What psu????

[Gingerade]

im planning on getting a 8800gts 640mb very soon but currentally i only have a 300 watt psu im not looking to spend anything really over 50 bucks and im getting 8800 from newegg so i would like to get it there. the thing is that im prob going sli in Octoberish so when the time comes then i will just get a very good psu.

 

[RichPLS]

WTF are your reasons for buying a 640MB 8800 yet not willing to spring more than $50 for a PSU?!?

GL2U.

I prefer the ThermalTake Toughpower 700 watt PSU, myself... but there are a lot of opinions, and as long as a new quality brand/model PSU of 500watts or more is being selected, the choice is yours to make...

Are you going to enjoy that hi-perf GPU on an LCD that costs under $100 too? :roll:

 

[Whizzard9992]

I'm going to go drive my ferarri now, and then fill it with 85 octane gas. :roll:

You want a 500 Watt PSU or better. (Probably 550 or so). Expect to spend about $100 - $130; minimum.

I got a 750 TT Toughpower for my 320MB GTS (Though that was overkill: I want to SLI later).

A PSU isn't some unimportant accessory, like a floppy or the case. It's probably the most critical part of the system. If funds are limited, get the 320MB version and a good PSU.

 

[Gingerade]

well im only 14 and im short on cash so i wouldnt wanna pay 100 bucks for a psu when a 50$ one will do the same thing. and no my monitors not a cheap 100 dollar monitor its some gateway 17 inch lcd and it gets the job done.

 

[doolittle]

I am running my 8800gts 340mb with an opty175/2gb/3xhdd/2xfan/1xdvd on an Antec TPII-480, no OC and it works great. I calc'd the unattainable max at ~25A so the 33A max is good enough for my setup.

For less than $50 to power a basic 8800gts system is difficult, my setup w/ only 1 sata drive would put me at ~23A so I would want at least 29A for a max +12v which sounds like a job for a cheap but quality 400w dual-rail unit like this HiPro true 400w unit which is <$38 shipped.

Check out jonnygurus review of the eXtremePower 430W which is this unit under the cooler master name (and of course, a higher watt rating on the label yea what a shocker :lol: )

Another option, maybe you like your 300w so much you can get one of these 20A dual-rail conversion kits: Thermaltake W0099RU but newegg is out of stock and not the greatest deal at $55+$7 shipping, get it from buy.com for $53 shipped a much better deal.

Yet another idea, mpilchfamily informed me some time ago there is a dual ATX power supply adapter which will allow you to use your 300w unit with the cheap hipro 400w I previously mentioned for an awesome dual PSU mod just make it neater than I did

 

[Gingerade]

i was thinking this looks cool and the reviews seem to be good.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182016

 

[doolittle]

Yea that's decent, it's really an ATNG unit that is Rosewill's cream of the crop. Check out jonnyguru's review of the 500W version of that model:

"Rosewill RP500-2 review"(link) - jonnyguru[/url]"]The Rosewill RP500-2 is a real eye opener. Here we have this much maligned PSU brand that everyone automatically writes off as sheer crapola that is actually kicking ass and taking names. True, Rosewill is hit and miss with their choice of OEM's but it looks like when they hit they hit like the old George Foreman!

 

[HotFoot]

well im only 14 and im short on cash so i wouldnt wanna pay 100 bucks for a psu when a 50$ one will do the same thing. and no my monitors not a cheap 100 dollar monitor its some gateway 17 inch lcd and it gets the job done.

I haven't seen too many 17" screens with resolutions beyond 1280x1024. At that resolution, even the 320MB GTS will probably be overkill for any current game. What is your consideration for going SLI later? I take it you've already spent the extra money on the motherboard to do so...

I'm personally not a fan of suggesting SLI to anyone that is modestly budget-concious. First, the motherboard costs more. Second, you're probably better off or pretty close to par using a single GTX compared to two GTSs... does someone have benchmarks we can see? Third, you're going to need a lot of PSU capacity, and you need to invest more money to get it. I would say any logical SLI configuration is not in the budget or mainstream gaming rig territory.

