Antec 480W enough for 2900XT ??

A

arman01

Gawd
Joined
Feb 9, 2005
Messages
759
Hey guys, im running a core 2 duo setup with an 8800GTS 640mb and im thinking of switching over to ATI....or AMD and getting a 2900XT (i have my reasons)

my question is, will my Antec TrueBlue 2.0 480W PSU cut it?

it has two PCI-E cables and i think its SLI certified or something, and is known to have good efficiency.

Now i know AMd recommends 550W, but i thought that is probably on the cautious side.

Btw i think a single 2900XT consumes about 50W more than an 8800GTS under load, if that helps...

thanks in advance.
 
700 watt from a crappy brand. A good quality 500watt will do aswell.
 
no ones answered my question yet :confused: , will the 480W Antec run it with the system in sig (minus the 8800GTS)
 
why do u wannat get that crappy ATI card LOL!

Your making a step back if you get that! weird because i thought the main reason people upgrade is to upgrade to a better spec. your more or less downgrading
 
arman01 said:
no ones answered my question yet :confused: , will the 480W Antec run it with the system in sig (minus the 8800GTS)
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It would depend on the combined +12v rails. Without knowing the exact model of PSU you have, the only way to locate such numbers is on the side of your PSU (the sticker with all the numbers on it).

If you can give the exact model of PSU and/or combined +12v rails then I could probably answer your question.
 
exactly, no ones answering the qn. lol

personally i think the 2900 has a LOT of potential, particularly with dx10. Im also interested in it because of its HDMI out capability

I just want to know whether or not my Antec 480W psu can run it in the system in sig.
 
arman01 said:
no ones answered my question yet :confused: , will the 480W Antec run it with the system in sig (minus the 8800GTS)
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It might work, but it would probably force the PSU to work at near max all the time. You would probably want to upgrade it as well as the card if you are upgrading. The GTS uses less power than the GTX, and the GTX uses less than the 2900.
 
Neist said:
It would depend on the combined +12v rails. Without knowing the exact model of PSU you have, the only way to locate such numbers is on the side of your PSU (the sticker with all the numbers on it).

If you can give the exact model of PSU and/or combined +12v rails then I could probably answer your question.
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thanks. this is all i could gather from the box.

Antec TrueBlue 2.0 480 WATT ATX12V v2.0 (TPII-480BLUE)

____+5V +12V1 +12V2 +3.3V -12V +5Vsb
Max 38A__ 18A__ 18A__ 30A__ 1.0A__ 2.0A__
Min 0.5A__ 0.4A__ 0.4A__ 0.5A__ 0A__ 0A__

+5V, +12V1, +12V2, +3.3V max. load: 460W

I live in Aus, i think we use 220 or 230V at 60 hertz if it makes any difference.
 
JDAdams said:
AMD recommends nothing below 700W - http://ati.amd.com/technology/crossfire/buildyourown2.html. The only lower suppply on there is a dedicated 450W supply - bear in mind your PSU has to run your other components too.
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thats crossfire.....

i swear all these haters of ATI seem to be illiterate. not just this guy but numerous other posts by other people making false statements. its just a video card not a candidate for president.

yes, your power supply should run it fine.
 
LawGiver said:
thats crossfire.....

i swear all these haters of ATI seem to be illiterate. not just this guy but numerous other posts by other people making false statements. its just a video card not a candidate for president.
Click to expand...


LOL at "haters of ATI". I have four of their cards running on 3 PCs, 2 of them on ATi chipsets. What have you got o lover of ATi?
 
This is the main reason why I stay out of the normal forums. Anyways, to answer your question, after looking at the specs of the Antec, it looks like the PSU will be able to handle the load of the 2900XT; however, I would be cautious because while amperage is what matters to a video card, the wattage still plays a role.

P.S. To all you nVidia fanboys in this thread, keep your opinions to yourself. This is not the place for it, this is a question thread, not an opinion thread.
 
thanks. this is all i could gather from the box.

Antec TrueBlue 2.0 480 WATT ATX12V v2.0 (TPII-480BLUE)

____+5V +12V1 +12V2 +3.3V -12V +5Vsb
Max 38A__ 18A__ 18A__ 30A__ 1.0A__ 2.0A__
Min 0.5A__ 0.4A__ 0.4A__ 0.5A__ 0A__ 0A__

+5V, +12V1, +12V2, +3.3V max. load: 460W

I live in Aus, i think we use 220 or 230V at 60 hertz if it makes any difference.
Click to expand...

The 8800s and 2900xts must be alot nicer on power then the older cards. My Trueblue couldnt even power up my Opty/7800GTX system.
 
practal said:
The 8800s and 2900xts must be alot nicer on power then the older cards. My Trueblue couldnt even power up my Opty/7800GTX system.
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That is hard to believe. Rated with 36A on 12V+, you should have been able to power up a 7800GTX. You didn't have 20 HDDs, did you?
 
arman01 said:
thanks. this is all i could gather from the box.

