Best power supply for Core i7?

[todd5854]

Hello, here is my system. It's about a three weeks old now and I couldn't be happier with my setup.
For the actual issue, go below the specs

Core i7 920 (Clock speed stock, memory overclocked to 1600, stock cooler) D0 Stepping (Whats that?)
Gigabyte GA- EX58 UD4P
OCZ Gold 1600 6gb Triple Channel
Diamond HD 4890 (Plan to add two more later)
Antec Nine Hundred
One SATA 7200RPM drive, one IDE DVD drive

My current issue is with my power supplies. I am using two 500 watt power supplies.

Power Supply #1: All of the fans, the DVD drive, the video card, and the motherboard power.

Power Supply #2: The 200mm fan, and the CPU power.

This seems to be holding up very good, although the current configuration is not exactly rock solid stable. It's frozen up a few times, but not enough to bother me. (Just about once per two weeks)

The only major setback is the temperatures I'm getting. This is almost unreal!
The two main sources of heat are the video card (which is expected) and power supply #1 which seems to be at it's peak.

What power supply would be best for my system? Remember it has to power at least one more 4890 with a lot of power left over.

Thanks

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Hmmmm.....three ATI Radeon HD 4890 graphics cards operating in triple Crossfire mode. I know your Gigabyte mother supports three way Crossfire but I don't have any reference material that shows power consumption for such a configuration. Most of the reviews are about gaming benchmarks for an overclocked cpu and two 4890 cards operating in dual Crossfire mode. All of the reviews used a 1000 watt power supply for the dual Crossfire tests

 

[todd5854]

In MicroCenter (Our somewhat local PC store) they said one 4890 alone can take up to 380 watts by itself. Wow..

 

[cjl]

That's complete bull, honestly.

As for the PSU I'd recommend? How about the Corsair 850TX?

 

[tecmo34]

^+1 on the CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W.... Most people in the new system build section recommends that PSU for two 4890's. I personelly support it, since I have it in my system. Another very good PSU is PC Power & Cooling Silencer PPCS910 910W

 

[theAnimal]

As for the PSU I'd recommend? How about the Corsair 850TX?

Only has 4 PCIe connectors. HX850 has 6.

 

[xc0mmiex]

i wouldn't go for anything lower then 950W just to be on the safe side... but thats me, i wouldn't risk 3 X 4890's and an i7

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139007

 

[cjl]

3 4890s and an i7 will have plenty of margin on the Corsair 850 (either of the two, HX or TX). My quadfire 4870x2 rig with an i7 only pulls around 800W peak, so 4890 trifire should be below that.

 

[Twoboxer]

Try switching mobo power to PSU #2. And make sure that both psu's maintain strong (ground) contact with the each other and the case. Like a good gauge wire from a screw on the psu that's outside the case to a screw on the case. Otherwise they may have different "grounds" and that could cause some voltage issues for you. And potentially, some heat.

As for a replacement PSU, I'll let the others speak.

 

[todd5854]

i wouldn't go for anything lower then 950W just to be on the safe side... but thats me, i wouldn't risk 3 X 4890's and an i7

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139007

With rebate, this is only $20 more than others I was looking at.

And I looked into power usage for 4890, the highest I've seen is 320. Not 380. And most of the bench's are even lower than 320.

 

[cjl]

Keep in mind that most reviews measure total system power consumption, which will make things look FAR more power hungry than they really are.

 

[micky_lund]

CF 4890
i7 @ 3.8ghz
2gb ram

total peak is 402w...
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/HD_4890_CrossFire/23.html

what i think most people are saying (and im now saying) is that 850tx (or HX...if u need 3x4890 for the adapters) is gonna be over the top, but the best for what u need

 

[selea]

.

What power supply would be best for my system? Remember it has to power at least one more 4890 with a lot of power left over.

Thanks

Antec True Power Quattro 1000 watt or a Corsair with the same wattage. The first is one of the best also if not so much known as the other. 64amp on 12V it's really good and it has 8 PCI-E links, both 8 and 6 pin.

 

[theAnimal]

Antec True Power Quattro 1000 watt or a Corsair with the same wattage. The first is one of the best also if not so much known as the other. 64amp on 12V it's really good and it has 8 PCI-E links, both 8 and 6 pin.

The TPQ 1000 has 70A on 12V and only 4 PCIe connectors, which are both low for a 1kW PSU.

 

[selea]

The TPQ 1000 has 70A on 12V and only 4 PCIe connectors, which are both low for a 1kW PSU.

Yes, you are right my mistake. I didn't recheck the specifics and since I have a TPQ 850 modded with 8 PCI-E lanes I supposed it was the same everywhere.

However I don't get what you intend for "low". 70A is fine for a 1KW PSU also because he doesn't need all that power anyway. I don't think three 4890 requires more than 60A in the rails.

 

[selea]

He doesn't need a 1000W PSu

I know, but since the cost difference between an 850W and a 1000W PSU is not so great and he use a CrossFireX setup I wanted to be more on the future proof side. I've said Corsair was a very good choice.

 

[micky_lund]

anyone read what i linked? 850 corsair is fine, and if he wants tri-fire, use the 850HX for the extra adapters

 

[obsidian86]

trifire 4890 tdp is is 698 watts

 

[theAnimal]

trifire 4890 tdp is is 698 watts

TDP does not equal power consumption.

 

[obsidian86]

ok 698 watts at 100% load

 

[theAnimal]

ok 698 watts at 100% load

According to xbitlabs the 4890 only uses 120W running 3DMark06. It won't use close to 200W even running Furmark.

 

[croc]

ok 698 watts at 100% load

I'll give you maybe 698 watts total system power at 100% load.

 

[todd5854]

I want something powerful enough to handle the system as if EVERYTHING is on 100% load. I plan on overclocking as high as my system will let me, without doing damage to components. All three 4890's may see some overclocking as well.

 

[theAnimal]

I want something powerful enough to handle the system as if EVERYTHING is on 100% load. I plan on overclocking as high as my system will let me, without doing damage to components. All three 4890's may see some overclocking as well.

Anandtech measured an i7 @3.2 w/3 HD4870 running 3DMark Vantage @ 574W from the wall. After adding 100W for additional stress on the CPU/RAM/mobo and factoring in 80% efficiency, the system would max out at 540W DC.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

the animal - Thanks for posting the HD 4870 triple Crossfire power consumption from the Anandtech article. None of the usual power consumption charts are up to date.