500W Viable for Modern GPUs?

[Zoidoid]

So I just built a new machine after quite a few years. The only component I cannibalized from the last rig was the ATI HD 4770 video card. I figured that after doing more research, I'd upgrade it in a month or two.

Unfortunately, I didn't pay close enough attention to power consumption for mid-high range cards. I have an Antec EarthWatts EA-500D power supply. If I wanted to upgrade to something like an HD 6970 would I still be in the clear or should I sell off my 500W power supply now while it's still barely used and upgrade immediately?

Rest of the system:
Asus P8P67
Core i5-2500K
Crucial RealSSD C300 120GB
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 7200RPM 1TB
G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3 1600 (2x4GB)

I looked at this site to get a rough calculation http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

It said a recommended of 440W with the HD 6970. Does 500W still provide me with enough overhead to run a machine safely?

Apologies for yet another "do I have enough power" thread.

 

[mdlam]

you still have case fans DVD burner potentially more storage, and potential video card or cpu overclocking which doubles their power. i have the same system and had to upgrade to 700 minimum

 

[mdlam]

you also have capacitor loss which is about 5% a year on a psu...correct me if im wrong anyone.

 

[HOOfan 1]

Capacitor aging is overblown.

500W is cutting it close for a 6970, but It will likely work. You certainly don't need 700W....

 

[Zoidoid]

If I upgraded to something in the 650-700 watt range would that also give me a little room to, say, toy with overclocking the processor?

Would anyone be kind enough to provide a link or two where I can read about the nuts and bolts of making these calculations so that I don't have to bore people with these questions?

 

[tomoyo]

you also have capacitor loss which is about 5% a year on a psu...correct me if im wrong anyone.

Completely wrong unfortunately. Your psu should at a minimum work at full power throughout it's warranty period. Now for high quality ones, I'd expect them to last at least 7-10 years at rated wattage.

 

[tomoyo]

If I upgraded to something in the 650-700 watt range would that also give me a little room to, say, toy with overclocking the processor?

Would anyone be kind enough to provide a link or two where I can read about the nuts and bolts of making these calculations so that I don't have to bore people with these questions?

I only go by experience of building numerous psus and being able to distill power number into something sensible, so I can't really help you on calculations (plus I hate calculators). You would definitely be fine without any overclocking, but overclocking could put you very close to the psu limit if not over. Also note the earthwatts 500d only has 444w available on 12v rails.

 

[Zoidoid]

I only go by experience of building numerous psus and being able to distill power number into something sensible, so I can't really help you on calculations (plus I hate calculators). You would definitely be fine without any overclocking, but overclocking could put you very close to the psu limit if not over. Also note the earthwatts 500d only has 444w available on 12v rails.

I'd be close to the limit even with a 650W PSU (considering I got a 6970 and attempted to overclock the CPU)? That's a really good point about the 500D's 12v rails. I see the 650 watt version doesn't reduce output to the 12v's.

 

[HOOfan 1]

I'd be close to the limit even with a 650W PSU (considering I got a 6970 and attempted to overclock the CPU)?

Not unless you went insane overclocking it

 

[buzzsaw13]

I am running an i7 930 overclocked to 4ghz and a GTX 480 and I've been running fine on my 500W Seasonic. The 500W earthwatts made by delta are more than enough for your system seeing as how the 6970 draws less power than a GTX 480.

 

[tomoyo]

I'd be close to the limit even with a 650W PSU (considering I got a 6970 and attempted to overclock the CPU)? That's a really good point about the 500D's 12v rails. I see the 650 watt version doesn't reduce output to the 12v's.

Ya like hoofan said, 650 is way more than enough. You'd have a good amount of headroom for anything, 650w is basically anything goes for a single gpu system. (Not counting the madness of the 6990, but that's not really single gpu)

 

[sandorski]

Rig in Sig running fine with Seasonic 500watt. Also powering 2 HDs, 1 DVD, 5 Case fans, USB Headphones, Mouse/kb.

 

[mosco]

Core i5-2500k
Asus Mobo
1 SSD
4 HDs (3 green and 1 non green)
4 fans (including CPU, but not including PSU fan)
Geforce 460GTX

Surfing the Web it uses about 80 Watts give or take. When I play games, the most I get up to is about ~280.

 

[llee]

read this: http://www.itxgamer.com/powersupplies/dont-need-as-much-power/

/thread

 

[Emulex]

yes i7-980
GTX580
SSD
16GB RAM
shuttle slimline 500w

no sweat.

 

[Dean]

If you are in Canada i can send you a link to get an Antec Truepower 650 watt psu for $39.00 after a $30.00 mail in rebate. That is what I ordered and it will give you some breathing room.

 

[Concillian]

Tom's hardware used a 450W PSU for a 2600k + GTX580 in this review:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...stone-sst-sg07-cubitek-mini-tank,2864-10.html

As others have noted, real world power usage is much lower than TDP. Also, any time you are near max GPU TDP, you won't be near max CPU TDP and vice-versa. People use a lot less power than they think.

 

[sticks435]

Tom's hardware used a 450W PSU for a 2600k + GTX580 in this review:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...stone-sst-sg07-cubitek-mini-tank,2864-10.html

As others have noted, real world power usage is much lower than TDP. Also, any time you are near max GPU TDP, you won't be near max CPU TDP and vice-versa. People use a lot less power than they think.

I think you meant 560ti, not 580.

 

[brandonb]

Anandtech reviews list power draw at full load, and for single graphics cards, it never really exceeds 400watts, closer to 350ish. Crossfire and SLI on the other hand usually use 500-600.

That said, 500 is fine for a single card solution.