Does the psu have to be "SLI Certified/Ready" for SLI?

[gibbey531]

So My local computer shop is having some smoking sales on PSU's in the 650-850w range. I need a new psu for my second GTX 460 so I was thinking this would be a good place to start. Now when I look online you can search for sli certified and sli ready power supplies, but none of the PSU's on sale were certified or ready, but they had enough connectors and the video cards come with power adapters if I needed them. Does a PSU have to be Certified for SLI? or does it simply need to meet the power demand? Also I'm looking for a 700w psu if im not mistaken to power a second 460?
My current system:
Sony cd/dvd rw
Intel i5 2500k
EVGA GTX 460
Ultra 550w sli ready psu
4gb ddr3 ram
hitatchi 1tb hard drive

 

[purple stain]

No.As long as it has enough power on the 12/v rail it's fine.All that is saying is that it's been tested to run with a SLI/Crossfire.It's also a strategy for marketing.
Don't be fooled though.Not all those PSU's are of good quality.Only get trusted Power Supplies like Antec,Seasonic,Corsair and a few others.

A GTX460 SLI in your rig doesn't need more than a 650watt PSU but you can get a biger one if you want.Also you can always ask the people at the computer store if the PSU your intrested in can run a GTX460 SLI,they should know.

 

[gibbey531]

No.As long as it has enough power on the 12/v rail it's fine.All that is saying is that it's been tested to run with a SLI/Crossfire.It's also a strategy for marketing.
Don't be fooled though.Not all those PSU's are of good quality.Only get trusted Power Supplies like Antec,Seasonic,Corsair and a few others.

A GTX460 SLI in your rig doesn't need more than a 650watt PSU but you can get a biger one if you want.Also you can always ask the people at the computer store if the PSU your intrested in can run a GTX460 SLI,they should know.

Alright thanks! I plan on going with a 700w Corsair they had on sale. All are new/newer and i believe they got them from an ordering error.

 

[purple stain]

If it's a Corsair and a 700watt you shouldn't have any problems with it.Almost all of the higher wattage PSU's from Corsair are really good.

Do you know the model # of that Corsair PSU?

 

[mdd1963]

HardOCP ran a few tests on some no name PSUs a few months back, a few of which smoked and/or failed (one caught fire) when run at only 50% of max 'rated' load...

I would definitely choose a name brand PSU, as mentioned above....and certainly so for running SLI. (Last thing you need is a crappy $40 '800 watt' PSU to spike it's voltage and ruin both of your 460s and/or cpu/mb when run at 500 watt continous load!)

 

[gibbey531]

If it's a Corsair and a 700watt you shouldn't have any problems with it.Almost all of the higher wattage PSU's from Corsair are really good.

Do you know the model # of that Corsair PSU?

the Corsair GS700 gaming series 700w

also one that I thought worth taking a look at: Thermaltake TRX-750M 750w PSU

 

[purple stain]

The thermaltake has higher effiencey but it's only capable of delirving 672 watts out of 750watts.I'd say the corsair version is better but it's up to you they are practically the same.Get which ever one is cheaper I guess.

Acutally I didn't catch it before but the GS700 from crosair actually only has x2 6+2pins.Which means you'd have to use a molex for the other GTX460.Go with the Thermaltake one.It has all the PCI-e connectors you need.

 

[jitpublisher]

Yep, it's mostly all marketing nonsense. But one thing to look for, just make sure the PSU has 2 sets of power leads for both your GPU's. Most capable units these days have leads for at least 2 Video Cards, and some 3 or even 4, but it is something to check before you buy.
I swear, I just saw 4 sticks of "Crossfire Certified" RAM earlier today, wow, really?

 

[purple stain]

LOL.Must have been a typo.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

anything lower than the corsair TX series is pretty average (the CX and GS series).