280 gtx on 500w ocz modular psu

[mrtwing]

Hello,
i read that the 280 gtx requires 575w min psu with a q6600 standard setup i have a amd phenom II x4 850 will it work or will i blow my psu its currently runing a 8800gtx and 3 hardrives

 

[akxpckwb]

It will work. The minimum requirements are exaggerated. That card should take around 200w at most

 

[whooleo]

The GTX 280 uses around 180watts and 15amps on the 12v rail.

 

[Deemo13]

It should work fine, and it would be a nice upgrade to your 8800GTX

 

[mrtwing]

thanks for the prompt reply now another question about the BFG GeForce GTX 280 OC is it any longer than the xfx 8800gtx i have installed as its literally wedged inside my case up against the hard drive rack

 

[akxpckwb]

I have no idea but I did find this comment on amazon: ''Something to consider, this card is HUGE, 1.5 times the length of the 8800 and thrice the thickness. It takes up a full two(2) PCI slots, bottom port for cable ins and outs and top port as exhaust.''

 

[Deemo13]

The 8800GTX is a pretty massive card to begin with, so I would imagine the GTX280 wouldnt be much bigger. I have an old 8800GTX lying around, and its longer than any card I have ever owned, save for my HD6950, which is the reference card.

 

[nforce4max]

Very doable and same average load as the gtx 460, gtx560, 560ti, and gtx670 depending on the clocks. Full load the card should draw between 165-180w depending on the sample quality. Note that the inductors on these older GT200A series cards is well known to degrade over time.

 

[Deemo13]

I have no idea but I did find this comment on amazon: ''Something to consider, this card is HUGE, 1.5 times the length of the 8800 and thrice the thickness. It takes up a full two(2) PCI slots, bottom port for cable ins and outs and top port as exhaust.''

The reviewer was most likely talking about the 8800GT, which is in fact smaller and only a single slot most of the time.

 

[mrtwing]

do the inductors degrade on the 8800gtx aswell? because its starting playing up thats why i've bought the 280gtx off ebay its runs windows fine but give it battlefield 3 it dies the second you get ingame online the screen goes purple and then the computer shuts down

 

[nforce4max]

do the inductors degrade on the 8800gtx aswell? because its starting playing up thats why i've bought the 280gtx off ebay its runs windows fine but give it battlefield 3 it dies the second you get ingame online the screen goes purple and then the computer shuts down

Anything that uses the same type of inductor which includes many of the high end cards of today. The good news is that they can be replaced but finding the same rated inductors of the same type is almost impossible. You can use a different type of inductor and can mix but they won't fit under the stock cooler. Using higher rated inductors that are in the safe range for what the card can handle will improve overclocking and in general stability. The problem with these inductors is that their windings are very fine and thin. When they overheat and the insulation begins to fail they burn out like a light bulb. When they do that they kill the circuit and no current can pass through it. The typical inductors that people have been used to in the past that were simple wire around a ferrite core those keep the circuit when they fail but get very hot. There isn't a lot of detailed information in one place for people to look up but there are little bits and pieces of info scattered around online.

The inductors in the 8800gtx are not as heavily loaded as the inductors in the gtx280 and it gets a lot worse in many of the high end fermi cards. A lot of the high end amd/ati cards have the same problem while low end don't use the same inductor. It is best to go with non reference cards that use a custom pcb but cooling can sometimes be a huge pain.

As for the gtx280 I found that keeping the fan around 80% helps and one way to find out if an inductor is dead is to touch it. If it wiggles then it had already shorted out, if not then it shouldn't move at all but don't be forceful with them as they are also fragile. The ferrite surrounding the coil and sometimes a resistor can crack and break away leaving the coil/resistor in place hanging from it's lead. If it were not the crappy inductors I am sure that many gtx280 cards could overclock almost as good as the 9800gtx did. The good news is that the mosfets used are far better than most cards including many of the new cards.

 

[mrtwing]

ok 280 gtx arrived this morning plugged it in accidentily without the 8 pin connected to the psu just started up on my onboard realised my mistake quick shut down plugged in the 8 pin and nada didnt even twicth disconect the 8 pin goes again with a redlight on the 280gtx have i just killed it?

 

[mrtwing]

should have atleast had a coffee before pluging it in dam postman arriving early making jump outa bed and put my trousers on backwards

 

[mrtwing]

http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-ModXStream-Modular-High-Performance-Compatible/dp/B001EZMEZO this is the psu with the 6+2 pin that is enough right

 

[Deemo13]

You shoulld be fine. I've accidentally forgotten to plug in the 6-pins to my 6950, and I'm using it right now.

 

[mrtwing]

ok so it was probably dead before i did that then tried it lots of times since and its not doing anything but the red power light coming on when just the six pin is in with both in it does nothing

 

[mrtwing]

found the problem the 6+2 pin was the wrong way round the 2 goes the other side on the outside but my cable looks and goes easyer with it on the inside next to the six pin problem now is on battlefield auto setting the card goes over 100c in under 5 mins with fan at 100% from start though id fixed it breefly when i covered up all the holes accept the exhaust and attached the hoover to the fan it dropped the idle temp by 10c but it still goes nuts under load just a bit slower now get 10 mins on auto setting can get it to run at 80c on minimum settings wich is worse than my 8800gtx was running it

 

[mrtwing]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zalman-VF3000N-Graphics-Card-Cooler/dp/B003R4BSQG/ref=sr_1_sc_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1341569242&sr=8-3-spell looking at this but heard the card is awkward to get apart and i have no luck with anything requiring thermal paste ive killed many a socket a proccesor messing about with heatsinks

 

[mrtwing]

are there any cheaper but affective solutions than the zalman as it would cost allmost as much as i spent on the card

 

[mrtwing]

discovered a problem with the zalman it would cover all my sata ports and my pci slots so i could have the gfx set up nice just no harddrive or optical drive lol

 

[mrtwing]

http://www.cool-and-quiet.co.uk/vga_coolers/ati_quiet_graphics_card_coolers/deepcool_v400_ultra_quiet_vga_cooler_with_120mm_fan_P1040.html found this it would cover my pci slots but may give me access to 1 more sata port as the stock coller covers 2 and i use a pci raid card at the minuet for my 3 harddrives and 1 optical drive allthough this doesnt look anywhere near al good as the zalman quility wise