How Much Power Does Your Graphics Card Need?

Page 2 of 10:

Graphic Chip Comparison And Test Configuration

This overview shows the graphics cards and the standard frequencies of their graphics processors (GPUs), shaders, and graphics memory (with AMD, shader and GPU frequencies are identical). If you use an overclocked graphics card (OC), it will differ from the values listed, and will have a somewhat higher power consumption. You should include this increased power consumption in assessing the necessary power supply wattage, and can add half the percentage of overclocking to the power consumption as “insurance.” For example, if the graphics card (GPU) is overclocked by 10%, then you should add 5% to the maximum power consumption of the graphics card. If you don’t know the clock rates of your video card, you can use the tool GPU-Z to read the values.

Nvidia Graphic Cards

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Card Manufacturer and Chip	Code Name	Memory	GPU Frequency	Shader	Memory Clock Speed	SPs
GeForce GTX 280 SLI	GT200	1024 GDDR3	602 MHz	4.0, 1296 MHz	2214 MHZ	240
GeForce GTX 280	GT200	1024 GDDR3	602 MHz	4.0, 1296 MHz	2214 MHz	240
GeForce GTX 260	GT200	896 GDDR3	576 MHz	4.0, 1242 MHz	1998 MHz	192
GeForce GTX 260	GT200	896 GDDR3	576 MHz	4.0, 1242 MHz	1998 MHz	192
GeForce 9800 GX2	2XG92	2X 512 MB GDDR3	600 MHz	4.0, 1500 MHz	2000 MHz	2X 128
GeForce 9800 GTX +	G92b	512 MB GDDR3	738 MHz	4.0, 1836 MHz	2200 MHz	128
GeForce 9800 GTX SLI	G92	512 MB GDDR3	675 MHz	4.0, 1688 MHz	2200 MHz	128
GeForce 9800 GTX	G92	512 MB GDDR3	675 MHz	4.0, 1688 MHz	2200 MHz	128
GeForce 9600 GTX	G94	1024 MB GDDR3	650 MHz	4.0, 1625 MHz	1800 MHz	64
GeForce 9600 GT SLI	G94	1024 MB GDDR3	650 MHz	4.0, 1625 MHz	1800 MHz	64
GeForce 9600 GT	G94	512 MB GDDR3	650 MHz	4.0, 1625 MHz	1800 MHz	64
GeForce 9600 GT	G92	512 MB GDDR3	730 MHz	4.0, 1825 MHz	1944 MHz	128
GeForce 8800 GTS OC	G92	512 MB GDDR3	650 MHz	4.0, 1625 MHz	1944 MHz	128
GeForce 8800 GTS SLI	G92	512 MB GDDR3	650 MHz	4.0, 1625 MHz	1944 MHz	128
GeForce 8800 GT SLI	G92	1024 MB GDDR3	600 MHz	4.0, 1500 MHz	1800 MHz	112
GeForce 8800 GT	G92	1024 MB GDDR3	600 MHz	4.0, 1500 MHz	1800 MHz	112
GeForce 8800 GT SLI	G92	512 MB GDDR3	600 MHz	4.0, 1500 MHz	1800 MHz	112
GeForce 8800 GT	G92	512 MB GDDR3	600 MHz	4.0, 1500 MHz	1800 MHz	112
GeForce 8800 ULTRA 3SLI	G80	768 MB GDDR3	612 MHz	4.0, 1512 MHz	2160 MHz	128
