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8800GTS Power Req?

samzetec-s

samzetec-s

samzetec-s

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Joined
22 May 2007
Posts
136
Just bought a EVGA 8800GTS 512mb card and was wondering how much power these things need. I currently have a Tagen 530W PSU. It has 2 x 12v rails with a maximum output of 20 amps on each or 33 combined, will this be enough?
 
Buy ,plug in - if doesn't work buy new psu.:)

It is not just watts as I understand it , more to do with 12v rail output etc

you could check spec of your own psu on internet - manufacturer may be able to advise
 
Surprised nvidia's site does not appear to provide the answer - may be me who can't see for looking.
Anyway looked at Leadtek's spec for its 512GTS which reads 'minimum 400w ...' and 'with 12V current rating of 26 A'.
I believe they will all be similar
 
That 26A on the 12v line is for the whole system, the GTS only has 1 PCI-E power connector which delivers 75W, + 75w from the PCI-E slot itself meaning it won't draw more than 150W (<13A). I'm currently running a Leadtek GTS on a CoolerMaster iGreen 430W (27A on 12v rail) and it seems ok.

Truth be told up 'til about 6 hours ago I would never have written that last sentence. Ever since I got mine I've been having no end of BSODs, *but* only in games. I can run Orthos/VidCardStabilityTester/ATITOOL artifact tester/RTHDRIBL overnight without missing a beat, but with games it crashes randomly, anywhere from startup to about 1.5 hours of playing time is the longest I recall.

I've tried all sorts :-

drivers (obviously lol)
fan@100% (though temps never really seemed to be an issue)
swapfile configurations
new OS install
new OS install on a diff HD
running just 1 HD with the vid card and CPU back to default
underclocking system RAM
underclocking vid card

all of which didn't seem to change a thing. Casually surfing round the net most peeps seem to think its a borked card or a PSU problem followed by bad system RAM, plus a couple of posts about RAM timings. I wasn't overly convinced my PSU or my RAM was bad and was all but ready to RMA the card when I decided to loosen my RAM timings see if that helped. Well waddya know been running my main game for about more than 6 hours now, made sure it was doing something demanding and no bsod so far (touch wood).

I have 3 gigs (4 sticks) of the Geil PC-6400ULL which has been running at its rated spec just fine for the last 6 months or more no probs before I got the GTS. I've just relaxed the timings to 5-5-5-18 and this seems to have made the difference, not really sure why though.

Gonna leave it playing overnight (what's left of it lol) and hopefully will still be running when I wake up, of course now I've posted this its bound to have put the mockers on it lol.
 
Was gonna start a thread of my own but if the OP doesn't mind as his question is answered I'm gonna hijack his one :) I've got a Chieftec 420W PSU this is what it says on the sticker

Max Load: 420W
+5V - 40A
+3.3V - 30A (Those two can take upto 220W)
+12v - 18A (which can take upto 216W and the +5v, +3.3v+12v can take 400W combined)
-5V - 0.3A - 1.5W
-12V - 0.8A - 9.6W
-5VSB - 2A - 10W

Would this be ok for a MSI p35 Neo mobo, E6600 @ stock, MSI 8800GTS, 3 Hard drives, DVD Writer and two fans? Been running it for a week so far and no problems though I haven't stress tested the system or played any games yet either.
 
Upgrade that PSU. i'd be extremely nervous running all that with 18a on the +12v. If you want a good cheap upgrade then the OcUK 550w HuntKey PSU is good...or you can score something off the MM.
 
Jazz said:
Max Load: 420W
+5V - 40A
+3.3V - 30A (Those two can take upto 220W)
+12v - 18A (which can take upto 216W and the +5v, +3.3v+12v can take 400W combined)
-5V - 0.3A - 1.5W
-12V - 0.8A - 9.6W
-5VSB - 2A - 10W
Click to expand...
That's a fairly old spec PSU! I'm guessing a 20-pin ATX mobo power connector instead of (current) 24-pin + no PCI-E power connector which the 8800GTS requires?

18A is to low. If you look at specs for current generation, ATX 2.x PSUs, they focus more on the +12V Rail which is the most important. Recommend you upgrade (maybe to this) ;)
 
Thanks for the advice, will look out for another PSU. Was looking for cheap upgrade for my work PC but think I've got a bit carried away here! So will look out for another PSU. Seen a few people running these Graphics cards with this PSU so thought it might be ok but I suspected it wasn't so thought I'd ask here to make sure.

hp7909 said:
That's a fairly old spec PSU! I'm guessing a 20-pin ATX mobo power connector instead of (current) 24-pin + no PCI-E power connector which the 8800GTS requires?
Click to expand...

Yeah this PSU is proper old school, around 5 years old I think. 20-pin mobo power, no PCI-E, 4pin ATX for the CPU instead of 8pin. Come to think about it me running this system is a bit dodgy, I think I should unplug a few hard drives!
 
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Jazz said:
Yeah this PSU is proper old school, around 5 years old I think. 20-pin mobo power, no PCI-E, 4pin ATX for the CPU instead of 8pin. Come to think about it me running this system is a bit dodgy, I think I should unplug a few hard drives!
Click to expand...
The problem is not running it, but if you might be pushing it! That could easily lead to a spectacular* failure :(

*i.e. if not well-built, i.e. fancy protection features, etc could damage your £xxx components.
 
hp7909 said:
The problem is not running it, but if you might be pushing it! That could easily lead to a spectacular* failure :(

*i.e. if not well-built, i.e. fancy protection features, etc could damage your £xxx components.
Click to expand...

It's a bit silly on my part, shouldn't be taking silly risks over a few quid when I know it could all end in tears! I'm hopefully getting a Silverstone ST65ZF which provides a max of 45A across four separate rails. That should provide it with enough juice!
 
28amp is more than enough for a sensible system with an 8800gts installed, and by that i mean matching components, not a multiple tec cooled moster pc lol

gtx's use about 13.5amp at stock speeds. they are the most power hungry components. consider this, my old pc detailed below pulled about 330w from the mains at full pelt, which means an actual component draw of around 270w, ~150-160w of that was the gpu alone, meaning the rest of the pc was pulling around 110-120w from the psu.

that should put power usage in to perspective.


pc:

e6600 @3.2ghz
2ghz ddrII
8800gtx @ stock
7300gt
xfi gamer
two 18x dvd writers
360 hd-dvd drive
two 500gb hdd's, one 250gb
imon ultrabay vfd
all-in-one card reader
corsair HX 620w psu
8x 120mm fans

samzetec-s said:
Well seems its ok then :)

What is the best setting though, 2 rails (split) instead of 1 (combined) i think? What different scenarios would each be better?
Click to expand...

in theory, a mutli-rail psu will provide better protection for the components in the event of a failure. but, a single rail psu doesnt suffer from the drawbacks of a split rail design, ie limited current design on each of the rails. a graphics card could easily over load a lower end split rail psu
 
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