What sort of PS does a 7950GT (AGP) require?

[Thoth093]

I can't do a full system upgrade until next year, so I'm just trying to make the the best of what I have.

I was looking at an ATI 1950 pro, but the power supply requirements are apparently much higher.

What sort of PS does the 7950GT need to run comfortably? I currently run a 6800 GT on a 450 watt PS.

If that's sufficient, will I notice much of a performance jump? I only have an Athlon 64 3200. I just upgraded my ram to 2GB of PC-3200.

Brian

 

[lyssword]

Your power supply should be enough. 7950gt doesn't consume much more power than your current card. Yes, and your fps will run about 2x faster in most games

 

[secretanchitman]

400-450W and you should be fine.

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: lyssword
Your power supply should be enough. 7950gt doesn't consume much more power than your current card. Yes, and your fps will run about 2x faster in most games

we said the same thing when the X1950Pro AGP first came out...

Look how that turned out....I would probably stick to the same rule of thumb tht has to be applied tot he X1950 AGP series....30A on the +12v and 450W minimum.

 

[ScrewFace]

I have 2 512MB BFG GeForce 7950GTs (550/1400) overclocked to 630/1600 using an OCZ 600w power supply with 4x18amp rails.

 

[jaykishankrk]

Originally posted by: ScrewFace
I have 2 512MB BFG GeForce 7950GTs (550/1400) overclocked to 630/1600 using an OCZ 600w power supply with 4x18amp rails.

r u using an after market cooler??

because i cannot get my card past 580/775 using stock BFG coolers...

 

[tcsenter]

Look how that turned out....I would probably stick to the same rule of thumb tht has to be applied tot he X1950 AGP series....30A on the +12v and 450W minimum.

The 30A figure cited by the manufacturer is a worse case scenario for +12V needs of the entire system + the graphics card.

For CrossFire setups the manufacturer cites a figure of 38A on the +12V rail. If one card requires 30A, how could two cards require only 8A more than one? Its a highly generic figure that attempts to account for an entire range of power supply rating methods and total system power demands.

Here are fairly precise +12V load values from X-bit Labs:

R X1950PRO = 5A (60W)

GF 7950GT = 5A (60W)

GF 7900GS = 3.75A (45W)

The 30A recommendation is a hugely overinflated number devised to help prevent people from purchasing a power supply like this because they are looking only at total power in watts.

 

[ScrewFace]

Originally posted by: jaykishankrk

Originally posted by: ScrewFace
I have 2 512MB BFG GeForce 7950GTs (550/1400) overclocked to 630/1600 using an OCZ 600w power supply with 4x18amp rails.

r u using an after market cooler??

because i cannot get my card past 580/775 using stock BFG coolers...

Yes, I'm using the standard coolers that came with the cards. My temps are 37 Celsius idle and 46 Celsius at full-load.

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: tcsenter

Look how that turned out....I would probably stick to the same rule of thumb tht has to be applied tot he X1950 AGP series....30A on the +12v and 450W minimum.

The 30A figure cited by the manufacturer is a worse case scenario for +12V needs of the entire system + the graphics card.

For CrossFire setups the manufacturer cites a figure of 38A on the +12V rail. If one card requires 30A, how could two cards require only 8A more than one? Its a highly generic figure that attempts to account for an entire range of power supply rating methods and total system power demands.

Here are fairly precise +12V load values from X-bit Labs:

R X1950PRO = 5A (60W)

GF 7950GT = 5A (60W)

GF 7900GS = 3.75A (45W)

The 30A recommendation is a hugely overinflated number devised to help prevent people from purchasing a power supply like this because they are looking only at total power in watts.

you're not familar with the X1950 AGP series are you?

As plenty of people have found out, including more than few members of this forum, the X1950 AGP series cards have a very high failure rate with PSU's that can't deliver 30A or better on the +12v rail...they seem to draw considerably more power than their PCI-E counterparts.

As for the crossfire crap you sprouted, well if you can get two AGP x1950's to work in crossfire, please let the rest of us know how you did it.

 

[jaykishankrk]

Originally posted by: ScrewFace

Originally posted by: jaykishankrk

Originally posted by: ScrewFace
I have 2 512MB BFG GeForce 7950GTs (550/1400) overclocked to 630/1600 using an OCZ 600w power supply with 4x18amp rails.

r u using an after market cooler??

because i cannot get my card past 580/775 using stock BFG coolers...

Yes, I'm using the standard coolers that came with the cards. My temps are 37 Celsius idle and 46 Celsius at full-load.

what software are you using to measure those temp??

Your OC with those stock coolers are incredibly insane :Q

how did you achieve that, any help would be well appreciated ...

 

[tcsenter]

you're not familar with the X1950 AGP series are you?

Apparently more familiar than you are with logic, reason, and facts.

As plenty of people have found out, including more than few members of this forum, the X1950 AGP series cards have a very high failure rate with PSU's that can't deliver 30A or better on the +12v rail...they seem to draw considerably more power than their PCI-E counterparts.

Oh right, I forgot about those "special" AGP versions of the X1950 PRO made from "special" transistors that require more power than PCI Express transistors. They use the exact same GPU. The only possible difference between the two is the additional power required by the Rialto bridge chip.

It doesn't matter if its AGP or PCI Express, ALL X1800/1900 Series cards carry the same 30A single and 38A dual power recommendation, including the X1950XTX. Again, if one card requires 30A, how does two require only 8A more?

Even the X1950XTX with higher clocks, 50M more transistors, 12 more shaders, 20GB/s greater memory bandwidth, and much higher performance places not more than 10A (120W) load on +12V power.