GeForce 8800 ULTRA SLI	G80	768 MB GDDR3	612 MHz	4.0, 1512 MHz	2160 MHz	128
GeForce 8800 ULTRA	G80	768 MB GDDR3	612 MHz	4.0, 1512 MHz	2160 MHz	128
GeForce 8800 GTX	G80	768 MB GDDR3	576 MHz	4.0, 1350 MHz	1800 MHz	128
GeForce 8800 GTS	G80	640 MB GDDR3	500 MHz	4.0, 1188 MHz	1600 MHz	96
GeForce 8800 GTS SLI	G80	320 MB GDDR3	500 MHz	4.0, 1188 MHz	1600 MHz	96
GeForce 8800 GTS	G80	320 MB GDDR3	500 MHz	4.0, 1188 MHz	1600 MHz	96
GeForce 8600 GTS	G84	512 MB GDDR3	675 MHz	4.0, 1450 MHz	2016 MHz	32
GeForce 8600 GTS SLI	G84	256 MB GDDR3	675 MHz	4.0, 1450 MHz	2016 MHz	32
GeForce 8600 GTS	G84	256 MB GDDR3	675 MHz	4.0, 1450 MHz	2016 MHz	32
GeForce 8600 GT SLI	G84	256 MB GDDR3	540 MHz	4.0, 1180 MHz	1400 MHz	32
GeForce 8600 GT	G84	256 MB GDDR3	540 MHz	4.0, 1180 MHz	1400 MHz	32
GeForce 8500 GT	G86	256 MB DDR2	459 MHz	4.0, 918 MHz	800 MHz	16
GeForce 8400 GS	G86	256 MB DDR2	459 MHz	4.0, 918 MHz	800 MHz	16
GeForce 7950 GX2	4xG71	4x512 MB GDDR3	500 MHz	3.0	1200 MHz	4x 24P 8V
GeForce 7950 GX2	2xG71	2x512 MB GDDR3	500 MHz	3.0	1200 MHz	2x 24P 8V
GeForce 7950 GT	G71	512 MB GDDR3	550 MHz	3.0	1400 MHz	24P 8V
GeForce 7950 GT	G71	512 MB GDDR3	550 MHz	3.0	1400 MHz	24P 8V
GeForce 7900 GTX	G71	512 MB GDDR3	650 MHz	3.0	1600 MHz	24P 8V
GeForce 7900 GTO	G71	512 MB GDDR3	650 MHz	3.0	1320 MHz	24P 8V
GeForce 7900 GT SLI	G71	256 MB GDDR3	450 MHz	3.0	1320 MHz	24P 8V
GeForce 7900 GT	G71	256 MB GDDR3	450 MHz	3.0	1320 MHz	24P 8V
GeForce 7900 GS SLI	G71	256 MB GDDR3	450 MHz	3.0	1320 MHz	20P 7V
GeForce 7900 GS	G71	256 MB GDDR3	450 MHz	3.0	1320 MHz	20P 7V
GeForce 7800 GTX	G70	512 MB GDDR3	550 MHz	3.0	1700 MHz	24P 8V
GeForce 7800 GTX SLI	G70	256 MB GDDR3	430 MHz	3.0	1200 MHz	24P 8V
GeForce 7800 GTX	G70	256 MB GDDR3	430 MHz	3.0	1200 MHz	24P 8V
GeForce 7800 GT SLI	G70	256 MB GDDR3	400 MHz	3.0	1000 MHz	20P 7V
GeForce 7800 GT	G70	256 MB GDDR3	400 MHz	3.0	1000 MHz	20P 7V
GeForce 7600 GT SLI	G73	256 MB GDDR3	560 MHz	3.0	1400 MHz	12P 5V
GeForce 7600 GT	G73	256 MB GDDR3	560 MHz	3.0	1400 MHz	12P 5V
GeForce 7600 GS SLI	G73	256 MB DDR2	400 MHz	3.0	800 MHz	12P 5V
GeForce 7600 GS	G73	256 MB DDR2	400 MHz	3.0	800 MHz	12P 5V
GeForce 7300 GT	G73	256 MB DDR2	350 MHz	3.0	666 MHz	8P 4V
GeForce 7300 GS	G72	128 MB DDR2	550 MHz	3.0	810 MHz	4P 3V
GeForce 6800 ULTRA	NV40	256 MB GDDR3	425 MHz	3.0	1100 MHz	16P 6V
GeForce 6800 GT	NV40	256 MB GDDR3	350 MHz	3.0	1000 MHz	16P 6V
GeForce 6600 GT	NV43	128 MB GDDR3	500 MHz	3.0	1000 MHz	8P 3V

