PSU help

[jaywald]

OK this is my setup...

AMD Phenom II 965 BE (Stock cooler)
8GB (2x4GB) DDR3
Radeon HD 6570 1GB GDDR3
320GB HDD
64GB SSD
Asus M5A78L-MLX V2 Motherboard
500w PSU

I hope to upgrade...

Radeon HD 6850 GPU x2
AsRock 970 Extreme3 Motherboard
Get a aftermarket CPU cooler

Does this mean I need a higher watt PSU?

If so, would this see be the case if I only got 1 GPU?

 

[Murissokah]

Your PSU will be working on the edge. I would change it if I were you.

I know you didn't ask this, but I must advise against 6850 cossfire. I had a pair of 6870 and they were very unreliable. If you have the money now, buy the best single card you can afford.

 

[jaywald]

Your PSU will be working on the edge. I would change it if I were you.

I know you didn't ask this, but I must advise against 6850 cossfire. I had a pair of 6870 and they were very unreliable. If you have the money now, buy the best single card you can afford.

I was considering a single Radeon HD 6950, would that be a good option?

 

[geofelt]

To answer your questions:

Yes, you would need more than a 500w psu to run two 6850 cards.
Here is the AMD requirement for a single 6850:
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/amd-radeon-hd-6000/hd-6850/pages/amd-radeon-hd-6850-overview.aspx#3

What brand/model is your 500w psu?
If it is a good one, you could run a card as good as a 7850 or a GTX670.
If it is a poor one, it may not deliver advertised power.
Cheap psu's will advertise good wattage, but shortchange you on 12v amps which is the real metric for a psu.

Re: your update plans:

I see little value in changing out the motherboard as far as cpu speed is concerned.

If you are doing so to enable Crossfire, then I think it would be better to spend that amount on a single stronger card for your current motherboard.
A single good card will eliminate microstuttering issues. Read this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html

Good idea on an aftermarket cpu cooler. The cm hyper212 at $30 or so is a great value.
It will run your cpu cooler, quieter, and you can OC higher.

 

[jaywald]

To answer your questions:

Yes, you would need more than a 500w psu to run two 6850 cards.
Here is the AMD requirement for a single 6850:
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/amd-radeon-hd-6000/hd-6850/pages/amd-radeon-hd-6850-overview.aspx#3

What brand/model is your 500w psu?
If it is a good one, you could run a card as good as a 7850 or a GTX670.
If it is a poor one, it may not deliver advertised power.
Cheap psu's will advertise good wattage, but shortchange you on 12v amps which is the real metric for a psu.

Re: your update plans:

I see little value in changing out the motherboard as far as cpu speed is concerned.

If you are doing so to enable Crossfire, then I think it would be better to spend that amount on a single stronger card for your current motherboard.
A single good card will eliminate microstuttering issues. Read this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html

Good idea on an aftermarket cpu cooler. The cm hyper212 at $30 or so is a great value.
It will run your cpu cooler, quieter, and you can OC higher.

I've decided on 1 single Radeon HD6950 2GB and the cpu cooler you recommend. I may still upgrade my motherboard because I want the 6 Gbp/s transfer rate for my SSD as it is SATA 3 and I want USB 3.0.

 

[geofelt]

I've decided on 1 single Radeon HD6950 2GB and the cpu cooler you recommend. I may still upgrade my motherboard because I want the 6 Gbp/s transfer rate for my SSD as it is SATA 3 and I want USB 3.0.

Good on the 6950, it is a nice jump, and you get what you pay for at every price point.

For usb3.0, an add in card will be cheaper than a motherboard replacement.

Sata 3 is a help on sequential benchmarks, but will not really help much of what you do. Most of the benefit of a SSD comes from small random reads and writes, and 6gb does not help there. For gamers, 6gb may help ith level loads.

My take is, if you are going to change your motherboard, go for a z77 based motherboard and an intel cpu for gaming.

 

[jaywald]

Good on the 6950, it is a nice jump, and you get what you pay for at every price point.

For usb3.0, an add in card will be cheaper than a motherboard replacement.

Sata 3 is a help on sequential benchmarks, but will not really help much of what you do. Most of the benefit of a SSD comes from small random reads and writes, and 6gb does not help there. For gamers, 6gb may help ith level loads.

My take is, if you are going to change your motherboard, go for a z77 based motherboard and an intel cpu for gaming.

Thanks for the advice once again, I'm going to hold onto my CPU and motherboard until I feel I've got my moneys worth then probably go for an i7.