what wattage to get for this GPU?

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4745454b
That card uses ~250W. You'll need to add whatever your CPU uses and a bit more for the drivers, ram, etc. (I usually do 50W, should be enough unless you have a large number of drives or other things.) You then need to make sure that the PSU you buy can output that power, and that the amount isn't more then ~80-90% of the output.

250 + 50W = 300W. If you have a 125W FX AMD CPU, then you need something that can output 425W, and that doing so is around 80-90% of the output of the unit. This means it will be a 550W unit or so. (425 * 100 / 80 = 531.25.) Change the math as needed.
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4745454b

4745454b

Titan
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Apr 29, 2006
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That card uses ~250W. You'll need to add whatever your CPU uses and a bit more for the drivers, ram, etc. (I usually do 50W, should be enough unless you have a large number of drives or other things.) You then need to make sure that the PSU you buy can output that power, and that the amount isn't more then ~80-90% of the output.

250 + 50W = 300W. If you have a 125W FX AMD CPU, then you need something that can output 425W, and that doing so is around 80-90% of the output of the unit. This means it will be a 550W unit or so. (425 * 100 / 80 = 531.25.) Change the math as needed.
 
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Minstedmaz

Minstedmaz

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Manufacturers always recommend a higher wattage than needed, most R9 280x vendors suggest a 750 watts PSU, you could manage with fewer watts, but in my own opinion 550 watts is a bit of a strecth.
 
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4745454b

4745454b

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Why? 750W is nearly enough for two cards. You saw the math above, how is it wrong? The problem is in the PSUs who lie about their output. As long as you have a quality unit you'll be fine.

I'm running a 200W R9 280/7950 with a 77W 3570K with a system draw ~325W. Doing the math above I get 406.25. I'm running my system on a 450W Rosewill capstone gold PSU. No problem so far. I don't need a 550 or 650W unit for this. That's overkill.
 
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Minstedmaz

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Ok, I see your point, even so I would always pick a good PSU with better watts from the start, what bout if he wants to overclock or run crossfire configuration in the future, he can save up about 10-20 dollars now but he will have to spend more in the future, and it doesn't hurt to get more watts in the beggining.
 
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4745454b

4745454b

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I'm a big fan of efficiency. Most machines will idle/surf at ~100W. With my 450W unit I'm ~20%, so still in the range of 80+ As a gold unit it should still do 87%? If I had bought a 600W unit, I'm down to 17%, and now the unit doesn't even need to worry about efficiency as 80+ doesn't test there. Not all units will be poor performers here, but with my 450W unit I know even if I'm not using it I shouldn't have to worry to much about the draw. Obviously units larger then 600W will on average be even worse.

what bout if he wants to overclock or run crossfire configuration in the future
Click to expand...

Need to pick the unit for the job. If OCing or running CF/SLI then you need to worry about that. If I had some hex core CPU with two 295s in CF, then obviously idle be damned and I need to get something in the 1.5kW range. Plans can/will change, and if they do, then you probably just need to buy a new PSU. I bought a 750W unit as I thought I'd be running two 7950s. Turns out one is enough for me. But due to reason mentioned above I bought another PSU and the 750W sits here mocking me.
 
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Minstedmaz

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Thats good for you man, I myself don't have the budget to change PSU whenever the plan changes, but if it works for you that's great, and the best thing is that the OP now has a lot to take into consideration to buy his PSU.
 
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