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Card Manufacturer and Chip	Memory Bus	Production Process	Transistors	Port
GeForce GTX 280 SLI	512-bit	65 nm	1400 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce GTX 280	512-bit	65 nm	1400 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce GTX 260 SLI	448-bit	65 nm	1400 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce GTX 260	448-bit	65 nm	1400 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 9800 GTS OC	2x 256-bit	65 nm	2x 754 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 9800 GTS SLI	256-bit	65 nm	754 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 9800 GTS	256-bit	65 nm	754 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 9800 GT SLI	256-bit	65 nm	754 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 9600 GT	256-bit	65 nm	505 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 9600 GT SLI	256-bit	65 nm	505 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 9600 GT	256-bit	65 nm	505 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 8800 GTS OC	256-bit	65 nm	754 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 8800 GTS SLI	256-bit	65 nm	754 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 8800 GTS	256-bit	65 nm	754 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 8800 GT SLI	256-bit	65 nm	754 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 8800 GT	256-bit	65 nm	754 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 8800 GT SLI	256-bit	65 nm	754 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 8800 GT	256-bit	65 nm	754 Million	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 8800 ULTRA 3SLI	384-bit	90 nm	681 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 8800 ULTRA SLI	384-bit	90 nm	681 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 8800 ULTRA	384-bit	90 nm	681 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 8800 GTX	384-bit	90 nm	681 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 8800 GTS	320-bit	90 nm	681 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 8800 GTS SLI	320-bit	90 nm	681 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 8800 GTS	320-bit	90 nm	681 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 8600 GTS	128-bit	80 nm	289 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 8600 GTS SLI	128-bit	80 nm	289 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 8600 GTS	128-bit	80 nm	289 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 8600 GT SLI	128-bit	80 nm	289 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 8600 GT	128-bit	80 nm	289 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 8500 GT	128-bit	80 nm	210 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 8400 GS	64-bit	80 nm	210 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 7950 GX2 SLI	4x 256-bit	90 nm	4x 278 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 7950 GX2	2x 256-bit	90 nm	2x 278 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 7950 GT SLI	256-bit	90 nm	278 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 7950 GT	256-bit	90 nm	278 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 7900 GTX	256-bit	90 nm	278 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 7900 GTO	256-bit	90 nm	278 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 7900 GT SLI	256-bit	90 nm	278 Million	PCIe 1
GeForce 7900 GT	256-bit	90 nm	278 Millions	PCIe 1
GeForce 7900 GS SLI	256-bit	90 nm	278 Millions	PCIe 1
GeForce 7900 GS	256-bit	90 nm	278 Millions	PCIe 1
GeForce 7800 GTX	256-bit	110 nm	303 Millions	PCIe 1
GeForce 7800 GTX SLI	256-bit	110 nm	303 Millions	PCIe 1
GeForce 7800 GTX	256-bit	110 nm	303 Millions	PCIe 1
GeForce 7800 GT SLI	256-bit	110 nm	303 Millions	PCIe 1
GeForce 7800 GT	256-bit	110 nm	303 Millions	PCIe 1
GeForce 7600 GT SLI	128-bit	90 nm	178 Millions	PCIe 1
GeForce 7600 GT	128-bit	90 nm	178 Millions	PCIe 1
GeForce 7600 GS SLI	128-bit	90 nm	178 Millions	PCIe 1
GeForce 7600 GS	128-bit	90 nm	178 Millions	PCIe 1
GeForce 7300 GT	128-bit	90 nm	178 Millions	PCIe 1
GeForce 7300 GS	64-bit	90 nm	112 Millions	PCIe 1
GeForce 6800 Ultra	256-bit	130 nm	222 Millions	PCIe 1
GeForce 6800 GT	256-bit	130 nm	222 Millions	PCIe 1
GeForce 6600 GT	128-bit	110 nm	146 Millions	PCIe 1