Antec TrueBlue 2.0 480 WATT ATX12V v2.0 (TPII-480BLUE)

____+5V +12V1 +12V2 +3.3V -12V +5Vsb
Max 38A__ 18A__ 18A__ 30A__ 1.0A__ 2.0A__
Min 0.5A__ 0.4A__ 0.4A__ 0.5A__ 0A__ 0A__

+5V, +12V1, +12V2, +3.3V max. load: 460W

I live in Aus, i think we use 220 or 230V at 60 hertz if it makes any difference.
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Yup. You should be fine I'm betting. Just realize any considerations of OC'ing it are completely out of the question. :)

I mean, an 8800GTX EVGA superclocked only requires 28amps on the 12v rails and a 450watt PSU. As long as your dont have a ton of other things in your case or OC like mad for the rest of your parts (CPU, Memory, etc.) then you should be fine. If I was in your situation personally I probably wouldnt upgrade.
 
Neist said:
Yup. You should be fine I'm betting. Just realize any considerations of OC'ing it are completely out of the question. :)

I mean, an 8800GTX non OC'ed only requires 28amps on the 12v rails. As long as your dont have a ton of other things in your case or OC like mad for the rest of your parts (CPU, Memory, etc.) then you should be fine. If I was in your situation personally I probably wouldnt upgrade.
Click to expand...

Not to be too picky but the other parts (CPU, Memory, HDDs), they draw their power from the other rails (3.3V+ and 5V+ rails). Memory can even take from the 5V if you have it modded to do so.
 
thanks a lot for the replies guys.

ill no doubt do a bit more research before going ahead with it. right now its a 50/50 on whether or not to change the 8800GTS to a HD 2900XT.
 
I think that psu would be fine. As long as it has native 2 X 6pin pci-e connectors.
 
onetwenty8k said:
Not to be too picky but the other parts (CPU, Memory, HDDs), they draw their power from the other rails (3.3V+ and 5V+ rails). Memory can even take from the 5V if you have it modded to do so.
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Hm... I was fairly certain that the CPU drew from the 12v.

At any rate, I was more refering to overall wattage. :p
 
onetwenty8k said:
That is hard to believe. Rated with 36A on 12V+, you should have been able to power up a 7800GTX. You didn't have 20 HDDs, did you?
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I can see it now...

"I can't power up my 7800 GTX. Guess I'll have to choose between the 15K SCSI array, two of my quad Xeons, or just use my Rage IIc. Damn power inefficient video cards." :D
 
onetwenty8k said:
...I would be cautious because while amperage is what matters to a video card, the wattage still plays a role...
Click to expand...

Um... ouch... How about a little basic electronics theory?

Amps and watts are directly related.

Since we know the voltage feeds from the PSU, once we know the amperage we immediately can figure the watts. Its just a matter of multiplication. 12v x 36a = 432w.

Now you're probably going, "but Dec, if we add up the wattage of all the rails we get more than 480 watts." And yup, you do. All I can say is blame Antec. I'd assume that their circuit is not capable of feeding all the rails at peak efficiency at maximum draw.

(You weren't expected to know this. The internet is terrible at carrying tone. I'm not mocking you or flaming.)
 
Gees! Comes right off AMD site for recommended specs. Who knows, it may work on 480W but why bother chancing knowing you are on the edge peak capacity. If you really want the XT suck it up and get a new PSU., otherwise succumb to the power of the dark green forces.


Connection to 550 Watt (750 for CrossFire™) or greater power supply with two 2x3-pin PCIe® power connectors is required.
 
I'd wait for the R650 if you want HDMI on your vidcard. Your current vid card is more then enough for all games. I'm on a 6800GT atm. I really need an upgrade but there are too much negative things about the 2900XT. I dont want a nvidia because I want HDMI and hardware acceleration for HD. So i'm kinda lost on what to do now :(

The wait for R650 is too long if you consider I game on 1920x1200 with a 6800GT and I like games like Company of Heroes :/
 
Decibel said:
Um... ouch... How about a little basic electronics theory?

Amps and watts are directly related.

Since we know the voltage feeds from the PSU, once we know the amperage we immediately can figure the watts. Its just a matter of multiplication. 12v x 36a = 432w.

Now you're probably going, "but Dec, if we add up the wattage of all the rails we get more than 480 watts." And yup, you do. All I can say is blame Antec. I'd assume that their circuit is not capable of feeding all the rails at peak efficiency at maximum draw.

(You weren't expected to know this. The internet is terrible at carrying tone. I'm not mocking you or flaming.)
Click to expand...

I realize that and what Antec is probably doing is giving the average output, not the peak output. Thanks for correcting me though.
 
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