Can 450W PSU handle HD 6850??

[shreejan86]

I ordered Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 from Amazon which has not yet been delivered. The issue is currently i only have a 450W PSU (Cooler Master) and the recommended is 500W. So will the card work and will i have any problems??

And, i have read reviews about the Sapphire HD 6850 on Newegg and Amazon. There were a number of reviews claiming PC crashing with this card installed. Any one of you had such issue?

 

[renz496]

i think you should get better PSU just to be safe (go for the reliable brand such as corsair, antec etc). i'm not really sure about this but many said cooler master PSU are not really good except their high end ones

 

[shreejan86]

i think you should get better PSU just to be safe (go for the reliable brand such as corsair, antec etc). i'm not really sure about this but many said cooler master PSU are not really good except their high end ones

I'm too thinking of getting a better PSU but that will only be possible in 1-2 months. Will it affect the card if i use my current PSU for just a month??

 

[renz496]

depends on your luck buddy. if you're lucky maybe you can get your brand new PSU before the card or your entire system got screwed up when your PSU get blown for being overloaded

 

[wa1]

Do not cheap out on PSU, it's the most important thing inside your PC, really, get a bigger/better PSU with 500W minimum for a single graphic card or 750W for dual cards configuration, Corsair, Antec, PCP&C, SilverStone are a decent brand for quality PSU...

 

[yasir siddiqui]

you should get at least 600w psu.

 

[mactronix]

Yes a decent PSU is important but a 6850 is not exactly power hungry now is it ?
Can you link us to the PSU you have now ? or tell us what the +12V rail/s ratings are ?
I would agree you may need a better PSU but lets see what the one you have is like first.

I think some of the replies may be being belt and braces (over cautious) with recommendations. Bottom line is the card needs a single PCIE cable and as long as its a reputable brand PSU with the required power cable then it will be fine. Something like a 500W Corsair builder series PSU would be ample.

Mactronix

 

[sayantan]

+1^. Personally I never had any issues with my 600W PSU that can provide only 27A on +12V rails.I know its very marginal for my system but it still works pretty good and can survive all kind of stress test put together.
But if you don't have any budget constrains or even if you do ,get yourself a good quality 550W psu which can provide around 44A on 12V eg xfx core edition 550

Edit:System: i5 2500 @ 4.2Ghz, ASUS P8P67, 2x4GB corsair vengeance @1668Mhz ,Sapphire Radeon HD 4890@900Mhz core,2 HDDs, 5 case fans

 

[4745454b]

600W and only 27A? My 500W can do 34A.

 

[renz496]

most decent 450w-550w i know should have at least 30A on 12v rail. for generic PSU they often have less than 20A

 

[scienceisfun91]

A 450w psu will work fine. I have been using a 350w psu for my Radeon 6850 for like 10 months now. A 450w will be fine. You don't have to waste money getting a psu that you won't even need.

 

[Onus]

A "real" 450W PSU can handle a HD6850. At most, the card can only be pulling 150W (PCIE slot plus single auxiliary power cable), leaving 300W for everything else. Unless you're running a stack of hard drives and a mad overclock, you should be good; trouble is you have a Coolermaster PSU, which may not be actually capable of 450W (most of their PSUs are overrated).
Seasonic, Antec, Corsair, XFX, and Enermax/LEPA are among the better brands for PSUs. I'm not sure I've ever seen a competent technical review that didn't find them to be at least a little bit UNDERrated.

Edit: If you have a GX450, you're ok: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-GX-450-W-Power-Supply-Review/1234/9

 

[shreejan86]

Yes a decent PSU is important but a 6850 is not exactly power hungry now is it ?
Can you link us to the PSU you have now ? or tell us what the +12V rail/s ratings are ?
I would agree you may need a better PSU but lets see what the one you have is like first.

I think some of the replies may be being belt and braces (over cautious) with recommendations. Bottom line is the card needs a single PCIE cable and as long as its a reputable brand PSU with the required power cable then it will be fine. Something like a 500W Corsair builder series PSU would be ample.

Mactronix

There's no link to PSU i currently have. It's kinda old and i checked the PSU and as mentioned on it the +12V ratings are just 16A so i guess i need to get a better one right?

 

[mamailo]

Beleved or not, even the 16 ampere rate is may not be correct.
You best course of accton is buy a new PSU. In the mean time connect the video card to one of the molex rail by itself. Do not chain HD, DVD or anything else in that molex rail.

