QUOTE(anep @ Nov 19 2008, 11:25 AM)
higher watt psu effect OC ability to go higher or not?
QUOTE(chchyong89 @ Nov 20 2008, 10:17 PM)
is it? from my experience,
suppose an E8400 can done maximum 4Ghz at stock vcore on a caplang PSU, but i don't think a better psu or even a superb psu can make it out of 4Ghz at stock vcore also..
from wat i know, oc ability is depend on board and the processor itself.
It works like this, PC power supplies rectify AC power to DC then step it down & regulate the DC supply to the standard voltages used by PC components (12V, 5v, 3.3V, -12V). However, these are obviously not voltages you tweak during overclocking, the motherboard's voltage regulators are the ones responsible for the vDimm and vCore. Hence what you really need to pay attention to is the motherboard's voltage regulators.
Having said that, it is still important to get a good power supply because
-overclocked systems take up comparatively lots of power compared to non-overclocked systems (though still less than most people think), putting heavier stress on the PSU, often causing voltage regulation to suffer
-the power demand for OC-ed systems fluctuates more between idle and load (idle demand goes up slightly, while load demand skyrockets)
-all that shit must also pass though the motherboard voltage regulators before getting to your beloved processor, ram, GPU & chipset, putting their voltage regulators under immense stress. Having to cope with a fluctuating incoming supply on top of that can often be too much for regulator circuits to handle, though this depends heavily on the quality of circuit design & filtering on the motherboard. If its just too much, the regulator circuit will just blow, and possibly take out the rest of your hardware with it
Hence, get a good PSU if you're overclocking. Your hardware will thank you for it.
PS: For very special cases (world record overclocking under subzero cooling), the PSU DOES make a difference. That's because under those circumstances, a mere 0.005v fluctuation can spell the difference between getting another 50MHz more and taking first place, or blowing it. And with the insane voltage involved (>>1.8v for vCore), increasing it to compensate may not be an option for various reasons.