PSU advice

macfanuk

macfanuk

macfanuk

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24 Apr 2010
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Lancashire
Firstly, why don't we have a PSU section on here? Lol

Looking at getting a power supply to power the following PC:

Intel Core i7 860 CPU
4 or 8GB DDR3 Ram
2 x GTX280 Graphics Cards
1TB Samsung F3
2 x SATA DVD Writers
and a couple of decent fans.

I've seen a Powercool 950W Quad Rail PSU on the MM for £50 but I'm just wondering if something like the OCZ StealthXStream 2 600W would be more reliable and would a 600W PSU power the above computer?
 
The PC the PSU is for will never be used for gaming, it's going to be used with projectors in a church which is why budget is somewhat an issue. Good to know Coolermaster PSU's have been good for you though :)
 
Aretenon said:
Sorry misread, thought you were listing GTX 480s. Will check power requirements of two GTX 280s now.
But don't get the Cooler Master GX 750 yet, because it has a lower temperature rating than other high quality units and been poorly reviewed because of it.
Click to expand...
Ok, appreciate your help and will await your reply :)
 
Aretenon said:
Ok, Guru3D showed the power draw of a PC running two GTX 280s to be 530 watts, so a good 650W PSU with two 6-pin and two 8-pin PCI-e connectors would be good enough. And the 650W version of that XFX fills that requirement:
XFX Pro 650W Core Edition 80Plus Bronze £69
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-003-XF&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

If there isn't going to be any gaming then why do you need two gaming cards, surely you could just use one?
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Thanks, I'll have a look at that XFX. Still a bit more than I was looking to pay but hey.

The reason for the 2 cards is we need one output for the monitor, one for projector and one/two for the monitors that will go on the stage...pain I know.
 
Thanks Essexraptor. I think it's probably a good idea to go with the 850 XFX which will give me head room when we add a second card or incase we decide to add extra hard drives, etc.
 
As a general rule of thumb, if you were buying a second hand psu, what's the oldest (in age) you'd buy? Trying to toss up the difference between a new XFX or a used Enermax for £22 less
 
drunkenmaster said:
But why exactly 2x280gtx's? You could get 2x220gt's to do the same job, or theres a multitude of AMD options that have between 3 and 6 outputs on a single card, from low end to high end, then you've got Matrox for multi-output cards.

This is for a church to run several displays off, 2x280gtx's feels like insane overkill, what else will they be doing, unless you're running intensive Cuda apps then if you're not gaming a high end card is a complete waste.

Likewise a simple low end gpu or pair of gpu's means you'd be both saving 200-300W in power usage which will save money, cost less initially, and allow the use of a quieter, cheaper, lower power PSU.
Click to expand...

The GTX280's because they're a high end card and available relatively cheap (the last one I bought second hand cost me £50). Additionally, we want to make sure the computer will cope with whatever we throw at it and I have a feeling that at some point, the church will use this machine (as it's the highest end machine they'll have) for HD video editing, for which CUDA will be a plus.

Believe me, if I was buying new cards, they'd be getting GT440's or something but as the cards are excellent for their price point in the second hand market, it's a no brainer really.

Regarding PSU, I do see your point, but at least the XFX 850W again, will handle anything chucked at it.
 
I have indeed ordered the XFX 850W. It gives me better piece of mind knowing its a brand new PSU.

Now, I just need to decide what to do about the graphics card. It turns out I can use an ATI card as long as its an eyefinity one.
 
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