AMD Graphics Cards

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Card Manufacturer and Chip	Codename	Memory	GPU Frequency	Shader	Memory Clock Speed	SPs
Radeon HD 4870 X2	R700	2x 1024 MB GDDR5	750 MHz	4.1	3600 MHz	2x 800
Radeon HD 4870 CF	RV770	512 MB GDDR5	750 MHz	4.1	3600 MHz	800
Radeon HD 4870	RV770	512 MB GDDR5	750 MHz	4.1	3600 MHz	800
Radeon HD 4850 CF	RV770	512 MB GDDR3	625 MHz	4.1	1986 MHz	800
Radeon HD 4850	RV770	512 MB GDDR3	625 MHz	4.1	1986 MHz	800
Radeon HD 4670	RV730	512 MB GDDR3	750 MHz	4.1	2000 MHz	320
Radeon HD 4550	RV710	512 MB GDDR3	600 MHz	4.1	1600 MHz	80
Radeon HD 3870 X2 CF	2xR680	4x512 MB GDDR3	825 MHz	4.1	1802 MHz	4x320
Radeon HD 3870 3CF	R680	3x512 MB GDDR3/4	825/800 MHz	4.1	1802/2252 MHz	3x320
Radeon HD 3870 X2	R680	2x512 MB GDDR3	825 MHz	4.1	1802 MHz	2x320
Radeon HD 3870 CF	RV670	512 MB GDDR4	775 MHz	4.1	2252 MHz	320
Radeon HD 3870	RV670	512 MB GDDR4	775 MHz	4.1	2252 MHz	320
Radeon HD 3850 CF	RV670	256 MB GDDR3	670 MHz	4.1	1658 MHz	320
Radeon HD 3850	RV670	256 MB GDDR3	670 MHz	4.1	1658 MHz	320
Radeon HD 3650 CF	RV635	512 MB GDDR3	725 MHz	4.1	1602 MHz	120
Radeon HD 3650	RV635	512 MB GDDR3	725 MHz	4.1	1602 MHz	120
Radeon HD 3470	RV620	256 MB GDDR3	796 MHz	4.1	1886 MHz	40
Radeon HD 3450	RV620	256 MB GDDR2	594 MHz	4.1	990 MHz	40
Radeon HD 2900 XT	R600	512 MB GDDR3	743 MHz	4.0	1656 MHz	320
Radeon HD 2900 XT	R600	512 MB GDDR3	743 MHz	4.0	1656 MHz	320
Radeon HD 2600 XT	RV630	512 MB GDDR3	800 MHz	4.0	1400 MHz	120
Radeon HD 2600 XT	RV630	512 MB GDDR3	800 MHz	4.0	1400 MHz	120
Radeon HD 2600 XT	RV630	256 MB GDDR4	800 MHz	4.0	2200 MHz	120
Radeon HD 2600 PRO CF	RV630	256 MB GDDR3	600 MHz	4.0	1400 MHz	120
Radeon HD 2600 PRO	RV630	256 MB GDDR3	600 MHz	4.0	1400 MHz	120
Radeon HD 2400 XT	RV610	256 MB GDDR3	700 MHz	4.0	1400 MHz	40
Radeon HD 2400 PRO	RV610	256 MB DDR2	525 MHz	4.0	800 MHz	40
Radeon X1950 XTX CF	R580+	512 MB GDDR4	650 MHz	3.0	2000 MHz	48P 8V
Radeon X1950 XTX	R580+	512 MB GDDR4	650 MHz	3.0	2000 MHz	48P 8V
Radeon X1950 XT	R580+	256 MB GDDR3	625 MHz	3.0	1800 MHz	48P 8V
Radeon X1950 PRO	R570	256 MB GDDR3	575 MHz	3.0	1380 MHz	36P 8V
Radeon X1950 GT	R570	256 MB GDDR3	500 MHz	3.0	1200 MHz	36P 8V
Radeon X1900 XT CF	R580	512 MB GDDR33	625 MHz	3.0	1450 MHz	48P 8V
Radeon X1900 XT	R580	512 MB GDDR3	625 MHz	3.0	1450 MHz	48P 8V
Radeon X1900 XT	R580	512 MB GDDR3	625 MHz	3.0	1450 MHz	48P 8V
Radeon X1900 GT	R580	256 MB GDDR3	575 MHz	3.0	1188 MHz	36P 8V
Radeon X1800 XT	R520	256 MB GDDR3	631 MHz	3.0	1504 MHz	16P 8V
Radeon X1800 XT	R520	512 MB GDDR3	621 MHz	3.0	1494 MHz	16P 8V
Radeon X1800 XL	R520	256 MB GDDR3	500 MHz	3.0	990 MHz	16P 8V
Radeon X1800 GTO	R520	256 MB GDDR3	500 MHz	3.0	990 MHz	16P 8V
Radeon X1650 XT	R560	256 MB GDDR3	575 MHz	3.0	1350 MHz	24P 8V
Radeon X1650 Pro	R530	256 MB GDDR3	594 MHz	3.0	1378 MHz	12P 5V
Radeon X1600 XT CF	R530	256 MB GDDR3	581 MHz	3.0	1368 MHz	12P 5V
Radeon X1600 XT	R530	256 MB GDDR3	581 MHz	3.0	1368 MHz	12P 5V
Radeon X1600 Pro CF	R530	256 MB GDDR3	500 MHz	3.0	784 MHz	12P 5V
Radeon X1600 Pro	R530	256 MB GDDR3	500 MHz	3.0	784 MHz	12P 5V
Radeon X1300 XT	R530	256 MB GDDR3	587 MHz	3.0	1378 MHz	12P 5V
Radeon X1300 Pro	R515	128 MB GDDR3	594 MHz	3.0	990 MHz	4P 2V
Radeon X1300	R5515	256 MB GDDR3	446 MHz	3.0	496 MHz	4P 2V
Radeon X800 XT	R423	256 MB GDDR3	506 MHz	2.0	1000 MHz	16P 6V

