What size PSU needed for next gen Nvidia and Radeon VGA's

ChiBOY83 · Post by **ChiBOY83** » Wed May 25, 2005 2:36 pm

In terms of settin up a pci-e rig right now, what size psu will likely be needed to support these future cards... I am referring to quality PSU's (seasonic), so notin like those 900 watt no-name psu's for $20

Green Shoes · Post by **Green Shoes** » Wed May 25, 2005 2:39 pm

Although no one's published any official numbers yet on G70 or R520, it's likely that they will use around the same amount of juice as current cards do (perhaps slightly more, but not enough to make a serious difference). Even with a strong overclock you shouldn't need more than the S12 430W. I've got my 3700+ overclocked from 2.2 GHz to 2.8 GHz and the ram at 3.3V feeding from the 5V rail right along side it, with an X80 XL connected as well and my 430W hardly even gets warm. I think with the throttling of the Prescotts we're at a plateau of energy needs; they won't increase by any large amount for a long time.

ChiBOY83 · Post by **ChiBOY83** » Wed May 25, 2005 2:46 pm

humm.. well, Green, lookin at your setup, i still feel confident in getting the S12 380, and saving $25...(please tellme if this is foolish tho, would this be pushin it for a next gen VGA upgrade??)

Green Shoes · Post by **Green Shoes** » Thu May 26, 2005 5:42 am

Well, again, I can't confidently say that it's the case, as we don't know any official numbers on those cards. But if my hunch is correct, they'll only draw 10-20W more than current cards, so yes, a 380W should be fine. If you're unsure, though, you could hold off buying the PSU for another month until both cards are announced and we have more solid figures of what kind of TDP to expect. I wouldn't worry too much, though.

HexiumVII · Post by **HexiumVII** » Mon May 30, 2005 12:20 pm

It looks like gen GPUs will draw some insane power. Check out http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/vi ... cid=3&pg=1
They state it will draw pretty much all the power it is given, 150watts. And to prove it, they have a nice and crispy burnt G70 to show for it. Good lord...

pony-tail · Post by **pony-tail** » Mon May 30, 2005 1:35 pm

I have a current Gen setup
GF 6800 ultra
3.4 P4 northwood etc
I just blew a 400 watt Fortron , most likely because it was too much drain on the 12v rail - I am currently using the psu that shipped with my Sonata case (380 watt I believe) as a temp. It has enough power every where but is also struggling on the 12v.
So I would suggest any 380 or 400 watt + PSU that has 24amps or better on the 12v rail or preferably dual 12v rails.
for SLI you would most likely need even more juice on the 12v .
I have been looking for a replacement for my Fortron , and have found that many of the Last Generation PSUs lack the extra power needed on the 12v (and are less efficient) .
I have found a lot of suppliers (in AU.anyway) do not stock the smaller PSUs in the Fortron range (or FSP) citing that they would not sell! leaving the option of a 500 watt that I do not need.
Any thing over 500 watt is insanity (overkill)

retrofitter · Post by **retrofitter** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 12:01 am

HexiumVII wrote:It looks like gen GPUs will draw some insane power. Check out http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/vi ... cid=3&pg=1
They state it will draw pretty much all the power it is given, 150watts. And to prove it, they have a nice and crispy burnt G70 to show for it. Good lord...

This link doesn't work. Can you be very careful and pull the data out of yoru cache for me. I am guessing it is some new information currently under NDA and hence hardwarezone must take it down..