PSU for Geforce 8800 320mb

[Eroo]

Hi can some one advise me what is a good power supply to run this card? I've seen reports stating that it needs 26a on the 12v and then some that say its needs 30a on the 12v. I've yet to see a power supply down here selling that can meet either of these requirements. Any info will be appreciated.

[W1nTry]

It will depend on ur rig as well. So before anyone can advise, give ur full PC specs.

[Eroo]

Athlon x2 4200 AM2
2 x 80GB Sata II Hard drives
1 Pioneer 16X DVD-RW DL
1 Flopy drive
2 x 1GB DDR2 533
Onboard Realtek 7.1 HD audio
Onboard Realtek 10/100 NIC
Nvidia 6100/ Nforce 405 chipset

Currently using the onboard video and a generic 450w power supply. I know most definitely the ps will have to change when I put in the geforce 8800 320mb. What would be a good psu for this config with the nvidia card?

[daniboy79]

I've seen reports stating that it needs 26a on the 12v and then some that say its needs 30a on the 12v

here's a thought: E(Volts; 12v in this case) x I(Amps; assumed 30Amps at most) = 360W(Watts)

above is the 'assumed' MAX. current required to sustain the 8800... and that's JUST the GPU's power consumption. you need to take into consideration the draw of ALL other components; CPU, Hdd & other drives, even the MB has current sapping devices that should be taken into consideration, don't forget your USB devices(but that is going kinda far, unless you have several external connected enclosures that rely on Buss power to operate. anyways, after looking over all the requirements you can quickly realize that what you have is quite inadequate... get nothing less than a 600Watt supply, preferably a dual rail, and if possible try to dedicate one of the rails solely for the GPU(can that be done anyways - just a theory of mine ) Amazon has a sweet 600W for like $80US, i've got one on  order now
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ICO0RO/ref=wl_it_dp/104-0669182-2872727?ie=UTF8&coliid=ITCIQF4AXOW8G&colid=3HFO12ZIHUEDN
...anyways, i hope this helps you!

[W1nTry]

Actually as proved by more than 1 review site... power requirements aren't as HIGH as they want you to believe. I rem inq ran 8800GTS in SLI with Quad core intel on a OCZ 500W I believe... anyways, for your rig, before I recommend a rating, could I ask if you intend to add any more components to your case? add-in sound card?, tv-tuner? more optical drives? more hard drives? physics card even? if not, honestly I am positive a 600W PSU is more than enough. Brands like OCZ, Thermaltake, PC power and cooling are decent, but read the reviews on ANY piece of hardware you want to buy to see since each company has several models in teh same range. Enermax is also quite good. Look for other positives like Active PFC (power factor correction), effeciency >=80%, current on the 12 and 5V rails and cooling. Cooling is IMPORTANT. I have an OCZ 700W GamerX PSU. Silent and pretty much OVERKILL for my system...but then it was purchased with SLI/Xfire in mind.

[Eroo]

I really have no intention of adding any more hardware with the exception of the video card. Thanks for all the advice. Is there anywhere in Trinidad I can purchase these higher end psu at a reasonable price or best order it online too when ordering the video card?

[Crixx_Creww]

600 will be fine yes, but more importantly, is how much power is on the 12v rail
and i would most certainly reccomend getting a psu with 30 A on the 12

[Saxito Pau]

I'll agree: 600W max based on what I see. I honestly just giving that as a pure figure as opposed to checking power data.

So long as it has high power efficiency yuh good to go yes... I looking to get one like daniboy's.. not so much for the power features... it just looks damn good and is modular...

[Arcmanov]

*rolls eyes at 'looks damn good' *.

Now if you get a 700 Watt PSU, surely you wont ever have need for another one ever again.
Well, unless it fails of course. Always put yourself ahead of the power-curve to ensure compatibility.

[Crixx_Creww]

true @ try and predict the curve but... 700 watts hoss.. wah kinda nuclear meltdown yu promoting??
in trinidad no less.. lord.

If yu get a 600 watt with really high efficieny and most importantly 30 watts on the 12, yull be fine
oh and make sure its modular, super duper important.

[Saxito Pau]

true @ try and predict the curve but... 700 watts hoss.. wah kinda nuclear meltdown yu promoting??
in trinidad no less.. lord.

like Arcman hear that it have no VAT/Duty on importing nuclear reactors/nuclear reactor parts.... (very seriously - no VAT or  Duty!)

And the way yuh fighting me on artistic taste, man we may as well be Deidara and Sasori...

[W1nTry]

700W is overkill (take it from me who owns one and it didn't come cheap I assure you), however PFC or rather Active PFC in a country like T&T I think is important as well, modular is nice but like with OCZ ppl complain about how NOT supple the cables are and thus hard to manage though modular. Also I think the point they making about the 'looks' of the PSU is akin to the idea that MANY CHEAP PSUs are pretty so you should be careful. Lastly wrt crixx suggestion of 30A on the 12V, this is subjective. Many/ALL SLI/Xfire certified PSUs have multiple 12V rails. In that case what you need to look at it the cumulative Amperage of all the independent 12V rails. I say this as my 700W OCZ has 3x12V rails EACH able to push 16-18A. Thus the cumulative Amperage is well over 40A. Take that into account.

[Arcmanov]

*googles 'Deidara and Sasori'*................

Oh, more Naruto foolishess   

On topic:

I do not consider 700 Watts overkill.  We have all seen that PC power requirements
have risen substantially overall, even though CPU power consumption is steadily
dropping.
As an enthusiast, I consider 700 Watts to be quite a comfortable 'position' to be in.
Not too much to be ridiculous (1000W), and not too little, so I can add devices with
impunity. 

For example, the case I'm ordering, has four fans, and I intend to add
two more.  With 700W I'll be sitting pretty, and not have to worry about
power issues.

[Eroo]

Thanks for all the info.

out of curiosity Arcman what 700w psu are you buying and where from?

[Arcmanov]

Its an Ultra PSU, and I'm getting it from Amazon:  check it out


EDIT:  got the PSU today.  It has dual 80 mm fans, supports six modular connections, and the +12V rails current rating is 40 A (amps).
           It also came with a plethora of cables (7 in all), for floppy, PCIe video-card, IDE, and SATA connections.  The main power cable
           can even be split, so that it can be used on a 20-pin motherboard.

           All in all, a very solidly built PSU.  I must say, I'm quite impressed by its construction, and the b1tch is HEAVY, at 8 lbs.

[Beomagi]

"Heavy is good. If it doesn't work you can always hit him with it." - Boris the bullet dodger

Yeah the 8800gts uses as much power as the 7900gtx cards - 90-110 watts.

btw - a 700W psu does not mean it always pulls 700w. e.g. if the machine is pulling 300W, the power the psu may be drawing could be say, 450W, if it's 66% efficient at that load level.

Reasons for a high watt psu today, in a world without the pentium D (i'm still in hell!) would be major overclocking. Power usage after oc = power usage before oc * (new Freq/old Freq) * (new volt/old volt)²

If you're on water, or a really big cooler that handles heat from volts, then power usage can really jump. Even with core 2's past 3.0GHz (though once you're at that speed, every other architecture is whimpering anyway )

[Arcmanov]

Just a small update.

I'm currently using an 8800GTS with a 600W power supply, and its humming along rather nicely.
I've noticed no ill effects just far.  It seems that 600W (at least) is just fine if you want to keep
everything nice and stock.