Power supply for ENGTX480 and future SLI

[cromedome]

Hello all,

I recently upgraded my system and I have now got a GTX480. My old/temporary PSU just burnt out and I am obviously going to need a new one. I can get a Corsair TX750 watt power supply for a relatively cheap price (in South Africa). I know this will be sufficient but say now, in a year or so, I wanted to SLI my GTX480, will the TX750 be alright?

System specs:

Intel Core i5 750 (mild OC @ 3.2ghz)
ASUS Maximus III Formula with SupremeFX X-Fi sound card
4x Regular 7200rpm SATA hard drives (2 Seagate, 2 Samsung)
1x DVD writer
8x 120mm case fans (5x LED, 3x black)
ASUS ENGTX480 (no OC!)

Will a Corsair TX750 be sufficient for future SLI?

Thanks in advance...

 

[cromedome]

I just read a few more articles and came to the conclusion that maybe an HX850 would be the minimum. However, that is over my budget...

 

[wolfram23]

Yeah for 480s definitely not less than an 850W... If that's over your budget you might consider selling the 480 and getting SLI 560s or something...? I mean SLI 480s is killer but you can get great performance with SLI or CF of cheaper cards.

 

[cromedome]

I agree but I don't need anything higher than a single 480 at the moment. I guess I will hold onto it and upgrade to a faster single card when it starts to slow down...

 

[jjb8675309]

yeah 480 sli will cook you dinner, better off going for a more powerful single card, (when the time comes) or sli cards that have decent cooling...

 

[benski]

I saw the TDP of the 480 listed at 250w, so 500w for the pair worst case scenario. The TX750 list 60a on the 12v rail (720w) so your still left with 18a to power the rest of your system even with the cards at there maximum theoretical load.

 

[cromedome]

I also thought that the cards would consume about 500watts at maximum theoretical load leaving more than 200watts fro the rest of the system. But hey, rather safe than sorry.

 

[wolfram23]

According to http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/03/26/nvidia_fermi_gtx_470_480_sli_review/7

Their test system with a 480 used 480W (odd?). So with the 750TX that still leaves 270W for the second 480. I think it would run fine, just it might tax the PSU a lot and shorten it's lifespan.