6970 Power consumption

masscrazy · 9 Jan 2012 at 15:25

I have a 4890PCS+ overclocked. I want to change it for 6970. Is a 520W PSU enough to power it.

I've compared reviews and it seems (though not consistently) the 4890 consumes almost 100Watts more than the 6970.

So basically if someone can confirm the 6970 consumes less than an overclocked 4890, then I know the 520W should be enough.

ALXAndy · 9 Jan 2012 at 15:53

Looking at your system specs in your sig it seems you have a pretty high end motherboard. Not only that, but a quite old motherboard that could quite probably suck down a fair bit of power. You also run an overclocked Q6600 which again is a very high NM chip. Add in your overclocks and personally I wouldn't risk it.

It also depends on the rails and how they are laid out/how many amps they deliver. If it's a single rail of 50 amps or above you might just get away with it.

ALXAndy · 9 Jan 2012 at 15:58

Right I added your system specs into Outervision and applied your overclock.

I can hear your PSU squealing from here.

Ricardox1 · 9 Jan 2012 at 16:01

I wouldn't risk it, the psu can easily become too hot and unstable when it is using more wattage than it is rated that.
If you can get a 7950/70 they should run fine on that psu, not only that but they will be a much faster card aswell.
If your not looking for a new gpu then either upgrade your psu to 600w min or forget it tbh.

jorzeh · 9 Jan 2012 at 16:21

Ricardox1 said:
I wouldn't risk it, the psu can easily become too hot and unstable when it is using more wattage than it is rated that.
If you can get a 7950/70 they should run fine on that psu, not only that but they will be a much faster card aswell.
If your not looking for a new gpu then either upgrade your psu to 600w min or forget it tbh.

What the heck are you talking about the 6970 is a 250watt card the 7970 is a 300watt card.

Masterdeadly · 9 Jan 2012 at 17:08

Will a Overclockers 600W power a MSI 6970 III?

ALXAndy · 9 Jan 2012 at 17:14

If it's a single rail 50 amps or more yes.

Masterdeadly · 9 Jan 2012 at 17:19

How do I find out whether it is?

Surveyor · 9 Jan 2012 at 17:21

Masterdeadly said:
How do I find out whether it is?

There should be a label on the side of the PSU with that information.

Something like this:

Davefran · 9 Jan 2012 at 17:31

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

My system with a HD4890 comes to 500w recommended, if I switch the GPU to an HD6970 it comes to 554w.
So the 6970 uses 54w more than the 4890.

masscrazy · 9 Jan 2012 at 17:39

Davefran said:
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

My system with a HD4890 comes to 500w recommended, if I switch the GPU to an HD6970 it comes to 554w.
So the 6970 uses 54w more than the 4890.

Not according to several reviews. The 4890 at peak with max gpu stress consumes over 300-400W (cant remember exactly but itwas that high). And 6970 consumes less than 300.

chaotic_uk · 9 Jan 2012 at 17:43

Davefran said:
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

My system with a HD4890 comes to 500w recommended, if I switch the GPU to an HD6970 it comes to 554w.
So the 6970 uses 54w more than the 4890.

that says i use 794w for the system in my sig :eek:

Kei · 9 Jan 2012 at 18:34

I'd take those psu calculator figures with a pinch of salt as it said for my old gfx card (3870) my system was recommended a 794W supply. I ran it on a 400W supply for a few years before i upgraded to a TX650. (that old 400W supply is still going strong in another system) With the 6970 in place it says 946W. I'm fairly certain i could stick another 6970 in and still be fine with the 650W supply.

LtMatt · 9 Jan 2012 at 18:36

chaotic_uk said:
that says i use 794w for the system in my sig

Yeah according to that im using 1000W but i get by fine on a 750w xfx black edition psu.

masscrazy · 9 Jan 2012 at 20:55

OK so those calculators are rubbish.

So am i right in believing that since my PSU can run an overclocked 4890 it will run a 6970?

Sasahara · 9 Jan 2012 at 21:29

Reference HD 6970 has a TDP of 250 W compared to a HD 4890 with 190 W.

The 300-400W quoted for a HD 4890 would be for the whole system.

You do need to find what your PSU is rated for the +12V as that accounts for pretty much all a modern PC's usage.

Defy Belief · 9 Jan 2012 at 21:32

jorzeh said:
What the heck are you talking about the 6970 is a 250watt card the 7970 is a 300watt card.

And double the price to.

Davefran · 9 Jan 2012 at 21:42

masscrazy said:
Not according to several reviews. The 4890 at peak with max gpu stress consumes over 300-400W (cant remember exactly but itwas that high). And 6970 consumes less than 300.

If the 4890 used that much my PC wouldn't turn on.

LtMatt said:
Yeah according to that im using 1000W but i get by fine on a 750w xfx black edition psu.

You must be filling it in wrong, or you've got about 20 Hard Drives plugged in.

Sasahara said:
Reference HD 6970 has a TDP of 250 W compared to a HD 4890 with 190 W.

The 300-400W quoted for a HD 4890 would be for the whole system.

You do need to find what your PSU is rated for the +12V as that accounts for pretty much all a modern PC's usage.

At last, someone talking sense, those figures tie in with the 54w difference I got with the PSU calculator

Surveyor · 9 Jan 2012 at 22:06

Guru3D reviews.

Identical systems apart from the motherboard used.

HD 4890 System with GPU in FULL Stress = 370W

HD 6970 System with GPU in FULL Stress = 361W

Now that's a better indication of the relative power consumption

MichaelM · 9 Jan 2012 at 22:30

If anyone wants to bother (because I cant be) my system pulls 520W from the wall peak with Crysis 2 and that's the most I've seen it pull with a real program.

Not including the monitor and speaker system obviously.