Does SONATA 3 500W power supply is enough for GTX260?

[Moti]

Hey

I'm buying a new computer next week
the GPU card i'm buying is GTX260
does the 500W power supply of SONATA 3 is enough for this card?

 

[aevm]

It depends on what else you put in there. That is, how many disks, fans, lights, what CPU, whether you overclock, etc.

That PSU is an Earthwatts 500W with 2 rails of 17A each. That's pretty low for a GTX 260 IMO. Also, the Sonata doesn't have the appropriate cooling for such a card, I think.

I recommend you get yourself a RC-690 case and a 650TX PSU instead of the Sonata.

 

[shadowthor]

You probably need a higher wattage psu.

 

[Moti]

INTEL CORE 2 QUAD S775 2.66GHz Q9450 : "SLAWR" - BOX

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L

OCZ 2048MB (1024MBX2) DDR2 800 CL 4-4-4-15 - REAPER HPC : OCZ2RPR8002GK

Pine - XFX nVIDIA GeForce GTX260 896MB DDR3 PCIe

SAMSUNG LCD 22" 2253BW 5ms DVI WIDE


This is mainly what I'm going to buy.
I got 2 hard disks from disk computer that i will use with the new computer (2 different hard disks - Western Digital and Maxtor hard disks)

The only thing I'm just not sure about is the computer case
that where you guys help me

OC - not planing to do so

 

[pcgamer12]

We will just have to wait until the real specs for the card is released, like PSU requirements. You may or may cut it with that PSU.

Better yet, skip that case entirely and go for a case and a good PSU.

I'd recommend a $70 Antec Three Hundred Case which will house 10.5" GPU's like the GTX 280 without eating into the hard drive case, although to remove the hard drive, you'd have to remove the GPU first if it's the 10.5" variety (longest cards). Other 2 HHD slots are fine. Then throw in a good Antec/Corsair/PCP&C PSU and you are set.

 

[aevm]

Sounds like a very good setup. Yeah, RC-690 and 650TX should do nicely. The Sonata not so much,

RC-690 $104 or $80 including shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137
http://www.buy.com/prod/cooler-master-690-without-power-supply/q/loc/101/206177908.html

650TX $100 including shipping and rebate (Newegg), $70 at www.buy.com with Google Checkout
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005&Tpk=650TX
http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-tx-650w-atx12v-power-supply/q/loc/101/206178324.html

Or maybe the Antec 900 case, if you like flashy blue lights and the PC won't be in the bedroom:
$100 at www.buy.com, $142 at newegg
http://www.buy.com/prod/antec-nine-...er-computer-case-900/q/loc/101/202997579.html
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=Antec+900

The P182 is also nice, just a bit expensive at $140. No flashy lights, quieter than most other cases.
http://www.buy.com/prod/antec-p182-...-bays-gunmetal-black/q/loc/101/204356166.html

 

[Moti]

Actually the real specs have been released already

http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_gtx_260.html

Another thing - I'm not from the us.
I live in israel.

i checked the case and PSU the first guy talked about, it about 100$ higher from the original budget.
i don't mind paying more to be 100% sure the computer can handle the GPU card

 

[aevm]

We will just have to wait until the real specs for the card is released, like PSU requirements. You may or may cut it with that PSU.

We know the requirements, kind of:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-gtx-280,1953-25.html
Looking at those results, you see the GTX 260 consuming just about as much as the 9800GTX.

Or you can look here:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_gtx_260.html

nVidia recommends a minimum 500W PSU for systems with a GTX 260. Of course, if you have a quad CPU in there and more than 1 disk and more than 1 fan and so on you probably want more than the minimum recommended PSU. Also, PSU efficiency tends to be best around 40%..70% of the PSU's range, which means it's better to have a big PSU used at, say, 60% of its max than a smaller PSU used at 90%.

Edit: LOL, you found that link on nVidia's site at the same time as me

 

[Moti]

I have another question - can the GTX260 get into the RC-690 case? it pretty big \

Edit: I'm fast

 

[pcgamer12]

GPU Engine Specs:
Processor Cores 192
Graphics Clock (MHz) 576 MHz
Processor Clock (MHz) 1242 MHz
Texture Fill Rate (billion/sec) 36.9

Memory Specs:
Memory Clock (MHz) 999 MHz
Standard Memory Config 896MB GDDR3
Memory Interface Width 448-bit
Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec) 111.9

Feature Support:
NVIDIA SLI®-ready1 2-/3-way
NVIDIA PureVideo® Technology2 HD
NVIDIA PhysX™-ready3
NVIDIA CUDA™ Technology
HybridPower™ Technology4
GeForce Boost
Microsoft DirectX 10
OpenGL 2.1
Bus Support PCI-E 2.0 x16
Certified for Windows Vista

Display Support:
Maximum Digital Resolution 2560 X 1600
Maximum VGA Resolution 2048 X 1536
Standard Display Connectors 2 dual-link DVI and 1 analog HDTV-out
Multi Monitor (# of displays) 2
HDCP5
HDMI6 Via Adapter
Audio Input for HDMI SPDIF

Standard Graphics Card Dimensions:
Height 4.376 inches (111 mm)
Length 10.5 inches (267 mm)
Width Dual-slot

Thermal and Power Specs:
Maximum GPU Temperature 105C
Maximum Graphics Card Power 182W
Minimum System Power Requirement 500W
Supplementary Power Connectors Two 6-pins

 

[pcgamer12]

500W should be good. May be cutting it close, don't overclock at the least if you try the EarthWatt 500W.

 

[aevm]

It should fit in the RC-690 all right. Even the 8800GTX fits in that case, and it's almost 11" long. You can put even two of them in there.

The Sonata 3 also can fit an 8800GTX, so it should fit the GTX 260 too.

However, I'd still prefer the RC-690 for a gaming machine because it has 3 fans (and room for 4 more), while the Sonata has just one. Don't get me wrong, I love the Sonata 3, I have one at work right now, it's just that it's not designed for systems with high-end video cards that dissipate a lot of heat.

 

[Moti]

So I guess my new case and PSU are RC-690 and 650TX

thank you for the help! much respect