Will my OC be limited by a 430psu? Details inside... help!

[umamimon]

Hey guys,

Just a tad curious on this point as ive been reading about PSUs limiting OC speeds. The current setup I just purchased is as follows...

E6300
s3 mobo
2g corsair 6400
x1900xt 256
and a seasonic s12-430
3250a dvd-r

I may attach an x-fi in the near future. Never gunna sli or xfire

That being said, i used the PSU wattage calculator and it came out to somthing like 280. Granted 100w of overhead... i figuered upon my purchase that my 430w would be enough. Would I be mistaken in this assertion?

Also how would the second 12v rail affect my overclock? I know this is the rail that feeds the cpu and on the S12430 its only rated at about 14-15A i believe. With older p4 processors, some believed that single rail PSUs fared better because the amperage on a dual rail setup was not enough to sustain high OCs.... thoughts?

thanks for all the help guys, i really appreciate it =D

 

[sanitydc]

bro, a 430w psu stands no chance against that video card, I had that same size psu with my x1900gt and it crashed constantly and ****** up my OC.

 

[umamimon]

any other opinions / thoughts?

I highly appreciate any contribution to this discussion. As with most things, doing research often yields conflicting opinions regarding certain issues.

the reason i purchased the seasonic430 was that according to most estimates, it would be more than enough for a single card setup. according to spcr and these forums, the x1900xt does not seem to draw enough amperage on 12v rails to merit a bump.

However that being said, should i be mistaken about this i would not hesitate to go out and buy a 520 or the like. thanks for the input sanitydc =D

... and i open it to the floor once again.... 25 views and no replies... gogo! ^_^

 

[Accord99]

A 430W from a highly reputable manufacturer like Seasonic is plenty. Right now, on a Antec-branded, Seasonic manufactured 430W included in their NSK6500 case, I'm running:

E6600 at 3.2
2GB memory
X1900XT 512
2 drives
1 DVD burner
Audigy 2
P5B-deluxe

Overclocks on your E6300 will probably be limited by memory and FSB, not power.

 

[sanitydc]

what are your rail sizes?

 

[sanitydc]

a x1900XT requires a 22A rail, your psu has a 15A rail.. you do the math.

I had a ANTEC NEOHE430W It would run my card OC'ed and my processor OC'ed but not stable and the system shutdown frequently.

I guess at the time I did have mine oc'ed to 3.7 though. still say your rails will be too small.

 

[myocardia]

Accord is right. As long as you aren't planning on running 6 hard drives plus 2 optical drives, that psu will be enough. If it were a lesser brand, I wouldn't trust it. But, it's a Seasonic, and they don't rate their rails at maximum output. That psu has about the same power as a cheaper brand's 18 or 20A per 12v rail psu's have.

 

[sanitydc]

how about 2 optical, 2 hdd, tv tuner, pci usb card, floppy, videocard, usb mouse, usbkeyboard, usb wireless internet, soundcard, 5 fans, uhm lol
usb headset usb ipod lol my computers a straight up entertainment beast. I guess if seasonics are highly rated but my neohe smartpower antec wasnt nearly enough... the moment i got my new psu all my crashes stopped and everything became wonderful.

 

[umamimon]

to my knowledge there really arnt any dual rail PSUs with over 18A per rail. Im not exactly sure if the two rails are directly additive but i believe the 430 is rated with a 14 and a 15. while i dont have sufficient knowledge to go against your claim that the x1900xt needs a 22A rail (i too have heard that this card is a power eating monster), i find it hard to believe that anyone would be able to run the card being that even the newest PSUs give 18A at best on any given rail.

again I could be wrong. <--- (noob at PSUs lol)

in the case however that im not wrong, I would be sorely relieved. my parts arrive tomorrow from newegg and the thought of having to drive 30 miles and waste gas ($$$$$) to get a new PSU was about to give me nightmares. after dumping nearly 1200 on a new system, i feel particularly frugal as my significant other tries to beat me over the head with my credit card statements ^_-

 

[umamimon]

/bows at aforementioned entertainment machine haha

my system would prolly be the exact opposite. one HDD... maybe not even an optical... but i prolly will. and that should be about it. a sound card would be nice but more a luxury. and thats it! =D

 

[sanitydc]

all for under 1100 dollars too, I love sales at fry's electornics. (and a few birthday gifts.)

 

[kenji4life]

sorry bro but do some searching, the antec neo psu was one of the least reliable psus in its class.

 

[JKatCL]

I Have a x1900xt with an Ultra 2G 600 watt psu. It has 37a on the 12v rail.($79)
The dual 12v Ultra 600w model has 20a and 18a(i believe they are additive) $79
The recommended psu requirement for the x1900xt is 450 w with 30a on the 12v rail.(its assumed the card is on a fully loaded system). Fully loaded?

sanitydc,if you read this; could you give your score for your 3dMark05. Thanks

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: JKatCL
I Have a x1900xt with an Ultra 2G 600 watt psu. It has 37a on the 12v rail.($79)
The dual 12v Ultra 600w model has 20a and 18a(i believe they are additive) $79

sanitydc,if you read this; could you give your score for your 3dMark05. Thanks

They aren't "additive". The only psu company that I'm aware of that you can actually add the two 12v rails together, to find out the total that both rails can put out together, is Seasonic. For instance, my Enermax psu can put out 22A on either 12v rail, but can only put out 32A on both rails combined. And Enermax makes way better psu's than Ultra.

 

[sanitydc]

it was a free psu so i never did any research on it thanks though.

ive moved up in the world to a 40 dollar psu that i plan on returning... lol

 

[sanitydc]

3dmark05, no.

3dmark01 39726
3dmark06 5283 (1976/2132/2962)
PCMark05 7854 (8780/6902/6748/5581)


I have others if your interested. Too lazy to go find 05 tho.

 

[HGC]

Originally posted by: kenji4life
sorry bro but do some searching, the antec neo psu was one of the least reliable psus in its class.

Is this still the case? When I searched I found problems from last year, but no complaints for more recently manufactured units. I got the impression any problems were corrected.

The review at SilentPCReview.com was good. That, and the fact that Seasonic is involved makes it seem like a good choice. It's supposed to be super quiet, modular, active pfc, and five year warranty.

 

[customcoms]

I'd look at XClio. And this list: http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10854 . Personally, I wouldn't use anything smaller than 480w, nor anything higher than that if it ain't on that list.. Yes, it can be done (anandtech had proven it, using a 350 watt generic psu and a decent rig (not a high end gpu however), and many of their editors are psu junkies, notice how they generally use OCZ psu's in their reviews?). And for the Noob above, this Mushkin PSU had 4 20A 12V rails: http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10854

 

[deadken]

Originally posted by: sanitydc
bro, a 430w psu stands no chance against that video card, I had that same size psu with my x1900gt and it crashed constantly and ****** up my OC.

It ALL depends on the PS. I am using a Antec 380W PS2.0 and running a X1900 XTX with ZERO problems. The new line of Antecs are pretty amazing with the 12v rails. My 380W PS puts out 32A on the 12v rails (16A + 16A). ATI suggests 30A on the 12V for a "fully loaded" system with the X1900 XTX (non-crossfire).

Just for an example, I am running 3 HDs (one a Raptor), 2x1 GB memory, 5 x 120mm fans (3 intake, 1 exhaust, and 1 on my XP-120), and a 1 optical drive (a DVD Burner) and I never have even 'hicupped' with this system. I am only overclocking my CPU mildy (100mhz).

EDIT: LOOK HERE for what ATI suggests. Halfway down the page, under 'System Requirements'.