Power Supply

[Seny Androide]

I read around here that Cities: Skylines, having a larger cities, the CPU is at 100%, as is logical since simulate all Cims has an effort.

My question is, having the CPU at 100% for a few hours, shortens the lifespan of my PC? I have good cooling.

And then another question, having the CPU 100% means that consumption of the powe supply is at 100%, right? I have an Intel Core i7 3770, Nvidia GTX 650 TI, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, 8GB RAM, the power supply is a Nox NX 620W, I have enough power even while the CPU is at 100%?

Regards.

 

[JimmiG]

Yeah, modern CPUs go into power-save mode when not being fully utilized, which reduces the voltage and clock speed. So in theory, the life span will be shortened if it spends extended periods at 100%. The PC will also draw more power with the CPU at 100%.

However the CPU is designed for this, so it's not a problem. Also, 620W is plenty for your system.

Of course, if you want to extend the life of your PC as much as possible and also cut its power consumption, simply switch it off Sure, you won't be able to play Cities Skylines that way, but your PC will last for decades and won't use any power at all.

 

[Myquandro]

Another option would be to buy a more expensive more powerful CPU that wouldn't run at 100%, but if it's more then twice as expensive but won't last more then twice as long it's cheaper to buy a new CPU later on.

I wouldn't worry about it, I let my Mac run at full load sometimes for hours and I'm not worried. CPUs are designed for this.

 

[Seny Androide]

Yeah, modern CPUs go into power-save mode when not being fully utilized, which reduces the voltage and clock speed. So in theory, the life span will be shortened if it spends extended periods at 100%. The PC will also draw more power with the CPU at 100%.

However the CPU is designed for this, so it's not a problem. Also, 620W is plenty for your system.

Of course, if you want to extend the life of your PC as much as possible and also cut its power consumption, simply switch it off Sure, you won't be able to play Cities Skylines that way, but your PC will last for decades and won't use any power at all.

Hahahaha, ''you won't be able to play Cities Skylines'', I see it quite difficult, I'm addicted to the game. And it sure that Cities: Skylines will use 100% my CPU? I don't have any mod installed, I have not thought download the mod of the 25 tiles...

 

[Seny Androide]

Another option would be to buy a more expensive more powerful CPU that wouldn't run at 100%, but if it's more then twice as expensive but won't last more then twice as long it's cheaper to buy a new CPU later on.

I wouldn't worry about it, I let my Mac run at full load sometimes for hours and I'm not worried. CPUs are designed for this.

Yeah, I guess that CPU's were designated for this, anyway I plan to buy another PC in the future, with better hardware, I'll have to look better refrigeration that I have actually. xD

 

[JimmiG]

Another option would be to buy a more expensive more powerful CPU that wouldn't run at 100%, but if it's more then twice as expensive but won't last more then twice as long it's cheaper to buy a new CPU later on.

I wouldn't worry about it, I let my Mac run at full load sometimes for hours and I'm not worried. CPUs are designed for this.

True, but the faster CPU might still hit 100%, only now your frame rate is higher. You could also use your BIOS to underclock and undervolt the CPU, or change the "affinity mask" so that Cities Skylines only uses some of the cores. If you live somewhere where electricity is very expensive, this might be worthwhile. However as you say, CPUs are designed to run at 100%, and power supplies are designed to handle the load, so it's a non-issue.

 

[MiguelBazil]

the power supply is a Nox NX 620W, I have enough power even while the CPU is at 100%?

Power in total? Yeah sure. Quality of supply and stability? With a Nox PSU? Don't think so, but well, at least it's not a Nox Urano... If you ever decide to update that PC, think about a more recent and better built PSU. Nox is not exactly a symbol of quality...

 

[Seny Androide]

Power in total? Yeah sure. Quality of supply and stability? With a Nox PSU? Don't think so, but well, at least it's not a Nox Urano... If you ever decide to update that PC, think about a more recent and better built PSU. Nox is not exactly a symbol of quality...

Better than a generic font is. I have thought about buying a Corsair RM 750, then we'd be talking about a very good quality, but the problem is the price. For now I'll have to keep using the Nox.

I've talked to people who have a Nox NX and ''generally'' hasn't problems.

 

[MiguelBazil]

Nox NX are not problematic in general, the brand just doesn't bet much on quality and that is easy to see. I've seen a few internal shots of some Nox PSU's and they are... poor to say the least. Still, you're aware of the quality, and that was my goal only, better informed than sorry My advice though, Corsair RM are not eaxctly awsome PSU's (Corsair has cheaped out in the latest models), and depending on the area, you usualy have access to better quality/price ratios in my view of course.

As for the rest, just make sure your CPU is properly cooled, and you shouldn't have problems in running the guy at the limit for a few hours a day. Have you checked them?

 

[Shiggs]

you are fine with your PSU. Mostly you only have to worry about this if you bought your computer whole at some retailer like Best Buy or have installed some massively taxing components yourself. Some of those junky HP Pavillion's or whatever they are now come prebuilt with inadequate PSU's intentionally to fry out your components prematurely. I had a computer like that years ago... Sounds like you don't have to worry about that though.

