[AF_Money]

Why is it that newegg says i need a minimum of 850w PSU and all the other calculators say I only need to cover 480w? Even if I cover for my future upgrades such as SLI video cards and multiple hard drives, most calculators barley get over 600w. Some calculators don't even get that high. I understand different components have differnet power draws, and the watts a PSU puts out should only be used as a guideline, but how am I suppose to have a guideline when the sizes are drastically different with all of the different calculators out there? Is it just newegg trying to sell high end PSUs that people wouldn't normally buy otherwise because they don't really "need" 850w to push their i5 with a $200 video card?

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The wattage of the PSU is pretty much irrelevant.
Most current needs for powers include the heavy duty graphics cards that are more dependent on the amperage on certain rails rather than the total output. It's perfectly possible to have a 1000w PSU that is totally incapable of running a graphics card. Therefore I wouldn't get too hung up on the wattage.

[Neil Jones]

The wattage of the PSU is pretty much irrelevant.
Most current needs for powers include the heavy duty graphics cards that are more dependent on the amperage on certain rails rather than the total output. It's perfectly possible to have a 1000w PSU that is totally incapable of running a graphics card. Therefore I wouldn't get too hung up on the wattage.

[Troy]

Post your parts list.