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How Important Do You Think Power Supply is for 6800?

M

Mister Dark

Member
I was having some frame rate problems with my BFG 6800 OC (since mostly resolved) and I called the BFG support line (nice feature, no waiting and the BFG guy I talked to seemed relatively knowledgable) and the first thing the tech suggested was a new power supply. I have a 300 watt unit and he said that was considered bare minimum for my card and that more watts I had, the better ... Then I talked to a guy at my local PC shop and he said quality was more important than quantity when it came to power supplies ...
How about it? It seems like a relatively cheap upgrade to make ... but will it really make any difference?
 
a quality 400W PSU (antec/enermax/etc) will definitely suffice for that card. or, a 500W to be future-proof. in reality, thats 100 more watts than what you currently have, and i dont think the card alone takes more than 100W. the radeon 9500 pro i have right now takes ~75.
 
Can you clarify on what problems you are having with this card? A new PSU may well be the solution if you are encountering instability problems, but we need more info.

 
A better PSU is not going to give you more framerates. It only gives you better stability on your power and ground lines in your machine so you can support more devices and run them simultaneously.
 
Originally posted by: Sonic587
Can you clarify on what problems you are having with this card? A new PSU may well be the solution if you are encountering instability problems, but we need more info.
Click to expand...

I'm not really having problems with the card anymore, Sonic587 - besides wanting to try out new tweaks 24 hours a day, that is. I was having some stuttering/freezing problems, but I reinstalled my motherboard drivers, card driver and DX9c and that seemed to have cleared things up. I was still getting a lot of stuttering in the Doom III demo, but bumping up to a gig of ram, tweaking the page file, and memory timings in the BIOS has mostly solved that problem as well. I was mostly just wondering if more/cleaner power might improve performance, but if it is mostly needed for stabilty, then I think I can pass on it for now. Thanks for asking though - I really appreciate the help everyone offers here!
 
ok let me start here. ever since i got my bfg6800nu, i learned that my psu sucked!!!!!!!! well i have a 430W psu and it can barely handle it cus its a crappy psu that came with my case. it really is quality. you could even overclock it a little bit more to get some more performance. i just ordered a 500W psu from newedd today so i can unlokc my pipes and oc it a little. when i would disconnect all my fans, one harddrive, cd drive, take out everything from the pci that i didnt need, it ran fine. having a better psu would give more stability. all this stuff i added is making my psu act like a 400lb 65yr old fat woman instead of an 18 yr old sex craved teenager
 
I managed to unlock the extra pipes - or at least rivatuner says I have, don't know another way to check - with my 300 watt supply, so maybe it is a decent one after all. I want to try overclocking the card next - zerocool, you say overclocking might require more or at least better power?
 
Quality > quantity. A good 350W PSU would find its way into my system before a no-name 550W PSU would. What brand is your current PSU Mister Dark?
 
I'm embarassed to say I don't even know, MDE. I didn't install it myself, it just came with my case. I just checked my invoice and all it says is 300W PSU ... If I had to guess I'd say it was a no-name brand, but I could be wrong. I'll have to crack her open and take a look. Do you think zerocool's experience - overclocking your card can depend on your power supply - is something I should consider before overclocking my card?
 
Another way to check the graphics card and see if the pipes have been unlocked is to use a utility like Everest.
You can download it from here.

Look under "Display" and "GPU".
 
He's absolutely right about quality vs quantity. A 350W quality PSU from Enermax, Antec, Forton, Sparkle, PowerPC&Cooling, and a few others will easily destroy a 550W generic that costs $15-20.
 
My recommendation (frugal upgrade): 350w Enermax (best brand IMO, they have massive amps on the +5V and +12V rails). If you're willing to shell out even more: 430W Enermax (Antec, etc also very good).
 
You really should get a good Antec or Enermax power supply. There is no excuse for using the crappy ones that come with most generic cases now days.

Why risk system stability or have to worry about it when a simple and relatively inexpensive part could fix the majority of problems users face today?

That's why a lot of user's on this forum (like MechBgon) and others are very adamant about having good power supplies.

A "good" quality enermax or Antec should run you around $69.

 
Originally posted by: zerocool84
just get this one, it's on sale.....🙂
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=17-103-438&depa=0
but i got this one
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=17-103-914&depa=0
Click to expand...

Wow those are totally overkill for the OP.

Stick to a 350W enermax or 430W if you want to splurge on an even better PSU.

Btw, that first one freaked me out when looking at the 12V rail (it looked like it was only 12A max) but then checking the overload protection it apparently has four 12V rails up to 20A. Insane!
 
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