PSU strong enough for 2x6950

[svensonbanks]

Hey guys,

would my Antec Truepower 650
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-117-AN

give enough power to run 2 of theese:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-128-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

My Spec:
i5 2500k
MSi Z68 G3 Mobo
8gb ram
500gb sata
dvd rom

Im thinking of getting one 6950 now and just getting another one next year and run in crossfire. But not sure my PSU will handle it?!..

Cheers, svenson.

 

[fowler002]

want 750w at a push, ideally 800w+.

 

[Surveyor]

A touch light especially if you're overclocking the processor and/or GPU's.

Power Consumption

 

[tommybhoy]

I would get these instead, they have toxic coolers that dump the heat out the back:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-274-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

They come pre shader flashed on the bios(not guaranteed to work though) with fantastic overclocking potential:

http://hardocp.com/article/2011/08/29/sapphire_toxic_hd6950_video_card_review/9


It can even stomp all over stock 6970 and 580's:
http://hardocp.com/article/2011/08/29/sapphire_toxic_hd6950_video_card_review/11

£36 more in xfire can get you a cracking pair of cards.

On the psu front, I'm using a seasonic 750W for mine, 650 will be pushing it a touch I think if everythings getting an overclock.

 

[fowler002]

I have the toxic for xfire, only tested 1 so far and its unlocked and has the bios issue(i.e not running 880mhz when unlocked).

 

[svensonbanks]

thanks for the advice guys.. think im gonna go for the toxics, hence only couple quid more

 

[Cleeecooo]

As said, you'll need a new PSU.

I suggest you get the best one you can afford so you won't have to upgrade for the forseeable future.

I personally got a 1kw Silverstone for £150. Considering most reputable 850w are £120ish I thought it worth the extra £30 for a 1kw.

Go for 850w minimum to give you some overclocking headroom

 

[Marvin]

The Antec 650W is pushing it, but no way is 850W+ required. I run a similar rig on my Seasonic x-650 Gold without any issues - the fan barely comes on usually.

According to TechPowerUp, a 6950 uses 181W maximum. Therefore, two are at 362W, leaving 290W for the rest of the system. Given an i5 2500K has a 95W TDP, and total system power consumption (based on the specs above (single HDD/DVD drive, that's about it)) will be around 150W (including the CPU), leaving ~100W for overclocking. Again, given that you don't really want to raise the voltage of an i5 too much, the power increase should be modest. 700-750W from a decent brand would be plenty.

However, all this is pretty much superfluous. There's no point in buying a £220 GPU now, then waiting until next year to purchase another, when by that point we'll either have Kepler/7xxx series or know a fair bit about them, and I very much doubt that it'd be worth buying a 6950 at that stage for crossfire versus a faster single card.