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Detailed 5970 questions overclocking and power etc

straxusii

straxusii

straxusii

Soldato
Joined
18 May 2003
Posts
4,894
Some questions for you guys.

Am I right in thinking that if the 5970 hit the same speeds as 5870 crossfire then aside from the slight difference in the crossfire bridge workings they would be near identical?

Given the 5970 has a TDP of ~300W and it has 6pin plus 8pin pcie power connectors how is any overclocking achieved? Those connectors plus the pice slot give 300W

I know the odd edition comes with 2x8pin but I wouldnt consider one of those.
 
one card has much less to run than 2 maybe 2 cores 2 sets of memory etc but not as much as two full cards.

Im waiting on the custom generation of 5970s the asus ARES is my primary choice (these take 2 8 pin and 1 6pin) as im a micro atx user so 2 5870s would be a little cramped.

I might consider some of the other offerings XFX / sapphire if prices are a tad silly.

Edit i thought that each Pcie power conector gave 150w + the 75w from the PCIe Lane itself.
 
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I'm no expert but I'd guess that the PCIe 2.0 power spec is a recommended guide and that PSU's can provide more power than the 75w + 150w connectors if a card needs it. I may be completely wrong though.
 
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I'm pretty sure PCI-E 2.0 gives double the current as well as bandwidth so the slot should give 150W
 
http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/difference-between-pci-express-and-pci-express-2-0/
PCI Express 2.0 slots are subjected to sustain up to a maximum of 150 watts, and PCI Express 1.1 slots can sustain only 75 watts, which is exactly half of the PCIe 2.0 slot’s capability. Apart from this, the PCIe 2.0 standard enables slot power limits to change, in order to allow for the higher powered slots that support the latest high performance cards.
Click to expand...


So 150W from slot, 150W from 8pin, 75W from 6pin = 375W available. Also the card will draw all the current it can get...these are just ratings for safety as if they go over spec the wires may heat up a bit enough to cause problems.
 
by that rational the asus ARES 5970 (2 x 8 pin + 6 pin + PCIe slot) = 525w !

Sweeeeet cant wait to get one of those.
 
The plugs are already overkill...I think they are there because if run in a PCI-E 1.1 board the card would receive 75W less from the slot and be out of spec.

I mean if you think about it a 5770 shouldn't even really have a plug at all if run from a PCI-E 2.0 board, and still have plenty of OC headroom :)
 
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