How much power is really necesary?

[Computer_Freak]

Hey all.

I want to get a ATI 4870, and later, maybe crossfire it.

The thing is, i was looking at the Power reccomendations by vid card, and it says that to CF it, you need at least 600W, and 44A.

Now Im gonna get a Corsair TX750, but i feel thats overkill. I have just 2 Hard drives, 2 fans (gonna be more soon) and very few extras.


Do i really need the 750W PSU, or will a 620W modular suffice?

I will be upgrading soon to the i7, but i dont think that will need that much extra power??

can anyone clarify?

 

[diduknowthat]

620w would be plenty. Your computer doesn't use nearly as much power as you think it does.

 

[Kornowski]

Like diduknow said, people grossly under-estimate power supplies and over-estimate a PC's power usage.

If the price difference isn't much, I'd get the TX750, it isn't modular, but it'll give you a fair bit of headroom for any future upgrades and OC'ing.

If you didn't want to spend any more money, the HX620 would be an excellent choice. Plus it's modular, which is a real benefit!

Just to give you an idea, I'm running my Q6600 @ 3.4Ghz, two HDD's, 7 fans and 2 8800GTS' in SLI on the HX520. The most I've ever seen my PC use is 470watts.

The Corsair HX Series are simply awesome!

 

[Computer_Freak]

Like diduknow said, people grossly under-estimate power supplies and over-estimate a PC's power usage.

If the price difference isn't much, I'd get the TX750, it isn't modular, but it'll give you a fair bit of headroom for any future upgrades and OC'ing.

If you didn't want to spend any more money, the HX620 would be an excellent choice. Plus it's modular, which is a real benefit!

Just to give you an idea, I'm running my Q6600 @ 3.4Ghz, two HDD's, 7 fans and 2 8800GTS' in SLI on the HX520. The most I've ever seen my PC use is 470watts.

The Corsair HX Series are simply awesome!

So lets say, the Corsair HX620 can handle:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 OCed to 2.6GHz
Soon to be Core i7

ATI 4870
Soon maybe gonna be crossfired (And so that it supports future cards, and future CF/SLI)

2 Hard drives

Approxx. 5 fans

DVD drives

Wi-Fi card

And any overclock



So the HX20 could handle that no problems? with room to add new cards and multiple cards?

Soz if i seem sceptical, its just that i can only buy one PSU, and if the HX620 is not enough, im gonna have to shell out more to get the TX750....

 

[Kornowski]

I'd say the HX620 would be fine, but since you said you were a little sceptical and you can only buy one PSU, I'd save the little extra for the TX750. You'll have the extra reassurance, and it wouldn't be in the back of your mind by the sound of things!