 

[Seny Androide]

Nox NX are not problematic in general, the brand just doesn't bet much on quality and that is easy to see. I've seen a few internal shots of some Nox PSU's and they are... poor to say the least. Still, you're aware of the quality, and that was my goal only, better informed than sorry My advice though, Corsair RM are not eaxctly awsome PSU's (Corsair has cheaped out in the latest models), and depending on the area, you usualy have access to better quality/price ratios in my view of course.

As for the rest, just make sure your CPU is properly cooled, and you shouldn't have problems in running the guy at the limit for a few hours a day. Have you checked them?

Temperatures seldom rise of 50 degrees, anyway I'll look again. You have to think that I have a Intel i7 3770, they are known to have high temperatures due to IHS that Intel implemented to Ivi Bridge saga.

I have a Cooler Master 412s, indeed.

 

[Seny Androide]

you are fine with your PSU. Mostly you only have to worry about this if you bought your computer whole at some retailer like Best Buy or have installed some massively taxing components yourself. Some of those junky HP Pavillion's or whatever they are now come prebuilt with inadequate PSU's intentionally to fry out your components prematurely. I had a computer like that years ago... Sounds like you don't have to worry about that though.

Good! And no, I don't bought it at any of the stores that you mention it, I bought the computer from a store in my country with all installed components, I only bought and installed the cooling.

 

[MiguelBazil]

50ºC is completely fine and safe, I wouldn't worry about it. High temperatures? That's cool to me, I had a laptop with a Sandy Bridge that worked at 95ºC... So yeah, 50-60ºC in full load is very good. Also, now I see why you got that "unbalanced" build, I knew it was nagging me a bit, it's a pre-built tower. Sorry about this, I'm just really interested in computer builds and I kinda get a bit carried away. Enjoy the game at ease

 

[Seny Androide]

50ºC is completely fine and safe, I wouldn't worry about it. High temperatures? That's cool to me, I had a laptop with a Sandy Bridge that worked at 95ºC... So yeah, 50-60ºC in full load is very good. Also, now I see why you got that "unbalanced" build, I knew it was nagging me a bit, it's a pre-built tower. Sorry about this, I'm just really interested in computer builds and I kinda get a bit carried away. Enjoy the game at ease

My next computer will be built by pieces that I will choose.

 

[V10lator]

I worked with so many computers, normally other parts (harddrives most likely) are failing ages before the CPU dies. In fact I have CPUs from decade ago that would theoretically still work as expected (for fun I builded a small netwok server with a Pentium II CPU, just shutted it off again after a short time cause of the extremely inefficient design (such old CPUs, including Pentium 4 IIRC have a way worse performance per watt ratio than todays). Oh and my PCs are designed to use as much CPU power as they can (compiling stuff and so on).

Temperatures should be 70° max. Yes, your CPU might run stable even with 95°, but the lifetime gets reduced hardly as the material isn't designed for such high temperatures.

PSUs are a thing for themself. Always choose one with a good energy efficiency (80+ - that means that at least 80% of the power that gets in comes out at the other side (to your PC). This is important for energy saving as well as for a longer lifetime but, and this is a big but many people don't even think about, you should get as close to the max. watt the PSU provides as possible (while I'm not sure atm if the watt number printed on is what gets in or out) cause else, you guess it, it reduces the lifetime. Ofc. that only counts when the PC is under full load, when you hit that mark idling you PSU will melt when you max things out. Also avoid cheap PSUs like hell. Yes, the good ones are expensive but worth every cent: Ever saw a PSU exploding? I'm not joking, this is a real danger: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/26/exploding_computer_vs_reg_reader/

 

[MiguelBazil]

Don't go near the maximum. As you increase load, you increase temperature, and capacitor life is closely tied to temperature. There's a reason why japanese 105ºC capacitors are so apreciated in PSU's, they increase the lifespan of it. A good thermal design also helps.

From what I read, the 80% usage is a good one, guarantees the peak efficiency without overdoing the temperature. But I do agree, avoid cheap PSU's like hell.

 

[FireFlowerist]

Most psu's are too big for system and you end up using less than 50% of total power. Nvidia makes their recommended power supply wattage according to worst case chinese shit. (25C rated caps)

And you mean your system gets hot?
I just leave this here:

Of course everything is overclocked

 

[MiguelBazil]

Considered overclock in ITX but I always thought it was a risk I was not willing to take. I'm actually considering converting my build to ITX.

 

[Seny Androide]

Thanks for the replies! I keep in mind this power supply:

 

[jack perez]

Jimmi, please note that CPUs are not inherently designed to be continuously operated on 100%. This a limit where they are restricted and it only needs to be touched for a limited amount of time. If practically speaking you can overclock it as well, but you know what happens when you keep running a CPU on very high frequencies. No matter how good your cooling is, continuous processing on 100% is not recommended.