In a PSU bind

[ktryan]

I had a thermaltake toughpower grand 650 fall into my lap, it's a really nice psu.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153131

The problem is I don't know if its going to be a able to power the build I was looking at. Seeing as it was free I don't want it to go to waist. Here's the system, please give me some opinions and options.

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz, 125W
Crossfired Sapphire 6950 2 GB
16GB of G.Skill Sniper 1333
1 TB WD SATA3

 

[Emerald]

if you are planning on using two video cards, you should be looking at a 850W+ PSU.

even so it is a Gold standard PSU, with that type of video card you might be pushing its limit

 

[Silvune]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4061/amds-radeon-hd-6970-radeon-hd-6950/24
Idle Power Consumption = 169W
Load Power Consumption - Furmark = 509W

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1488/18/
Power consumption under furmark: 479W

If they got those numbers from the wall, legitreviews state that they got their numbers from the wall, then you can take 10-20% off to get their actual system power draw, which I would think would be a realistic worst case scenario (obviously power consumption will be much lower if you don't run Furmark or similar stress/torture testing programs, or programs which generally place a heavy load on both CPU and GPU).

I calculate that Anandtech's system drew 460W. This would stress a 650W PSU to ~70%. The TT Toughpower Grand will have no problems providing that much power, especially if it is operating in conditions below it's temperature rating, which is 50C. The only question would be whether it would be operating quietly enough for you or whether or not you would be comfortable placing that high of a load on it.

 

[ktryan]

I'd be willing to push it to 80% under load as long as it could handle the power output. I'm not worried about noise and I don't want to destroy it, but it can work for its money. Am I crazy to push it that hard?

 

[delluser1]

I'd be willing to push it to 80% under load as long as it could handle the power output. I'm not worried about noise and I don't want to destroy it, but it can work for its money. Am I crazy to push it that hard?

It's rated for 650 watts continuous at 50c with an MTBF of 120,000 hours, thats over 13 years.
No, not crazy.

 

[ktryan]

Best answer selected by ktryan.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey