Decent Video Card for a 350w Power Supply

[lakedude]

The most I can get my i7-3770s/HD 7850 system to draw is about 260 watts running LinPack and FurMark at the same time. Running 4xPOEM on the GPU and 6xRosetta on the CPU the thing draws about 160 watts stock or 180 over clocked. It pulls about 165 watts in game. That i3 should draw a bit less?

 

[toyota]

An entire system with GTX680 (without GPU load) + i5 3450 loaded with motherboard, DDR3 and hard drives pulls 98W only in a real world app and 117W under Prime 95. Add 96W for the videocard, you are still well under 200W since no game will load the CPU and GPU to 100% at the same time.

why are you so determined to have the OP run at the ragged edge? his system with a 7850 would most certainly use around 225 watts which is about the MAX that the 12v can realistically handle when new new.

 

[RussianSensation]

The most I can get my i7-3770s/HD 7850 system to draw is about 260 watts running LinPack and FurMark at the same time. Running 4xPOEM on the GPU and 6xRosetta on the CPU the thing draws about 160 watts stock or 180 over clocked. It pulls about 165 watts in game. That i3 should draw a bit less?

Ya and think about that for a second, 2 highest most unrealistic loads on both the GPU and CPU at the same time that we overclockers use as a worst case scenario to feel good inside when we go to bed. FurMark on the GPU is literally the most unrealistic test ever created. For a normal user at stock speeds those applications are irrelevant.

why are you so determined to have the OP run at the ragged edge? his system with a 7850 would most certainly use around 225 watts which is about the MAX that the 12v can realistically handle when new new.

See I don't think it will. I think you are exaggerating how much power a system draws because you are assuming 100% load on both the CPU and GPU. Even lakedude said his system draws around 165-180W.

Do you have a P3 Kill-a-Watt toyota? Load up Crysis or Metro and check the power consumption then apply your PSU's efficiency rating. I bet your system draws way less than 275W in total once you apply the efficiency correction rating.

 

[superccs]

Running prime95 on a X6 1055T and a GTX 460 (both overclocked) and I only pull 235W.

 

[toyota]

Running prime95 on a X6 1055T and a GTX 460 (both overclocked) and I only pull 235W.

um there is no gpu load in Prime...

 

[toyota]

OP just get the 7850. let us know in a few months if your pc is still working...

 

[RussianSensation]

OP just get the 7850. let us know in a few months if your pc is still working...

Didn't you recommend a 7770? There is only a 23W difference in power consumption between a 7770 and a 7850. So you think another 23W is going to burn that PSU up?

 

[toyota]

Didn't you recommend a 7770? There is only a 23W difference in power consumption between a 7770 and a 7850. So you think another 23W is going to burn that PSU up?

you have to draw the line somewhere and I said 7770 is the most I would get. and the 7850's biggest selling point is its overclocking ability which he would never be able to use. he will be pushing that psu almost to the edge with just a stock 7850.

AGAIN 225 watts max is about what he has to work with so save almost 100 bucks and just get the 7770.

 

[Maximilian]

Yeah that comp wont draw much power but its always a good idea to have a quality PSU anyways, a low wattage antec/corsair/seasonic/bequiet, no need to go overkill though, i recently saw on another forum some guy who had a 3770k and a 6850 with a thermaltake toughpower 1500w! to power it... Crazy stuff.

 

[RaistlinZ]

OEM PSU's are junk. Invest the money for a quality PSU and run a nice video card like a 7850.

Corsair 430w 80 Plus PSU for $25.00 after rebate. There's no reason to stay with a crappy OEM PSU.

 

[VirtualLarry]

My Q9300 45nm quad-core OC to 3.0 and factory OC 715Mhz GTX460 1GB draws 265W under full CPU and GPU load, at the wall. with an EarthWatts 650W PSU.

 

[toyota]

My Q9300 45nm quad-core OC to 3.0 and factory OC 715Mhz GTX460 1GB draws 265W under full CPU and GPU load, at the wall. with an EarthWatts 650W PSU.

