exact voltage specs of the CPU/GPU but nowadays...good luck obtaining them. The TDP is a good guideline as to what power the CPU/GPU will actually draw under normal conditions but once you start heavily tasking & OC the CPU/GPU I have always seen 20-40% higher wattage used by the CPU/GPU in real time power meter readings. Prime example was my AMD Phenom II x4 965 BE black edition with TDP of 140W but I was reading ~212-220 W under extreme load conditions so keep that in mind about ANY TDP rating. Don't forget that if you OC your ram too, it also places extra load on your PSU on top of the OC CPU/GPU.

Over the decades I have repaired many clients computers due to their vicious OC'ing that blew their CPU & others blowing their GPU & some that blew their ram as well. Even though modern 2021 technology is built into most components to prevent damage, one can still blow their systems with aggressive OC'ing.