GTX670 w/ GTX 460 PhysX - power requirements?

[WiseUp216]

I've been Googlin' and searching the forum without any luck. Advice from you guys would be appreciated.

Current setup:
i5-2300
6GB 1333 RAM
z77 Asrock Extreme4 mobo
EVGA GTX 670
128GB M4 SSD
1TB Seagate 7200 HDD
No optical drive at the moment.
No overclocking plans.

Powered by a 600W Corsair GS600.

I've read in numerous places that this is a quality PSU for the price. Does it have the juice for me to add my PNY GTX 460 into the mix for PhysX, or am I asking for too much?

TIA

 

[JAG87]

Your PSU is enough, but I wouldn't bother with the 460.

Depending what resolution you play at, the 670 probably has enough horse power to handle physx itself.

 

[WiseUp216]

Gaming at 1080p.

My plan was, if it was safe to try, was to do some benches with and without the secondary card.

 

[Termie]

You should be safe. Both cards use about the same amount of power. Because Physx isn't a constant load, you won't really be pushing it as much as you would if you were SLI'ing two similar cards (at least that's my hunch). Since you have a 2300, your power use is minimal and you can't OC, so you won't be taxing the PSU on the CPU side.

 

[toyota]

even in a game that uses physx that entire system would probably only pull around 450-475 watts max so you would be fine. personally I would not fool with using a card for dedicated physx since its not worth the trouble for one decent game every two years that uses hardware physx.

 

[Jaydip]

How many games do we typically get for Physx?Not worth it IMO

 

[ShintaiDK]

I would let the 670 handle both 3D and physx.

 

[Termie]

OP - it would be interesting to see your results, but as others have suggested, it doesn't make sense as an actual gaming setup. The best Physx game out right now is Batman, and my GTX460 can play it with reasonably high settings, including Physx. The 670 will certainly be able to handle all maxed settings without the help (or extra noise/power) of a 460.

 

[toyota]

as long as you use FXAA instead of MSAA, then you should be able to get about 60 fps in Batman AC with physx on high and DX11 with just a gtx670.

 

[WiseUp216]

as long as you use FXAA instead of MSAA, then you should be able to get about 60 fps in Batman AC with physx on high and DX11 with just a gtx670.

Thanks for the input guys. I guess the first thing I should do is get some time in with the GTX 670 by itself. If I'm completely satisfied, then why even worry about that empty PCI-e slot.

I picked it up over Memorial Day weekend and have only managed to get about 15 minutes of BF3 in. I really did like what I saw. The 460 ran it well enough, but man is it smooth now.

 

[lupi]

Minor sideways here now, so there is no real advantage anymore with saving a card to use as the physx card with the newer ones?

 

[nenforcer]

The GTX 670 has a 195W max draw while the older .40nm GTX 460 probably has a similar max draw.

So you are looking at 200W + 200W just for the GPU's which leaves you 200W for the motherboard, CPU and peripherals.

I think you could do it with a little stress on that PSU, but its really not necessary with a GTX 670 which is fast enough to do everything.

 

[Soundmanred]

Minor sideways here now, so there is no real advantage anymore with saving a card to use as the physx card with the newer ones?

Nope

 

[guskline]

I've been Googlin' and searching the forum without any luck. Advice from you guys would be appreciated.

Current setup:
i5-2300
6GB 1333 RAM
z77 Asrock Extreme4 mobo
EVGA GTX 670
128GB M4 SSD
1TB Seagate 7200 HDD
No optical drive at the moment.
No overclocking plans.

Powered by a 600W Corsair GS600.

I've read in numerous places that this is a quality PSU for the price. Does it have the juice for me to add my PNY GTX 460 into the mix for PhysX, or am I asking for too much?

TIA

Very little gain , if any. My goodness, if a NEW GTX 670 can't handle the PhysX needs alone, I give up! Here's what to do. Either sell your GTX 460 or better yet move it to another machine that needs a decent video card.

 

[WiseUp216]

Very little gain , if any. My goodness, if a NEW GTX 670 can't handle the PhysX needs alone, I give up! Here's what to do. Either sell your GTX 460 or better yet move it to another machine that needs a decent video card.

Well, after getting to mess around with the 670 the last two nights, I can say that you guys were right. This thing is a beast. With a conservative OC, my heaven 3.0 benchmarks are rivaling a lot of two-card setups, without going over 68 celcius. Night and day difference compared to my Fermi card.

The 460 is the 1GB/256-bit version, so I'm guessing I can still get enough cash ($75-100) for it to get a better RAM setup. The 6GB I have now is just a generic, no-name set.

All in all, very happy with the reference EVGA GTX 670. I don't have any of the excessive fan/bearing noise that it seems some people are having.

 

[lehtv]

So you are looking at 200W + 200W just for the GPU's which leaves you 200W for the motherboard, CPU and peripherals.

The CPU and mobo together only use around 100W while gaming, and the keyboard and mouse of course use negligible amounts of power. As for other peripherals, the monitor and speakers aren't powered by the PSU

The 460 is the 1GB/256-bit version, so I'm guessing I can still get enough cash ($75-100) for it to get a better RAM setup. The 6GB I have now is just a generic, no-name set.

If your generic RAM is working fine and you don't do anything that needs more than 6GB, why bother "upgrading"?

 

[WiseUp216]

If your generic RAM is working fine and you don't do anything that needs more than 6GB, why bother "upgrading"?

That is a silly question to ask in a hardware forum where most of us are throwing money at things that don't matter in the long run.

RAM costs about the same as dinner at a decent restaurant. Who cares?

The better question would be why would anyone spend $400 on a new graphics card when their old one "works fine".

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Down with Lebron, ha! I hope superior Avenue gets fixed soon.. anyways i am almost in the same situation.. i play UT3, and am just curios how to run physics with my 480 and 670