What PSU wattage needed

[rahul4557]

I want to install AMD A6 3600 Fusion Processor in dual graphics mode with HIS ATI Radeon HD6450 1GB Graphic card.

The Graphic card manual says
"400 Watt or greater power supply recommended (500 Watt for AMD CrossFireX technology in dual mode)"

So which wattage PSU will be required to setup dual graphics mode..??
450 will be okay or I'll have to go for 500..??

[kalniel]

Dual mode where you are using a CPU alongside a graphics card does not use much extra power at all, Crossfire X is different, as it uses two dedicated graphics cards rather than the CPU and a graphics card.

You would be fine with a good quality 380W power supply.

[aidanjt]

You would be fine with a good quality 380W power supply.

This.

[foxyboi]

If you go to this website. http://www.enermax.outervision.com/
they have a PSU calculator for all hardware.
Its pretty good

Mod Edit: Sales not permitted outside classifieds

[jim]

Just for future reference, Foxyboi, we only permit sales between members in the classifieds and wanted sections, which are only open to members with over 100 posts.

[shayr1992]

Just go for the cheapest known brand PSU you can find. You'll be fine.

[c12038]

nope a OCZ ZS 550w will do ya

[Tartanpimpernel]

If you go to this website. http://www.enermax.outervision.com/
they have a PSU calculator for all hardware.
Its pretty good

Thanks for that link, just plugged in the specs of my proposed build and the 650w Scan recommended aint going to cope from the looks of things

Minimum PSU wattage my setup comes back with is 926w!

[scaryjim]

tbh, Tartan, most of those PSU calculators *massively* overestimate. If you post up your anticipated specs we can give you a better idea. The only way I can see you needing 926W is if you're going with a Sandy Bridge E build and 3 high end GFX cards - and even then you'll only just be scraping that!

If Scan recommend a 650W power supply that's a pretty good indication that your rig will pull less than 500W - after all, scan have many years of experience building and specifying custom PCs - they're unlikely to get something as basic as a sufficient PSU wrong...

[Ulti]

I can't actually imagine the A6-3500 + 5450 pulling more than 100W even on load tbh. I use the A6-3500 myself and it barely reaches 80W load. Not sure if adding a 5450 will actually improve the performance of the A6-3500 much though in terms of graphics power.

[Tartanpimpernel]

Good point scaryjim, think it was a panic attack more than anything that the PSU manufacturer recommended a PSU almost 300w more than Scan did

My spec is as follows:

CPU: Intel Core i7 3930K

Overclocked - CPU: 4.5Ghz

CPU Coolers: Noctua NH-D14

Motherboard X79: Asus Rampage IV Formula

Memory - DDR3: 32GB Total (8x4GB) Corsair Vengeance AW, DDR3, 1600MHz

Graphics Card: MSI GTX 570 OC Twin Frozr II <---- will be moving to a dual GT6XX card setup later in year

OS Drives: Corsair 128gb SSD x2

Storage Drives: WD Green x3 / WD Black x2

Case: Fractal R3

Optical Drives: DVD RW x1 / Blu-ray/HD-DVD x1

Case Cooling: Noctua NF-P12-1300 120mm Case Fan x2

Extras: USB Hub/ Fan Controller/ Card Reader

PSU: TBC

From what I have read its the GFX cards which cause the largest drain, I usually have a fair few things plugged into my usb hub but even stuff like usb hdd's I cant imagine being too much of a drain....