picoPSU+core duo+7300GT/7600GS? GT's power consumption?

dcuccia · Post by **dcuccia** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 1:31 am

Hi,

I'm trying to build a silent, 120W picoPSU-based HTPC using:

i945GTm-VHL Core Duo MB
2.0 GHz Yonah CPU
Thermalright XP-120 HS w/o fan
1GB PC5300 sodimm RAM
160GB Seagate 7200.7 PATA drive
NEC 3550 DVD-RW
Antec NSK2400 Case (w/o PS)
Fuji-Plus USB HDTV tuner

All that's left is a low-power, discrete GPU for HD offloading.

I'm trying to figure out if I can squeeze a passive 7300GT (or 7600GS?) in w/o topping 120W (after PSU efficiency considerations).

I've done some searching, but I'm a bit of a noob and can't decipher which GPU power specs to use.

Here, GamePC shows a similar config w/ 7900GTX consuming 117W at "full load" and 94W at idle, so I wonder if we could work backwards.

Should I be safe and go with the 7300GS? Will the 7600GS consume less power?

Alternatively, feel free to tell me I'm crazy trying to run this on a picoPSU...

Spunjji · Post by **Spunjji** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 5:46 am

This site has some power measurements - I'm not sure exactly how reliable they are (the nosie measurements are... interesting) but their methodology is all set out at the beginning of the article:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/ ... ise_6.html
The page after that one has the 7300GS.

If I were you, with that power budget I'd go for the 7300GS to be on the safe side. The 7300GT has twice as many pipelines so is a bit of a step up.

Just my thoughts

alphabetbackward · Post by **alphabetbackward** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 9:55 am

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

It says the 7600 GS uses 27 while the 7300 GS uses 16

Or you could use this:

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp

And calculate total wattage which I have found in my computer to be close to what my Kill-a-Watt says. It was off by like 4 watts.

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 10:57 am

Keep in mind that Xbit Labs "7600GS" measurements are from an underclocked 7600GT. A true 7600GS would run at 1.1V, compared to 1.35V for the 7600GT.

Assuming a GPU + VRM power of ~30w for the 7600GT, the 7600GS GPU + VRM should use ~14w, add memory power consumption and you should be looking at no more than 20w full load. This also seems to jive with nVidia's TDP trend. 7600GT consumes slightly more than half of it's TDP, 67w. 7600GS TDP is 32w, so if the ratio of actual power to TDP is the same as the 7600GT, it'd use ~17w in 3D.

But anyways, 7600GS is probably overkill for just HTPC. If it was my money I'd just grab the 7300GT.

Beyonder · Post by **Beyonder** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 12:26 pm

I've wondered this exact same thing. I also wonder if one could do a system something along the lines of:

-Undervolted Conroe/A64 X2 (maybe slight underclock as well)
-7600GS
-1 Hard drive (laptop, probably, although I wonder if it'd really matter)
-1-2 GB RAM
-PicoPSU

...that'd be some good firepower.