Any GPUs for a 300W PSU out there?

[Guest]

You'd be surprised at how incredibly hard it is to find this card, and at the same time not go way too low end. The reason for this is that the GeForce website stops talking about specs below the 9600GT, so it's not possible to know the Wattage requirements of the 8600 or the 9400, for example. My PC is one of those HPs, apparently they created their own 9600GX which was a very weird 9600 capable of going in a 300W.

And ATI isnt much help either. Their website says the 4350 and 4550 only require 300W. But the Gigabyte card of this ATI, which seems to be the only one still on sale, says in its manual, that what's required for these is a 400W.

I haven't got a clue how low to go when it comes to GeForce, but the ATIs are also confusing. I'm pretty sure the 3450 is 300W, but maybe I'm going too low? All I'm asking for is a couple of independant monitors, and a very small bit of gaming and 3D. Too much to ask apparently, which is ridiculous, so if it's that bad, just the monitors would be fine with me.

Greatly appreciate any feedback on this matter.

 

[jaguarskx]

The Radeon HD 5670 512MB is your best bet. It is about 15% - 20% better than the 9600GT. It only uses about 30w of power.

The "9600GX" performance would be below the 9600GT, but I wouldn't know how it compares to the 9600GS.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the try but unfortunately I very much doubt that about the 5670 because ATI says it can't go under 400W PSU.

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-5000/ati-radeon-hd-5670-overview/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-5670-overview.aspx#3

 

[iam2thecrowe]

as above a 5670 should be ok, assuming you have a high quality 300w psu. ATI's website will say it reccommends a 400w psu, but the 400w rating can vary from model to model. Some rate it as 400w max, good manufacturers always display watts continuous power. Please lis the full specs, make and model of the PSU and we can help you out.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

as you can see here http://www.techspot.com/review/240-ati-radeon-hd-5670/page9.html the total power draw for a typical system with this card under load is under 250w. ATI must give 400w as their reccommended rating to account for poor power supplies labeled as 400w MAX but realistically achieve around 250-300w continuous. There are a lot of cheap psu's like that around.

 

[ko888]

My PC is one of those HPs, apparently they created their own 9600GX which was a very weird 9600 capable of going in a 300W.

There is a GeForce 9600 GT 59 Watt version with a Minimum System Power Requirement of 300 Watts.

 

[Embra]

What is your budget? Maybe we can find you a GPU and PSU.

 

[jaguarskx]

Thanks for the try but unfortunately I very much doubt that about the 5670 because ATI says it can't go under 400W PSU.

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-5000/ati-radeon-hd-5670-overview/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-5670-overview.aspx#3

Yes it will. Your 9600GX most likely draws more power than the HD 5670 since the 9600GT draws about 62w of power.

The recommended 400w PSU is listed by AMD because they don't know what CPU is in your PC. Something like a C2D 6400 will use less power than an i7 920.

 

[Helltech]

A 5670 most certainly WILL work on a 300w PSU, that thing requires like no power. AMD says that "just to be safe".

 

[jiri2]

Well my PC is a BTX case, reportedly made for high temp processors apparently, 2,67 gigahertz Intel Core2 Quad Q9400, PEGATRON CORPORATION Benicia 1.01, 64 kilobyte primary memory cache, 6144 kilobyte secondary memory cache, 4gB of RAM, (http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Monitors-and-video/How-can-I-get-three-monitor-setup-with-this-HP-Desktop/m-p/491697)

It's difficult to say, and a tough choice, since its my balls on the line here, it's very important my PC doesnt crash and burn!, to trust word of mouth, which undoubtedly has a lot of credibility, or ATIs system requirements.


I reall don't know the quality of PSU, and maybe it would be better to be safe than sorry.


Does anyone know the requirements of the GeForces like 9400 and 8600?

k0988, that Geforce is a PCIx1, which I've read have pretty awful results.

Here the 5670 is pretty resource hungry. While the 5450 system consumes 160, the 5670 goes up to a whopping 243.

http://www.techspot.com/review/244-ati-radeon-hd-5450/page9.html

 

[jiri2]

Here's another test... http://www.anandtech.com/show/2630/6

this time it's 210 for the 5670 instead of 244, while the 4350 is 194...

Confusing stuff!

 

[jiri2]

A 5670 most certainly WILL work on a 300w PSU, that thing requires like no power. AMD says that "just to be safe".

Yet isn't the 'just to be safe' parameter because sometimes a GPU may consume more power than other times, so there may be peaks, or perhaps because AMD doesn't know the CPUs we may be using?

 

[nightshade616]

Nvidia 210 if your just looking for Light gaming and HD media :] runs at a very low spec.

Also it will run less than 350W and is only about £35 at the most, 1GB DDR5 versions are avaiblible as well as the standard 512mb ones

http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_210_us.html

 

[jedi940]

Here's another test... http://www.anandtech.com/show/2630/6

this time it's 210 for the 5670 instead of 244, while the 4350 is 194...

Confusing stuff!

First of all, the benchmark you linked in the above post is for the 4670 not the 5670. Additionally, load power consumption using Furmark (from your first link) is always a much higher number than real life numbers. Furmark stresses the GPU more than any game will. Another thing to look at is the fact that the measurements are taken at the outlet. This means that say you measure 200W at the wall but you psu is operating at 75% efficiency, your PSU is only putting out 150 watts. I don't think that you will have an issue with the 5670 and your current PSU.

As mentioned earlier, you could always upgrade your PSU too depending on your budget.

$40 for this Antec 380W of continuous power will be more than enough. You could easily run a 6850 with this PSU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033