380W Enough?

[BinaryBob]

I bought an EarthWatts 380W PSU a while back and was wondering if it will be enough to run this system running in non SLI.

Video Card : 8800GT 512mb
Motherboard : 650i SLI
CPU : q6600
Memory : 2 x 2gb DDR2 800mhz
HDD : 1
DVD/CD : 1

I know I will have to upgrade the PSU in the future if I use SLI, but wanted to check if 380W would be adequate in the mean time or if this would be treading a fine line.

 

[DSF]

I would say you probably could run the computer without any problems, but you don't have a whole lot of headroom. Your PSU might not last as long running that setup as a higher-capacity unit.

 

[MarcVenice]

Enough, most likely. Are you oc-ing ? If not, your powerdraw will be like 200w, which should pose no problem for the EA 380w. Rather have something bigger though, no way to hand that unit down, and buy a EA 500w for yourself, they are 55$ now?

 

[BinaryBob]

Thanks for the feedback. So it sounds like this would be fine as long as things are not overclocked.

If I do upgrade the PSU, just to be safe, how much would be needed to run two 8800GT's and moderately overclock things so I do not run into the same issue in the future?

Would I need something like the Antec 650W or would the EA 500W work for SLI as well?

 

[MarcVenice]

500w for sli-ing high-end cards, I wouldn't do it. I'd go with a qaulity 600w unit for that. Probably better units then the triopower though. You in the market for one right now ? Otherwise ask again when you want to purchase one, and keep looking for hot deals. Not long ago some high-end 650-850w units were going for 50-70$.

 

[BinaryBob]

I was hoping to order things this week, but I can hold out for PSU deals. Otherwise, I can buy the rest and test it for DOA pieces with the 380W.

Thanks again.

 

[Lunyone]

For 2 8800gt's I'd get at least this PSU:
$120 shipped!
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 EPS12V EPS12V 610W Continuous @ 40°C Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, cUL, CE, CB, TUV - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817703005
Has 2x6 pin PCI-e connectors and is rated at full load at 40C!!!! Also has 5 yr. warranty!

or for $120 shipped!
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX ATX12V / EPS12V 650W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, CB, TUV, FCC, CCC - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817139005
Has 2x6+2 pin PCI-e connectors!!!

or if you want more power I'd go with one of these:
$160 shipped!
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Crossfire Edition) EPS12V 750W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, CB, RoHS - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817341011
Loads of connectors and just about everything one would need for SLI!!!

You can decide which one you like, but all are very good PSU's and are manufactured well.

 

[MarcVenice]

PCP&C is loud though, there's better PSU's to be had for the same price, modular too, like a few silverstones.

 

[ionoxx]

Whoa... PCPC are ultra quiet. I pull over 400W out of my silencer 750 at full load and the thing is whisper quiet. The turbo-cool ones are the loud ones.

Most importantly... single 12V rail on the PCPC. No worries about overloading a 12V rail.

 

[MarcVenice]

I'm pretty sure you can't find a single person who has overdrawn a 12v rail on a 600w + unit, so the overloading a 12v rail argument is bull. As for it being loud, yes, maybe I'm mistaken coz I'm mixing up the turbocools and the silencers. 80mm fans can never be as quiet as 120mm fans though.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
I'm pretty sure you can't find a single person who has overdrawn a 12v rail on a 600w + unit, so the overloading a 12v rail argument is bull.

Pair or Ultra's or a dual proc PC and you will. No bull.

Originally posted by: MarcVeniceAs for it being loud, yes, maybe I'm mistaken coz I'm mixing up the turbocools and the silencers. 80mm fans can never be as quiet as 120mm fans though.

No... Silencers are loud. They're "Silent" when compared to Turbo-Cools. ionoxx probably isn't familiar with what a truly silent PSU is.

 

[MarcVenice]

But, when you distribute the rails correctly you still shouldn't have that problem ? Unless you are ofcourse running a PSU that simply can't HANDLE dual ultra's and/or dual proc's. I mean, a PSU with 2 pci-e 6 pin and 2 pci-e 8 pin connectors for dual ultra's should in theory be able to supply two of them with enough power, why have those connectors otherwise ? And this would still be a really rare situation, I haven't seen you shoot down PSU's with 4 12v rails, so they must be doing something right.

 

[BladeVenom]

Read this, http://www.overclockers.com/articles1452/

This can be ran on a 380 Watt PSU
1. 8800GTX alone = 132W full load, 70W idle
2. e6600 @ 3.6GHz with 1.47v vcore actual = 135W @ 100% utilization
Source: eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Lite v2.5
3. 4 x 1 GB DDR2 RAM.
4. 2 x SATA 7200 RPM HHD and DVD burner.
5. P5W64 WS Pro motherboard.
6. Four pretty low-power fans, including Yate-Loon slow inside the Tuniq and whatever is inside of the 8800GTX.
7. Miscellaneous extension cards that come and go
8. PCP&C 750 watt Silencer PS

 

[magreen]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
I'm pretty sure you can't find a single person who has overdrawn a 12v rail on a 600w + unit, so the overloading a 12v rail argument is bull.

