I know there's so many different factors that can be included in this, but say i had Turbo A smaller, needs more psi to make X amount of HP...and then I have Turbo B, bigger, needs a lot less psi to make X amount of HP

now say i have a stock bottom, and i am trying to avoid blowing anything up

Is the amount of boost pressure or the amount of horsepower the bigger threat in blowing it up? Assuming this is tuned using standalone, etc

I'm thinking HP right? Didn't st00pid's girl boost like 18-20 psi, but it was a smaller turbo so the block held together? But 20 psi on say an sc63 would've had its way with that stocker right?

 

combustion temps / detonation pressures/forces are a far greater threat than just pressurized air.

 

94goldjungsr hit the nail on the head. A bigger turbo at 10psi is pushing more air into a motor than a smaller one at 10psi. Cylinder head design, ambient air temp, timing, octane, and compression ratio all play a role as well. But I assume you are comparing identical motors, so leaving out those other factors, the hp is what you should be looking at.