Elite Power 500w help.

[AlexEvans00122]

Hi,
I have a quick question about this power supply. I have just ordered an i5 3570 non k along with other gaming basics 8gb of ram etc. I recently brought a coolermaster elite 430 with a elite power 500w power supply.
I am planning on getting either a gtx 660 non ti, a 650 ti boost when that is out, or a 2gb 7770 depending on how far I will be able to stretch my budget. My question is will this power supply be able to run these graphics cards? Or will I have to send this back and get a different one? Later on I will crossfire/SLI and will change the power supply then.
Thanks, Alex

 

[AnonymouseUser]

You'll be under 300W max for any of those cards and with that setup. The PSU should be relatively safe for up to ~420W, maybe more, so yes, you'll be fine.

 

[AlexEvans00122]

You'll be under 300W max for any of those cards and with that setup. The PSU should be relatively safe for up to ~420W, maybe more, so yes, you'll be fine.

Thanks for your help. I think that you may have just saved me a load of money in shipping. 😛
Does it not matter that the 12v1 and v2 are both 20A?

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Thanks for your help. I think that you may have just saved me a load of money in shipping. 😛
Does it not matter that the 12v1 and v2 are both 20A?

It does matter if the graphics card itself needs more than 240W, but they don't. Looking at just the graphics card power consumption, the GTX 660 uses ~120W max.

The original link shows a system with an i7-3960x Extreme, and the idle/total watts is high due to that CPU. Your CPU will use ~50W less under load, so realistically, unless you add a lot of peripherals and other components, you'll be less than 250W total. That first link is more of a "worst case" scenario.

 

[AlexEvans00122]

ok, I have heard that because the psu is only 70% efficient it will become overworked because the first rail will have to take a push due to the wattage required being over 50% of the total amount the psu can produce. Is this true?
I have also seen that the psu will get very hot after extended periods due to the previous statement and this will cause the psu not to last for very long. What do you think of this?

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Read the Power Supply Efficiency FAQ. It really shouldn't be overworked @ 50%. The heat you're feeling may also be coming from other components. How many case fans does the case have? Adding more will certainly help keep things cooler.

As for longevity, it's hard to tell. It's certainly not a great PSU, but it's also far from the worst, so as long as you aren't pushing more than 400W for extended periods it should last a while. Here's a review of the 460W variant.