500watts 80+ platinum = enough for 2x GTX980 SLI ?

libertaire · Jan 25, 2016

My hardware:
KINGWIN STR-500 500W ATX 12V v2.2, EPS 12V v2.91 and SSI EPS 12V v2.92 SLI Ready 80 PLUS PLATINUM Certified Modular Active PFC Stryker Fanless Power Supply
Core i7 4GHz
32GB Ram
2x SSD + 1tb WD Blue
Swiftech water cooling pump
EVGA GTX980 4GB

I'm planning to upgrade to SLI with another GTX980 but don't want to upgrade the Power Supply because i like the fanless option.

Is 500watts 80+ platinum enough for another 980GTX ?

turkey3_scratch · Jan 25, 2016

No, no, and no! Not enough. You want a 750W minimum, a unit with an actual 750W on the 12V rail. Preferably, an 850W unit.

Dark Lord of Tech · Jan 25, 2016

Not even close.

Zerk2012 · Jan 25, 2016

^^^^^^^^ What he said. I would get the 850 Watt.

Dark Lord of Tech · Jan 25, 2016

750W will run it.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($114.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $114.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-25 19:54 EST-0500

Measured power consumption GTX 980 2-way SLI

System in IDLE = 123 Watts
System Wattage with GPU in FULL Stress = 446 Watts
Difference (GPU load) = 316 Watts
Add average IDLE wattage ~10 Watts
Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 332 Watts

Sinistercr0c · Jan 25, 2016

The reference GTX980 is a 165w GPU so 330w in SLI plus (I'm guessing at 4.0Ghz your i7 is a 4790?) 88w plus whatever your RAM, SSD's and water cooling solution draw...500w I'd say is borderline at best. The platinum rating is irrelevant, as it only means that the PSU is guaranteed to supply over 90% power at a certain % load...

turkey3_scratch · Jan 25, 2016

No, under stress a GTX 980 can draw 280W of power.

Zerk2012 · Jan 25, 2016

My personal experience with my PC, specks are listed running OCCT and MSI kombuster I pull around 420 Watts from the wall measured with a Kill-A-Watt meter. Single GTX 980 (MSI)

libertaire · Jan 25, 2016

any fanless 750+ PSU available on the market ?

The reference GTX980 is a 165w GPU so 330w in SLI plus (I'm guessing at 4.0Ghz your i7 is a 4790?) 88w plus whatever your RAM, SSD's and water cooling solution draw...500w I'd say is borderline at best. The platinum rating is irrelevant, as it only means that the PSU is guaranteed to supply over 90% power at a certain % load...

The core i7 is a 4790k overclocked (voltage untouched)

No, under stress a GTX 980 can draw 280W of power.

But with SLI, it wouldn't really be much stressed in real life ?

I want max possible FPS in COD:BO3 zombies with my new 165hz monitor. With a single GTX980 i don't get 100+fps but the GPU doesn't seem stressed, the fans doesn't even turn on most of the time because the temp are too low

turkey3_scratch · Jan 25, 2016

Zerk2012 :

Then that realistically that equates to the 980 in the graph above. Maybe even less, more like 250W for you.

turkey3_scratch · Jan 25, 2016

Seasonic has a 1020W Snow Silent Series. Silverstone Nightjar is fanless but I think it's only a 520W model. Lots of units have semi-fanless mode.

libertaire · Jan 25, 2016

Seasonic Snow Silent would be ugly in my case (everything is black)

I didn't know hybrid PSU were available, this could be an option.

This one looks interessing:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151141&cm_re=silent_power_supply-_-17-151-141-_-Product

Totally fanless when PSU load is under 35%

EVGA has an interessing hybrid PSU too, but its fanless only up to 25% load

Anything better than 35% available ? In 80+ platinum only
Seasonic and Kingwin PSU are able to be fanless up to 550watts, i don't understand why the hybrid 1000w PSU can be fanless only up to 25% load

edit: wait, it's not really clear wether it is totally fanless up to 35% or 25%

New feature - Hysteresis - is achieved by a fan control IC, which optimizes how frequently the fan switches on and off. At 77°F (25°C) ambient temperature the fan turns on when the load rises above 35% (±5%) and it turns off when the load drops below 25% (±5%). Due to this lag in response the fan switches on and off less frequently, which reduces power loss in Fanless and Silent Mode.

turkey3_scratch · Jan 25, 2016

Why do you need Platinum may I ask?

Get an EVGA P2.

libertaire · Jan 25, 2016

Why do you need Platinum may I ask?

http://c1.neweggimages.com/BizIntell/item/17/171/17-171-079/17-171-079_image_004_020615.jpg

Get an EVGA P2.

Only fanless up to 20% load
EVGA 220-PS-1000-V1 would be better (fanless up to 25%)
But SeaSonic SS-1050XP3 is still best (fanless up to 35%)

Noise level is my #1 concern, i have a fully silent PC

libertaire · Jan 25, 2016

Oh, just found a model of the EVGA p2 that is fanless up to 40% load ! Best option so far.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438029&cm_re=evga_eco_platinum-_-17-438-029-_-Product

Any downside of the "Eco mode" ? Why isn't it enabled by default ? Who wouldn't want a silent PSU when working / low cpu load ?

turkey3_scratch · Jan 25, 2016

It has a switch just in case someone wants the fan on always. Some people are just that way.

libertaire · Jan 25, 2016

Ok i see, thanks

Can i run two different EVGA GTX980 in SLI or it has to be the exact same model ?

I have this one : EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB SC GAMING ACX 2.0 1266MHZ Boost 1367MHZ Graphics Card
And i'm planning to get this one which is cheaper and higher clock speed : http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487089&cm_re=EVGA_GeForce_GTX_980_4GB-_-14-487-089-_-Product

I just hope it has the fanless hybrid mode like the other card i have, i couldn't find the confirmation of the feature on the newegg listing

turkey3_scratch · Jan 25, 2016

They can be different, but set the clock rates to equal.

libertaire · Jan 25, 2016

My card says "boost 1367MHz"
And the other one says "Boost Clock 1380 MHz"

So i could just set both to 1367MHz and it will be fine ?

turkey3_scratch · Jan 25, 2016

libertaire · Jan 26, 2016

Thanks a lot for your replys ! Very helpful !

I was about to hit the "buy" button but i just learnt that nvidia announced today that the new Pascal and GTX1080 will be released in April and June
Should we expect a quick price drop on the GTX980 ? Is it worth waiting 3 months to get a better price or we won't see price drops until next year ?
Or should i invest my money in Pascal / GTX1080 instead of going SLI with the 980's ?
Decisions.. decisions..

turkey3_scratch · Jan 26, 2016

No, Pascal and Polaris are set for August around there. Not true. And they'll never call a 4K GPU the 1080.

libertaire · Jan 27, 2016

NVIDIA 2014-2017 GPU Roadmap: Pascal Titan GP100 To Debut in April, GTX 1080 in June, and Volta in 2017
http://techfrag.com/2016/01/25/nvidia-2014-2017-gpu-roadmap-pascal-titan-gp100-to-debut-in-april-gtx-1080-in-june-and-volta-in-2017/

turkey3_scratch · Jan 27, 2016

Techfrag is not a legit source of info. Even WCCftech is more accurate, and they say Fall.

500watts 80+ platinum = enough for 2x GTX980 SLI ?

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