Are Mega-PSUs truly necessary? [From GT200 Thread]

[apoppin]

I think the one you got has a backlight and a few more features, it is there next model up.

I'm gonna talk to my wife about getting one tonight. Who knows, mebbe she'll let me.

i think i just started a trend; a good one! now we will all know how much power our own rig requires!



you can sell it to your wife by explaining it will save you money in the long run [if you need an "angle"]. i am also looking forward to computing how much energy i can save by measuring *other appliances* in my home; so for $40 [and a $9 gift], i think it will save money for me overall and i can brag that i am more green

i really want to see if my 850w PS is way overkill or not. i have always been recommending 'insurance'. Well - ever since my AGP x1950p/512M died on my then old Thermaltake 480w [18a-on -th-12v-rail underpowered PS]. i am probably over-reacting.

 

[I.S.T.]

Nothing wrong with insurance. Hell, my rig probably draws 150 watts at max, and I've got a 380 watt PSU.

 

[ShaidarHaran]

, i think it will save money for me overall and i can brag that i am more green

LOL, dual 2900 XTs makes you anything but "green" my friend

 

[apoppin]

LOL, dual 2900 XTs makes you anything but "green" my friend

They are for sale; cheap. 1 -2900xt and 1 2900p/512M that OCs to XT. And don't forget! i only game a few hours a day. At idle, r600 is faily efficient - at least contrasted with 3 D clocks; so my energy bill is only aburt $2 more a month than with a single x1950p .. from rough readings and actually paying my electricity bill with only other mini-variables.

At any rate my meter IS here and i will take some measurements this weekend; if i am not lazy and unplug my rig, i can give you the total draw.

Actually, i guess i can just unplug my UPS from the wall and then plug IT back into the meter; so i will not have to shut down my rig! .. i am lazy and looking for a rough idea of power draw from the wall socket; i will just edit this post tonight instead of making a new one and next week i will post the comparisons between my 3 GPUs at idle, load and peak.

EDIT:

i unplugged my extra optical drives and have 1 e4300@3.25Ghz/ 8800GTX/4GB PC 6400/ 2 HDs and i DVD rom - 120w at idle
the monitor is on a separate line of course.
Excuse me while i "test" Crysis ... might be awhile to get an accurate reading of my stock GTX at load.
*cough*

 

[BRiT]

From [H]'s article, a QUAD SLI 9800-GX2 setup draws under 600 Watts.

I would really like to see the power draw on this system. I think that may be pulling around 1.1 KWatt.

 

[Kaotik]

I dare to claim that those [H] numbers are messed up
1) The first place I've ever seen claim that nV's i790 (or any other for that matter) would have smaller powerdraw than Intel X48
2) They're using lower clocked version of the same CPU (I think it was the same anyway) as Muropaketti, yet they get 170W higher consumption under load for 2x HD3870X2 combination?

 

[L233]

It's again power draw at the wall. So if we apply 85% efficiency, the [H] numbers suggest that you can easily run a 9800GX2-based QUAD-SLI system on a 550W PSU.

 

[Kaotik]

It's again power draw at the wall. So if we apply 85% efficiency, the [H] numbers suggest that you can easily run a 9800GX2-based QUAD-SLI system on a 550W PSU.

The numbers I've picked from MuroBBS are from the wall, too

 

[Adamantine]

How to get to 850w DC power draw. It's a little old since it was only ever done with a dual 125w TDP socket 1207 Opterons and 8800 Ultra's in SLI.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums//showthread.php?t=3137

With the lower power parts due to smaller manufacturing processes, you are going to have a hard time getting above 700w DC power draw with any single socket system. The only exception would come from triple GTX 280's (or equivalent power hungry video cards).

Single socket with a single video card, you probably will never need more than a 550w Tier 2PSU.