Low Power GPU's

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fastturtle
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Low Power GPU's

Post by fastturtle » Fri Jan 15, 2010 8:14 am

Figured that it was time to start such a Topic - We really need one

For those running PCIe cards, the two issues to be aware of is the Power part of the specification. This is how much power the slot is required to provide and it's important to all of us as the cards that can get all of their power from the PCIe slot are few and far between.

PCIe 1.0 has a total of 75 watts available to the card
PCIe 2.0 increased this (2x I think) to 150 watts available




Here's the List

PCIe 1.0 GPU's

Asus EN7300GT Silent - What I'm using
Sapphire 100287VGAL Radeon 5670HD (61 watts reported) Not a Fanless but DX11 capable - Good card for most of us


PCIe 2.0 GPU's

Radeon 4650HD
This used to meet the 1.0 spec but they've changes it and now requires a 2.0 slot (no external connector)

Klusu
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Post by Klusu » Fri Jan 15, 2010 12:14 pm

Who needs the topic?
What two issues?
Cards still draw less than 70W from the pci express slot.
HD 4650 (that's the name, not 4650HD) does not require 2.0 slot
Last edited by Klusu on Fri Jan 15, 2010 1:11 pm, edited 2 times in total.

dhanson865
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Post by dhanson865 » Fri Jan 15, 2010 1:05 pm

apparently fastturtle hasn't seen The Truth About Graphics Power Requirements v2

and here is a quote from an unrelated article
The power spec has also been increased. A new version of the power supply connector that is used for graphics cards that need more power than the slot can deliver (sometimes called a PEG connector, for PCI-Express Graphics) has been introduced, changing from 6 pins to 8. A single x16 card may now draw up to 300 W of power (75 W from the slot itself, 150 W from an 8-pin PEG connector, 75 W from a second PEG connector), up from 225 W (75 W from the slot, 75 W each from 2 6-pin PEG connectors) or originally 150 W (75 W from the slot, 75 W from a 6-pin PEG connector).
As you can see only 75W are pulled from the slot no matter the PCIe version.

The number of cards that exist without the extra power connectors is too long for me to bother trying to update a list.

The fastest of which from the gaming standpoint is the newly announced Go Green HD5750. It is however a 2 slot design (3 if you want to strap a fan to it or leave room for extra airflow)

The HD5670 is the fastest of the single slot cards that are energy efficient.

The lowest power modern card is the HD4450. The HD5450 will be out within a month and will probably be lower power than the 4450. There may even be a HD 5xxx that will be even lower power than all of the above cards sometime in 2010.

dhanson865
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Post by dhanson865 » Fri Feb 05, 2010 3:53 pm

They've moved the current data to http://forums.atomicmpc.com.au/index.ph ... c=264&st=0

Apparently at idle you just can't beat an ATI 4350 with any modern card. See the very bottom of http://mark.zoomcities.com/images/gfx/G ... byidle.png

ATI 4350 4W idle 15W at load in a 3D game

Greg F.
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Post by Greg F. » Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:29 pm

dhanson865 wrote:They've moved the current data to http://forums.atomicmpc.com.au/index.ph ... c=264&st=0

Apparently at idle you just can't beat an ATI 4350 with any modern card. See the very bottom of http://mark.zoomcities.com/images/gfx/G ... byidle.png

ATI 4350 4W idle 15W at load in a 3D game
but what about the Cheese Slices? Power isn't everything.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3734&p=4

Vicotnik
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Post by Vicotnik » Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:45 pm

Who watches interlaced material anyway? ;)

Greg F.
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Post by Greg F. » Fri Feb 05, 2010 7:32 pm

Yes, only a minor problem when watching sports on a big tv.

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