There is the idea to build overcapacity into your hardware so that you will be able to use it for a longer time. However, by the time you're considering buying a second card, you'll likely see better FPS improvements by selling your old card and using that money to bump up your budget to a better new one.

Really, the only person I'd recommend SLI to is someone who has a huge budget and wants an extreme system. These days, they're running a 24" or larger monitor with 1600x1200 resolution at a minimum. This person isn't satisfied by what the top-of-the-line card has to offer, so then it makes sense to get two. What I mean is that until you can't buy a faster single card, you're going to see better performance for your investment (total system cost) by choosing a single higher-end model over two lesser parts.

 

[Whizzard9992]

...i wouldnt wanna pay 100 bucks for a psu when a 50$ one will do the same thing...

A $50 PSU won't do the same thing as a $100 PSU. A common misconception.

well im only 14 and im short on cash...

Then why are you getting a 640MB 8800 GTS?



A PSU is a lot more than a power rating (e.g. 400W, 450W, etc). There's a reason one power supply is twice the price of another.

An 8800 GTS system will consume more than 300 WATTS in an non-overclocked system, give or take. That's AVERAGE, and doesn't include spikes of power draw. You need good-quality, 500W minimum PSU.

You run the risk of random crashes and system instability with a cheap PSU. Not to mention, more than a few components have been fried as a result of the PSU giving out. Do you really want to run that risk to save $50?

It would be in your best interest to get the cheaper card and a good quality PSU.

Good advice from someone who knows.

 

[HotFoot]

According to cnet, Nvidia recommends a minimum 400W PSU for a sytem using a single 8800 GTS.

To its advantage, the 8800 GTS card requires less power than the GTX. Nvidia recommends at least a 450-watt power supply for a single GTX card and 400 watts for the GTS.

Link

I should appologise for suggesting a PSU with less than 400W in my last post, but 500+ is overkill. The SeaSonic 430W PSU goes for $95 at newegg, which would save you $20-30 over more powerful models. Going for more power now would, however, let you consider playing around with more hardware down the road, such as big RAID setups. The 430W SeaSonic is what I have on order from directcanada, and I paid just CAN$79.82, which today translates to US$69.19. This is why I was suprised when you said SeaSonic was out of your price range. Maybe they're just cheaper in Canada.

EDIT: Get an impression of system power consumption from AnandTech:

Link

Also consider that the system components used in Anand's review are relatively power-hungry. For example:

CPU: Intel X6800
NB: nVidia 680i

The article might also give you an idea of what kind of monitor you should have to take advantage of the power of the 8800-series cards. They're running a display with a native resolution of 2560x1600.

 

[everett]

i wouldnt wanna pay 100 bucks for a psu when a 50$ one will do the same thing.

*Points and laughs*

 

[HotFoot]

*Points and laughs*

Nice contribution.

 

[everett]

It is hard to contribute anything to someone who will not listen. Why post a question when he has already made up his mind. :?

 

[HotFoot]

Reading the rest of the thread, you'll find he is open to suggestions. In any case, more knowledgeable members have given some good advice so other people in similar situations can learn something.

I do agree with laughing at people who have just plain wrong ideas and won't listen to reason... I just don't think the original poster is one of those types.

 

[Whizzard9992]

According to cnet, Nvidia recommends a minimum 400W PSU for a sytem using a single 8800 GTS.

To its advantage, the 8800 GTS card requires less power than the GTX. Nvidia recommends at least a 450-watt power supply for a single GTX card and 400 watts for the GTS.

Link

I should appologise for suggesting a PSU with less than 400W in my last post, but 500+ is overkill. The SeaSonic 430W PSU goes for $95 at newegg, which would save you $20-30 over more powerful models. Going for more power now would, however, let you consider playing around with more hardware down the road, such as big RAID setups. The 430W SeaSonic is what I have on order from directcanada, and I paid just CAN$79.82, which today translates to US$69.19. This is why I was suprised when you said SeaSonic was out of your price range. Maybe they're just cheaper in Canada.

