Power Comsumption

[Guest]

Hello, I am currently running a CX500 80+ bronze PSU, and I was wondering if it could support a HIS IceQ 7870 with a Phenom 965, currently i have a way worse graphics card, and was wondering if i could upgrade without having to upgrade the PSU as well.

 

[s3anister]

Well the 7870 GHz edition uses 175W maximum during full load and only 10W during idle and as far as I know your processor's TDP is 125W which would put your main system draw at 300W maximum full load so as long as you don't have two dozen fans and a plethora of hard drives I'd imagine your PSU would run a 7870 just fine.

 

[imomun]

Your 500w Corsiar PSU should be fine for the 7870 even leave you some room if you do some overclocking.
If its 80 plus bronze which i think it is (newer cx series from corsair) Corsair sell good PSUs.
You can go as high as 7950 / 670 provided you run them @ factory clock and doesnt have tons of other hardwares installed as s2anister has advised.
Hope this helps

 

[ko888]

For a system using a single AMD reference design Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition graphics card AMD specifies a minimum of a 500 Watt or greater system power supply. The power supply should also have a maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 28 Amps or greater and have at least two 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors.

Total Power Supply Wattage is NOT the crucial factor in power supply selection!!! Sufficient Total Combined Continuous Power/Current Available on the +12V Rail(s) rated at 45°C - 50°C ambient temperature, is the most critical factor.

Overclocking of the CPU and/or GPU(s) will require an additional increase to the maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current ratings, recommended above, to meet the increase in power required for the overclock. The additional amount required will depend on the magnitude of the overclock being attempted.

The Corsair Builder Series CX500 (SKU# 75-001667 / CP-9020047), with its maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 38 Amps and with two (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors, is more than sufficient to power your system configuration with a single Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition graphics card. There is ample spare capacity available on the +12V rail to handle some overclocking of the CPU and/or GPU.

 

[Guest]

Best answer selected by zoltek62.

 

[Guest]

Thx guys!