gpu power consumption ?

invisik

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hey guys just wondering would a oc 9800gx2 consume the same power as 2 gtx 260 in sli in stock?
the 9800gx2 is oc @ 740/1125 its like 2 9800gtx decently oc would the power consumption be equal? (the 9800gtx uses about 35-50 less then the gtx 260 i believe)
 

L1qu1d

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I really doubt that the GX2 could consume as much power as 2 260 GTX in sli, even if it were oCed.

As for 2 9800 GTX oc, I think those would be slightly higher than the 9800 GX2, since its 2 cards.

your best bet would have to be to search for oced versions of the 9800 GX2 and or 9800 GTXs and compare power consumption:)
 

invisik

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well i was planning to get 2 gtx 260 because 1 of the dvi port is defected on my gx2 so newegg is letting me return it, so i was gonna pick 2 gtx 260 up but im worried about my psu. i have an antec earthwatt 500 and it ran my q6600 oc @ 3.0ghz and my 9800gx2 oc @ 740/1125 just fine so i dont no if it will run 2 gtx 260. from reviews the 9800gtx is about 40wat less then the gtx 260 and since the gx2 is pretty much 2 9800gtx im assuming the power difference will be about 80wats and since my gx2 was oc its probably less of a difference in power usage. to sum it up do u think 2 gtx 260 would work with my psu?
 
The minimum may be somewhat less, but especially since you are planning to oc, you probably want a quality PSU in the 650W range to have some margin. The PSU calculator at http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine suggests that system will use only 468W, but that's before the GPU overclock, and makes assumptions about the rest of your system that may not be valid. That's 75% of 624W, making a 650W PSU a comfortable size.
 

einstein4pres

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http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/forums.asp?s=2&c=7&t=9354&p=0

No specific SLI test for the 260, but approx 300W.
9800GX2 looks like under 200W.

Unfortunately, neither Tom's nor Anandtech tested consumption of 260SLI.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-gtx-280,1953-25.html
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=22
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3334&p=9

Guesswork puts the power consumption around 450W or so, which is a lot of power, and doesn't leave much wiggle room for a 500W power supply (even a good one). You'd probably want a good 600W PSU at least.

4870X2 uses most power right now and it produces the most heat too among any other cards on this planet today

Off topic, and would you like to cite a source? And by basic steady state approximation, power draw = heat consumption. Perhaps you are confusing temperature and heat output?
 

invisik

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ya i thought i would need a new one but the only problem is cash at the moment if i buy 2 gtx 260 im kinda at my max budget adding a new psu would be like $60+ and shipping on top of that. i have another psu which is a 530watt is there a way i can use 2 psu? i believe there was a connector for that. newegg have them?
 

invisik

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hey guys how accurate is eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Lite v2.5
it says sli 9800gtx+ and sli gtx 260 use the same amount of power true or false?
 
I doubt it. The 9800GTX+ is fairly aggressively clocked, but it is still a die shrink of the G92, an extremely low power (by Nvidia's recent standards) part, while the GT200 is huge and power hungry.
 

homerdog

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It's usually at least ball park accurate, but not in that case. The GTX260 consumes a good bit more power than the 9800GTX+, especially if you overclock it (which you should).
 

mothergoose

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Get a gtx 280 instead. You will get about the same performance with the two cards in sli as the one card anyway. For less total price. And your psu would work fine.
 

homerdog

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Although your claim is inaccurate, you bring up a good point. A single GTX280 will be fast enough* for just about any application I can think of. Why deal with all of SLI's inherent problems when a single GTX280 is fast enough*?

*Assuming invisik doesn't have a 30" LCD
 

invisik

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well currently i have a 9800gx2 but the dvi port has gone bad so newegg is letting me return it and im gonna purchase a new card. i play games at 1680x1050 and my budget is around 500$ i was thinking of getting 2 9800gtx+ (no ati cards since i have an sli board) trying to find something better then my previous 9800gx2.
im trying to avoid the gtx 280 because it cost a little more and in benchmarks it performances on with 9800gx2 where the 9800gtx in sli beat the 9800gx2 in a few fps and the new 9800gtx+ probably scores a few more fps on top of that and oc well past 800mhz.
 

homerdog

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Well then I think this might be the only GTX280 recommendation I've ever given. You can even score a nice factory oc'd eVGA model on Newegg for $499 ($469 AR), although to be honest I think you would be wiser to save $50 with a stock model and overclock yourself if you want to. And yes I'm an eVGA fan :D

Of course, I would also tell you that at 1680x1050 a single HD4870 would be more than fast enough, and cheaper to boot.
 

homerdog

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Depends on the game, but most of the time the 9800GTX+s will deliver higher average framerates. I could give a toot about average framerates, it's all about the minimums baby, and that's where single GPUs shine :sol:
 

mothergoose

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Should have done my research before posting... but I stand by that. If you get a gtx 280 now you will be able to play any game (except crysis), max settings, with some AA to boot (for most anyway). Then you can always upgrade your power supply and get another card when you feel the need to upgrade again. Although, a 4870 has pretty much the same relative performance and is still much cheaper.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-4870,1964.html
 

invisik

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ahh so confused now. i have friends telling me 2 9800gtx+ well outperform the gtx 280 by a good amount and others telling me the gtx 280 is better. grrr lol