500w PSU enough for 4870?

V

verylostindeed

Gawd
Joined
Dec 27, 2004
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660
So, against my better (monetary) judgment, I jumped at a great deal on a HD4780 via ebay. I'm wondering now if my 500W Fortron Bluestorm PSU is going to be enough to run this guy. Currently I'm using a 9800GTX with about three fans, two hard-drives, and one optical drive, with an overclocked C2D @ 3ghz. No issues with respect to power. Before that I was using an 8800GTS 640mb, which I mention only because I think it actually drew more power than the 9800GTX.

Any idea if this'll be sufficient? If not, can anyone recommend another PSU? I may add another for XF down the line, in which case I'll definitely need a new PSU.

Thanks for the help.
 
Nah the 4870 is roughly similar to your past cards in terms of power consumption. You'll be fine.
In fact, your Fortron is a decent unit, and might have the stones to handle crossfire.
 
jebo_4jc said:
Nah the 4870 is roughly similar to your past cards in terms of power consumption. You'll be fine.
In fact, your Fortron is a decent unit, and might have the stones to handle crossfire.
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Really? Well, that's be nice not to have to get another PSU right away. I assume I'll have to use some kind of adapter, though, as I only have one extra six-pin connector at the moment.
 
cannondale06 said:
you seem pretty proud of that fact. IMO what you are doing seems pretty stupid based on the rest of your specs.
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lol ok machine runs just fine and the heat coming out of the PSU.....pretty much non existant.....

I built the machine 11 months ago and it has been running fine ever since then it puts out according to it's specs 264W on the 12V.........

now I have thought about replacing the PSU but I have to find one that will fit that is of sufficient quality

before I had the 4870 in there I was running a 3870 with no issues so I am sure the man's 500W will be up to the task.........
 
He should be proud. He saved $ by not falling for psu maker propaganda about how you need a 1kw supply to power an average system.

I on the other hand bought a corsair 750w b/c I'm too pussy to run everything on my $15 500w psu. I have nothing to be proud of. :(
 
Glad to hear I should be able to handle it with my current rig. Will keep you guys posted when it comes in.
 
Injection of <3 said:
He should be proud. He saved $ by not falling for psu maker propaganda about how you need a 1kw supply to power an average system.

I on the other hand bought a corsair 750w b/c I'm too pussy to run everything on my $15 500w psu. I have nothing to be proud of. :(
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well based on his specs, he is pushing his luck for sure. 350watts is not very wise for what all he has to power and that psu is probably a little more stressed than it needs to be. the OP on the other hand should have no issues since almost any decent 500watt psu would be fine.
 
Hey.

Got mine yesterday, this things a beast! (both in terms of speed and how hot is is hehe)

Running fine on my Antec TrueBlue 2.0 480W PSU ....
 
cannondale06 said:
well based on his specs, he is pushing his luck for sure. 350watts is not very wise for what all he has to power and that psu is probably a little more stressed than it needs to be. the OP on the other hand should have no issues since almost any decent 500watt psu would be fine.
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"a little more stressed than it needs to be"...

No. I refuse that logic. If they say 350W and it cant give me 350W on my conditions the units a POS. End of story.

When I finally get my hands on some money I'll be running two HD4870s in crossfire on my 550W. Who wants to bet it runs flawlessly?
 
MrWizard6600 said:
"a little more stressed than it needs to be"...

No. I refuse that logic. If they say 350W and it cant give me 350W on my conditions the units a POS. End of story.

When I finally get my hands on some money I'll be running two HD4870s in crossfire on my 550W. Who wants to bet it runs flawlessly?
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i run a mATX setup and my choices are really non existant......athena power? i can't even find a review....FSP not enough wattage........startech, dynapower, atrix and logisys...never heard of them

I would be happy to get a new PSU as long as it is ATX PS2 sized........anyone want to post up some links?
 
Isnt it a bad idea to run your psu at near or full load?

Akin to redlining your car all day?

And yes, a decent 500w unit will run the 4870 fine all day.
 
If you're asking if a 500W power supply will run a 4870, the answer is yes.

If you're asking if a 500W power supply will run an overclocked chip with no power throttling, 2+ cd roms, 6 hard drives and a watercooling system?.. chances are no.


