Would I be able to run an 8800GTX with a 460 watt power supply?
- Thread starter TaylorDTX
- Start date
diduknowthat
formerly liuliuboy
What brand is the powersupply. Also, how many amps are on the 12v rail? I wouldn't recommend using a 450watt PSU.
elitehacker
New Member
If you have a generic PSU, I would go for AT THE VERY LEAST a 500W one.
The power supply should say how many amps it has on each channel.
So the channels for your video card (the pci-e channel) must have 450W, and wattage is volts x amperes, so you can figure that out.
The power supply can't rob power from one channel and give it to another, it needs to have sufficient wattage on that channel, or the voltage will drop, which will either crash the computer, or make your video card run progressively slower and slower, whichever happens first.
So the channels for your video card (the pci-e channel) must have 450W, and wattage is volts x amperes, so you can figure that out.
The power supply can't rob power from one channel and give it to another, it needs to have sufficient wattage on that channel, or the voltage will drop, which will either crash the computer, or make your video card run progressively slower and slower, whichever happens first.
The_Other_One
VIP Member
That PSU apparently has 40A total on the 12v rails. It SHOULD be alright, but I wouldn't load the system down with too much else.
I doubt the card uses that much power for anything but playing games.
So as long as you're not burning a cd and playing games at the same time (which i can't imagine doing in the first place) you should be ok.
I usually hate them, but in this rare instance, i might even consider an external cd-rom for playing your games from, but i don't know how many games' copy protection will even allow them to be played from an external drive in the first place.
So as long as you're not burning a cd and playing games at the same time (which i can't imagine doing in the first place) you should be ok.
I usually hate them, but in this rare instance, i might even consider an external cd-rom for playing your games from, but i don't know how many games' copy protection will even allow them to be played from an external drive in the first place.
ceewi1
VIP Member
That's not possible. 40A would correspond to 480W available just on the +12V rails, which is more than the total rated output of the PSU.
450W is the official recommendation for an entire system including that video card, not the amount of power of power that the video card itself consumes. A video card cannot draw more than 75W (6.25A) from any single PCI-E connector.
Even at full speed, a typical optical drive won't draw much more than 1A from the +12V rail.
OP, take the side off your case and look at the label on the side of your PSU. It should indicate the amperage ratings of each rail, usually in a table format. Tell us what the amperage rating is on the +12V rail(s).
Quoted For Truth, however, video cards CAN consume more power, by use of the 6-pin PCI-E power connector.
diduknowthat
formerly liuliuboy
Or using two connectors, like the 8800gtx has. So, it can draw more than 75 watts.
ceewi1
VIP Member
75W from the PCI-E slot + 75W for each 6pin PCI-E connector + 150W for each 8pin PCI-E connector (that'll come with the R600s). The 8800GTX, for example, could draw up to 225W (although the TDP is 185W, and practical draws currently more in the 150-160W range, but expected to climb somewhat with the release of DX10 games that can take full advantage it).
My point was to do with the rail distribution issue that heyman was referring to. There is absolutely no need to have 450W available on any +12V rail, and it's really only high end single rail units that do. If you have two 6pin PCI-E connectors on a rail, the maximum draw on that rail is only 150W or 12.5A - nowhere near enough to overload a rail on a typical multirail PSU.
Of course, if you're putting lots of other devices on the same rail then it's possible to overload it, but that depends on the specifics of the loading situation and PSU itself, and I don't want to derail this thread by discussing it in detail. Suffice to say that won't be a problem here.
My point was to do with the rail distribution issue that heyman was referring to. There is absolutely no need to have 450W available on any +12V rail, and it's really only high end single rail units that do. If you have two 6pin PCI-E connectors on a rail, the maximum draw on that rail is only 150W or 12.5A - nowhere near enough to overload a rail on a typical multirail PSU.
Of course, if you're putting lots of other devices on the same rail then it's possible to overload it, but that depends on the specifics of the loading situation and PSU itself, and I don't want to derail this thread by discussing it in detail. Suffice to say that won't be a problem here.