4870 lights on back of card? What do they mean?

[muon]

Well I think it over estimates big style. Ignoring the overclock on my 4870, it reckons my wattage is 589W in which case my 480w Tagan should be keeling over and dying

Well for the sytem in my sig (ignoring vga overclocks) it calculates ~335w which is correct.

The problem with your setup is that it calculates 231w for just the cpu. One of the errors its making.

 

[AbsenceJam]

No at full load itll be 300w+ at least. In fact with almost exactly the same system but with a hd4850 oced, I could get it to hit 350w+ using furmark and orthos running.

The calculator has a problem though. It assumes the TDP is the true power consumption of the CPU and therefore when this is extrapolated to overclocked speeds and volts, it can be quite wrong. Also, graphics cards tend to have TDPs which are higher than what they actually consume.

And you've measured this yourself then? I ask because I have a system that draws more power than yours but doesn't break 280w.

 

[muon]

And you've measured this yourself then? I ask because I have a system that draws more power than yours but doesn't break 280w.

Yes myself. You havent put your system under proper load. Something people fail to do. 3dmark or gaming doesnt touch furmark + orthos.

 

[Greebo]

Well for the sytem in my sig (ignoring vga overclocks) it calculates ~335w which is correct.

The problem with your setup is that it calculates 231w for just the cpu. One of the errors its making.

Just checked and your right. However a stock q6600 draws 95w and so an overclocked one will be more say with a 50% overclock then 50% more power (or worse since volts are through the roof) so my q6600 must be drawing 140w +

That makes it's over estimate only 90w too hgih at best and it's taking no account of my overclocked grpahics card but even then it's estimating 500w which my 480w psu just wouldn't handle that.

My fan on my psu isn't even running at 100% yet so I can't be at 480w + load.

So I stick by my first premise, it's a a guide but it over estimates.

 

[Tetras]

have an antec truepower 550w, should be more than enough, but ive just done some mucking about, i removed my hard drives, and hey presto, it worked again.

The old Antec True Power (not Trio) only has approx 350 Watt on the +12v rails where the Corsair HX520 has 480 Watt. With an old model PSU that can make a big difference. The Antec True I suspect you have wasn't designed for the kind of heavy +12v draw that modern rigs have.

That said I doubt your rig is drawing 350 Watt but no PSU operates well near the max long-term.

 

[Metalface Mark]

The old Antec True Power (not Trio) only has approx 350 Watt on the +12v rails where the Corsair HX520 has 480 Watt. With an old model PSU that can make a big difference. The Antec True I suspect you have wasn't designed for the kind of heavy +12v draw that modern rigs have.

That said I doubt your rig is drawing 350 Watt but no PSU operates well near the max long-term.

Its not an old psu, its modular, about 6 months old, its this here

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...ase - NeoPower 550W Modular PSU (Black/Silver)

It might be the psu, it might be the memory, heck, it might even be the board

Its working okay at the mo, ill just leave it for a while, although the increased heat from the 4870 is making my pc and power supply hotter, as a result the machine is a lot noisier than it was with the 8800gts in. If i hadnt already sold the gts i would have sent back the 4870 to go back to relative peace and quiet, as good as the 4870 is.

 

[Tetras]

Its not an old psu, its modular, about 6 months old, its this here

Ahhh, that PSU, ignore me then

 

[Metalface Mark]

Well i think i tracked down the problem to my usb hub, when its plugged in (with 4 devices), it causes problem with windows starting, when i unplug it all is fine. Tried it on my daughters pc with one device and it is giving problems, its pretty old, so im guessing that was the trouble, all running sweety now.

 

[Superjeep4x4]

its always good to find out when it is something small like that and not a problem with a major part