Are you suggesting that these "special" AGP transistors make the much less powerful X1950 PRO use more power than the X1950XTX? lmao!

Here are two reviews of the X1950PRO AGP that used PSUs with 18A MAX on a single +12V rail, one of which was a lowly 300W model, neither had any problem supporting the load of this card:

CleverPower SPS300 PSU @ Lost Circuits (300W total power with 18A MAX +12V)

Tagan TG420-U01 PSU @ Driver Heavan (420W total power with 18A MAX +12V)


From the Lost Circuits review:

"Needless to say that AGP or PCIe - it really doesn't matter for power consumption - except for the way it is supplied."

Questions?

 

[evolucion8]

Originally posted by: tcsenter

you're not familar with the X1950 AGP series are you?

Apparently more familiar than you are with logic, reason, and facts.

As plenty of people have found out, including more than few members of this forum, the X1950 AGP series cards have a very high failure rate with PSU's that can't deliver 30A or better on the +12v rail...they seem to draw considerably more power than their PCI-E counterparts.

Oh right, I forgot about those "special" AGP versions of the X1950 PRO made from "special" transistors that require more power than PCI Express transistors. They use the exact same GPU. The only possible difference between the two is the additional power required by the Rialto bridge chip.

It doesn't matter if its AGP or PCI Express, ALL X1800/1900 Series cards carry the same 30A single and 38A dual power recommendation, including the X1950XTX. Again, if one card requires 30A, how does two require only 8A more?

Even the X1950XTX with higher clocks, 50M more transistors, 12 more shaders, 20GB/s greater memory bandwidth, and much higher performance places not more than 10A (120W) load on +12V power.

Are you suggesting that these "special" AGP transistors make the much less powerful X1950 PRO use more power than the X1950XTX? lmao!

Here are two reviews of the X1950PRO AGP that used PSUs with 18A MAX on a single +12V rail, one of which was a lowly 300W model, neither had any problem supporting the load of this card:

CleverPower SPS300 PSU @ Lost Circuits (300W total power with 18A MAX +12V)

Tagan TG420-U01 PSU @ Driver Heavan (420W total power with 18A MAX +12V)


From the Lost Circuits review:

"Needless to say that AGP or PCIe - it really doesn't matter for power consumption - except for the way it is supplied."

Questions?

Special transistors lmao!!

 

[trake1]

tcsenter is now my favorite MythBuster and gets my vote for best poster of the year in the 'engineering/analytical thinking' category.

Magical agp x1950pro Myth: Busted!~

 

[ScrewFace]

Originally posted by: jaykishankrk

Originally posted by: ScrewFace

Originally posted by: jaykishankrk

Originally posted by: ScrewFace
I have 2 512MB BFG GeForce 7950GTs (550/1400) overclocked to 630/1600 using an OCZ 600w power supply with 4x18amp rails.

r u using an after market cooler??

because i cannot get my card past 580/775 using stock BFG coolers...

Yes, I'm using the standard coolers that came with the cards. My temps are 37 Celsius idle and 46 Celsius at full-load.

what software are you using to measure those temp??

Your OC with those stock coolers are incredibly insane :Q

how did you achieve that, any help would be well appreciated ...

What I did was use nVidia's BIOS editing program and upped the voltages in the BIOS from 1.2 to 1.35 volts. This allowed me to go from a 600MHz core to a near GTX core of 640MHz. My RAM still can't go past 1600MHz, but I'm quite happy with my overclock nonetheless.

The reason my temps are so low is because I'm using a 5200 BTU air-conditioner to cool my innards. It works great and costs a fraction of a water cooling setup without the danger of water leakage.

 

[jaykishankrk]

Originally posted by: ScrewFace

Originally posted by: jaykishankrk

Originally posted by: ScrewFace

Originally posted by: jaykishankrk

Originally posted by: ScrewFace
I have 2 512MB BFG GeForce 7950GTs (550/1400) overclocked to 630/1600 using an OCZ 600w power supply with 4x18amp rails.

r u using an after market cooler??

because i cannot get my card past 580/775 using stock BFG coolers...

Yes, I'm using the standard coolers that came with the cards. My temps are 37 Celsius idle and 46 Celsius at full-load.

what software are you using to measure those temp??

Your OC with those stock coolers are incredibly insane :Q

how did you achieve that, any help would be well appreciated ...

What I did was use nVidia's BIOS editing program and upped the voltages in the BIOS from 1.2 to 1.35 volts. This allowed me to go from a 600MHz core to a near GTX core of 640MHz. My RAM still can't go past 1600MHz, but I'm quite happy with my overclock nonetheless.

The reason my temps are so low is because I'm using a 5200 BTU air-conditioner to cool my innards. It works great and costs a fraction of a water cooling setup without the danger of water leakage.

Cool man, My 7950GT is clocked at 565/1430. without any OC My GPU temps are going mad at about 55idle(through nvidia monitor software) and on load its about 60 to 65deg.

Can u post a pic of your entire Rig setup, that would help me think about my cooling setup

thanks in advance!!

 

[honestjohn]

Regarding the power supply for the 7950GT, on the XFX box states that a 450w power supply is recommended with 20a on the +12v rail, not 30a which is the recommendation for the X1950 Pro's. That is probably why the card only has/requires a single molex connection for power. Mine is running comfortably at 650 Core / 1450 Mem. 46c - idle / 72c - load. Coolbits detect said it could do 692 core / 1582 Mem, but I didn't want to push my luck.