Power Consumption GTX 780 or Titan

DanBonehill

Honorable
Aug 23, 2013
33
0
10,530
Hey all,

So I'm getting a new gaming PC soon, going get it from PC Specialist (I'm in the UK) I'm looking at getting 2 x 780's running in SLI but it tells me for that I need a 1200W power supply whereas if I went with 2 x Titans it only needs a 1050W power supply. Why is this as I thought the titan was more powerful than the 780, shouldnt it take more power?

I'm not going to get 2 x Titan as I know this is not really needed but was just wondering why the power difference

Also, (noob question) if i buy it with only one 780, I'm assuming I can at a later stage purchase another 780 on its own and add it to my rig myself?? Just thinking of a cost point, saves like £500 if I drop one of the 780's

Thanks all in advance
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($334.97 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C14 CPU Cooler ($73.00 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($204.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Corsair 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($128.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($176.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($145.00 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($647.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($647.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Trooper ATX Full Tower Case ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Cooler Master V1000 1000W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($189.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDC-207DBK Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($45.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.88 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $2819.74
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-07 17:08 EDT-0400)

Here's just a quick dummy build. It shows only 707W needed for SLI 780's. I'd recommend the 1000W supply in the build. It is top quality for Cooler Master is stepping into the high quality gamer power supply business with that model.

 

DanBonehill

Honorable
Aug 23, 2013
33
0
10,530




Ah ok, that's interesting, I must admit with regards to motherboards I dont really know the difference between each one but the one I'm looking at is the ASUS® P9X79 PRO
 
Here is Guru3D's power supply recommendation:

•GeForce GTX 780 - On your average system the card requires you to have a 550 Watt power supply unit.
•GeForce GTX 780 2-way SLI - On your average system the cards require you to have a 800 Watt power supply unit as minimum.
•GeForce GTX 780 3-way SLI - On your average system the cards require you to have a 1200 Watt power supply unit as minimum.

If you are going to overclock your GPU or processor, then we do recommend you purchase something with some more stamina.
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_geforce_gtx_780_lightning_review,9.html
 
Here is Guru3D's power supply recommendation:

•GeForce GTX Titan - On your average system the card requires you to have a 550 Watt power supply unit.
•GeForce GTX Titan 2-way SLI - On your average system the cards require you to have a 800 Watt power supply unit as minimum.
•GeForce GTX Titan 3-way SLI - On your average system the cards require you to have a 1200 Watt power supply unit as minimum.

If you are going to overclock your GPU or processor, then we do recommend you purchase something with some more stamina.
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_titan_review,9.html
 

DanBonehill

Honorable
Aug 23, 2013
33
0
10,530



I'm still debating, either Intel® Core™i7-3820 or maybe go for the I7 3930K, I want this system to last a while so am tempted by the 6 core
 

DanBonehill

Honorable
Aug 23, 2013
33
0
10,530



That's a good article thanks for that, it must be the CPU I have that is causing the extra power consumption then
 

DanBonehill

Honorable
Aug 23, 2013
33
0
10,530



I have contemplated the 3970x, but the extra power doesn't warrant the extra price really in my mind, from a few reviews/ comparisons I've seen there isn't that much in it is there?

 




For a gaming system, go with the I7-4770K. Its hyperthreading will be like adding cores for future games that will use them. The 3820 is actually a bit slower than the 4770K. The 3930K and 3960K just run at about the same speed as the 4770K but cost hundreds more. You are better off putting that cash into a couple 780's.
 

DanBonehill

Honorable
Aug 23, 2013
33
0
10,530




Ah ok, so the six cores doesn't really give any benefit for the foreseeable future?

 


http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/core_i7_4960x_processor_review,1.html

An extensive review of the new Ivy Bridge E processor. As you can see, it just doesn't really help unless you have ridiculous frame rates above 200 per second. Note that for a normal 1920x1080 screen you have about the same frame rate for all processors. The main bottle neck for the large/multi displays is the GPU, not the CPU. Also the new Z87 motherboards have lots of good stuff on them compared to the dated 2011 motherboards.
 

DanBonehill

Honorable
Aug 23, 2013
33
0
10,530


Cool, ill take a look at that review in a second, save myself a few £££ there I suppose

 

DanBonehill

Honorable
Aug 23, 2013
33
0
10,530
My budget for the build is between £2k - £3k and yes is mainly for gaming. The games ill be planning on playing are Total War Rome 2, Arma 3, Watch Dogs, Crysis 3 and maybe a few others too