hd5850 and 500 watt cpu

[derekfvk]

I currently have

MSI K9A2 neo -f mobo
AMD Phenom II x4 940 BE
4 gigs Patriot ddr2
sound blaster audigy 2 zs
evga 8800 gt 512mb
Silverstone element 500 watt psu (two 12v rails, 18 on each for total 36 amps) this is 3 years old now though.
22" monitor ( play games at 1680 x 1050)

Here is my situation, I would like to update my graphics card, been looking at the radeon hd 5xxx series and liking what i see. I would like to get an HD 5850. However I don't know if it will push my psu too close to the max. Using the extreme psu calculator it says I should have 494 W and 33 amps on the 12 v.

System Type: 1 physical CPU
Motherboard: Regular - Desktop
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 940 3000 MHz Deneb
CPU Utilization (TDP): 90% TDP

RAM: 2 Sticks DDR2 SDRAM
Video Card 1: ATI Radeon HD 5850

Regular SATA: 2 HDDs

DVD-ROM Drive: 1 Drive
DVD-RW/DVD+RW Drive: 1 Drive

56K PCI Modem: Yes
Sound Blaster - All Models: Yes

USB: 4 Devices

Fans
Regular: 2 Fans 80mm; 2 Fans 92mm; 1 Fan 120mm; 1 Fan 140mm; 1 Fan 250mm;

Keyboard and mouse: Yes

System Load: 90 %

Capacitor Aging (+ W %): 20 %


Recommended Wattage: 494 Watts

Recommended Amperage:
+3.3V +5V +12V
5.6 A 15.7 A 33.1 A

This is at capacitor aging of 20%.

Do you think I am safe with this configuration?

If not, my other options were

Get a hd 5770, which would draw 445 w and 29 amp with the same configuration. Based on the prices I have seen (I am in Canada btw) the5770 is about 50 dollars less than the 5830, and since I only run at 1680 x 1050 it seems like a more reasonable option. I typically upgrade video every two years.

Or I could go 5830 and use the approx $70 difference between the 5850 to invest into a new psu right now.

My preference would be the 5850 as I said earlier, I don't have a lot of money to play around with for this,


If you have any comments suggestions or whatever I would be greatful, thanks

 

[happy medium]

5850 will be fine.

 

[yh125d]

5850 will be fine.

^^

 

[Termie]

I have a similar psu and run the 5850 overclocked without any problems. Max out at 270 watts at the wall by the way. Those numbers you have are pretty exaggerated.

 

[AoS810]

Hi, sorry to thread jack but I'm kind of in the same boat. I currently have the rig in my sig and am thinking about upgrading to the HD5850 too. However I've got this PSU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151074

The version I have isn't the "80+ Bronze Certified" because I bought it about 2-years ago, so I'm not sure if their performance is comparable. I probably will end up overclocking the 5850 as far as it'll go without tweaking voltages (i.e. keep at stock volts). I'd appreciate any input! Thanks for your time in responding.