Don´t worry even the cheapest power supply have overcurrent protection, It will cut the Pwer_oK signal and shutdown.


If you have a spare, consider using a second PSU only for the Card.There is plenty of tutorials in youtube, it´s easy to do.

I have been running a 8800 GTX from a "El Cheapo" 250W PSU and has been working fine for 3 years.

 

[GreenDutchAlien]

Don´t worry even the cheapest power supply have overcurrent protection, It will cut the Pwer_oK signal and shutdown.


Not true, sometimes when a psu dies it takes along your gpu or even cpu !

 

[mactronix]

There's no link to PSU i currently have. It's kinda old and i checked the PSU and as mentioned on it the +12V ratings are just 16A so i guess i need to get a better one right?

A PSU degenerates over time so if its old and has a low amperage rating like yours does then i would say that you should defiantly get a new PSU before running the card.
These days things are a lot better but as robjordy says an older PSU could possibly cause harm to other parts of your system if you over stressed it.

Mactronix

 

[akshay0009]

A 450w psu will work fine. I have been using a 350w psu for my Radeon 6850 for like 10 months now. A 450w will be fine. You don't have to waste money getting a psu that you won't even need.

WAT PSU brand u hav?

 

[beenthere]

Wow, the full range of answers to confuse the OP...

shreejan86-

it's time to learn some simple electrical information so you can accurately determine what will and won't work in PSUs for your current or future PC build. Work thru the link below and then you'll be able to help the next person who posts a similar question here in about an hour...

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/314712-10-please-read-determine-power-required

 

[scienceisfun91]

WAT PSU brand u hav?

I have a LiteOn 350w psu

 

[Onus]

Some Coolermaster PSUs claim certain protections, but HardwareSecrets discovered they were missing. The GX450 is a new model; an old one should definitely be replaced. I would recommend Seasonic, Antec, Corsair, XFX, Enermax/LEPA, or even a new FSP for your replacement.
On a good day, I would not expect a LiteOn PSU to be able to put out any more than 75% of what is on its label, and that not cleanly.
The chart at http://forums.atomicmpc.com.au/index.php?showtopic=264 shows a HD6850 needing 108W for a typical 3D load, 125W absolutely maxed. If the rest of that system needs 150W or so, you may be running that LiteOn near its edge depending on your CPU and the types of games you play. Careful, or I predict a violent death.

 

[shreejan86]

Wow, the full range of answers to confuse the OP...

shreejan86-

it's time to learn some simple electrical information so you can accurately determine what will and won't work in PSUs for your current or future PC build. Work thru the link below and then you'll be able to help the next person who posts a similar question here in about an hour...

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/314712-10-please-read-determine-power-required

I read your post and i found it very helpful. According to the sticker on my PSU it has +12V1 and +12V2 which are both 16A each. So will the combined output be 32A??

And i checked about power drawn by HD 6850 here and it states around 139W on full load and 29W on idle. So i applied your calculation method:

139 / 12 = 11.583amps + 15amps for other drives, fans etc. So, Total = 11.583 + 15 = 26.583 amps and +5 amps for safety margin so it all turns out to be 31.583 amps.

Now, if I'm correct my PSU has 32A total on +12V rails and required 31.583 with the safety margin. So is my current PSU good to go??

 

[renz496]

if you have 16A both on 12v1 and 12v2 it doesn't mean you will have 32A. you can't add them directly. you have to know how much wattage you actually have on 12v rail. you can find this detail on the PSU's spec sticker but some manufacturer may not include this detail on their spec. for example if you have 360w on 12v rail then you should have 30A on your 12v rail. (360/12 = 30A). its the same way how you calculate the amps needed for your gpu

 

[shreejan86]

if you have 16A both on 12v1 and 12v2 it doesn't mean you will have 32A. you can't add them directly. you have to know how much wattage you actually have on 12v rail. you can find this detail on the PSU's spec sticker but some manufacturer may not include this detail on their spec. for example if you have 360w on 12v rail then you should have 30A on your 12v rail. (360/12 = 30A). its the same way how you calculate the amps needed for your gpu

I again checked my PSU sticker, and 384W is written on it for +12V rails which turns out to be 32A.

 

[sayantan]

That means you are good to go.

 

[4745454b]

Only other thing to do is find a real review of your PSU. Just because the sticker says it can do that doesn't mean it can. Search for any real review of a Diablotek unit to see a lying sticker.