Will 2900 pro run with 500 watt antec bp500u?

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alexmears1990

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will the 2900 pro run on a antec 500watt bp500u? the specs are:[(+3.3V@30A,+5V@30A,+12V1@18A,+12V2@18A,-12V@0.8A, +5VSB@2.5A) .... .. is it possible to turn the clocks on the graphics card down so it wil play if the psu isnt enough to last til i can get a bigger psu if it isnt stronfg enough. thanks for the help..I hope and pray it does here are my specs


am2 64x2 4600+ stock clock
500watt antec bp500u
2 gig dr667 memory
1 160gb sata harddrive
19inch samsung synic master
soon to be 2900 pro
 
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spoonboy

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Mate I think it will, I just got a 2900pro as of a week ago, and I got a 550w Tagan psu and I dont think its on the verge of dying/exploding. No blue or black screens, neither does my psu seem to be on fire after a few hours of crysis. Dont get me wrong the psu gets warm to the touch (i mean touching the top-rear of the case, that area gets warm but NOT hot). I have a core 2 duo e6300 (so just 2mb cache) @2.6ghz, ASUS P5b motherboard, 2gigs cheap corsair ddr2 800 and a 250gb samsung hard disk. The pro is at stock speeds, and thats only cos im quite happy with the performance for a while at least (monitors max resolution is 1400x900 so the only game that will really benefit from overclocking is crysis.) In short my psu is feeling the effect of the pro's power consumption, but is not nearing its limit Im sure, so with a 500w antec you should be more than fine at stock speeds. If your feeling adventurous a little overclocking might well be possible.
 
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spoonboy

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Out of interest, whats your previous card? the one being replaced by the 2900? my old one was a 7900 gt clocked faster than a 7900 gtx. The pro seemed like a bargain at the price I got it. Mine at stock speeds plays crysis on XP @ 1152x864 all on high with shadows, post processig, particles and effects on medium at around 30-40fps. 1400x900 is possible but not entirely smooth. (catalyst 7.12 and not using the new crysis patch btw.) Just a taste of what you could expect.
 
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alexmears1990

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i run a overclocked 8600 gt.. it plays decently but im tired of overclocking the piss out of it to pull a few frames a second out of it.lol thatnks for the info. do u like yours?
 
pauldh

pauldh

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Hmm, I would lean toward the HD3850 instead of the HD2900 pro. Reason being, the Basiq 500W only has a combined 12v max of 27 amps. Compare that to an earthwatts 34 amps. It also doesn't have a second 6-pin or the 8-pin power connector that is on the HD2900 pro. The HD2900 cards are as power hungry as it gets and the 3850 uses alot less power. I wouldn't try running a 2900 pro on 27 amps when even the X1950 pro had a higher 12v recommended. (30 amp)

ATI states ...
"Connection to 550 Watt (750 for CrossFire™) or greater power supply with two 2x3-pin PCIe® power connectors is required.
For enhanced performance with ATI Overdrive%u2122, a power supply with one 2x3-pin and one 2x4-pin PCIe ® power connector is required
" for the 2900 series.

link:
http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonhd2900/requirements.html

Anyway, to sum it up: 27 amp 12 volt and only a single 6-pin PCI-e power lead = don't buy the 2900 pro IMO.

Oh, and if you already bought the card, then you will need to look for a compatible power supply. ATI's site lists tested ones, but you can look for any 550W SLI capable PSU (will have dual PCI-e connectors) or better yet, a PSU with a 6-pin and 8-pin power cable if you want to OC the card. for example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004
 
pauldh

pauldh

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Well, Sapphire gives you two molex power adaptors, so it's possible. I still think you are pushing it for a card that consumes >= power than an 8800GTX. But it may work for you. May as well try it I guess, you will have instability if the card doesn't get enough power.
 
N

nightscope

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Paul, the 380 Watt version of the Antec Earthwatts ran a quad core computer with a 8800 GTX, and it also has 27 Amps on the 12+ rails. Trust me, this PSU is sufficient for his setup.
 
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alexmears1990

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a guy on new egg siad he is running on a 400watt psu. and another guy said it ran fine on his 500 watt but he couldnt ovrclock it. maybe that will help u alittle. i will let u know if it works on my 500 watt on thursday.
 
pauldh

pauldh

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Trust me, this PSU is sufficient for his setup.
Click to expand...
It's way under recommended and the HD2900 pro uses at least as much power under load (maybe more) as your 8800GTX. I didn't say it's impossible, since he has the power adaptors, he should try it. But it sure wasn't the card I would have recommended he buy with that PSU. The basiq is not nearly the Quality of the Seasonic made earthwatts.
 
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spoonboy

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Yeah seeing how an overclocked card performs is fun for a time but eventually the urge to upgrade gets you in the end. I love my 2900 pro from the 5 hours I got to test it out, then I had to leave my system for another two months (studying abroad). In all but one of my games its just another class, even with 100mhz less on the gpu than my 7900 was overclocked to, its something like 25-40% faster depending on the game being played (Im talking minimum not average frames here, averages is better than that i think). The only negative result was Colin McRae DiRT, actually lost something like 6fps in that one :??: Then again the installation might be buggered as my old profile wont load (yes I was connected to the internet at the time for those who've run into this problem before). But anyway if you can't come back to a game after 5 months or so not playing it without your saves having expired for some unknown reason, plus you can't save your progress anyway without being connected to the internet 'cos the game is soo chock-full of advertising and wants to send everything you do back to some codemasters server, .... well then f#ck it it's not worth playing. #End of rant#.

In short yes Im happy, I now know for myself how hot and power hungry the 2900 series is, and how loud the fan is over 33% load (33% load is good enough for 65 degrees celsius load temps by the way so dont worry about that), but this goes hand-in-hand with MUCH better performance than a 7900 gt at 700mhz so Im both shocked and impressed respectively.

Put it this way, the difference in crysis performance is just... wow ....just wow!

Please post how you get on, and if you feel the psu is right at the limit or not. Personally from my own short experience I would say that stock speeds should be safe and stable. Cheers.
 
pauldh

pauldh

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Well, if you don't mind rebates, the Earthwatts 380W(27 amp 12v) or 430W(30 amp 12v) are good deals at newegg. IMO nothing shy of the 430W for the 2900 pro. 380W for the HD3850 would be fine.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=antec+earthwatts

A little more money, but $60 shipped free AR makes it a solid deal. I am running dual 8800GT SLI with this TP trio 550W (42 amp combined 12v and dual PCI-e power connectors).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371002
 
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