8800GTS amp load?

[ericeash]

Alright, the wife said an 8800GTS is a go for Christmas. i have an Antec 480 but i know i need more power. instead of selling it and buying a bigger psu, i'd like to get the thermaltake purepower 250w psu just for the GTS. on evga's site it says the card needs 26A min on the 12V. the thermaltake does 21A (25A peak). i'll mostly be gaming at 720p and playing dvds, hd-dvd, blu-ray. will this psu work or should i sell the neopower and go bigger? i'm a big overclocker and am adding a TEC so i know the neopower can't do it all. it would just be so easy to just adding another psu. this is making my head hurt. slizone has the purepower on the rec. list for the 8800gts in sli, but with a note underneath stating the psu is not certified for sli use on the 8800gts. does that mean it will work for one?

eric

 

[Sentry2]

Do you have a bunch of hard drives and fans or something? I think that NeoPower would be fine with an 8800GTS.

 

[Captante]

Based on the specs of the system in your signature I'd say you'll be pushing your luck with the Antec 480 especially if its a couple years old because PSU output drops over time. It just doesn't make sense to spend $450+ on a high-end graphics card & then skimp on the power supply so I'd say go ahead & replace the 480 with somthing in the 700 watt range just to be safe ... considering if the supply gets overloaded & blows out its likely to take other components along with it when it goes (possibly including your new GTS!) it just isn't worth experimenting IMO.

 

[Modular]

Originally posted by: ericeash
Alright, the wife said an 8800GTS is a go for Christmas. i have an Antec 480 but i know i need more power. instead of selling it and buying a bigger psu, i'd like to get the thermaltake purepower 250w psu just for the GTS. on evga's site it says the card needs 26A min on the 12V. the thermaltake does 21A (25A peak).

Eric,

First off, congratulations on getting the wife to let you spend the $$.

Secondly, and to the point of the OP, the Thermaltake 250 watt GPU PSU is perfect for your application. It is actually overkill for a single GTS, but as an overclocker, you know that overkill is better than underkill...if that's a word.

The power recommendations that you say you read on eVGA's site are the power requirements for the whole systems 12v rail, not a dedicated GPU PSU's rail. So the Thermaltake PSU will be perfect for you.

 

[ericeash]

modular, thanks. that is just what i wanted to hear. i have the stacker 830, and originally planned on going water, so it is loaded currently with 7 - 120mm fans. yes, the fans are quiet. i currently only have 4 HDDs, but since this comp is going to be the central media hub for my 720p projector in the dedicated HT, 1080p LCD in the living room, and 720p LCD in the bedroom, i plan on adding another 4 HDDs for even more storage especially once i'm able to buy a Blu-ray/HD-DVD drive. currently got a 120mm fan on a stock AMD heatsink, but just purchased a Vigor Monsoon TEC cooler off ebay, so I know the Neopower is already working hard. So 7 - 120mm fans, soon to be 8 once i purchase a new HDD cage, by the end of the year 8 HDDs, a TEC cooler, one DVD drive, two PCI cards, and my 165 OC'd to 2.6 (hopefully much higher once i pull off the IHS and add the TEC), I'm thinking i'll have zero watts left for the GTS. I will be gaming, not as much as most people here, but i'll still want to OC the crap out of it because i love that sh*t! so once again, thanks.

 

[SniperWulf]

Do yourself a favor and buy a PSU that has at least 45-50a on the 12v lines. I've run into the same problem that you have with this NeoHE 550. It's supposed to have 42a total split across the 3 12v rails, but something somewhere is coming up short. After doing some research, i've found that this PSU just can't handle it and ordered a stronger one.

I ordered the modular 750w Silverstone, should be here tomorrow. Boy, I can't wait because these random lockups and blue screens are the worst!