About to buy a GTX 560TI

[GrantMePeace]

Hi all,

I'm about buy the Asus 1GB GeForce GTX 560TI DirectCUII PCI-E Graphics Card for my ASUS P8Z68-V LX mother board and before I do I just have some questions:

1) Power supply.

It looks like I'm might have to get a better power supply but what is the likelihood that it will work on a 350W power supply? If I try, will it damage my card?

FSP PSU
ATX 350PNR
350W Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan

2) Desktop Case

I have a lot of free space in my case but my slots are separated by a small strip, will this be OK for this card? http://i50.tinypic.com/wslg8j.jpg

What else do I need to consider for this card to be compatible with my setup?

I appreciate any help!

 

[GrantMePeace]

I've just read an interesting comment on Youtube. Is there any truth to this?

You don´t even need a 600W PSU.

My System with an Overclocked i7 2600K (4,2GHz) and a GTX 570 just reaches about 310Watt.
Just measure it with your PC

All the PSU and graphics card producers just want to make more money and they advise you to buy an overdimensioned PSU.
So a ~500W PSU is even enough for a GTX 580.

 

[GabZDK]

The card itself has a TDP of about 170 w, so that plus the rest of your components, yeah you need a better power supply, Nvidia reccomends at least 500W so if you want to cut it with that power this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371035 could help you

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

You might be able to run it. But it would be risky. Also the 560ti is a good card but it is a little bit over priced now. I would get a 7850 if I were you
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129230
what are the rest of your system specs? if it is a low power everything else, you might be able to barely eek out enough power. Also the 7850 uses a lot less power than the 560ti.

 

[Guest]

you need a PSU with 2 six pin power connections, so that rules out a 350 watt PSU that has none . . .

 

[GrantMePeace]

Here is my spec:

Intel® Core™i5-2320 Quad Core (3.00GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics
ASUS® P8Z68-V LX: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
INTEGRATED INTEL HD GRAPHICS (HDMI, DVI, 1920 X 1200)
500GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply 350W Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155/1156 STANDARD CPU COOLER
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA CASE + 2 FRONT USB

I tried this PSU watt calculator with my current setup: http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine - it showed 209W which leaves me about 140W for the graphics card!

Tomorrow, I will try to get more accurate results using Joulemeter. I am using laptop now.

 

[GrantMePeace]

you need a PSU with 2 six pin power connections, so that rules out a 350 watt PSU that has none . . .

I think the card comes with a 4 pin to 6 pin converter. I guess this would be OK?

 

[GrantMePeace]

@lt_dan_zsu those two cards are about the same price for me on Amazon UK.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Radeon-DirectCU-Graphics-Express/dp/B008RW0R10/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1350170501&sr=1-3

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-GeForce-560TI-DirectCUII-Graphics/dp/B004K8R8DA/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1350170616&sr=1-1

 

[badtaylorx]

nooooo.......

what happens when you add that 560 ti to the psu calculator.......

Our recommended PSU Wattage: 457 W
Please click “Find PSUs” button to find out the best results.


itdanzu was correct tho......you MAY just be able to reuse your psu with a 7850 (which is a stronger card than the 560ti anyway)

ooooh ,,,,its close

Our recommended PSU Wattage: 404 W
Please click “Find PSUs” button to find out the best results.


but that does not save room for overclocking

 

[Guest]

I think the card comes with a 4 pin to 6 pin converter. I guess this would be OK?

sorry no, it need TWO of them!

and avoid adapters like the plague!

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

I just looked at some benchmarks for the 7850 and at maximum load it barely goes over 100w. So you probably could get by as long as nothing is oced.

 

[GrantMePeace]

I just looked at some benchmarks for the 7850 and at maximum load it barely goes over 100w. So you probably could get by as long as nothing is oced.

Thanks for suggesting this card, a lot of sources say its better than the 560 ti.

One concern, will it work on my MoBo, it has only support for the PCIe 2.0 and not 3.0. Performance hit?

 

[GrantMePeace]

I'm just afraid of changing the PSU as I haven't done it before. I watched a few videos I'm a little more comfortable now.

What PSU would you recommend for my setup?

 

[nbelote]

Yeah, get a 7850, it's better than the 560 TI and usually around the same price.

 

[badtaylorx]

corsair, seasonic, nzxt, antec.....one of those four.....

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

To your question about pcie, yes it will work. Also you still might want to get a better psu. You can get a pretty good one for less than $50. But you can probably get by with that psu. What are the rest of your system specs.

 

[Guest]

let me repeat myself for everyone:

350 watt PSU with no pci power connections= FAIL!

that is all.

 

[GrantMePeace]

I just bought the HD 7850 from Amazon EU - thanks for your advice guys. It should be here tomorrow!

I love asking questions here or reading threads here, you come in with one question thinking you know what you're doing and boom, you get advice for a better setup!

Also, I played around with Joulemeter and it shows my setup is only using 116 Watts out of the 350 watts.(http://i50.tinypic.com/fxdngm.png)

To test, I was running a file search, playing a video, downloading a large file and running a virus scan! Trying to get PC from being idle to really active.

@looniam - the HD 7850 requires only a one 6 pin connector. I have 4 to 6 pin adapter and I think that should be fine. The connector isn't the issue, its the wattage, right?

 

[17seconds]

The Amps on the +12 volt rail is just as important as the wattage of your PSU. Not sure what the 7850 needs, but you likely don't have enough. You should check it out.

Looks like you need 24 Amps:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/330921-28-tomshardware

 

[Guest]

@looniam - the HD 7850 requires only a one 6 pin connector. I have 4 to 6 pin adapter and I think that should be fine. The connector isn't the issue, its the wattage, right?

it is not the wattage of the system but the amperage of the 12 volt rail that matters most!

amperage on the 12 volt rail is the issue; that is what supplies the power to the most important componients in your system, cpu, hard drives, graphics card and chipset (in most cases)

FSP are not the most reliable brand of PSUs and putting further stress on the 12 volt rail with an adapter may cause some serious problems.

how you tested the power usage is far short of what power consumption you will have while gaming. download and test with prime95 or intelburn to put some stress on that system. then add 100 watts for the graphics card.

bottom line a PSU won't have a pci power connection if it wasn't designed for carrying that type of load on the 12 volt rail. some QUALITY PSUs can get away with an adapter but an FSP is far from being considered a quality unit; sufficient for budget systems, yes - pushing and stressing it, no.

funny how folks tell you that 350 is enough and not know what cpu you have . . .

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

in the event that you need a new psu(which I am pretty sure you do)
\get this one
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-eXtreme-Supply-RS500-PCARD3-US/dp/B001G0WPLK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350232702&sr=8-1&keywords=500w
that should do the job. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

[GrantMePeace]

The Amps on the +12 volt rail is just as important as the wattage of your PSU. Not sure what the 7850 needs, but you likely don't have enough. You should check it out.

Looks like you need 24 Amps:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/330921-28-tomshardware

Interesting, I didn't know that. How can I calculate my Amps? Here is a pic of my PSU:

http://i45.tinypic.com/2v2faf8.jpg

From the AMD site, it says:

500W (or greater) power supply with one 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connector recommended

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

Amps x volts=watts. So you can do it by that method.

 

[GrantMePeace]

Amps x volts=watts. So you can do it by that method.

It looks like my PSU isn't going to work then. Damn it.

The PSU you suggested has similar dimensions as mine so I think it will fit in my case.

Any confirms or alternatives?

 

[badtaylorx]

it will fit.....

but one of the biggest lessons in pcs......you get what you pay for....(99%of the time)