Will my PSU work with this graphics card?

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chris1479

chris1479

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Jun 19, 2007
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Hey guys, let's get down to brass tacks. I've bought this graphics card:

SAPPHIRE TOXIC R9 280X 3GB GDDR5

And I own this PSU:

Sharkoon WPM600 (600W) Modular Power Supply


Here are the specs of the card:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1227&lid=1&pid=2023&leg=0#

And those of the PSU:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sharkoon-WPM600-Modular-Power-Supply/dp/B0070UARDI

______________________


Now the weird thing with this graphics card is that the power requirements are so absurdly high, 750W for a single graphics card? Seriously? Then it also demands what appears to be two 8 pin PCI-E connectors, when apparently I have like... one 6+2 pin connector and one straight 6 pin connector? What the hell?

Really confused by this, not sure what to make of it. Anyone able to help out?

Regards,

Chris
 
Solution
JamesSneed
Yes your PSU is perfectly fine to run the card. The GPU comes with an 8-PIN to 4 PIN x2 Power Cable so it has the 8 pin adapters to connect to a regular molex that you will need. So you would use the one PCIE 6+2 pin i.e. 8 pin and then one adapter for the second 8 pin PCIE connection.

You really should be fine but I would highly recommend you buy a better PSU in the next year or so. As this PSU capacitors age you could have issues. Think 750w to 850w for your next PSU since you like to OC and buy high end stuff who knows what you might want next. Someone like you that obviously has a decent budged I would go with something like: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139041

Here is a review of your PSU...
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chris1479

chris1479

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Oh and by the way here's my rig's other specs:

i5 2500K @ 4.4Ghz
250Gb Samsung EVO SSD
8Gb Ballistix DDR3
SAPPHIRE TOXIC R9 280X 3GB GDDR5

And some blu-ray burner I picked up somewhere. Really shouldn't be too high on the power requirements - generally speaking.
 
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Eximo

Eximo

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750W is their way of playing it safe.

375W is the max that card could pull through two 8-pins and the slot. 75+150+150.

They assume the rest of your system might use up a few hundred watts, and you shouldn't run a power supply at 100% load all the time. Just so that if there are problems they can blame your power supply.

Though in this case that would be justified. If your supply doesn't offer two 6+2 pins natively, it probably doesn't offer enough total wattage to power that card properly. You could use adapters, but you would be pushing it and might overload the supply.

I suggest buying an XFX 750W or 850W, price is about the same and the manufacturer, seasonic, has one of the best reputations. It would also set you up for possibly adding a second card if you have any interest in that.
 
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Onus

Onus

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I don't think so. The pics of that PSU suggest it is actually a 500W unit. It may actually be made by Channel Well, so it probably isn't junk, although it isn't listed on the 80plus.org site, so it is not 80+ certified (despite the 80+ "logo," admittedly not the official one). Channel Well cuts corners in a lot of their units, so even if it isn't junk, I still would not trust this one to be good enough for you.
Edit: Just saw Rolli's review. Low temp Samxon capacitors? Typical CWT corner-cutting, and render this unit unsuitable. It might start out ok, but those capacitors will degrade rapidly under heat stress and fail.
 
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JamesSneed

JamesSneed

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Oct 26, 2009
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Yes your PSU is perfectly fine to run the card. The GPU comes with an 8-PIN to 4 PIN x2 Power Cable so it has the 8 pin adapters to connect to a regular molex that you will need. So you would use the one PCIE 6+2 pin i.e. 8 pin and then one adapter for the second 8 pin PCIE connection.

You really should be fine but I would highly recommend you buy a better PSU in the next year or so. As this PSU capacitors age you could have issues. Think 750w to 850w for your next PSU since you like to OC and buy high end stuff who knows what you might want next. Someone like you that obviously has a decent budged I would go with something like: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139041

Here is a review of your PSU:

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1485/pg1/sharkoon-wpm-600w-power-supply-review-introduction.html

Here is a review of your GPU(Highest load was 469 watts for the total system and that was using FurMark which is unrealistically high):

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7406/the-sapphire-r9-280x-toxic-review/4
 
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Solution
chris1479

chris1479

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The R9 280x is nothing more than an updated 7970 with a few bells and whistles on and higher efficiency, I'd be amazed if a Sapphire TOXIC R9 280X could use - well almost what, double the wattage?
 
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chris1479

chris1479

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That's a badass answer JamesSneed, and your cat is badass too. I'll report back once I've hooked my card up to it, if there's no smoke we'll call it a success.
 
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rolli59

rolli59

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It does not but saying so frees them from liability.
 
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chris1479

chris1479

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Maybe it's a smart idea given the quality of the info they're putting out... Take the BS regarding the DVI ports on the R9 280X:

1 x Single-Link DVI-D
1 x Dual-Link DVI-I

BS! I'm looking at the pictures of it right now and both connectors are 100% Dual-Link because they've both got an uninterrupted rectangle of pins and the horizontal pin connector.

So why on earth are they listing it as single-link DVI? Gonna piss off a lot of Yamakasi/Catleap/QX 2710 owners - especially if people wanna drive two of them
 
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Onus

Onus

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When new, yes it will work. Go to the badcaps.org forums before deciding if those Samxon caps can be trusted for any length of time.
If you go ahead with it, be certain that PSU gets plenty of cooling air through it, either drawing its own air from beneath the case, or not fighting too many exhaust fans if it is top-mounted.
Personally, I wouldn't do it, but I'll admit to being more cautious than most on PSU quality, and also risk averse.
 
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chris1479

chris1479

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Thanks for the tip Onus. The PSU itself is bottom mounted facing downwards through a dust-protected vent seated in a CoolerMaster Silencio 550 http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B004WPBD96/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
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