Power consumption for 480 SLI

[Extraordinarii]

Currently I have a gigabyte gtx 480 SE, overclocked at 820/3800. I'm looking to double up on the cards and run SLI. The question is whether or not my Corsair TX 850 watt PSU can handle 2 of these cards whilst running SLI with or without the overclocks, bearing in mind my CPU is also overclocked. As far as I can tell the gigabyte cards run far more efficently than the first gtx 480 iterations, so is it possible?

 

[Operation]

On paper it should be fine.

 

[-=Vect0r=-]

Close, buy personally I would try it and if you encounter probs you can always upgrade your PSU, but I am aware Guru3d recommend 900W+ for GTX480 in SLI.

GeForce GTX 480

On your average system the card requires you to have a 650 Watt power supply unit.

GeForce GTX 480 in SLI

A second card requires you to add another 250 Watts. You need a 900+ Watt power supply unit if you use it in a high-end system (1 KiloWatt recommended if you plan on any overclocking).

For each other card (3-way SLI) that you add, just add another 250 Watts and 20A on the 12V rails as a safety margin. What would happen if your PSU can't cope with the load? Here are some pointers:

bad 3D performance
crashing games
spontaneous reset or imminent shutdown of the PC
freezing during gameplay
PSU overload can cause it to break down

Linky

 

[Lewist]

I have the hx850 and it's fine. Mine are soc cards but slightly downclocked from stock to keep the heat acceptable.