How to power a 7950GX2?

[imported_trajan]

Sorry to post yet-another-noob question but I'm working on the plans for a new system and I'm stuck at the PSU phase.. system so far is:
Conroe E6600
Asus P5W-DH Deluxe
GeForce 7950GX2
2 GB Ram
Couple 7200 rpm harddrives, couple optical drives, nothing else super fancy
[ plan is to eventually OC cpu, gpu, ram, but only once I am sure I've learned how!]

Honest, I've read a few "how to choose a power supply guides" and ran the calculator, but I'm still confused about how the 7950GX2 drinks its power. The nVidia site isn't very helpful: it says they recommend 27A @ 12V.

I'm hoping that doesn't mean for the GPU *alone* And if so, can I achieve that on multiple 12V rails, or do I have to do it on a single one?

For reference I'm currently looking at the Fotron Source 700W, here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104015
... which has 4 12V supplies and is probably over kill, but I like the safety of active PFC, and it allows me to add extras and eventually upgrade to quad-SLI (with a different mobo) if I ever want. But, each 12V line only has a max of 15A.

Am I overcomplicating things? If anyone can steer me out of my confusion (or has recs of their own) please let me know. And thanks again to everyone who has already helped me and other novice builders here!

[edit: oopsI meant 7950, I must be numerically cixelsyd]

 

[adairusmc]

Do you mean 7950GX2?

You definately do not need no 700W power supply. I am using a PC Power & Cooling 510w PSU in my system, and it works great. When playing a game with my system (in my sig), I rarely go over around 200w of load. It might be nice to have a 700w PSU, but you certainly dont need it.

And no, those reccomendations do not mean the GPU alone.


I highly reccomend PC Power & Cooling though.

 

[statikuz]

I'm using an Antec Truepower 550w with my 7950 GX2 and it is an excellent PSU for the job. The card drinks some power from the PCI-E slot itself but uses a dedicated external 6-pin connector for most of its juice. Make sure you get an "SLI-enabled" PSU that has this extra connector (or you don't have to, your card came with an adapter for a standard 4-pin Molex).

 

[moonboy403]

as i mentioned in the other thread, the seasonic s12 600w works great even for my 7900 gtx sli setup

and it's sure quiet as hell too!

 

[imported_killuminati]

well u could also power the 7950GX2 seperately from the new VGA PSU .

FSP Group (Fortron Source) BoosterX 3 : ( $90 )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104019
or
Thermaltake W0099RU 250 Watts : ( $50 )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153037

u can fidn the review on the net

Peace & ciao !!!

 

[LOUISSSSS]

the FSP 700watt psu would be great for you current video card and also allows you to further upgrade your system to newer video cards or even another 7950 card. i have the 600watt Epsilon and its VERY quiet

 

[imported_trajan]

Thanks everyone for the advice.. I'm still looking at the Fotron and also at the Seasonic that was recommended.

My one remaining issue with the Fotron (since I like everything else about it) is that its four 12V rails are each only 15A instead of 18A. The 60A total current is certainly plenty, more than I need really. But I've heard vague murmurs that some motherboards and vid cards prefer or even require a 12V, 18A line.

Does anyone know if that's true? The specs again for my system are E6600 cpu, p5w-DH deluxe mobo, and GeForce 7950GX2 card. I would just get the Seasonic but the distributor I'm getting help (+discount) from doesn't yet have a supply.

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[LOUISSSSS]

no thats not true:
1. 15a x 4 doesn't equal a total of 60a output
2. you don't need at least 18a on each rail
3. the FSP 700@ 15a each will be fine, it has 15a dedicated ONLY to you video card. thats more than enough

 

[Skott]

Another thing to make sure is that the PSU fits into your case. I'm finding that not all PSUs are standard size ATX PSUs. When you get over 550w PSUs they tend to get too large in size for some standard ATX cases. So be sure to know how big of a psu space your case (demensions) has and the demensions of the PSU. Which will be listed on the spec sheet. Also any PSU that has a 80% or greater efficiency rating is a major plus. Another note is that nVidia endorses the FSG (Thats Fortron to you and me) 600w and 700w Epsilons for SLI.