Need a PSU

[jmekelb]

I am in the process of building the i7 rig below. I've decided on most everything but I'm a little torn on the power supply.

So far:

MSI X58 Platinum SLI
Intel i7 920
6 Gig OCZ Gold 1600
Cooler Master RC690
XFX 4890
Dual HP w2338h 23" monitors

First, a little background on my video card choice. Here is the progression from my first thought to my ultimate final (I think) decision:

(2) 9800GTX in SLI
GTX 285
4870x2
(2) GTX 260 216 in SLI
GTX 260 216
GTX 275
4890

I decided on the 4890 for a few reasons.

1) Gaming is a secondary operation on this build. First and foremost, it's for work. Any of these cards will do everything I ask and more.
2) I will be gaming on a single 23" monitor at 1920 x 1080.
3) DDR5 and DirectX 10.1 are more important to me than PhysX
4) I'll admit I'm a bit of an ATI fanboy. I've had 4 cards and loved every one. Only one bad experience with Nvidia but ATI has always came through for me.
5) Diablo 3 will probably be the first game to log significant time on this machine.

Anyway, on to my question... My ultimate goal is to Crossfire another 4890 once the price drops to about $150 and I don't want to upgrade my PSU at that point. I'm partial to Corsair because of everything I've read but I'm open to other quality brands. I originally picked out the 750TX but then noticed the 850TX was only $25 more. Honestly, I'm not sure if either of these can run Crossfired 4890's so I may need to go even bigger. I do not intend to overclock this build.

This is my conundrum. Any direction would be appreciated.

 

[WR2]

The Sapphire website recommends 600W PSU for a 4980CF system. (look under system requirements)
Tweaktown tested a 4890 CF setup with modestly equipped OC'd Core i7 920 @ 3.8Ghz systemand got these results. They recommend an 800W PSU and the Corsair 750TX fits that requirement for it's well above average quality and performance.
(click the image to see the rest of the Tweaktown article)

 

[Kraynor]

The TX750 would run crossfired 4890s just fine, even with them being the most power-hungry cards on the planet. It'd be my first choice and for years I was an nvidia fanboy, so you're not showing fanboyism by choosing the card with most bang-for-buck.

It'll love 1920x1080. DDR5 isn't that big a deal, nvidia's DDR3 with wider bus performs just as well, and DX10.1... well... later this year we'll be seeing DX11 so it's nothing too huge to shop for.

Sidenote: diablo 3 is going to be sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet, I can already see it eating my soul, just like Diablo 1 and 2 did back in the day... D2 almost made me fail my finals...

End note: Well if you're planning on doing some crossfire in the future, go all out. 4890 + 4890X2 + 1000W PSU. AWW YEAH!!!!

 

[jmekelb]

Thanks guys, I think I'll go with the TX750.

Also, wouldn't "going all out" be waiting for the inevitable 4890x2 and crossfiring those?

 

[Kraynor]

Of course but the 4890 is a solution for the 'now', not the 'soon...ish'