Can a 9800GT run off of an Earthwatts 500W PSU?

[rwayne]

Can a 9800GT run off of an Antec Earthwatts 500W PSU?

The only reason I ask this is that EVGA says that the 9800GT needs a Minimum of a 400 Watt power supply.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 26 Amp Amps.)

Here are the output ratings of the Antec Earthwatts:

+3.3V@24A,+5V@24A,+12V1@17A,+12V2@17A,-12V@0.8A, +5VSB@2.5A

Is this sufficient? Or is this going to be bad for the card long term?

Here are the links:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007

http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=512-P3-N980-AR&family=GeForce%209%20Series%20Family

 

[dirtmountain]

Yes, easily , no problem.

 

[pauldh]

^ agreed, no problem. That is a nice quiet quality PSU.

The Earthwatts 500W provides a max combined +12v of 34 amps. I have run an 8800GT (basically same thing) with an Earthwatts 380W and an HD4850 with an Earthwatts 430W.

 

[rwayne]

Thank you for your response dirt mountain.

How does the math work out on that?

+3.3V@24A,+5V@24A = 48A?

When they say a minimum of so many watts and so many amps is it an 'either or' situtation?

 

[rwayne]

^ agreed, no problem. That is a nice quiet quality PSU.

The Earthwatts 500W provides a max combined +12v of 34 amps. I have run an 8800GT (basically same thing) with an Earthwatts 380W and an HD4850 with an Earthwatts 430W.

That's impressive!

By the way Paul, I love your new avatar.

 

[megamanx00]

Basically, it's recommending that if you have a single 12v rail you should have at least 26A on it. Seems a little high to me, but then alot of people try and run a 9800GT with something like a Raidmax power supply so I guess it's on the safe side ^_^. Anyway the eathwatts unit is a good little PSU so you shouldn't have any trouble with that 9800GT. You have 12V1@17A,+12V2@17A and while that might look like it's 34A max on the 12v rail which would be 408W, which is actually the amount listed if you look at the label. Most cheap power supplies will usually have a lower combined 12v rail total. Anyway 26A on the 12v rail would be 312W on the 12v rail so I'm sure you'll be more than fine.

 

[pauldh]

The numbers to look at are the 408 watt max combined +12V. 408/12 = 34 amps.
^(edit: I'm too slow )
And thanks. My kids picked out my last avatar, and this here new one is of the 8800GS soon going into their machine.

 

[rwayne]

Oh,

Amps X 12V rail = wattage

Cool. I did not know that.

 

[rwayne]

The numbers to look at are the 408 watt max combined +12V. 408/12 = 34 amps.
^(edit: I'm too slow )
And thanks. My kids picked out my last avatar, and this here new one is of the 8800GS soon going into their machine.

What does the 408 Watts represent? The minimum power out put? Or just the wattage going through certain cables?

 

[4745454b]

Its called Ohms law.

Amps X volts = watts

Amps X resistance = Voltage. (you won't use this one much with computers.)

By looking at the label of the PSU, you can then determine how much "power" you really have. For example, you said,

+3.3V@24A,+5V@24A = 48A?

3.3V X 24A = 79.2W
5v X 24A = 120W

Here is where things get tricky A PSU might be able to supply that much power, but perhaps not at the same time. You might see writing at the bottom that says "3.3V and 5V not to exceed 150W" This means whatever feeds those rails inside the power supply CAN'T supply 24A to BOTH rails at the SAME time. This is more common with the 12V rails. Each rail by itself can handle 17 or 20A, but both together can only handle 22A, or 28A. Before buying a PSU, its best to try to figure out how much "real" power it can generate.

The 408W represents how many W (or Amps if you do the math) the PSU can max output. If a PSU say 12v1 @ 18A and 12v2 @ 18A, 360W total for both rails, then (360W / 12V =) 30A is the max power. (notice this isn't the 36A that you might have expected.)

 

[my_katamari]

Hi, I have the same card BFG Geforce 9800GT 512MB, but I have a OCZ 700W power supply, and its Total combined Amps on the 12V rail is 50A (25A per rail) Could I run two 9800GT without problems?>

I was told the 2nd video card would take less amps. It says 26A, then if I had two wouldn't that make it 52A total on the 12V rail?

 

[rwayne]

I have never understood the math with video cards.

You would think that if a single card had a 400 Watt Power requirement that 2 of them in SLI would require 800 Watts.

Yet a 2nd card normally consumes an extra 50 or 100 Watts.

 

[my_katamari]

so you are saying it won't work then? having 2 9800GT (26A each) {52A total} 50A from my 700W power supply wont work then if I had 2 9800GTs

 

[rwayne]

No, it will work.

I am just saying from a logical standpoint it would lead you to believe if a single card requires X amount of wattage that 2 cards would require twice as much. However it does not work that way.