Head Scratcher.....what PSU for 4890 Crossfire?

phatboy · 5 May 2010 at 14:20

as per the title, anyone give me a good budget (but not cheapo) PSU that would be up to the task

What sort of area should i be looking at? 650w ish?

rest of the system is an E2160 @ 3ghz (maybe an E8400 soon)
4GB DDR2
3 120mm fans
SATA PCI Card
4xHDD's
4-5 USB Devices.

Cheers

Ben

Sukh · 5 May 2010 at 14:25

550w would do it, but to be safe I would go for a good brand (corsair) 620-650

Generally, peoples perceptions of what is required are over specified.

sxndy · 5 May 2010 at 14:28

I ran 2x4890s on a Sparkle Epsilon 650w PSU, Had to upgrade to a 850w as the pc would shut down when under pressure.

Redmint · 5 May 2010 at 14:32

Antec TruePower New Modular 650W is probably the cheapest decent PSU that would have enough PCIE connectors for 4890 crossfire. You might want to go for a 750W supply though just to make sure it's not running too close to its limit under stress.

phatboy · 5 May 2010 at 14:36

cool, obviously the thing that concerns me is the power connections, where can you take the 6/6 or 6/8 pin supplies from, as most PSU's only have around 2 cables

so would something like the Corsair TX 650w do the job be a good choice?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-008-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084

phatboy · 5 May 2010 at 14:43

Chieftec stuff any good, as they do a 80+ 650w modular with 2x 6pin and 2x 8pin. found it for £65

Redmint · 5 May 2010 at 14:52

The Corsair website seems to say the TX 650W also only has 2 PCIE connectors. The Antec I suggested does have 4 but it's currently out of stock.

As for Chieftec, can't say I've had any personal experience with them but I've had a quick look for reviews and they seem better than most of the other budget manufacturers, but I'm not sure I'd trust my PC with them.

phatboy · 5 May 2010 at 14:58

found a review of the 750w version from Xtreme Computing

http://www.xtremecomputing.co.uk/review.php?id=463

sxndy · 6 May 2010 at 08:33

I think you would be flying kinda close to the wind with a 650w, as I said, I had a great 650 psu that just couldn't manage under the pressure of 2x4890 when they were both flat out.

Think about future upgrades too, is 650 enough? Sorry to go on but I don't want to see you disapointed.

phatboy · 6 May 2010 at 08:45

no no thats fair play mate

....i have decided its most likely going to be that £80 750w Chieftec as its been getting some great reviews, if something comes up close to that price of that then i will go for it, but £80 is going to be my ceiling

Its good to get advice from someone who has been in the situation so cheers