GTX480x3 PSU Requirement?

[toyota]

Yup, a lot of people don't understand just how much power a high end gaming rig pulls.

Just so people know, the voltage formula is Volts * Amps = Watts,
So a 10Amp circuit breaker or fuse (the most common kind in older houses) trips when you reach
10A * 120v = 1200w
Sounds fine, right? well, if you assume that that Tri-SLI setup is pulling the max 1200w out of that PSU, and that we're still running at 80% efficiency, then we actually are drawing 1200 * (1/0.8) = 1500w out of the wall.

What if you put in a bigger 15Amp breaker like they use for major kitchen appliances? Well, remember they use upgraded wires on those circuits just so that you don't fry the wires in the wall and burn down the house. (Putting a 15 Amp breaker in in that situation would basically be overclocking your house, and I don't know about you, but I can afford to have my desktop melt down, but not my house ) Even with 1800w to play with, you might STILL not have enough power. Is the PSU the only thing plugged into that circuit? What about your monitor? Any lights?

All of this just goes to show how ridiculous of a card the 480 is. It's good that the 580 is an improvement on the power front, but I suspect that in the next generation or two all cards will begin to utilize the kind of power management that AMD put on the 69XX cards.

under heavy loads the gtx580 uses just as much power as the gtx480. in fact it uses 11 watts more than the gtx480 in furmark.

 

[solofly]

Big toys for big boys...

 

[Rubycon]

under heavy loads the gtx580 uses just as much power as the gtx480. in fact it uses 11 watts more than the gtx480 in furmark.

The problem with that graph is the number is the total system power consumption, not the consumption of the video card(s) themselves. Thus it's difficult to tell exactly what's happening.

 

[toyota]

The problem with that graph is the number is the total system power consumption, not the consumption of the video card(s) themselves. Thus it's difficult to tell exactly what's happening.

well thats pretty much how all reviews are. if the only thing that changes is the video card then what is the problem?

anyway here are just the video cards by themselves and again power consumption is the same. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce-gtx-580_5.html#sect0

and the gtx580 uses 27 more watts than the gtx480 did during OCCT http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gigabyte-gf-gtx400_6.html#sect0

 

[Rifter]

well thats pretty much how all reviews are. if the only thing that changes is the video card then what is the problem?

I think the issue with alot of reviews is they measure the whole system. I think this skews the numbers for the higher end cards. For the simple reason that the CPU is going to have to work harder and thus draw more power to keep a 580 fed and running at full speed than say a 460. Obviously the 580 draws more power than a 460 but some of the power on the chart will be the added load on the CPU.

 

[Meghan54]

Just so people know, the voltage formula is Volts * Amps = Watts,
So a 10Amp circuit breaker or fuse (the most common kind in older houses) trips when you reach
10A * 120v = 1200w
Sounds fine, right? well, if you assume that that Tri-SLI setup is pulling the max 1200w out of that PSU, and that we're still running at 80% efficiency, then we actually are drawing 1200 * (1/0.8) = 1500w out of the wall.

What if you put in a bigger 15Amp breaker like they use for major kitchen appliances? Well, remember they use upgraded wires on those circuits just so that you don't fry the wires in the wall and burn down the house. (Putting a 15 Amp breaker in in that situation would basically be overclocking your house, and I don't know about you, but I can afford to have my desktop melt down, but not my house ) Even with 1800w to play with, you might STILL not have enough power. Is the PSU the only thing plugged into that circuit? What about your monitor? Any lights?

How old a house are you talking about? Ours, built in 1993, is all 15A or 20A on individual circuits. Major appliances, like the range and dryer, are 240V and use much heavier breakers, like 40A or 60A....dryer and range, respectively.

Cannot remember the last time I saw a 10A circuit in a house of any age.


Unless the OP has a 100-year old farm house that's never been upgraded in its wiring, it's got 15A circuits. All he needs to do is limit what's on that circuit......no TV, nothing much more than a couple of lamps.