You reckon my PSU has what it takes?

[ZaO]

Hey guys.

<<<<<<<<<You can check my system specs on the left there (It also has 5 x 120MM case fans btw)<<<<<<

I'm adding a Samsung 840 basic - 120GB to that setup so I can run UbuntuStudio on it.
So this means 2 SSD's and 2 mech drives.
I am also going to add another Windforce X3 GTX 670 OC, and another 2 RAM modules (so I have 16GB) to it at some point this year.
You think my PSU can comfortably deal with all that without being pushed above about 75-80% usage under max load?
I prefer to hear from dudes with experience who know what they're talking about than trust those PSU calculators.

Thanks

[c12038]

You should be ok at the level your on but adding another GTX 670 may just push you over the limit slightly

the GTX 670 Standard clock takes - 30A and a 500W PSU minimum I would think an O/C version would be around 38A and 550 - 600w psu

so 2 GTX 670 O/C would probably take you either upto your PSU limit or slightly over.......

also are you O/C you CPU if so this also has an impact on PSU usage...... see here http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...rclocking.html this explains in greater detail than what I can say to you

[Biscuit]

Corsair HX1000? God yes!

Look at my system, its not that dissimilar and I'm on a 750W. Even then, the PSU fans don't spin up till I'm gaming.

Drives will only take a few Watts, fans even less, so dont worry about all of that. Overclocked CPU say 150W to be safe, add 15-20% of that for the motherboard (again being quite safe), graphics cards combined say about 340w... honestly you're still just tickling it

[ajones]

I'd have thought you'd be fine, even with the second card and all that OC'ing.

A 1kW PSU is enough to power God isn't it?

[Biscuit]

You should be ok at the level your on but adding another GTX 670 may just push you over the limit slightly

the GTX 670 Standard clock takes - 30A and a 500W PSU minimum I would think an O/C version would be around 38A and 550 - 600w psu

so 2 GTX 670 O/C would probably take you either upto your PSU limit or slightly over.......

also are you O/C you CPU if so this also has an impact on PSU usage...... see here http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...rclocking.html this explains in greater detail than what I can say to you

Have another look a that link, skip to the 'absolute maximum' page. Even with an overclock i7-950 and a single 5870 they only hit just over 500W total system power. Now adding another GPU isnt going to double that, it will just add another 150 odd watts to it. Also bare in mind components tend to be more energy efficient than they were when that article was written.

Here are a couple of review sites looking at system draw with SLI GTX670

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphi...easttm/?page=8

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/...8#.UZXV-rWsiSo

[ZaO]

Corsair HX1000? God yes!

Look at my system, its not that dissimilar and I'm on a 750W. Even then, the PSU fans don't spin up till I'm gaming.

Drives will only take a few Watts, fans even less, so dont worry about all of that. Overclocked CPU say 150W to be safe, add 15-20% of that for the motherboard (again being quite safe), graphics cards combined say about 340w... honestly you're still just tickling it

Yeh your setup really isn't a lot different to mine/what mine will be. That puts my mind at ease a little, thanks

I'd have thought you'd be fine, even with the second card and all that OC'ing.

A 1kW PSU is enough to power God isn't it?

Well actually god is more energy efficient these days. Says about 900W supplied from solar panels and wind farms does the job just fine ;P

Have another look a that link, skip to the 'absolute maximum' page. Even with an overclock i7-950 and a single 5870 they only hit just over 500W total system power. Now adding another GPU isnt going to double that, it will just add another 150 odd watts to it. Also bare in mind components tend to be more energy efficient than they were when that article was written.

Here are a couple of review sites looking at system draw with SLI GTX670

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphi...easttm/?page=8

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/...8#.UZXV-rWsiSo

Thanks. That also helps



I don't think I would dare add anything else to the system after those upgrades tbh. After having a PSU go on me at one point and destroy some hardware I am always worried about overloading. It was a cheap PSU though. But still :/

[c12038]

Have another look a that link, skip to the 'absolute maximum' page. Even with an overclock i7-950 and a single 5870 they only hit just over 500W total system power. Now adding another GPU isnt going to double that, it will just add another 150 odd watts to it. Also bare in mind components tend to be more energy efficient than they were when that article was written.

