PSU good for adding a 290x tri x for crossfire?

[Shmee]

Hello, I have a topower 900W PSU as described in the following review. System is in sig. CPU is moderately OCed to 4.3, at low voltage. would I be able to add a 290x tri X for crossfire with it?

The PSU is newer than the review, but perhaps a few years old.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2008/10/07/topower_powerbird_series_power_supplies/8#.U5QmhCgkvfU

 

[lehtv]

With 840W on the +12V, wattage is not a concern. Each 290X draws about 250w.

However, with such a power hungry rig, it might be worth replacing the unit for a higher efficiency one. An 80 Plus Gold unit would have around 8% better efficiency which would probably save you $5-10 per year in electricity costs, depending on how much you pay for electricity and how much you use the PC. Could be up to $20 per year with higher than average electricity cost and heavy usage. (Edit: for every hour of gaming, a Gold unit would take about 50W less power, so at 2 hours a day of gaming, that's 0.1kW per day, or 37kW per year. California avg cost of electricity is about 16c/kW which translates to nearly $6 per year of savings at just 2 hours of gaming per day.)

A Gold rated unit would also run quieter.

Have you considered R9 290 crossfire instead of 290X crossfire? You'd get nearly the same results at a much lower cost.

 

[Shmee]

Thanks, a 290 is certainly an option. I would likely be considering the tri x or vapor x model.

 

[hafx780sli]

Hi Shmee,

to run 290x trifire I suggest at least a good 1000w PSU, or if the budget permits, 1200w. Better be safe when you have $1000+ worth of GPU running in your rig.


Cheers

 

[guskline]

Shmee, just picked up a used Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X card for my FX8350 rig. SOLID card.