FULL load for BOTH cpu and gpu and total power draw for entire system at the wall? I doubt that as your system would pull that much or more just in some games. I just ran the Hard Rest demo and hit nearly 300 watts at the wall and my gpu and cpu use hardly any more power than yours.

 

[RussianSensation]

FULL load for BOTH cpu and gpu and total power draw for entire system at the wall? I doubt that as your system would pull that much or more just in some games. I just ran the Hard Rest demo and hit nearly 300 watts at the wall and my gpu and cpu use hardly any more power than yours.

That's the thing, at the wall. The PSU load is probably 0.8566*300 = 256W for you. You gotta account for the PSU inefficiency. Keep in mind your GPU draws more power than a 7850. Also your CPU is overclocked, you have 16GB of ram and your dedicated soundcard probably draws another 8-9W. Put your CPU down to stock speeds, remove the soundcard. See what you get. Now subtract another 15-20W for GPU against the 7850.

 

[VirtualLarry]

FULL load for BOTH cpu and gpu and total power draw for entire system at the wall? I doubt that as your system would pull that much or more just in some games. I just ran the Hard Rest demo and hit nearly 300 watts at the wall and my gpu and cpu use hardly any more power than yours.

Believe it or don't believe it, that's your choice. I'm just reporting the facts. Using a Kill-A-Watt EZ (4460) unit. Believe me, distributed computing puts a pretty heavy load on a PC. As much or more than OCCT PSU test.

Note that neither the CPU nor the GPU are overvolted at all.

Edit: I have an Agility 2 90GB SSD installed, and no HDD. Also have an IDE DVD drive.

 

[toyota]

That's the thing, at the wall. The PSU load is probably 0.8566*300 = 256W for you. You gotta account for the PSU inefficiency. Keep in mind you GPU draws way more power than a 7850. Also your CPU is overclocked, you have 16GB of ram and your dedicated soundcard probably draws another 8-9W. Put your CPU down to stock speeds, remove the soundcard. See what you get.

I know that is at the wall. it also had nothing to do with the OP and was only a reply for VirtualLarry.


AGAIN the OP only has about 225 watts MAX available on the 12v line. that is NOT enough to safely power his system with a 7850.

 

[RussianSensation]

Honestly, the OP should just spend $40-50 on a new PSU. It'll come in handy for future upgrades. That CPU is good enough to survive 2 GPU upgrades at least. We are splitting hairs here but an HD7770 isn't really fast enough for 1080P gaming imo without turning down the settings a lot. That means in 15 months or so the OP will want to upgrade and he'll again run into the power limitation. I say get a new PSU.

 

[xalb1]

I guess the best thing to do is get a new psu... This one looks good http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182066

 

[lakedude]

I guess the best thing to do is get a new psu... This one looks good http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182066

I just picked one of those up for $55.99! Nice unit for the money.

 

[xalb1]

Where did you get it that cheap?

 

[coffeejunkee]

OEM PSU's are junk. Invest the money for a quality PSU and run a nice video card like a 7850.

Corsair 430w 80 Plus PSU for $25.00 after rebate. There's no reason to stay with a crappy OEM PSU.

Not necessarily, many oem systems come with FSP power supplies, and they are not that bad at all. This one we're looking at here is made by Delta, one of the best manufacturers in the business. I believe this one can do better than 75% at 25c, even after a couple years.

Toyota, are you sure it has no safety features at all? Personally I would try it with 7850 but it's true, a more modern psu wouldn't hurt. Antec HCG 400 or XFX Pro 450W are good.

 

[Majcric]

Op, I'd probably just grab the 7770. As it is sometimes a pain to install PSU's on those small vendor cases. I have no idea what your case looks like but I imagine it being very cramped.

 

[DominionSeraph]

n'thing the 7770. It's low power and reasonably priced.

 

[xalb1]

Thnx for the input guys I ended up buying MSI R7770 PMD1GD5 $109 and Rosewill capstone modular PSU 450w 80 Plus Gold $64

 

[futurefields]

Thnx for the input guys I ended up buying MSI R7770 PMD1GD5 $109 and Rosewill capstone modular PSU 450w 80 Plus Gold $64

You didn't need to buy that PSU to power that card.