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HD 4850: Power consumption?

How much of a difference would that be vs my Nvidia 6800 GS

(also how do I track my own PSU usage, i imagine you're using some kind of benchmark software?)

p.s. thanks for the nice fast responses guys, i bloody love this forum.
 
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce-6800gs_3.html

55w for the 6800 gs. your FSP psu shouldnt have any problems with the 4850 btw :)


its not easy to measure individual component usage, i leave that to xbit :)

also if power consumption is a consern in general, you could always go for the 4770 which is very nearly as fast as the 4850 in most situations but 1/2 the power consumption thanks to its gpu built on a smaller, more efficiant process. that would put it in at virtually the same consumption as your current 6800 gs but around about eleventybillion times faster :p
 
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haha this is interesting, believe it or not I like having a low power consumption, but I really do want a better gaming experience.

I was originally considering a GTX 260, but that think drinks about 100watts more than I'm already packing!
 
Your CPU will kill gaming on a GTX 260 and probably on the 4850 as well. Maybe something like a 4670 would be a better bet, and still a boost over your GS.
 
I'm sorry I should have mentioned, I will be upgrading to this. I'll be doing the Graphics upgrade as my second purchase, hopefully without a new PSU but we'll see.

Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 AMD 770 (Socket AM3/AM2+) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel
AMD Athlon II X2 Dual Core 240 2.8GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail
 
mynameisjarvis said:
haha this is interesting, believe it or not I like having a low power consumption, but I really do want a better gaming experience.

I was originally considering a GTX 260, but that think drinks about 100watts more than I'm already packing!
Click to expand...

about that. xbit found it to consume around 30 watts more than a 4850. either would still be fine using that psu im sure:)

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/evga-geforce-gtx260-216-55nm_5.html#sect0

Your CPU will kill gaming on a GTX 260 and probably on the 4850 as well. Maybe something like a 4670 would be a better bet, and still a boost over your GS.
Click to expand...
while it will limit the performance he'll be able to extract from the card, i'd still recommend the 4770/4850 considering the prices of the cards now - they are still going to be a good chunk faster than a 4670.
 
I had a stock 3700+ and that couldn't even get the most of a X1950XT. You see so many threads about a poor CPU and highend GPU with really low minimum FPS. I'd be pretty confident the performance would be within 5% if that :p
 
This is the build I will have before getting the graphics;

AMD Athlon II X2 Dual Core 240 2.8GHz
Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 AMD 770
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB)
Hard-drive: 160gb Western Digital 5400
400w PSU

which would be best with this build in mind?
 
Ignore my ramblings then :p

Either would be fine, I'd side with either a GTX 260 or a non reference cooled 4850. Toss up between how much gaming you do, what size resolution you use and how much you want to spend. You wouldn't be disappointed with either I'll put it that way :D It'll be a monster upgrade!
 
Epic. I game a lot, im actually upgrading now because my friend wants to play Champions online with me, I hate MMO's but fancy giving it a go.

I also play on a 22" monitor, which I only recently realises pushes my card even further...

You think everything will be fine on my 400 watt then?
 
If you don't overclock the CPU or the GPU too much it should all be fine, both cards will be fine on a 22" (I assume 1680x1050), obviously the 260 would be better.

OT but your only allowed 4 lines of text for you sig, and no wider than mine (400 pixels wide I think) :)
 
james.miller said:
about 140watts for a stock 4850 under load, which equates to just under 12amps @ 12volt :) though there are tests that show the consumption as low as 110watts @ load : http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd4770_5.html
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Every single review has had the 4850 at 105-110. The specs are 110.

The actual GPU itself doesnt take 110, because my Zalman reserator wouldnt be able to cope with the 100W tdp cpu's Ive had it coupled with. Lots of heat comes off the power regulators, that need heatsinks, and a little bit from the ram.

One and an AMDx2 4200+ killed a 350W Enermax psu (300W 12V capability), but that was mainly due to the psu being 5 years old. I would say a modern 400W psu would be ok.
 
110w under load for reference card. This is looking at direct power draw from all connectors.

b96ae.png


source: xbitlabs
 
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ghost - i linked to that review lol.

Every single review has had the 4850 at 105-110. The specs are 110.

The actual GPU itself doesnt take 110, because my Zalman reserator wouldnt be able to cope with the 100W tdp cpu's Ive had it coupled with. Lots of heat comes off the power regulators, that need heatsinks, and a little bit from the ram.
Click to expand...

have you seen other reives of testing the card only? xbit seem to be the only reliable source for real-world power draw
 
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