Fortron Blue Storm 500-watt PSU enough for an ATI 4890?

[Miklebud]

I'm looking to upgrade my video card fairly soon, and I've got my eyes on a 4890 to replace my aging 8800GTS. Will my 4 year old Fortron Source Blue Storm 500 watt PSU be able to handle a 4890? It only has a single PCI-E 6pin connector, so I'd have to buy a molex -> PCI-E 6pin to get the power to the video card. I know these are power hungry cards, but I'm also on a budget, so if I could get away with this PSU, I'd like to give it a shot.

Here's a review/info on the PSU in question.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article212-page1.html

 

[ExcaliburMM]

Using a SeaSonic 500w for the rigg in my signature. I think you should be fine.

 

[kalrith]

Fortron makes solid psus. That SPCR review shows it putting out 461W. AT's 4890 review shows the 4890 at load paired up with a Core i7-965 pulling only 287W. Unless you have some crazy power draw from the rest of your system, you should be fine with your psu and should even have some headroom for overclocking.

If you're concerned about getting close to your max available wattage, then I recommend picking up a Kill-A-Watt to see how much your system draws at load. However, as already stated, you should be well below the threshold for that psu.

Edit: FWIW I just ordered a 4890 that I'll be pairing up with my 3yo Antec 550W psu. I don't expect to have any problems with it, and I have my Q6600 overclocked and plan to overclock the 4890 as well (but I'll hold off on that until it gets sluggish in a game).

 

[Miklebud]

Sweet! Thanks for the info! I pulled the trigger on a XFX 4890 (the Hot Deals Refurb) for ~$150! I couldn't pass it up! It'll give me a little bit of a boost for BFBC2 over my 8800GTS!

 

[GiN]

I'm in the same boat, however I have a Fortron AX450-PN PSU. Would this be sufficient for a i7 860 or even a i7 920 with 4890?

I know I may be pushing it with the i7 920.

 

[kalrith]

Try putting all your info into this psu calculator. It's obviously not perfect, but it should give you a rough idea of how many watts you need in a psu. It looks like you'd be fine with the 860 and possibly fine with the 920 depending on what else you're running. This is assuming no overclocking.

 

[GiN]

Try putting all your info into this psu calculator. It's obviously not perfect, but it should give you a rough idea of how many watts you need in a psu. It looks like you'd be fine with the 860 and possibly fine with the 920 depending on what else you're running. This is assuming no overclocking.

I'm pretty much bare bones, with two HDs max and your standard dvd burner. I'm only asking since the i7 920 is actually cheaper than the i7 860 at Microcenter right now (200usd vs. 230 usd). Price difference betweent the two would only be 25usd after you factor in the motherboards.


I would like the i7 920, but do not want to buy another psu. I used the tool, looks like the recommendation is 399 watts. That's pretty close isn't it?

 

[kalrith]

I think you should be fine as long as you don't overclock it, and you might find that you can overclock it pretty well at stock voltage, which shouldn't increase the power draw too much.

Also note that this is the recommended psu wattage and not the actual power draw. Mine draws around 80W less than the recommended psu wattage for my system, so you'd probably only be drawing around 320W.

If you do want to overclock it, then I would recommend picking up a Kill-A-Watt when it goes on sale for $20. Plug your computer into it, run furmark, and you should have a pretty good idea of the power draw of your system and if you have any headroom for overclocking.

Edit: And the afore-mentioned AT review of the 4890 shows it pulling 287W at load with a 965.