I don't buy from car salesmen, nor do I take advice from them....

...so when it comes to me...they can ONLY 'dream' ....

Nope, he's a racer's best friend. Jafo knows speed. Jafo know limits. You spout silly "green" concerns. As Jafo said, having to buy another PSU, or worse yet, having to replace the entire machine due to PSU failure or under powering  things is needlessly wasteful and will fill a landfill somewhere with dead before their time components. How green is that?

 

ID isn't trying to build "The Perfect System" He's trying to get the most for his money and build a rig that won't be replaced in a year or two, or three. It needs to last. Do we know what external devices he'll hook to it? No.  Suppose he wants to charge his phone, his tablet, his camera, use a usb powered dock, or HDD?

 Sorry Sweaty, your advice is not sound. ID needs your advice like he needs a boil on his backside.

 

 

Oooooh, a boil on the bum can be quite nasty.. especially just millimetres from the business end of the body's waste disposal unit.

 

Hehe, reading back over this thread, it reminds me of the bloke who went to seethe doctor regarding two main concerns.

One: his eyelids does not cover his eyeballs so he spends much of his life awake.

Two: he has way too much foreskin and it causes issues when urinating.

Anyway, the doctor comes up with the solution to remove his foreskin and graft it on to his underdeveloped eyelids.

The man agteed and the surgery went ahead.

Trouble is, now he has a cockeyed view of things.

There is absolutely no reason to go beyond these two sentences.

If you don't simply understand and accept it, there's just no hope.

 

I seem to have an overpowering urge to repeat that and highlight it. 

I feel like ID probably bought the 800W PSU, so it's all moot now. But the point being that the only reason to do that is if he genuinely anticipates needing 800W.

Why not buy a bigger PSU than you need, you know, just in case?

1. It costs more.

2. It wastes energy.

But doesn't a higher wattage PSU mean better quality? No.

But doesn't a higher wattage PSU mean it will last longer? No.

But doesn't a higher wattage PSU mean it wont fail? No.

Stop it.

Why NOT to buy a PSU that very closely fits your system specs let’s say 500Watts.
1. A PSU that runs at full capacity is -NOISY- the fan will be likely running at full speed.
2. If you run out of disk space and you want to install another drive consider it will also consume some power.
3. If you have a modern GPU - it will clock its speeds accordingly to the demands of the game.
4. You will not be able to overclock your system.
5. You will face problems when running a "K" Processor since they also clock themselves.
6. You will likely end up with a dead/broken PSU in 1-2 years if it runs 24/7

But doesn't a higher wattage PSU mean better quality? Yes if they have ++ on it for efficiency, also higher watt PSU do not have the cheap boost converter/Step-up-Converters, diodes and most of all transistors that pop after 3 months build in.
 
But doesn't a higher wattage PSU mean it will last longer?  IT will since it is not at full demand the whole time.
Jafo already explained it to you above with the example of the sports car and the fart box.

But doesn't a higher wattage PSU mean it won’t fail? No. (Correct) - the chances for it to fail however are minimal compared to a cheap brand low budget 2-3/86 PSU, that suffers and barely can maintain the Voltage T_T.
it will sway/wobble in the output if it runs at full capacity.
With a high end PSU you will either face the first problems when you unpack it and plug it up, in that case you return it. Since these do a check on startup and shutdown if something is wrong to avoid damaging Hardware.
If hardware is broken you will notice during the first or second week normally.

If ID was buying a Office PC and would not be willing to upgrade the system your suggestion of buying 450W PSU would be absolutely fine.
Or if he would only use the integraded GPU and would not install a GFX.

 

Man, if nothing else, you are persitent.  Or should I say stubborn?  I mean, if you had a dozen or so others agreeing with you I could almost understand it, but you haven't even on,  No, everyone is in agreement that ID should invest in a higher PSU to adequately accommodate his hardware and save himself the heartache later one, yet you still argue in the opposite despite that fact. 

So yeah, no matter how many times you flog it, that horse is going to remain dead.... just sayin'

I 'really should' add...

Island Dog has listed his intended specs for his new GAMING computer...not a 'workstation' per se.  The biggest demands are therefore with gaming and what games... and, as with all-things gaming...demands only increase.  To future-proof the machine it needs a larger PSU, AND more money spent on it.

His current choice is a good brand...no issues with Corsair [that's what mine is too], however I also see an issue with both the lower wattage AND it being a "bronze - certified' rather than something more efficient AND capable.

Opinions are like arseholes - everyone has one.  Fortunately when there is a consensus of opinion going one way there's a good chance that advice will be heeded.

 

There are ALWAYS things that can be scrimped-on but a PSU is not one of them...

 

At no time have I suggested ID go for what I did...as that's entirely a different animal....for a 'cutting-edge' system, where about $400 US for a PSU was within the budget.  It'd be interesting to compare actual power CONSUMPTION of both PSUs when attached to the same machine....ie does a 1200watt Platinum ticking over at idle without its fan running at all [and thus 100% silent] use more juice than a 600watt Bronze closer to peak at 30db of fan cooling....

 

Edit...

My 'choice' would be something more like an AX760 from Corsair ...80+ Platinum certified modular ....and yes, it's a little dearer...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139042

Everything is ordered!  I wasn't expecting to get this done for a few more months, but careful planning worked out.  Hopefully everything will arrive this week so I can build this weekend.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ypnmBm

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($110.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($39.99)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card ($351.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $772.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-02 10:41 EST-0500

That looks like a nice machine, ID, with that CPU, 8gb RAM and the GTX 970, you'll have a more than worthy machine, especially with a SSD on board for your OS.

And for not too bad a price, I might add.... so glad you didn't go lower and went for the 750w PSU instead of something inadequate,

Anyway, congrats and I hope it arrives soon.... as Jafo said just a few weeks ago, waiting can be the hardest part.

Keeping just a wee bit back from 'the bleeding edge' is both cheaper and safer - tried and true componentry/setup.

Playing with the 'expensive bits' can be fun, though...[expensive = my CPU cost more than that entire system]...

Remember my golden rule....when first you power up close your eyes and put your fingers in your ears...

So what do you use to push the power button with your fingers in your ears? 

I suppose a big toe would suffice.

Unlike you I have more than one finger on each hand....

 Very Nice affordable machine. I don't want t o put a damper on the build but you might consider another video card. Some interesting reading.

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/198214-198214

http://www.myce.com/news/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-has-serious-performance-decreasing-memory-bug-74543/

 

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/806672/gtx-970-vram-rops-and-l2cache/