I'm considering getting a HD4870 to replace my 8800GT soon, and I'm wondering if my 500w PSU is enough? It has about 27.3A on the 12v rails combined, and I'm pretty sure the HD4870 doesn't use that much more than the HD3870, which I think my PSU can take just fine (since it can take an 8800GT). I think a 500w is enough, and I know it uses less power than the GTX 280, but I'm still not sure about the amperage being enough. What's the minimum specified amperage and wattage on the 12v rail needed for the 4870? I'd prefer if you don't suggest any PSU, cause I'm not seeking to upgrade...
On the official website, a 500w PSU with 2 x 75w PCI-E 6 pins is the minimum, so I suppose you're cutting it close. Btw, isn't that Antec Basiq noisy as hell? Mine is unbearable.
Yeah, it's pretty noisy. As noisy as the PSU I had before though, so I don't notice it alot... But still, I don't wanna upgrade if I don't have to The Antec Basiq only has 1 PCIe 6-pin power connector, but I imagine using one converter will be okay... Still need more info on the amperage, but thanks alot mate.
Dont wanna party poop or nothin - this is for your best interest! 1. 4870 needs about 25% more power than 8800gt 2. like you say, better to use amps on 12v than quoted watts as guide 3. Hilbert on power page of 4870 review on Guru3d homepage, recommends 32 amps on 12v 4. again 4870 uses about 25% more power than 3870, so youre right about 3870 and 8800gt being evenly matched 5. even 4850 uses 10% more power than 8800gt and 3870, so if you dont upgrade psu, you should wait for the next nanometer drop Don't injure your pc!
That makes it sound like alot, but it's only 8-10 watts, if a psu couldn't handle that low of an extra load it shouldn't have been being used in the first place.
Check more reviews, the one's right here at Guru show an 8800 GT system using 6 watts more than the same system with a 4850.
Antec Basiq 500 is one of those that doesn't give the 12V combined rating on the label or elsewhere...the info there only tells us that it must be at least 27A. However, Oleg at xbitlabs put about 35A (420W) on the 12V's here: http://xbitlabs.com/images/other/antec-psu-roundup/2gr2.gif An HD4870 needs about 10A total by itself...so the combined amount of 35A is certainly plenty for the rest of the 12V components in your system. The only possible problem is that this is a dual rail PSU with one rail dedicated to the CPU power connector and everything else on the other rail. The rail limit is 18A according to the label (sometimes these ratings are precise but more often then not an 18A rail OCP rating will be 20-22A in reality). But assuming it's 18A hmm well it still should be enough for your system I reckon...depending on how many drives and fans you have and also depending on how your motherboard is wired (many motherboards use the "CPU" power for other things besides just the CPU VRM...which in this case is a good thing since that would free up more amps on the other 12V rail).
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=581&type=expert&pid=12 http://www.techspot.com/review/103-asus-radeon-4850/page10.html http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/...50_cf_hd_4870/30/#abschnitt_leistungsaufnahme ("last" meaning "load") http://techreport.com/articles.x/14990/15 http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...eon-hd4870-512mb-graphics-card-review-20.html
How about 550W PSU with 3x 12v Rails each 18A. Combined 360W on 12v. ( I dont want to create new topic ) ??
should be fine...plenty of juice on the 12V's combined for everything plus some overhead and with the connectors distributed across three rails then rail limits won't come into play.
can a 850 watt Antec handel 2 of those? I might buy 2 for crossfire set up' If they have good Open Gl stats?
I doubt it has one rail with 18A dedicated to the PCIe power connector or whatever you're suggesting, cause then it wouldn't even be able to take my 8800GT. Also, it certainly doesn't have 35A, that's the 420W version. So then the question comes into play; is 27A enough? With only one HDD and one DVD-RW...
I think that it should work. I have one and it seems to be quite capable. A bit noisy but not annoying. Also, it is built by Fortron. I have to take back some words about X-bit labs "mistake". They might be right: Go figure... In that case it would have one 36A rail if I'm right (since it isn't dual rail PSU).
But it's specified as a dual rail with 18A on 12v1 and 18A on 12v2, and I'd think it's illegal to lie to the consumer?
I dunno about your PSU but in my PSU it says that is has two +12V 18A rails. They have probably opened the thing and that's why they made that statement. They do not really lie, they just split the rail to half. EDIT: I was a little bit faster, eh? Anyway, in this case it should be more than enough.
Well, I edited my post. It does indeed have 2 18A rails, but with a PSU with true dual rails, that would be 27A combined...