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Card Manufacturer and Chip	Memory Bus	Production Process	Transistors	Port
Radeon HD 4870 X2	2x256-bit	55 nm	2x956 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 4870 CF	256-bit	55 nm	956 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 4870	256-bit	55 nm	956 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 4850 CF	256-bit	55 nm	956 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 4850	256-bit	55 nm	956 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 4670	128-bit	55 nm	514 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 4550	64-bit	55 nm	242 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3870 X2 4CF	4x256-bit	55 nm	4x666 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3870 3CF	3x256-bit	55 nm	3x666 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3870 X2	2x256-bit	55 nm	2x666 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3870 CF	256-bit	55 nm	666 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3870	256-bit	55 nm	666 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3850 CF	256-bit	55 nm	666 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3850	256-bit	55 nm	666 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3650 CF	128-bit	55 nm	378 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3650	128-bit	55 nm	378 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3470	64-bit	55 nm	181 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3450 XT	64-bit	55 nm	181 Million	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 2900 XT CF	512-bit	80 nm	720 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon HD 2900 XT	512-bit	80 nm	720 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon HD 2600 XT CF	128-bit	65 nm	390 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon HD 2600 XT	128-bit	65 nm	390 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon HD 2600 XT	128-bit	65 nm	390 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon HD 2600 Pro CF	128-bit	65 nm	390 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon HD 2600 Pro	128-bit	65 nm	390 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon HD 2400 XT	64-bit	65 nm	180 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon HD 2400 Pro	256-bit	65 nm	180 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1950 XTX CF	256-bit	90 nm	384 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1950 XTX	256-bit	90 nm	384 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1950 XT	256-bit	90 nm	384 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1950 Pro	256-bit	80 nm	330 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1950 GT	256-bit	80 nm	330 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1900 XT CF	256-bit	90 nm	384 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1900 XT	256-bit	90 nm	384 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1900 XT	256-bit	90 nm	384 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1900 GT	256-bit	90 nm	384 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1800 XT	256-bit	90 nm	321 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1800 XT	256-bit	90 nm	321 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1800 XL	256-bit	90 nm	321 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1800 GTO	256-bit	90 nm	321 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1650 XT	128-bit	80 nm	330 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1650 Pro	128-bit	90 nm	157 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1600 XT CF	128-bit	90 nm	157 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1600 XT	128-bit	90 nm	157 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1600 Pro CF	128-bit	90 nm	157 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1600 Pro	128-bit	90 nm	157 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1300 XT	128-bit	90 nm	157 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1300 Pro	64-bit	90 nm	105 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X1300	128-bit	90 nm	105 Million	PCIe 1.0
Radeon X800 XT	256-bit	130 nm	120 Million	PCIe 1.0

Memory clock speed=DDR-Clock rate doubled, physical frequency is cut in half

DDR5-clock rate quadrupled, physical frequency is one fourth

SPs=Stream-Processors; P and V=Pixel shader and Vertex shader

TC=Turbo Cache HM=Hyper Memory

OC=overclocked (clock frequency higher than standard) <br>

SLI=Parallel operation with 2 Nvidia cards

3SLI=Parallel operation with 3 Nvidia graphics chips

4SLI=Parallel operation with 4 Nvidia graphic chips

CF=CrossFire parallel operation with 2 ATI cards

3CF=CrossFire parallel operation with 3 ATI graphic chips

4CF=CrossFire parallel operation with 4 ATI graphic chips

R680=2xRV670

R700=2xRV770

Shader 2.0=DirectX 9.0; 3.0=DirectX 9.0c; 4.0=DirectX 10; Shader 4.1=DirectX 10.1

This is the standard configuration of the graphics card test system, and is the basis by which the power consumption of a complete system was determined.

