Corsair 550w enough for my system?

coinz

Senior member
Oct 1, 2004
482
0
0
I recently put in a 4870 plus my old 8800gt for phyx I'm trying to figure out if I should upgrade the power supply.

the system currently is:

-antec 900 case it's 5 fans I added one on the side and the one large fan on top
-e8400 overclocked to 4 ghz 1.32 on the vcore
-4X1Gb sticks of 800 ram overclocked to 890
-3 harddrives (wd640gb black, samsung 1tb, 160gb wd)
-tv tuner card
-x-fi sound card
-4870 1gb
-8800gt
-p45-ud3p board

every time i play a game or anything that would use the video card the power supply gets extremely loud i mean extremely loud the thing overpowers everything else so I'm assuming it's nearly at it's max watts? should I upgrade to the 750w version? I just don't know if i'm stressing it too much and it may blow up on me

thanks
 

God Mode

Platinum Member
Jul 2, 2005
2,903
0
71
How loud can the adda? 120mm fan possibly get? You're either a silence freak or your fan is dying.
 

starfireone

Member
Jun 24, 2008
141
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0

Put some noise cancelling headphones/earphones on and you will not hear the pw fan. On the serious side 550w is nothing these days. If you don't upgrade to at least 750w or better
today ....sooner or later you will be force to the next time you upgrade or
add anything else to your system.
 

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
7
81
Originally posted by: coinz
every time i play a game or anything that would use the video card the power supply gets extremely loud i mean extremely loud the thing overpowers everything else so I'm assuming it's nearly at it's max watts?

If you're sure it is the PSU and not the video card fans, then yes you are probably nearing its limits. Now, that PSU should be good for putting out 100% power, but if you care about longetivity and quietness then you probably want to source a PSU that can run your rig during gaming while only using maybe 60% of total output. You get peace of mind, quieter operation and room for expansion.

If you really want to stick with Corsair, I'd say go for the gold and get the 850W version for $20 more.
 

coinz

Senior member
Oct 1, 2004
482
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0
I did end up getting the 850w version got it for 155 with taxes and shipping (canada) and there is a $20 dollar rebate, I removed a ton of shit with the 550w and there was no sound coming from it.. and to the other two posters above it was getting LOUDD i have all the case fans on this antec at high and thats loud by itself but the power supply got ridiculously loud under load.. Before I did the upgrade to the 4870 the thing was whisper quiet I'm pretty sure putting it plus the 8800gt was drawing too much power
 

kipliq

Member
Sep 12, 2006
84
0
0
I have the corsair 550w PSU, will it run with a 4870 card? Thinking of upgrading soon.
 

coinz

Senior member
Oct 1, 2004
482
0
0
what's the rest of your system it should be fine it was only when I put the 8800gt with the 4870 then I had the problem of it gettin loud
 

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
81
Originally posted by: kipliq
I have the corsair 550w PSU, will it run with a 4870 card? Thinking of upgrading soon.

It'll be fine, I also have a Corsair 550W and a 4870 and no problems. If I ever go Crossfire I'll probably need a new PSU but for now it's great.

And really, that Corsair ought to be able to handle a decent amount of stuff. After all, out of the 550W, 492W is on the 12V rail (41A). But yeah if you put two vid cards in, it might strain it a bit. You generally don't want your PSU to be straining.