SLI 8800GTX & 700W PSU's - An FYI

[ui]ICEMAN · 9 Nov 2006 at 21:53

I just thought I'd let you know that a 700W PSU, whilst border line, will not cut the mustard with 2 of the new 8800GTX's. I thought I'd try it out on the 700W Sparkle just to see what you'd get away with, for the most part its absolutely fine but in BF2142 the system simply shuts itself off instantly after about 2 minutes of play.

This is a fairly beefy system, 4 Raptor 150's in RAID, X6600 @ 4ghz, NF680i, 2x8800GTX SLI, X-Fi Elite Pro, 2 DVD RW's and about 8 USB devices but even with all but the essential USB devices removed, 1 of the CD drives removed and all at stock BF2142 still shuts the system down.

Hope this is useful to any of you hoping to go SLI in the future with a border line PSU.

ugly ferret · 9 Nov 2006 at 21:55

Ouch!!

Good info though.

Lonz · 9 Nov 2006 at 21:58

pwnt?

[ui]ICEMAN · 9 Nov 2006 at 21:59

Lonz said:
pwnt?

Lucky I have a bigger PSU sitting about!

Arthalen · 9 Nov 2006 at 22:17

Lol, guess I won't be trying for 8800 SLI with my Hiper 580 Watt then

But that said, I'm having a new Lian Li G70 soon with space for two PSU's ....

Flanno · 9 Nov 2006 at 22:21

Very useful info. Thanks mate.

However it may not be the wattage but the amps.

Can you post what the total amps are on your psu and how many amps per each 12v rail. If it's a multi rail psu and has the Intel 240VA enforced (max 20A on 12v rail), maybe sli is going beyond that and you psu is not crossloading. That is why a large single 12v rail is a much better proposition.

dokko · 9 Nov 2006 at 22:24

300w power consumption under load!

No wonder two of them cut the computer out.

[ui]ICEMAN · 9 Nov 2006 at 22:32

4 12v Rails, 15A per rail on the Sparkle 700W.

mrthingyx · 9 Nov 2006 at 22:36

Hmm...

Considering Nvidia state 30A as being the minimum for one 8800GTX, I'd think 60A would be cutting it fine for the two of them... regardless of what stated data might be. Crazy, I know, but so are the cards.

[ui]ICEMAN · 9 Nov 2006 at 22:38

mrthingyx said:
Hmm...

Considering Nvidia state 30A as being the minimum for one 8800GTX, I'd think 60A would be cutting it fine for the two of them... regardless of what stated data might be. Crazy, I know, but so are the cards.

Yep, like I said this was just a test, won't be running it with a 700W myself, was more for the benefit of everyone else since £200+ for top end PSU is a pretty major extra expenditure on top of your normal budget.

KillBoY_UK · 9 Nov 2006 at 22:40

you could get one of thouse 3d card booster PSU's for a 5" bay , i'm thinking about that for 2xR600 or g80 sli refresh

sunlitsix · 9 Nov 2006 at 22:50

i doubt the booster could cope with 2 8800's

[ui]ICEMAN · 9 Nov 2006 at 22:52

sunlitsix said:
i doubt the booster could cope with 2 8800's

It wouldn't have to, it would be supplying either 1 board entirely or half of the required power to each.

ernysmuntz · 9 Nov 2006 at 22:58

Lonz said:
pwnt?

Makes me want to have a shower reading that, go back to amriaca :rolleyes:

LEUVEN · 9 Nov 2006 at 23:24

[ui]ICEMAN said:
Lucky I have a bigger PSU sitting about!

I'm interested in what your other PSU is and also if that manages to stop it from shutting off.

Looks like these "overkill" 1000w PSU's will be needed sooner than people expected. :eek:

, and heres me hoping my Enermax Galaxy would last me a couple of years at least.

Have you ran any benchmark tests? as it would be nice to see a realistic (acheivable by us poorer souls) score as a kentsfield at almost 5GHz isn't something I'll be using anytime soon.

cheers.

magick · 9 Nov 2006 at 23:55

[ui]ICEMAN said:
X6600 @ 4ghz, NF680i

What cooling are you using on your x6600? And assuming you'r using air on the cpu and the 8800xt is your system very quiet?

[ui]ICEMAN · 9 Nov 2006 at 23:58

The Enermax Galaxy 1kw doesn't fit in my case so I'll have to wait for the Tagan 1100W to arrive on Saturday before I can really do some serious benchmarking. However as I've said in other threads, ignoring 3DMark these cards show their true colours, 2560x1600 is finally playable for me at full details in any game. That and the fact that I can't seem to get SLI working in any of the 3DMark versions, works in all my games but for some reason its not enabling in 3DMark.

As for the CPU, yes its cooled with a Tunic tower, it'll be going in the Vapo tomorrow though, just wanted to see if I had a good CPU first before going the whole hog. Its a week 29 B chip by the way.

LEUVEN · 10 Nov 2006 at 00:07

[ui]ICEMAN said:
The Enermax Galaxy 1kw doesn't fit in my case so I'll have to wait for the Tagan 1100W to arrive on Saturday before I can really do some serious benchmarking. However as I've said in other threads, ignoring 3DMark these cards show their true colours, 2560x1600 is finally playable for me at full details in any game. That and the fact that I can't seem to get SLI working in any of the 3DMark versions, works in all my games but for some reason its not enabling in 3DMark.

As for the CPU, yes its cooled with a Tunic tower, it'll be going in the Vapo tomorrow though, just wanted to see if I had a good CPU first before going the whole hog. Its a week 29 B chip by the way.

Yeah it seems (from other posts) that these cards aren't having a big increase in banchmarks, but most importantly they are very impressive in games, which is great news still.
I just read that SLI will be supported with future drivers so no probs there as I cant see there being the same problems as quad SLi thankfully.

magick · 10 Nov 2006 at 00:15

[ui]ICEMAN said:
As for the CPU, yes its cooled with a Tunic tower, it'll be going in the Vapo tomorrow though, just wanted to see if I had a good CPU first before going the whole hog. Its a week 29 B chip by the way.

Does 2 8800gtx's make much noise though, like are they audioable?

daven1986 · 10 Nov 2006 at 00:18

damn man you have some money!!!!! i wouldn't put a sparkle anywhere near one card that costs that much, let alone 2!!

good luck with the new psu.

daven