Wattage Monitoring Program?

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SDMorris

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Jun 12, 2008
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I am trying to prove to a buddy that I will be able to use my 850w PSU to SLI my 260, he strongly disagrees that it wont be able to and that im crazy for thinking about trying it. Are there any programs that show what amount of watts your system is drawing from the PSU? Thanks.
 
850w is plenty for SLIed 260's, just make sure youve got enough amperage on the 12 volt rail.

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine, based on your sig with a few fans and such i calculated yours out to under 600 watts at 90% load and 20% capacitor aging.

That program isnt the end all and be all, but its good for a rough estimate.
 
Hah! 850W is definitely more than enough. If really want to prove it or you want to make a money bet out of this :D, invest in a cheap watt meter like a Kill-A-Watt. Should run about 20 bucks on newegg. It's also a neat toy to figure out what's eating at your electric bill. Unless you have a refrigerator hooked up to your PSU, your setup should be well under 850W.
 
On the topic of a wattage monitoring program, they just dont exist. some of the more expensive AC conditioners will tell you what they're drawing from the wall, but look at H testing, under load a GTX280 was drawing just over 350W from the wall. Two HD4870X2's in crossfire draws 680W from the wall, at 80% efficiency that means its consuming under 550W of power, meaning a well built 650W unit should be able to handle two HD4870 X2s. Your 850 can handle more then many would have you believe.

SDMorris said:
I am trying to prove to a buddy that I will be able to use my 850w PSU to SLI my 260, he strongly disagrees that it wont be able to and that im crazy for thinking about trying it. Are there any programs that show what amount of watts your system is drawing from the PSU? Thanks.
Click to expand...

a real 850W will handle 3 GTX260s before hitting 80% usage. There are a couple of dodgy 850W units out there, so if you could give me the make and model...

edit: uh-oh, its the zalman in your sig? time for a little digging...
k well, I cant find any decent reviews, but it kinda looks like an enhance, only using all chemicon caps (two fatty 270uF on the primary), which is good, it has a double forward design, which usually puts out nice efficiency numbers, and it seems to have an obsessive amount of rectifiers, Its got at least 10 :confused: meaning... I have no idea.
 
I can watch my wattage draw on my APC Back-Up or use my Kill-A-Watt.
Under load my system with GTX280s pulls around 550watts
 
So sounds like I bought a good 850w? That makes me happy! Tell me this then, do you guys believe I should be able to run Tri-SLI? He was trying to nip at me since he had to go buy a new powersupply to go with his new E8400 and 780i MSI mobo.

Also, it says it is Quad SLI certified on newegg, which makes me wonder where he was reading LOL
 
SDMorris said:
So sounds like I bought a good 850w? That makes me happy! Tell me this then, do you guys believe I should be able to run Tri-SLI? He was trying to nip at me since he had to go buy a new powersupply to go with his new E8400 and 780i MSI mobo.

Also, it says it is Quad SLI certified on newegg, which makes me wonder where he was reading LOL
Click to expand...

Yeah, your 850W will be able to handle your 3 GTX260s.

What was your friends previous unit? bet it was a Dynex or an apevia or something.
 
Antec 550w. Its a OLD one, when I built my new rig he couldnt help but start updating his stuff
 
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