How much power do I need for my XFX Radeon HD R9 280X?

Goza377 · Dec 16, 2014

Hi all,
I just bought the components for a computer I am currently building that uses a XFX Radeon HD R9 280X GPU. XFX says that a 750 watt PSU is needed at a minimum, but when I have built my PC on PCpart picker it estimates that the total usage is 434 watts. So my question is, is the 550W power supply I have going to cause problems?
I asked this question once on the forms when I originally was choosing a PSU to buy and was told by a few members that 750 Watts would be overkill and that a 500-550 would suffice. I do not plan on doing any overclocking or cross-firing.

My parts are
AMD FX-6300 $106.78 *
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 $51.99 *
Memory
G.Skill 8GB $74.98
Storage
Western Digital 1TB 7200RPM $56.85 *
Video Card
XFX Radeon R9 280X $230.30 *
Case
Cougar Spike $29.99
Power Supply
OCZ 550W $54.99
Optical Drive
Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS $19.58

blacksheep123 · Dec 16, 2014

750w is for crossfiring two r9 280x cards

a good 650w psu is enough for single 280x

Goza377 · Dec 16, 2014

blacksheep123 :

I am using a OCZ 550W, thoughts on that being enough?

blacksheep123 · Dec 16, 2014

Goza377 :

no, you cant..

you need a 650w atleast ..to be in the safer side

ko888 · Dec 16, 2014

OCZ had at least five different 550W models. What's the exact model number of yours?

Based on the price you've provided I would say it's the OCZ-ZT550W. That model should be more than sufficient.

Math Geek · Dec 16, 2014

your looking at amps on the 12 v rail and not total wattage of the psu as your guide. 300 watts usage at load is what i am finding for this card which is 25 amps. to be safe and to allow for the rest of the system to have power, you should have you will need around 45 amps on your 12 v rail. this assumes 150 watts for the rest of the system, which is very generous, and between 80-85% psu usage when in use, which is the recommended usage.

the psu ko888 posted has 45 amps on the 12 v rail so if that is the right one, you are in the safe zone for the card. you can run the card but won't be able to sli it if that's your wish.

RCguitarist · Dec 16, 2014

If it's a quality power supply, 550W is plenty. 620 to 650 will give it nice headroom so it doesn't have to work hard at all though.

Goza377 · Dec 16, 2014

ko888 :

It is the FirePower ZT Series 550W 80Plus Bronze, do you know if this model is of good quality?

Math Geek · Dec 16, 2014

your is not the same one ko888 thought it was but it is good quality and still has the same 45 amps on the 12 v rail. so your still good. i would not do any overclocking and such as your right in the safe zone and don't want to push it beyond what it is. it's good but any extra pull from oc would be out of what's safe.

Goza377 · Dec 16, 2014

Thanks for the help, the only other concern is that the graphics card has a 8 pin and 6 pin slot for power, but the PSU only has two 6 pin PCI-e connectors. Would it be damaging to the GPU to use a 6 pin to 8 pin PCI-e convertor or 2x molex 8 pin?

Math Geek · Dec 16, 2014

according to the specs that psu has 2 x 6+2 connectors. if your does not, then it is a different model than what you posted and should not be used. the lack of connectors is the factory's way of telling you it's not compatible.

this is what i'm looking at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341050

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