Nvidia Single-Chip Graphics Cards, AMD Single-Chip And CrossFire Graphics Cards

Swipe to scroll horizontally

CPU	Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 @ 2.93 GHz (11x266 MHz), Socket 775, 1.28 V, 65 nm, 4096 KB L2 cache
FSB	1066 MHz (4x266 MHz)
Motherboard	Asus P5E3 Deluxe, PCIe 2.0 2x16, ICH9R
Chip Set	Intel X38
Memory	2x1 GB, Ballistix (Crucial Technology) 1.5 V, DDR3 1066 7-7-7-20 (2x533 MHz)
Audio	Intel High Definition Audio
LAN	Intel 1000 Pro
Hard Drive	Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500 GB, SATA, 16 MB cacheHitachi 120 GB, SATA, 8 MB cache
DVD	Gigabyte GO-D1600C
Power Supply	CoolerMaster RS-850-EMBA 850 W

Nvidia SLI Graphics Cards

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Motherboard	Asus P5N-T Deluxe, PCIe 2.0 2x16
Chip Set	Nvidia nforce 780i SLI
Memory	2x1 GB, A-Data Technology 1.8 V, DDR2 800 5-5-5-18 (2x400 MHz)
Audio	ADI 1988B SoundMax
LAN	Marvell 88E1116 Gigabit

Driver And Configuration

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Graphic	AMD Catalyst, Nvidia ForceWare, and GeForce
Operating System	Windows Vista Enterprise SP1
DirectX	10 and 10.1
Chip Set Driver	X38 Intel 8.3.1.1009, 780i Nvidia nforce 9.64

The power consumption is given in watts; 1,000 watts (1 kW) is used as a baseline for the electricity used. The cost of a kilowatt hour differs depending on the region and electricity supplier. We used 20 cents (the price at the Munich utility company Stadtwerke München) for the electricity calculation. PSU stands for the power supply unit.

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129 Comments Comment from the forums

Inktfish

Could you please add the Radeon 4830? :)
Reply
sepuko

Took the words right out of my mouth.
Reply
since Core i7 920 has TDP = 130W, how can it consume 85W only?
Reply
1.21 Jigawatts !!!
Reply
nukemaster

This article was due. No more you need an 800 watt psu for the 4870 , core2 quad ad 1 hard drive anymore :p

Guest11since Core i7 920 has TDP = 130W, how can it consume 85W only?The TDP is more of a design thing. Almost all of Intels initial Core2 line had a TDP of 65 watts yet many took much less power. Intel gives a worst case of that type number and does not measure every cpu.

AMD does the same thing. They listed almost all the initial Athlon 64's at 89 watts yet many did not take that or give off that amount.

zxv9511.21 Jigawatts !!!You act like you would need a small fusion reactor or maybe a bolt of lightning to get that?
Reply
neiroatopelcc

So my system actually has a too big power supply to be effective?
I'm running a 3,4ghz c2d with 5x500gb sata drives, a dvdrw and a 4870 on a p35 board.
According to the article that's not going to draw the ~400W needed to get within effective range of my corsair 620 ....
Reply
cynewulf

There's a mistake in the power under load for the 3870X2. It shows the same as the idle consumption. If only that were true! :D
Reply
Inneandar

The TDP (thermal design power) is meant to be a guideline for the cooling solution, not the power consumption. To qualify for a cpu with a TDP of 120W, a cooler must be able to dissipate 120W. Practically, of course, this means it is an upper bound to (sensible) power consumption.

also small note: Is it just me or is it strange to see the 260 SLI consume more than the 280 SLI. maybe in need of a beefier test scene...
Reply
zodiacfml

nice collection of data. i hope many learn from this and avoid recommending too powerful supplies.
Reply
roofus

better off with too much power supply than not enough. at least if you over-spec the power supply you leave some breathing room for any additional components.
Reply

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Graphic Chip Comparison And Test Configuration

Graphic Chip Comparison And Test Configuration

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