So the overall answer is it really depends on what you're running. If you're running one cd/dvd rom, one or two hard drives and maybe a few lights in your case, you should be fine.
 
cannondale06 said:
well based on his specs, he is pushing his luck for sure. 350watts is not very wise for what all he has to power and that psu is probably a little more stressed than it needs to be. the OP on the other hand should have no issues since almost any decent 500watt psu would be fine.
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I'm running all of my stuff on a 380 watt PSU. Honestly, it really depends on the 12v rail(s). If a 500 watt PSU only has a 15 amp 12v rail, it's going to pail in comparison to a 350 watt PSU with 28 amps on the 12v rail.

The only real reason to be concerned is when the 3.3v and 5v rails may be taxed too much. I'm still using a machine with a 500 watt PSU that has 55 amps on the 5v rail! :eek:
 
bfellow said:
Will the 300W be enough for the 4850?
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Are you asking if a 300 watt PSU will power a 4850? Sure, if you don't hook anything else up to it! :D

It all depends on what you run along with it, but for the typical system which will include (benefit from) a 4850, I'd be looking for something with 30a on the 12v rail, minimum. That puts all 300 watt PSUs I'm aware of out of the picture (save maybe one Seasonic model, which I think tops this). I wouldn't risk it when there are several awesome 400-500 watt models out there for just a few dollars more.
 
YeuEmMaiMai said:
i run a mATX setup and my choices are really non existant......athena power? i can't even find a review....FSP not enough wattage........startech, dynapower, atrix and logisys...never heard of them

I would be happy to get a new PSU as long as it is ATX PS2 sized........anyone want to post up some links?
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Maybe you can just mod a standard ATX PSU to fit inside? Maybe have the ATX PSU hang out a little? Also see if SFX sized PSUs will fit.
 
YeuEmMaiMai said:
cool then I can get a thermaltake 430W-450W
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Make sure those Thermaltake PSUs are part of the Toughpower or Purepower RX line. Thermaltake other PSU lines are less than satisfactory for a gaming rig.
 
chinesepiratefood said:
Glad it seems to be working fine, as I have a Corsair HX 520w, and wanted to upgrade my 8800GT
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You're fine. I'm running an HD4850 right now, with a [email protected], 2 ODs, 2 HDs, and a bunch of fans, and I have *plenty* of power to spare...all on an HX520. The HD4870 doesn't draw much extra power at all.
 
cannondale06 said:
according to Brent the 4870 draws more power than the GTX 280.
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Sure, it's about a 50 watt difference. The full system still used less than 300 watts under load, and that's with a C2X at 3.66ghz and all. Few people have that kind of system. Jonny over at jonnyguru was able to power 3 GTX280s in SLI with an 800 watt PSU. The HX520 has 40a on the 12v rail, hence it's more than enough for a single 4870.
 
Just get a corsair 650 or 750. Then you are pretty much future proofed.
 
NLW said:
You're fine. I'm running an HD4850 right now, with a [email protected], 2 ODs, 2 HDs, and a bunch of fans, and I have *plenty* of power to spare...all on an HX520. The HD4870 doesn't draw much extra power at all.
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I've got the powersupply (520wat corsair) as you and am wondering if it could handle the 4870x2? sorry for gettting to much off topic.
 
HardLiner said:
I've got the powersupply (520wat corsair) as you and am wondering if it could handle the 4870x2? sorry for gettting to much off topic.
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We'll know when the reviews are out, and power draw has been tested. Chances are, yes, but you're probably going to be getting close to the max this thing can output safely, quietly, and at a low temp. That's just a guess, though.

To relate this back to the original thread, the typical PSU of 500 watts more than likely could not safely handle a 4870x2. It might, but I wouldn't risk it. The HX520 has 40a on the 12v rail, which is higher than most 500-520 watt models. The Antec NeoHE line is pretty good, though. Not exceptional, but a solidly built unit which does its job quite well. I'm wanting to say it may also be a Seasonic build, but I'd have to check on that. It can output 38a on the 12v rail, but I believe it's actually distributed over 3 rails, and I'm not certain at all that they can compensate for one another as the Corsairs can. I wouldn't use a NeoHE500 with an HD 4870x2 until I saw some quality reviews that actually showed the power draw to be within this unit's capability.
 
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