minimum psu for 2 video cards

bleucharm28

Senior member
Sep 27, 2008
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whats the minimum Power supply to run (2)Nvidia GTX280 or (2) ATi 4870 x2. most likely going with PC Cooling PSU's. Will most likely stick these card into future motherboard like x58/nforce. new nahalem cpu, new ram's.
 

mpilchfamily

Diamond Member
Jun 11, 2007
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That can very based on the CPU and weather you will be OCing or not. But a 800W or better will have you covered.
 

HOOfan 1

Platinum Member
Sep 2, 2007
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Yeah absolute minimum for either of those should be a quality 800W unit. For the HD4870X2 I would go 850-900W or better. If you are going PC Power and Cooling then you might want to look at the Turbo-Cool 860W...or the Antec Signature 850W, those buggers are about as quality as you can get in their output range.
 

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
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Originally posted by: bleucharm28
whats the minimum Power supply to run (2)Nvidia GTX280 or (2) ATi 4870 x2. most likely going with PC Cooling PSU's.

According to NVIDIA, two GTX 280 requires a kilowatt.

We have test machines running them on a BFG ES-800 (we demo'd a few at Showdown LAN). These systems had only one HDD each, so if you plan to run a bunch of HDDs, then definately better off going with more power.
 

F1shF4t

Golden Member
Oct 18, 2005
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I've had 2 * 4870, overclocked q6600 and 5 HDDS running off my TT Toughpower 750 watt without any issues. (appart from having to use a molex to pcie connector for one of the cards, which is one good reason to get a higher capacity unit - enough cables)

EDIT: also my TT is 2 years old so it probably no longer even has a 750 watt capacity.

Most manufacturers list much higher rated psus just to make sure that it'll work if the user uses a crappy.
I've seen 600 watt units which provide less on 12V rail than my spare earthwatts 380watt. They also costed more and had nicer boxes to lure in missinformed people.
 

HOOfan 1

Platinum Member
Sep 2, 2007
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Originally posted by: Dark Cupcake
I've had 2 * 4870, overclocked q6600 and 5 HDDS running off my TT Toughpower 750 watt without any issues. .

The OP stated dual HD4870X2....that is like trying to run 4 HD4870s
 

F1shF4t

Golden Member
Oct 18, 2005
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Originally posted by: HOOfan 1
Originally posted by: Dark Cupcake
I've had 2 * 4870, overclocked q6600 and 5 HDDS running off my TT Toughpower 750 watt without any issues. .

The OP stated dual HD4870X2....that is like trying to run 4 HD4870s

Haha missread his post :eek:
Anyways in that case he'd need a good quality 800+ watter to run those things.
(I would not dare put a third 4870 on my 750 unit)