EDIT: Get an impression of system power consumption from AnandTech:

Link

Also consider that the system components used in Anand's review are relatively power-hungry. For example:

CPU: Intel X6800
NB: nVidia 680i

The article might also give you an idea of what kind of monitor you should have to take advantage of the power of the 8800-series cards. They're running a display with a native resolution of 2560x1600.

I've seen different numbers from different places (Though I tend to believe Anandtech's numbers over anyone elses).

For example here they show a system with a similar config consuming 315 Watts of power.

Again, the numbers you're looking at are averages, and they don't account for spikes. 400Watts might be fine, but I wouldn't risk it personally. You're going to want some headroom when it comes to your PSU.

Either way I think we're splitting hairs. It's not worth risking a US$400+ video card with a $50 PSU - to save $20 or $30.

Another good point (made by others) is that the GTS is overkill for 1280x1024. I run 1680x1050 on my 320MB GTS and I've yet to encounter a game that it can't handle well (Including Oblivion @ full settings). You'd still do very well with the 1950 Pro or XT. I'm just mentioning this because you said money was an issue.

 

[Gingerade]

well u guys see im upgrading step by step and rite after i get a 8800 im getting a core 2 duo then im getting a 22 inch maybe a 24 so i would like the xtra memory.also i will sli probally when i will need to buy another card because it will be like my 6600 rite now eventually. so i would just like to know is that psu i was looking at any good cuz most of the reviews say its good but u guys say i should get a better one but i just want 1 that will get the job done.

 

[rodney_ws]

well im only 14 and im short on cash so i wouldnt wanna pay 100 bucks for a psu when a 50$ one will do the same thing. and no my monitors not a cheap 100 dollar monitor its some gateway 17 inch lcd and it gets the job done.

LOL... yes, your monitor is a cheap monitor. Give us a model number so we can see if it's a $100 monitor or perhaps a $75 one.

 

[HotFoot]

You mean specifically the 29 amps versus the nVidia-recommended 26? I'm quite certain that nVidia has considered the aging of capacitors and added a bit of a buffer to their recommendations. I haven't seen any reviews where that kind of power was required to run a GTS under load. A general question I've been meaning to post on your PSU guide is what buffer margin do you suggest if you actually know the power draw of your system? Ideally, is the bare-minimum PSU the one that handles loads for each voltage, plus 15%?

The last post by Gingerade reveals to us what his long-term ideas for the system are. SLI is certainly going to push PSU requirements up.

 

[Gingerade]

well how about this 1 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2974309&Sku=ULT31848%20K
my friend has the 500 witch i was going to get but the 600 is the same price.

and for all u guys saying 100$ monitor here it is
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=BROWSE&dimtype=brand&N=200011+400756&Ne=400000&product_code=319277&Pn=FPD1760_17_inch_LCD_Monitor

not that great but i gets the job done and i got it for free so i dont really care.



well i was jsut looking through new egg and i found this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817171016

is that good enough to power a 8800 and its relievedly in my price range after rebate.

 

[clue69less]

If you read PSU 101 you'll see i generaly recomend a 2A to 4A buffer on the +12v rails. This is more then enough to prevent you from running the PSU at its max load while leaving some room for adding drives, fans and other small items.

I like to have more headroom than 2 to 4A. I helped a friend build a C2D rig recently and he initially had no plans to OC it. I talked him into a larger PS than he calculated he'd need. Like 10A of additional 12V. Two months after we put it together, he was working his OC to the air-cooled limit and then swapping for a more powerful GPU. Now he's happy to have bought an overkill PS. He spent $20 more than he wanted to but it was money well spent. Even without OC'ing and going for a more power hungry GPU, the overhead is nice because a maxed out PS is a prescription for trouble.