QUOTE(Decky @ Jun 18 2016, 04:01 AM)
Hi guys, question about electricity bill costs here.
Alienware just released a new SFF pc (Alpha R2) that has the GTX960 that is about RM400 more expensive (after conversion) than an equivalent SFF rig I plan to build with a Saphire R9 380 ITX compact card. The alienware is smaller and uses an external 130W PSU, whereas my build will be using a 620W PSU.
As I'm a student who will be paying my own electricity bills, how big of an impact will the Wattage difference impact the bills? On paper my SFF mini ITX build would be 5x more power hungry than the Alienware console, which sounds like the money I save on electricity might mean that the alienware is actually more worth it (everything else being equal) Is my reasoning sound though? I've no idea how to calculate impact of PSU's on bills
Your rig won't consistently draw 620W from the wall if the hardware don't need that amount of power, the extra watt is for extra headroom for your future upgrade, what you need to compare is the 80+ rating, but the outcome will be negligible.
QUOTE(dd159dd @ Jun 18 2016, 07:55 PM)
Last question

Is 520 watt enough for my rig? And how about Corsair CX650M, the pricing quite good.
Based on the parts and the spec sheets of RX 480, 520W is enough.
CX650M's internal components aren't as good as Seasonic M12II EVO series, I will still pick the Seasonic anytime if the budget is around RM 300+.