500w Corsair psu - will it drive 2x gpu?

Jenkinio · 25 Feb 2013 at 15:54

I'm considering cross-firing my amd 7850 2gb (sapphire) with another one, but not sure if my current Corsair 500w psu would be up to the task. Is there a way to measure or calculate the burden or is it just based on experience?

I run a i3 3220 ivy, br drive, ssd + standard peripherals.

Thanks for any advice you kind souls can provide :-)

tomparker95 · 25 Feb 2013 at 15:55

Look on the GPU manufactures website

OliverDavis · 25 Feb 2013 at 16:04

Using a PSU Calc, I have managed to get 415w on full load, but add 15% to be sure 477.25w, hope this helps..

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/90009096/Cooler%20Master%20Power%20Supply%20Calculator%20-%20Print%20Results.pdf

Though I doubt you will ever be using your PC to 100%, BF3 while burning a BluRay with all fans on max etc..

Jenkinio · 25 Feb 2013 at 16:14

OliverDavis said:
Using a PSU Calc, I have managed to get 415w on full load, but add 15% to be sure 477.25w, hope this helps..

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/90009096/Cooler%20Master%20Power%20Supply%20Calculator%20-%20Print%20Results.pdf

Though I doubt you will ever be using your PC to 100%, BF3 while burning a BluRay with all fans on max etc..

Thank you very much. That is helpful.

OliverDavis · 25 Feb 2013 at 16:26

Be careful through, you do not have much room to overclock at all. The 15% I added should easily cover factory overclocks, but not much more.

mranderson · 25 Feb 2013 at 16:48

Should be more than ok and even allow for a good overclock. Not power hungry components and quality PSU.

olivier renault · 25 Feb 2013 at 16:49

http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page447.htm

I wouldn't try tbh. I would get a 650W. But then again, I would rather upgrade the CPU than get a 7850.

Idleman · 25 Feb 2013 at 16:53

olivier renault said:
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page447.htm

I wouldn't try tbh. I would get a 650W. But then again, I would rather upgrade the CPU than get a 7850.

This, depending on what mobo you have.

mranderson · 25 Feb 2013 at 16:54

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/299

470W under load for 2x6950 which are much more power hungry. Wouldn't worry at all

Jenkinio · 25 Feb 2013 at 17:28

olivier renault said:
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page447.htm

I wouldn't try tbh. I would get a 650W. But then again, I would rather upgrade the CPU than get a 7850.

I'm interested why you would swap the cpu instead. That was another option, but i thought the additional graphics processing power would deliver more performance.

teenwolf · 25 Feb 2013 at 17:29

it will work but you may notice the psu fan.

Bacon? · 25 Feb 2013 at 18:16

Which PSU is it? Model please.

Pete1989 · 25 Feb 2013 at 18:21

If you are using the newer gen gpu's then yes you'll be ok. Older ones are far less energy efficient.

Idleman · 25 Feb 2013 at 18:46

Can`t upload image.

olivier renault · 25 Feb 2013 at 18:47

whoops

olivier renault · 25 Feb 2013 at 18:53

Jenkinio said:
I'm interested why you would swap the cpu instead. That was another option, but i thought the additional graphics processing power would deliver more performance.

1) what performance problems you are experiencing? CPU or GPU? What games you are looking to improve?

2) what motherboard you have? Because most low range motherboard will do x16 x4, instead of x8 x8. x16 x4 means you will bottleneck your GPUs bandwidth to x4. There is a performance hit with that. Around 5% I believe, on the games that will benefit the most from crossfire anyway.

3) not all games make use of crossfire.

4) I strongly believe your PSU is not adequate for crossfire, which means more money.

5) That's what I'd do myself

A more balanced build, rather than a very asymetric layout, GPU versus CPU, with possibly an inadequate motherboard, and IMO an underpowered PSU.

pastymuncher · 25 Feb 2013 at 18:57

If it's a builder series i would'nt even try it. Depending on how old it is, it can only deliver 408w or 456w on the 12v rail.

opstrat · 25 Feb 2013 at 18:57

For a start the only 500 watt corsair psu (there is 2 but only one is modular so we will disregard the other one) doesn't have enough pci leads to support xfire, the sapphire card requires 2 6 pin connectors, the psu only comes with 2.

you could use converters but that is just adding more fuel to the fire.

http://www.corsair.com/builder-series-cx500.html PSU

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1160&pid=1654&psn=&lid=1&leg=0# GPU

biuro74 · 25 Feb 2013 at 18:58

It depends on PSU - how many rails, how many power on each. If your PSU has got only one PEGx6 plug, so you would need to use 2xmolex->PEGx6 adaptor (I presume your card needs just one PEGx6), which may not be the best for system stability under load. PSUs with PEGx6 plugs amount adequate to user's needs is perfect in terms of power management.
If your PSU has got two such plugs, it would be probably fine as branded PSUs with gold/silver/bronze norm usually are able to deliver more power than they tend to, but at efficiency drop expense.
So I would say: it probably will be fine, but for experimenting only; for peace of mind - like stability, PSU efficiency etc during long play, it would be better to get recommended PSU for multiGPU.

decto · 25 Feb 2013 at 19:25

An I3 and a pair of 7850's will take about 350W peak at the wall, more like 300W DC

You may need so adapters for the second PCI-E connection. If you do take the supply from multiple cables, not all off the same one.

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