Power supply/GPU help

chionophile

Junior Member
Sep 17, 2010
10
0
66
Hello everyone,

I recently purchased this Radeon 7950 graphics card and this 500W power supply. My first question is whether these are going to work together (I know the graphics card requires a minimum of a 500W power supply, am I going to have problems with exactly the minimum?) and my second question is regarding hooking them up. The graphics card has two 6 pin PCI-E plugs. Do I need two separate 6 pin power cables? Or will one cable with two 6 pin outputs (which is what came with the power supply) work?

Thanks!
 
Last edited:

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,900
74
91
Yes, it'll work fine, assuming the rest of your system is nothing out of the ordinary. The card requires 2x 6pin connectors, and the PSU supplies 2x 6+2 pin so you're covered
 
Jan 31, 2013
108
0
0
To break this down for ya from a technical standpoint so its clear. That PSU unit offers a +12V@38A rail, and a 85% efficiency rating. Now 38 amps on a +12v rail is equal is equal to 456 watts of juice on that one rail. A HD 7950 consumes 200 watts at absolute full capacity. Factor in the efficiency rating of the PSU at 85% and you got roughly 387 watts of guaranteed juice to be running through that rail at all times. Take off the 200 watts for the 7950 and you got 187 watts to power everything else that requires +12v at a worst case scenario. Is it enough to cover the card and the rest of the system at the same time? I don't know. A 3570k system (without a GPU) consumes around 121 watts at the wall at full load. So if you're running something along them lines, I imagine you'll be alright as not everything runs off the +12v rail. And yes, the unit comes with a single +12v rail. That means the same juice runs through both of them 6 pin connectors. Power supplies come with two for a reason (to match your card :p), just plug em both in and let her fly.
 

contrvlr

Junior Member
Feb 5, 2013
22
0
0
To break this down for ya from a technical standpoint so its clear. That PSU unit offers a +12V@38A rail, and a 85% efficiency rating. Now 38 amps on a +12v rail is equal is equal to 456 watts of juice on that one rail. A HD 7950 consumes 200 watts at absolute full capacity. Factor in the efficiency rating of the PSU at 85% and you got roughly 387 watts of guaranteed juice to be running through that rail at all times. Take off the 200 watts for the 7950 and you got 187 watts to power everything else that requires +12v at a worst case scenario. Is it enough to cover the card and the rest of the system at the same time? I don't know. A 3570k system (without a GPU) consumes around 121 watts at the wall at full load. So if you're running something along them lines, I imagine you'll be alright as not everything runs off the +12v rail. And yes, the unit comes with a single +12v rail. That means the same juice runs through both of them 6 pin connectors. Power supplies come with two for a reason (to match your card :p), just plug em both in and let her fly.
Efficiency doesn't work like that
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=157628