GTX 580 Death by PSU?

[Lobby4]

A few specs first --
Mobo - ASUS Z68-V/GEN3
GPU - GTX 580 Superclocked
PSU - Thermaltake Toughpower Grand TPG-1200M 1200W

Now then -- my system completely powered down randomly after maybe an hour or two of gaming. I rebooted and got no signal from my card. I'll be doing an RMA shortly, but I need some way to tell if this brand-new build is a gpu-killer. Can a faulty card just go bad after a day and crash the entire system like that?

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Certain Thermaltake power supplies have been tested so bad out of spec as to be dangerous to components like the graphics card and motherboard.

That model fails HardOCP's tests.

http://hardocp.com/article/2011/12/15/thermaltake_toughpower_grand_1200w_psu_review/

It gets a 7 from jonnyguru but that's sort of skewed if you look at the way it's scored.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=243


All in all not something I would have bought or a brand I would ever recommend. If you want a quality power supply stick with Corsair, Seasonic, PC Power and Cooling, XFX, Silverstone, Enermax, OCZ and Antec.

 

[Helltech]

Yeah Thermaltake makes crap PSU, they have a couple solid ones, but most are trash.

Its very possible it was the PSU. Before you send the card back, test your system with a friends PSU, if that doesn't work test your system with your friends PSU AND GPU (if you got a friend that will let you).

 

[Lobby4]

Unfortunately I don't have access to another PSU/GPU, so I'll be RMAing the GPU with EVGA for a replacement (I'm fairly sure it's dead) and getting a refund on the PSU from Newegg. Any recommendations on the best PSU models?

 

[Helltech]

Anything Corsair, XFX, Silverstone, Seasonic, and PC Power and Cooling. Antec, CoolerMaster, and OCZ make good ones (hell some great ones), but also make some lackluster ones, so for simplicity just stay away. If you want to take the research route, anything you find search for it on JohnnyGuru he does the best PSU reviews. If it gets a least an 8.5 or 9 from him then its good.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

For a GTX 580 a 550-600w model from any of the brands I listed will work fine.

 

[Lobby4]

I plan to expand the system in the future to at least two, possibly 3 cards in SLI. What do you think, maybe around 8-900W for this? Thanks for all the help by the way.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Here is a selection of excellent models at different price ranges.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007657%20600014022&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=58%7C17%2D703%2D036%5E17%2D703%2D036%2DTS%2C17%2D256%2D064%5E17%2D256%2D064%2DZ07%2C17%2D371%2D031%5E17%2D371%2D031%2DTS%2C17%2D151%2D095%5E17%2D151%2D095%2DTS%2C17%2D151%2D088%5E17%2D151%2D088%2DTS

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Oops we posted at the same time. You want to run 3 x GTX 580s? You have to go WAY up to a recommended 1300 watts with overclocking. I'm sure you could get by with a quality 1250w model but at 1300 watts you are really limited.

http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

At 1300 watts these 2 are the best of the bunch. The Enermax would be my choice hands down.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007657%20600014027&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=58%7C17%2D121%2D091%5E17%2D121%2D091%2DTS%2C17%2D194%2D092%5E17%2D194%2D092%2DTS

 

[Deleted member 217926]

For 2 x GTX 580s you would need in the 900-1000w range if you are overclocking. These are some excellent models.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007657%20600014025&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=58%7C17%2D703%2D028%5E17%2D703%2D028%2DTS%2C17%2D256%2D057%5E17%2D256%2D057%2DTS%2C17%2D341%2D045%5E17%2D341%2D045%2DTS%2C17%2D703%2D022%5E17%2D703%2D022%2D09%23%2C17%2D121%2D089%5E17%2D121%2D089%2DTS

 

[Lobby4]

Alright lets assume 2 cards in SLI, could I scrape by on a quality 850W model? I was eying the Corsair HX850 850W.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

If you look at the recommended power supply list Nvidia recommends 900 watts for a GTX 580 Sli system and 1000 watts for an overclocked GTX 580 Sli system. That assumes a crappy power supply so a Corsair HX850 would be fine. BUT...if you plan on overclocking the cards and your CPU I would go with at least a 900 watt model. Any of those I recommended above in the 900-1000w range are as good as the Corsair HX.

 

[Lobby4]

Best answer selected by Lobby4.

 

[HugoStiglitz]

@helltech.

Not all of thermaltake's PSU's are crap.
Take my 2007 made thermaltake 1200w gives your 2010 Antec a run for its money.

http://hardocp.com/article/2007/04/25/thermaltake_toughpower_1200w/1