Here are a couple of review sites looking at system draw with SLI GTX670

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphi...easttm/?page=8

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/...8#.UZXV-rWsiSo

Please read carefully (GTX 670 Standard clock takes - 30A and a 500W PSU minimum) so I said (an O/C version would be around 38A and 550 - 600w psu) and then stated clearly (so 2x GTX 670 O/C would probably take you either upto your PSU limit or slightly over)

Also OC your CPU will have a slight impact power usage wise so lets do a calculation

2x GTX 670 = 30A each min dependant on OC or standard clock so that takes Average of about say 65amps off the +12volt rails = 600 to 700watts (OC dependant and during 3d gaming)
Then slight OC on the CPU = 15A rough guess at +235watts (gaming mode)
then the 2 mechanical HDDs = 5A rough guess +20watts

So the total is now 860watt and 85A for the above

now we add the SSD's at 10A rough guess 70+ watts (Dependant on energy consumption of each SSD drive)


So now the Grand total roughly is 930Watts but the main part of this is how many AMPs and actual wattage drain the present PSU can sustain which is 960watts max load on the +12 volt rails and combined AMPS total is 95A

This is all rough guess work but I did state "probably take you either up to your PSU limit or slightly over"

[ZaO]

Please read carefully (GTX 670 Standard clock takes - 30A and a 500W PSU minimum) so I said (an O/C version would be around 38A and 550 - 600w psu) and then stated clearly (so 2x GTX 670 O/C would probably take you either upto your PSU limit or slightly over)

Also OC your CPU will have a slight impact power usage wise so lets do a calculation

2x GTX 670 = 30A each min dependant on OC or standard clock so that takes Average of about say 65amps off the +12volt rails = 600 to 700watts (OC dependant and during 3d gaming)
Then slight OC on the CPU = 15A rough guess at +235watts (gaming mode)
then the 2 mechanical HDDs = 5A rough guess +20watts

So the total is now 860watt and 85A for the above

now we add the SSD's at 10A rough guess 70+ watts (Dependant on energy consumption of each SSD drive)


So now the Grand total roughly is 930Watts but the main part of this is how many AMPs and actual wattage drain the present PSU can sustain which is 960watts max load on the +12 volt rails and combined AMPS total is 95A

This is all rough guess work but I did state "probably take you either up to your PSU limit or slightly over"

Thanks for taking the time to work that out! If that's a good estimate then I would be pushing things a bit more than I'd be comfortable with. I don't think my CPU is pulling 235 watts though. I thought it was closer to 150. I'm not to sure though tbh... Any idea if there's some software that can tell this kinda thing? I feel like I used something for this before which is why I had the impression my CPU is using less than your estimate. Seems like in this day and age we should easily be able to tell how much power components are using. Seeing voltage draws is easy enough. But measuring amperage and watts would be nice!

[kalniel]

Please read carefully (GTX 670 Standard clock takes - 30A and a 500W PSU minimum)

But it doesn't take anywhere near that.

so I said (an O/C version would be around 38A and 550 - 600w psu) and then stated clearly (so 2x GTX 670 O/C would probably take you either upto your PSU limit or slightly over)

Also OC your CPU will have a slight impact power usage wise so lets do a calculation

2x GTX 670 = 30A each min dependant on OC or standard clock so that takes Average of about say 65amps off the +12volt rails = 600 to 700watts (OC dependant and during 3d gaming)
Then slight OC on the CPU = 15A rough guess at +235watts (gaming mode)
then the 2 mechanical HDDs = 5A rough guess +20watts

So the total is now 860watt and 85A for the above

now we add the SSD's at 10A rough guess 70+ watts (Dependant on energy consumption of each SSD drive)


So now the Grand total roughly is 930Watts but the main part of this is how many AMPs and actual wattage drain the present PSU can sustain which is 960watts max load on the +12 volt rails and combined AMPS total is 95A

This is all rough guess work but I did state "probably take you either up to your PSU limit or slightly over"

Sorry, but that's just bad advice. Biscuit showed a real work example of real usage, not pie in the sky we've got to cover for PSUs that can't provide half their rated wattage. OP would be fine with a 650W supply, let alone a 1kW one.

