PSU suitable for SLI?

[imported_SirJinks]

Looking to get a decent psu which should be suitable for a future (possible) upgrade to SLI. I was looking at the 600w Enermax which is rated at 34 (+3.3v), 34 (+5v) and dual 12v rails each at 18. Hoever the model below it at 485 watts is rated at 32 on each of the +3.3v and 5v rails and also has dual 12v rails at 18.

Firstly, with only a 2 amp difference on the 3.3 and 5 v rails, how does that account for an extra 115 watts of power and more importantly, will this be suitable for running an SLI setup as it isnt that far off (spec wise) from the 600w model? Is 32a enough on the 3.3 and 5v rails?

Help and advice is much appreciated

 

[AwesomeJay]

http://www.slizone.com/content/slizone/build.html#certified_powersupplies

 

[Operandi]

You don't need as much power as you may think..... A 400+ PSU will run just about any SLI system you could throw together. In my opinion the best overall (power, efficiency, design) PSUs are made by Seasonic.

P.S. nVidia certification is meaningless.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: Operandi
You don't need as much power as you may think..... A 400+ PSU will run just about any SLI system you could throw together. In my opinion the best overall (power, efficiency, design) PSUs are made by Seasonic.

P.S. nVidia certification is meaningless.

Amen to that!

I believe DAPUNISHER has ran a 6800U with a fully loaded system on a 200Watt PSU before. SLI doesn't take up nearly double that, a good 350-400Watt PSU will do fine. Check out Seasonic, Fortron, OCZ, PCP&C

-Kevin

 

[steamnputer]

Well if one was to use the asus a8n-sli-dlx I would reccomend nothing less then 400W, although the 12volt rail amp rating is far more important than the actual psu wattage. If you are only going to run one video card esp a lower end one I would just get a bare minuim psu untill you need/want to upgrade. If its going to be a short time between upgrades then you might as well get a nicer psu right of way. When you start talking about running 6800 ultras(sli) then you should think about getting the higher wattages recomended by asus, esp if you are running lots of other loads like drives and fans.

That is of course assuming that you are using the asus(I know some of the other boards are picky also), I run a 480W with pfc with 2 6600gts and alot of fans and never have problems.

 

[imported_rod]

I have an ASUS A8N-SLI deluxe (although a.t.m. i only have 1 graphics card), and here's what the manual says:

Athlon64 FX-55, 2x GeForce 6800Ultra's, 4DDR Dimms, 4HDD's, 2 Optical drives: +12Volts >25A
Athlon64 3800+, 2x GeForce 6800GT's, 2DDR Dimms, 2HDD's, 2 Optical Drives: +12Volts >20A
Athlon64 3400+, 2x GeForce 6600GT's, 2DDR Dimms, 2HDD's, 1 Optical Drive: +12Volts >17A

So, as long as you have 25A on the 12V rail, you should have no problems, even with the biggest sytem you can build. I have an Antec TruePower 480W, which supplies 28A on the 12V Rail, and this is more than enough for almost any system.

RoD

P.S. I dunno why they have an Athlon64 3400+ listed. It is a socket 939 mobo, but the 3400+ doesn't come in 939...

 

[pcmodem]

Originally posted by: rod
I have an ASUS A8N-SLI deluxe (although a.t.m. i only have 1 graphics card), and here's what the manual says:

Athlon64 FX-55, 2x GeForce 6800Ultra's, 4DDR Dimms, 4HDD's, 2 Optical drives: +12Volts >25A
Athlon64 3800+, 2x GeForce 6800GT's, 2DDR Dimms, 2HDD's, 2 Optical Drives: +12Volts >20A
Athlon64 3400+, 2x GeForce 6600GT's, 2DDR Dimms, 2HDD's, 1 Optical Drive: +12Volts >17A

So, as long as you have 25A on the 12V rail, you should have no problems, even with the biggest sytem you can build. I have an Antec TruePower 480W, which supplies 28A on the 12V Rail, and this is more than enough for almost any system.

RoD

P.S. I dunno why they have an Athlon64 3400+ listed. It is a socket 939 mobo, but the 3400+ doesn't come in 939...

Hrm. When they say the Amperage rating for the 12V, are they assuming that everything is tossed onto a single rail?

The Seasonic S12 500/600, for example, supplies to independent 18A outputs.
-PCM

 

[imported_SirJinks]

Thanks for all your replies so far, its given me a bit of a clearer picture of what I should look for. I've also looked at the various threads on single rail vs dual rail which has boiled my buying decision down to either: the Enermax 485w (dual 12v rails) or the OCZ Powerstream 420 (single 12v rail).

The OCZ's seem to get glowing reviews from everyone and the amps on the different rails seem enough to support sli. Am i right in choosing this over the Enermax?

 

[rise]

i'm leaning towards this enermax 535 but i'm confused by how many models enermax has. it's really a PITA buying a good PSU. i just got the x-clio 450 and i'm not impressed so i think i'm relegating it to back up. the 12v is always 12.3 and up on a voltmeter, in spec but high, while the 3.3 is always low at 3.22-3.23 from software reads.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: SirJinks
Thanks for all your replies so far, its given me a bit of a clearer picture of what I should look for. I've also looked at the various threads on single rail vs dual rail which has boiled my buying decision down to either: the Enermax 485w (dual 12v rails) or the OCZ Powerstream 420 (single 12v rail).

The OCZ's seem to get glowing reviews from everyone and the amps on the different rails seem enough to support sli. Am i right in choosing this over the Enermax?

Both are good. Dual Rail wont make a difference, and should not sway your decision. Yes it is nice to have, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with single rail.

-Kevin

 

[imported_rod]

Originally posted by: pcmodem

Originally posted by: rod
I have an ASUS A8N-SLI deluxe (although a.t.m. i only have 1 graphics card), and here's what the manual says:

Athlon64 FX-55, 2x GeForce 6800Ultra's, 4DDR Dimms, 4HDD's, 2 Optical drives: +12Volts >25A
Athlon64 3800+, 2x GeForce 6800GT's, 2DDR Dimms, 2HDD's, 2 Optical Drives: +12Volts >20A
Athlon64 3400+, 2x GeForce 6600GT's, 2DDR Dimms, 2HDD's, 1 Optical Drive: +12Volts >17A

So, as long as you have 25A on the 12V rail, you should have no problems, even with the biggest sytem you can build. I have an Antec TruePower 480W, which supplies 28A on the 12V Rail, and this is more than enough for almost any system.

RoD

P.S. I dunno why they have an Athlon64 3400+ listed. It is a socket 939 mobo, but the 3400+ doesn't come in 939...

Hrm. When they say the Amperage rating for the 12V, are they assuming that everything is tossed onto a single rail?

The Seasonic S12 500/600, for example, supplies to independent 18A outputs.
-PCM

A PSU with dual 12 rails, each at 18Amps, will give 36A ant 12V. This is more than adequate for an SLI system, or basically any system for that matter.

RoD