It's an old (2 years) 750W FSP PSU with 4 12v rails.
Hi NightmareXX, have you got a link to the manufacturers site of your power supply unit and/or do you know the maximum amount of amps that each of the +12Volt rails can supply?
I've read that the 280 wants a minimum of 40A and according to
this review, that only leaves 10A for the rest of the system?
The 40 amp rating will be for the entire system not just for the graphics card itself.
Can I also ask (sheerly for future upgradability purposes) what the minimum requirements for an SLI config with these cards is?
Hi Natima, a single NVIDIA Geforce GTX 280 has the potential to draw around 240 watts which equates to 20 amps. Two of these graphics cards could potentially draw 40 amps. In reality though, they will likely to draw a bit less than that. However, to be on the safety side, you should always really take the maximum amount of power a card could possibly draw as if it was going to draw about that much when it's under load.
You then have to account for the other components in your system. If you have, for example a Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 overclocked to around 3.3GHz, on most chips an overclock of 3.3GHz shouldn't need a massive increase in voltage so it should draw no more than 150 watts which equates to 13 amps. Then add a couple of hard drives rated at one amp each and then some for the extra headroom, you are looking at around 57 amps.
In conclusion, you are really looking at a power supply that can supply at least 60 amps such as the
Corsair TX 750W ATX2.2 SLI Compliant PSU.
The coolermaster's any good? Anybody know?
I can't say I have ever heard anything bad about any of the Coolermaster units. However, in terms of the amount of power then can supply compared to say an equivalent Corsair unit, they aren't actually quite as powerful.
For example, if you take the Coolermaster Real Power 520w unit which can supply a maximum of 34 amps on the +12Volt rail. If you then have a look at an equivalent rated Corsair unit, the HX 520W which can actually supply a maximum of 40 amps on the +12Volt rail so it’s slightly more powerful.