Remember it's not simply a case of providing more than enough - over-specifying a PSU is bad for efficiency and heat production etc. as well.

[Willzzz]

ZaO, your PSU is absolutely fine for 670 SLI, you don't need 1000W but it won't hurt either. You certainly don't need more power.

Kalniel is quite right, you could run that on 650W without issue, not ideal maybe but perfectly safe.

[ZaO]

Ok well the majority seems to think I'll be fine so I'll take your word for it Thanks for all replies!

[Biscuit]

Please read carefully (GTX 670 Standard clock takes - 30A and a 500W PSU minimum) so I said (an O/C version would be around 38A and 550 - 600w psu) and then stated clearly (so 2x GTX 670 O/C would probably take you either upto your PSU limit or slightly over)

That's a recommendation for a full system with a 670 included and is woefully overstated, graphics manufacturers have always done this.

Also OC your CPU will have a slight impact power usage wise so lets do a calculation

It will indeed... But ok...

2x GTX 670 = 30A each min dependant on OC or standard clock so that takes Average of about say 65amps off the +12volt rails = 600 to 700watts (OC dependant and during 3d gaming)
Then slight OC on the CPU = 15A rough guess at +235watts (gaming mode)
then the 2 mechanical HDDs = 5A rough guess +20watts

So the total is now 860watt and 85A for the above

now we add the SSD's at 10A rough guess 70+ watts (Dependant on energy consumption of each SSD drive)


So now the Grand total roughly is 930Watts but the main part of this is how many AMPs and actual wattage drain the present PSU can sustain which is 960watts max load on the +12 volt rails and combined AMPS total is 95A

This is all rough guess work but I did state "probably take you either up to your PSU limit or slightly over"

You're just making all these figures up dude seriously. 10amps for a couple of SSDs? Not a single part of these calculations are close to correct I'm afraid.

As I said before, hard drives only take a couple of watts which is a miniscule draw of amps....

[Pob255]

Please read carefully (GTX 670 Standard clock takes - 30A and a 500W PSU minimum) so I said (an O/C version would be around 38A and 550 - 600w psu) and then stated clearly (so 2x GTX 670 O/C would probably take you either upto your PSU limit or slightly over)

Sorry but where the heck are you getting those numbers from?

You also need to look at voltage not just amps to come up with wattage numbers and vis versa.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/N...TX_670/26.html
Techpowerup look at card only power draw, the unoverclocked gtx670 uses a maximum of 162w under burn test and 152w peak gaming, as the pci-e only supplies 12v via slot and 6&8pin cables, so that 13.5a @12v burn max and 12.7a @12v gaming max

Techpowerup haven't looked at that gigabyte card but they have looked at the evga signature which is overclocked even higher, granted the overall card will have an effect on the power draw (esp any changes to vrm) but does give a rough idea to the effect on power draw from overclocking.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/E...ture_2/25.html
burn max 180w = 15a @12v and gaming max 166w = 13.84a @12v

I can only assume the 30a number you're coming up with is total system draw not the card draw.

While a max 20w is an ok safe rough for hard drives (some do hit that while under constant read+write loads) although it's more for older hard drives most current hard drives pull under 10watts.
Your SSD numbers are out, SSD's use far less current than hard drives do, generally under 5watts, they also pull primarily from the 5v, sometimes the 3.3v but not the 12v, so under 1a @5v
eg http://www.storagereview.com/crucial_m500_ssd_review crucial m500 uses 4.63watts at maximum
The only SSD's that pull from the 12v are the card type that use pci-e slots.

[Willzzz]

He is clearly looking at recommended figures and taking them totally out of context.

For a single 670 a 500W PSU that can provide 30A is perfectly sensible, but you don't double that number if you have two.
You aren't suddenly running 2 CPUs, 2 Mobos and twice as many drives, etc.

I mean 1000W isn't bad, it means you will be at 50% load at peak usage, but most people won't be at peak usage enough of the time to justify it.
Any decent PSU will be quite happy running at 60-70% with no appreciable loss of efficiency.