DX10 Cards and PSU

[UltimaBoB]

I have a 650w Enermax Liberty PSU and have 1950XTX Crossfire + P5W DH Deluxe Motherboard.

I want to upgrade to DX10 cards in maybe 10 months - ideally to twin cards like I have now (not sure if they will call it crossfire). I'll prbably go ATI.

Will I need to upgrade the mobo and/or PSU to do this?

 

[akshayt]

Offcourse you will,

 

[otispunkmeyer]

maybe for crossfire/sli setups yeah

that PSU should be comfortably enough for one of the new 8800GTX's.

this car i think has 2 x 6pin power connectors, and i wouldnt be suprised if ATi's offering had the same, so for crossfire/SLi your looking at possibly needing 4 x 6pin power connectors

 

[UltimaBoB]

so how big a PSU will I need? So definitely will need PSU upgrade?

What about mobo? Is that what you meant by the connectors ?

So to upgrade I'll need like 4 new arts - wow - looking at $1500 US to "upgrade"

 

[Ulfhednar]

Originally posted by: UltimaBoB
so how big a PSU will I need? So definitely will need PSU upgrade?

Nobody really knows until it's out, but with two PCI-E power connectors you're looking at a minimum of what 280W? That's a very conservative estimate too, some people are putting their money on 380W just for the GPU.

 

[akshayt]

Info is out I think, 8800 needs 200 watts under full load.

 

[Ulfhednar]

Originally posted by: akshayt
Info is out I think, 8800 needs 200 watts under full load.

Link? A single one of those 6-pin connectors can handle 15a easily (again a very conservative figure in the interest of fairness), this thing needs two of them so you could be talking 360W even before the power from the PCI-E slot itself is factored in.

200W under full load is very much wishful thinking.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

I thought the 6-pin PCIe connector only carried a max of 75W?

I just read somewhere in a thread here where someone said a 8800GTX can theoretically draw no more than 225W (75W from PCIe slot, 150W from the the PCIe connectors). Ignore this, Ulfhednar, if I'm wrong.

To the OP, you most likely will need a new PSU for G80/R600 Crossfire - but for a single card, you got nothing to worry about.

Edit: I think I was right. Check out Slide 16 in this. Link

 

[Skott]

Best info I have found so far (and I been asking around) seems to suggest up to 225watts and up to 18amps for the 8800GTX. For the new ATI cards nobody knows yet since none are out and availble so we'll have to wait and see. Rumors are it could be up to 20amps but thats all speculation based on nothing much other than ATI cards tend to be more power hungry than nVidia cards. I'm still digging around the net for more info. The Enermax Liberty 650 should be fine for a single 8800GTX setup. beyond that I couldnt say one way or another.