How many watt is my graphics card drawing?

[shipinabottle]

Hi guys, I have two questions about my PSU. I tried looking online but got no direct answer. I am using a Gigabyte r7 260x (factory OC'ed to 1188mhz core clock and 6.5ghz memory clock). I use it along with a 650w Thermaltake PSU. However, I noticed that my games move in slow motion when I set the settings a bit too high.

So, how do I really know how many watts my graphics card is drawing in-game? Would I see an improvement if I use an 800w PSU?

 

[fralexandr]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1044
Anandtech Bench shows total system draw to be around 230w at the wall using a Haswell i7.

no you would not see a performance improvement from upgrading your PSU.
the r7 260x oc by gigabyte has one 6 pin connector.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express#Power
max power draw possible from that card alone is 150w from the PSU (75w PCI-E, 75w 6-pin)
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-280x-r9-270x-r7-260x,3635-18.html
toms hardware shows a stock r7 260x using 92w while gaming (Metro Last Light) and 129w while bitmining.

You are likely GPU limited in those games, and that is likely what is causing the "slow motion" when adjusting settings too high.

 

[pandemonium]

Like fralexandr said, you're not limited by power, just graphics power; possibly CPU power as well. You'd need to be running afterburner, GPUZ, or the like to determine the amount of % that your GPU is running at. If you're experiencing what appears to be slow motion and your GPU isn't at 95-99%, then it's your CPU that's bottlenecking your gameplay.

Run lower settings or diagnose where your bottlenecks are and upgrade accordingly.

 

[shipinabottle]

Thanks for responding, guys. My CPU is the core i7-2600K. That's 2nd gen, so it's a bit old. It's probably my motherboard bottlenecking too, since it's the H67 chipset. Thinking about upgrading to an H77 or Z77.

 

[pandemonium]

2600K is a pretty outstanding CPU, so I doubt it's that; especially if you're overclocking. I wouldn't bother upgrading your CPU unless you're concerned about the power demands it can bring with its performance.

Check your bottlenecks with GPU/CPUz and other benchmarks. It may even be your HDD giving you the drops in performance (lag due to texture loads). If you don't have an SSD, that may be your next course of action. (I highly recommend one regardless if you don't already have one.)

 

[TemjinGold]

What games do you play, OP?

 

[shipinabottle]

^Playing ACIV, ACIII, AC: Liberation, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, etc. I see the slow-motion only with the newer games (ACIV, AC: Liberation), so I think it's just my graphics card, not the PSU.

 

[apoe]

Those are not the most optimized games, and your graphics card isn't the strongest. The 2600k is more than capable.

 

[teejee]

You have a good CPU, motherboard and power supply, you only need a better graphics card. E g R280 or 290.

 

[VirtualLarry]

^Playing ACIV, ACIII, AC: Liberation, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, etc. I see the slow-motion only with the newer games (ACIV, AC: Liberation), so I think it's just my graphics card, not the PSU.

You need an SSD for the newest AC game, it streams the world in from the HDD constantly.

 

[Deders]

You need an SSD for the newest AC game, it streams the world in from the HDD constantly.

Assassins creed: Black Flag runs fine from my HDD.

 

[Meghan54]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1044
Anandtech Bench shows total system draw to be around 230w at the wall using a Haswell i7.

I know I'm late to this thread, but where in that bench does it say a Haswell i7 was used? From what I remember, AT moved its test bench to an IVB-E based system when the AMD 200 series of gpus/cards was launched back in Oct. 2013. And the old test bench was 4 years old and wasn't a Haswell system, either, rather a socket 1366 setup, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[fralexandr]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7754/the-amd-radeon-r7-265-r7-260-review-feat-sapphire-asus/4
Intel Core i7-4960X @ 4.2GHz
I guess the 4960X is ivybridge-e, thought the 4 series monicker meant haswell, sorry

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

So, how do I really know how many watts my graphics card is drawing in-game? Would I see an improvement if I use an 800w PSU?

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R7_260X/24.html