Power Consuption of X1950 Pro

[WW2Planes1]

After having two GPU fans fail on me in as many months, I'm looking to buy a new graphics card. The problem is I'm not sure if my Power Supply can handle it.

Rough system specs:

Asus K8N-E Deluxe (SKT 754)
Athlon 64 3000+ (Newcastle 90nm)
2x 512MB DDR (though may be upgrading to 3)
1x DVD-RW
1x CD-RW
and the problems:
1x WD Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM
1x Maxtor 120GB SATA 7200 RPM
2x Seagate 200GB SATA 7200 RPM
2x WD 320GB SATA 7200 RPM

I've used both a GeForce Ti4200 8x (64MB) graphics card, and a Radeon 9800 Pro with no problems (except the aforementioned fan failures). I'm wondering if upgrading to a Radeon X1950 GT/Pro would put the PSU over the limit.

The PSU in question is a three or four year old (can't remember exactly) Antec SmartPower 450W.

My interest is to save as much money as possible, so building a new system is out. I can afford the $150 for the card, but that's about it. I doubt it would make sense to purchase a 2600 anyway, since 1) my system couldn't really handle DirectX 10 gaming, 2) the performance of the 2600 is worse than the X1950, 3) the power draw is practically the same for the two cards, and 4) the 2600 will likely drive the price on the 1950 even lower.

 

[lyssword]

should handle it with no problem. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articl...950pro-gf7900gs_6.html

 

[Stumps]

hmmm, hard to say, what is the +12v output of your PSU, it needs to be around 30a to work correctly with an AGP X1950Pro.

 

[Dainas]

Originally posted by: Stumps
hmmm, hard to say, what is the +12v output of your PSU, it needs to be around 30a to work correctly with an AGP X1950Pro.

No it doesn't, 14a works fine sofar with a 420w generic in my sisters case... however its only been a few months(still it has been running Oblivion for most of that).


However the OP has a mass of drives strapped on... infact soo many that I would also recommend a 30a just for his case. The rest of us with only 2-4 drives 20a should be fine.

 

[mpilchfamily]

With that system at most you will need about 26A on the combined +12v rails of the PSU. The video card itself will need about 6A to 10A depending on the load.

 

[WW2Planes1]

Sorry about that, I meant to post the specs of the PSU, but completely forgot. http://www.antec.com/specs/SP450_spe.html That's not the exact PSU (mine doesn't have the SATA ports), but I think it's the same internals.

in summary: 2 +12V rails at 15A and 17A
Combined +5V, +12V1, +12V2 and +3.3V is 410W
Combined +3.3V, +5V is 150W.

Originally posted by: Dainas

However the OP has a mass of drives strapped on... infact soo many that I would also recommend a 30a just for his case. The rest of us with only 2-4 drives 20a should be fine.

Yeah... I should really consolidate up to some bigger drives.

I'll probably buy the video card and see if it works, if not, I'll either get a new PSU or just one of those 5-1/2" 250W addons that ThermalTake makes.

The other thing I realized is that my PSU doesn't have a 6-pin PCI express connector. I was going to just use one of these, but I wanted to check and make sure that they *do* actually work, if anyone's had experience with them.

 

[CrystalBay]

The card should come with the power adapter, check the packaging..

 

[bryanW1995]

I just got my x1950xt today from newegg. Check out the deal on it: http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16814102067 The mir was actually $10 higher when I ordered it but they must be selling them faster than anticipated. According to ATI tool it is drawing 8.2a and idling at 62c. I upgraded from a 7600gt; 3dmark06 went from 2950 to 5816. lmk if you have any questions.

 

[WW2Planes1]

Originally posted by: CrystalBay
The card should come with the power adapter, check the packaging..

Some do, some don't depends on the model manufacturer.


I was having second thoughts about the X1950Pro... thinking that maybe the X1650Pro makes more sense given my limited budget (I shouldn't be spending *any* money on this computer), but looking at comparisons the 1950Pro gets about twice the framerate of the 1650Pro, but only costs 50% more. (reassure me on this one guys).

as for memory, I was going to go for 512MB rather than 256, since, depending on rebates, the prices are pretty much the same. As for other things, I'll probably buy whichever one is cheapest at the time (which may not be for a few weeks, I do a lot of research leading up to a purchase), but I was wondering if you had any recomendations for a brand. (Build quality, reliability, etc.) the HIS is the cheapest at the moment, but the Sapphires cards tend to get better reviews. I'd prefer a single slot cooling solution if possible.

 

[mpilchfamily]

Bottom line is the 450W Smart Power is a crappy PSU and will not be able to offer the 26A minimum your systme will need form the combined +12v rails. You will need a new PSU.

 

[Dainas]

You won't have to worry about a 6 pin adapter, the Sapphire (and I'm pretty sure Powercolor) X1950pro has dual 4pin molex input... and if the card does need a 6 pin the rule is that it a convertor will be included.

The X1650pros are not bad cards, there are however pretty darn feeble compared to the X1950pro AGP 512mb. I got my sister her Sapphire X1950pro AGP 512mb for $188 shipped and the X1650pro should be just about $130.