Video Cards peak power usage

[happy medium]

I was wondering if this chart is a good reference point for video cards. It looks good to me. Any opinions?

http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/forums.asp?s=2&c=7&t=9354

Edit; I notice that a 7950gt uses less power then my 7800gs AGP. It looks like with the 7950gtAGP I won't need a new power supply. Now I'm glad I didn't go the x1900 AGP route.

 

[KJ42]

Where did you find an AGP 7950?

 

[happy medium]

Here they should be out in retail anyday.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=31&threadid=2026299&enterthread=y

,7950gt512mb, 7950gt 256mb and 7900gs also

 

[KJ42]

That's a nice chart, btw. Thanks for the link

 

[happy medium]

Does the 7950gt really use less power then the 7800gs?
Bump.

 

[conlan]

Nice post

This should help stop this ridiculous overpowered PSU crap thats all the rage lately :disgust:


Should, but probably won't

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: conlan
Nice post

This should help stop this ridiculous overpowered PSU crap thats all the rage lately :disgust:


Should, but probably won't

Power supply requirements for videocards are out of control right now. I can't wait for die-shrinks to bring heat/power issues under control again. The videocard makers think we should keep buying more powerful power supplies to run our systems while the CPU makers and everyone else is trying to reduce power requirements. I will wait for something better than the current 8800GTX offering although my PCP&C P/S could no doubt handle any single videocard out.

 

[coldpower27]

Originally posted by: Conky

Originally posted by: conlan
Nice post

This should help stop this ridiculous overpowered PSU crap thats all the rage lately :disgust:


Should, but probably won't

Power supply requirements for videocards are out of control right now. I can't wait for die-shrinks to bring heat/power issues under control again. The videocard makers think we should keep buying more powerful power supplies to run our systems while the CPU makers and everyone else is trying to reduce power requirements. I will wait for something better than the current 8800GTX offering although my PCP&C P/S could no doubt handle any single videocard out.

There isn't very much the GPU makers can do to reduce power consumption requirements when their trying to increase performance 2 times each generation, when you have twice the transistors on the same process you effectively put out twice as much heat. As well the CPU makers only use base node optical processes, so when they make the jump down they can cut power down a lot more. A shrink from 90nm-80nm isn't quite as much.

 

[happy medium]

So you think this guide is legit? Accurate?

 

[dclive]

Later generation GPUs really aren't using that much more power, in large part due to core die shrinkage.

This "you need a huge power supply for a regular graphics card and a single hard drive and Core2Duo setup!" craze is nuts. Core2Duo takes *less* power. Smaller GPUs (can) take *less* power.

I'd suggest that everyone considering spending $80 - $120 on a power supply read that report. There are plenty of similar reports out there. For most people who aren't running an 8800GTX/7900/1900 and half a dozen hard drives, a standard, basic PS from 350W to 400W is fine.

It's only with the higher end GPUs (and by that I don't mean the 7600GTs) that require a larger PS and more power to the 12V rails.

 

[conlan]

Originally posted by: dclive
Later generation GPUs really aren't using that much more power, in large part due to core die shrinkage.

This "you need a huge power supply for a regular graphics card and a single hard drive and Core2Duo setup!" craze is nuts. Core2Duo takes *less* power. Smaller GPUs (can) take *less* power.

I'd suggest that everyone considering spending $80 - $120 on a power supply read that report. There are plenty of similar reports out there. For most people who aren't running an 8800GTX/7900/1900 and half a dozen hard drives, a standard, basic PS from 350W to 400W is fine.

It's only with the higher end GPUs (and by that I don't mean the 7600GTs) that require a larger PS and more power to the 12V rails.

QFT! :beer:

 

[Zap]

Thanks for that link. I've got to keep these things in mind for my next upgrade since my main gaming rig uses a SFX PSU with 24A on the +12v.

 

[Fraggable]

I'm running a E6600 and a 8800GTS on a over 1 year old relatively cheap 500W Ultra V series PSU. Take that, PSU requirements.

Interesting that my 8800GTS is only a 10W increase over my old 1800XT.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Fraggable
I'm running a E6600 and a 8800GTS on a over 1 year old relatively cheap 500W Ultra V series PSU. Take that, PSU requirements.

Interesting that my 8800GTS is only a 10W increase over my old 1800XT.

Want to take any bets that a 400W PS would run that box just as well? Or even a 350W PS?

These power requirements are for the birds. Check out the report - 8800GTS is 115W, and Dell sells basic systems with 250W PSs, so a 350W PS for such a system should easily (easily!) be more than enough. Remember - power requirements for the Core 2 Duo series are LOWER than for the Pentium D series - power requirements have gone DOWN.

Even eVGA's 8800 page talks about 350W PSs being their suggestion.... (can't pull it up now - can't resolve www.evga.com...sigh)