Pair or Ultra's or a dual proc PC and you will. No bull.

jonny, are you saying he'll overdraw ONE rail and the power will be "trapped" on the other rail, like in PCP&C's myth buster about why one rail is better? Or are you saying he'll just have too much system for his PSU to power? Because I think MarcVenice was referring to the former and saying that you don't find power actually getting trapped in one rail, which I've seen you yourself argue on more than one occasion.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: magreen

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
I'm pretty sure you can't find a single person who has overdrawn a 12v rail on a 600w + unit, so the overloading a 12v rail argument is bull.

Pair or Ultra's or a dual proc PC and you will. No bull.

jonny, are you saying he'll overdraw ONE rail and the power will be "trapped" on the other rail, like in PCP&C's myth buster about why one rail is better? Or are you saying he'll just have too much system for his PSU to power? Because I think MarcVenice was referring to the former and saying that you don't find power actually getting trapped in one rail, which I've seen you yourself argue on more than one occasion.

I'm saying neither. I was just saying that I could overdraw a +12V rail on a 600W+ PSU. But it wouldn't matter how many +12V rails you had at that point. One, two or four.

In context to what ionoxx said: Most "enthusiast" 600W+ PSU's are quad +12V rail. There's so much current overlap that there is no "trapped power." There are some 600W PSU's that are only two +12V rail, but the +12V rail's OCP is usually set to 20A, 22A or 24A so it's very unlikely that you would trip the OCP. If you did, odds are the PSU wasn't adequate for your build in the first place.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
Silencers are loud. They're "Silent" when compared to Turbo-Cools.

BWAHAHAHAH! :laugh:

Regarding PCP&C, they make good units but their marketing can be BS at times.

 

[superstition]

Originally posted by: BladeVenom
Read this, http://www.overclockers.com/articles1452/

This can be ran on a 380 Watt PSU
1. 8800GTX alone = 132W full load, 70W idle
2. e6600 @ 3.6GHz with 1.47v vcore actual = 135W @ 100% utilization
Source: eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Lite v2.5
3. 4 x 1 GB DDR2 RAM.
4. 2 x SATA 7200 RPM HHD and DVD burner.
5. P5W64 WS Pro motherboard.
6. Four pretty low-power fans, including Yate-Loon slow inside the Tuniq and whatever is inside of the 8800GTX.
7. Miscellaneous extension cards that come and go
8. PCP&C 750 watt Silencer PS

What about the aging caps issue? With everything in my machine, I'm right at a max of 380 watts with 30% caps aging and I have a 380 watt Seasonic, so I don't dare clock over 3 GHz.

e2140 @ 3
P35-DS3L
two sticks 800 MHz ram at 750 MHz CAS 4
one 7200 RPM SATA drive
one 7200 RPM IDE drive
firewire card (external optical drive, not bus powered, and firewire audio box)
1 140mm led fan
1 130mm low rpm fan
3 120mm case/cpu fans (low rpm)
1 120mm power supply fan (low rpm)
Seasonic 380 watt 80 plus PSU
GeForce 6800 GS at stock with Zalman 700VF cooler at low rpm

 

[superstition]

Does that calculator over-estimate the watts used? I just read an anandtech review with a 3.5 GHz e2140 and the total wattage never went above 236 under full load.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: superstition
Does that calculator over-estimate the watts used? I just read an anandtech review with a 3.5 GHz e2140 and the total wattage never went above 236 under full load.

Well, people have different definitions of "full load". I've yet to see any reviewer "fully load" any PC.

Also consumer level AC measuring equipment has a LARGE margin of error.

But yes, the calculator is an over-estimation in most cases. But that's fine 75% of the time because if you're actually measuring say 400W from the wall, which would only be about 350W in most cases, you don't want a 350W power supply because you don't want to run a power supply at full tilt for extended periods. Give yourself a bit of a buffer and turn that 350W into 550W, 400W into 600W, etc.

 

[superstition]

Well, since my Seasonic 380 watt unit was so expensive, I'd rather not replace it. I've given up going to 3.2 GHz with my e2140. It just seems to be too much for the system. 3 GHz is good enough.

 

[jonnyGURU]

For you, with only a 6800 card, I wouldn't bother with upgrading. You're FINE. If you had a 7x card, SLI or more, ok... another story.

 

[superstition]

I don't think the PSU is strong enough to handle when it overclock to 3.2 GHz, though.

 

[robertk2012]

he should be fine especially if it is a g0. Likely you'll still be at stock voltages.