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"Top of the Line" ATI 4890 on 500w PCIe 1.0 ?

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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Ok, so I just picked up an ATI 4890 card that was just released seriously two weeks ago from Sapphire Tech. It's not the slightly faster (and "best on the market" atomic edition), but NewEgg was out of those ....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Question is, will I have any bottlenecking using it with the following specs:

500w PSU
2.4ghz P4 Q6600
2gb RAM
PCIe 16x 1.0

I really don't feel like upgrading to a PCIe 2.0 mobo or getting a new power supply, so I'm hoping my new VGA can run at full capacity with no other upgrades. I know the video card's minimum specs are a 500w PSU, but I feel like I'm cutting it close ...

Here are Newegg links to everything in the system:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... VGA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... HDD x2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... MOBO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... CPU FAN
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... DVD


Other than those, I've got a couple Zalman case fans, and a few firewire and usb devices with their own power supply (except for keyboard/mouse). Lastly, nothing is overclocked in my system and I'm not interested in doing a CrossFireX setup. Thanks for your thoughts!

More about : top line ati 4890 500w pcie

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The Q6600 needs to be overclocked to get the best out if that card! It's not a deal breaker by any means but the Q6600 can easily go past 3.0 GHZ, check out the Overclocking Forum for more info, then Google.
There is no need to change the motherboard, only the fastest X2 type cards can get close to using the full speed of PCI-E 1.0, let alone 2.0.

Nice case, shame about the power supply.
Raidmax have a terrible reputation for their supplies, read the customer reviews on Newegg for evidence!
I know how hard it is when cash is tight so sympathise with your here, but I would strongly advise changing to something a bit better.
Newegg have at least two 500W OCZ supplies for under $50 with the rebates.

coozie7 said:
The Q6600 needs to be overclocked to get the best out if that card! It's not a deal breaker by any means but the Q6600 can easily go past 3.0 GHZ, check out the Overclocking Forum for more info, then Google.
There is no need to change the motherboard, only the fastest X2 type cards can get close to using the full speed of PCI-E 1.0, let alone 2.0.

Nice case, shame about the power supply.
Raidmax have a terrible reputation for their supplies, read the customer reviews on Newegg for evidence!
I know how hard it is when cash is tight so sympathise with your here, but I would strongly advise changing to something a bit better.
Newegg have at least two 500W OCZ supplies for under $50 with the rebates.


I had the CPU overclocked when I first got it, but I wasn't using the full CPU for my audio processing applications so I turned it back down. Now that I'm going to be doing some more graphically intense applications, I may overclock the CPU.

Thanks for the info on the PCI 2.0. I had read that even the fastest cards weren't even filling up 1.0's bandwidth, but that was almost a year ago. Now that even the ATI x2 cards still aren't even filling it up, which I didn't want one of those because of the noise the fans generate and its power consumption, I guess I won't be needing a Mobo upgrade! :D 

You seem to not like the included Raidmax Powersupply and recommended another of the same wattage? Do you mean the PSU I already have isn't outputting at its advertised 500w? I would think that if I'm going to OC the CPU to 3.0ghz AND have this Video Card, there would be bottlenecking on anything less than a 600w.

Not all supplies deliver their rated power, cheap ones are particularly bad, I have seen plenty of reviews of 500W supplies that can only give 400W before the poor voltage regulation causes the system to be come unstable. Or in two cases they just blow!
I've run this spec through a power calculator: Q 6600@ 3.2 GHZ 1.3vcore, 2HDD, 2 DVD, 4 fans 4 USB devices, 4Gb RAM and a HD4890; 363 Watts, safe for a good 500W supply but not the Raidmax.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=E....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Just examples.
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