Sapphire R9 280X PSU Requirements...

[PowerPie5000]

Ok, i just bought an i7 3770K to squeeze some more life from my gaming PC (seeing as newer games will be highly threaded... Hopefully!). I also decided to buy a 'Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X OC' card while i was at it. Anyway, i just looked on the Sapphire website and they have 750W listed as the PSU requirement for this card!! Surely that can't be right? Their 7970 Ghz edition Vapor-X card only requires a 500W PSU according to them...

Will i need to change my PSU which is currently a 600W Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold? It has 48A on the +12V rail and is gold certified. I'm guessing it'll be fine, but would like to hear other opinions please . Also, are Sapphire still considered a decent brand? I've not had a Sapphire card for some time and i remember them being quite good several years ago.

... I now have 2 spare graphics cards, but one of them will be used in another PC. Which one should i sell? The 3GB 'HIS 7950 IceQ Boost' or maybe the 2GB 'KFA2 GTX 660 Ti EX OC' ?? I'd probably sell whichever one will get me the most (both boxed in perfect condition with all accessories) .

[herulach]

Since you appear to have a crossfire capable board, the obvious answer is to sell the 660 Ti, spend the proceeds on a 750ish what PSU with 4 PCIe connectors, and enjoy your new crossfireX setup.

[PowerPie5000]

Since you appear to have a crossfire capable board, the obvious answer is to sell the 660 Ti, spend the proceeds on a 750ish what PSU with 4 PCIe connectors, and enjoy your new crossfireX setup.

Crossfire my 7950 with my R9 280X? I'm not really a fan of Crossfire, but would have bought a second 7950 and not a 280X if i was. Both these cards have huge coolers and probably won't fit side by side with my old mobo anyway . Also, i think i'm done throwing money at this PC now .... I'll keep this one for a couple of years and then build a whole new PC .

[D1DM]

Kitguru reviewed that card and they measured the power consumption of the card to be 227W under a gaming load and 251W under Furmark, which seems normal for a 500W PSU. So yes your SPG 600W will be fine.
http://www.kitguru.net/components/gr...r-x-review/20/

[PowerPie5000]

Kitguru reviewed that card and they measured the power consumption of the card to be 227W under a gaming load and 251W under Furmark, which seems normal for a 500W PSU. So yes your SPG 600W will be fine.
http://www.kitguru.net/components/gr...r-x-review/20/

I saw that review too and it looks good compared to this review: http://www.eteknix.com/sapphire-amd-...s-card-review/. Although the guy who did that review did say in the comments that it was an early production sample and Sapphire had told him that it wasn't up to their usual standards (believable? ).

I can't see any reason why a Sapphire 280X would comsume much more power than any other similarly clocked 280X card.

[MrRockliffe]

From looking at the toxic review too, it appears as though it might be because it over volts itself as well. 600w is plenty to run a 280x off.

I would keep the 7950 as higher memory bus etc for higher resolutions - you'll benefit from it.

Depending on where you sell the 660 Ti - I would probably buy it off you. I'm looking for an Nvidia card myself.

[PowerPie5000]

From looking at the toxic review too, it appears as though it might be because it over volts itself as well. 600w is plenty to run a 280x off.

I would keep the 7950 as higher memory bus etc for higher resolutions - you'll benefit from it.

Depending on where you sell the 660 Ti - I would probably buy it off you. I'm looking for an Nvidia card myself.

I really hope my 280X doesn't over volt itself! I'm now confident my PSU will be fine after some reassurance :

Anyway, I currently have the GTX 660 Ti listed over at Amibay (http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?t=53105)... I list things there for a few days before moving on to ebay.

Your PSU outputs up to 360W on the 12V rails with 30A combined. You have enough amps if the KFA2 PSU requirements are accurate (Minimum 450W or greater system power supply with a minimum 12V current rating of 24A). The max TDP of the GTX 660 Ti is 150W.

[herulach]

Crossfire my 7950 with my R9 280X? I'm not really a fan of Crossfire, but would have bought a second 7950 and not a 280X if i was. Both these cards have huge coolers and probably won't fit side by side with my old mobo anyway . Also, i think i'm done throwing money at this PC now .... I'll keep this one for a couple of years and then build a whole new PC .

They're both dual slot, so will fit fine. And since you have the card, why would you not do it? Crossfire isn't like SLI so you won't be crippling the 280X to the lower clock speed. The money you'd get from the 660 will easily get you into a PSU that supports it. If you're not going to use it why keep it at all?

[PowerPie5000]

They're both dual slot, so will fit fine. And since you have the card, why would you not do it? Crossfire isn't like SLI so you won't be crippling the 280X to the lower clock speed. The money you'd get from the 660 will easily get you into a PSU that supports it. If you're not going to use it why keep it at all?

I'm selling the GTX 660 Ti, but the 7950 is going to be used in another PC (it was either that or the 660 Ti).

Both of my Radeon cards are more like 2.5 slots wide... The HIS 7950 IceQ Boost has a massive cooler which is wider than most other coolers. The Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X is also quite wide and has a slightly protruding back plate too! There won't be any breathing space with both of these installed directly next to each other (and i'd prefer the 280X in the first slot as that's the only PCI-E 3.0 slot). Are you sure the 280X won't slow down if paired with a 7950? I can't seem to find any info on this.

EDIT: Oh!, i forgot to mention another important factor... My Asus Xonar is currently occupying the PCI slot .

[herulach]

I'm selling the GTX 660 Ti, but the 7950 is going to be used in another PC (it was either that or the 660 Ti).

Both of my Radeon cards are more like 2.5 slots wide... The HIS 7950 IceQ Boost has a massive cooler which is wider than most other coolers. The Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X is also quite wide and has a slightly protruding back plate too! There won't be any breathing space with both of these installed directly next to each other (and i'd prefer the 280X in the first slot as that's the only PCI-E 3.0 slot). Are you sure the 280X won't slow down if paired with a 7950? I can't seem to find any info on this.

EDIT: Oh!, i forgot to mention another important factor... My Asus Xonar is currently occupying the PCI slot .

Sorry I completely missed that in your first post. Theres a few 7950/7970 crossfire benches around, and it apparently comes out somewhere between 2 of each. Since 280x is a 7970 I'd expect the same to happen.

[Butuz]

Will i need to change my PSU which is currently a 600W Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold?

No your 600w Gold PSU will be fine. I estimate your system with the single 280x would use ~400w at full load.

Butuz

[PowerPie5000]

No your 600w Gold PSU will be fine. I estimate your system with the single 280x would use ~400w at full load.

Butuz

Seems strange how every manufacturer is stating a minimum of a 750W PSU for a single 280X and 1000W for Crossfire!

[kalniel]

Seems strange how every manufacturer is stating a minimum of a 750W PSU for a single 280X and 1000W for Crossfire!

As has been mentioned several times already, they're having to cover terrible PSUs that can't supply half the rated wattage. Hopefully no-one who reads Hexus would use one of those.