PSU enough for X1950 series

mishima · 9 Jan 2007 at 22:24

I have just sent my graphics card back for a RMA because it kept freezing and locking up in games (tested 5 games, various drivers, patches etc). Someone has just said to me that they don't think my PSU has good enough 12V rail for the card I had - X1950 Pro.

My PSU is an Antec Truepower Trio 550W. Here are the spec's for it:

http://www.antec.com/specs/TP3_550_spe.html

Is that ok? He thinks 18A isn't good enough...

zophiel · 9 Jan 2007 at 22:32

well i use this atm until my new corsair come and have had no problems at all

http://www.antec.com/specs/true550_spe_EU.html

thats with 3 hd's, video, dvd writer, dvd drive

mishima · 9 Jan 2007 at 22:35

Thats 30A though isnt it? think mine is 18A! trying to find out where the recommended 12V is for these cards!

mishima · 9 Jan 2007 at 23:16

Can anyone confirm if its enough or not?

Andeh · 9 Jan 2007 at 23:20

it might be a little low, although I really don't know the +12v requirements for graphics cards. my PSU is a pretty cheap 460W but it has 30A on the +12v rails so im asuming it'll power my X1950 Pro when it comes tomorrow.

beast · 9 Jan 2007 at 23:22

I doubt it's your PSU. I'm using a cheap nasty generic 500w one and it powers my Pro just fine.

mishima · 9 Jan 2007 at 23:22

I never even thought to check out the rails on the PSU when I bought it. 30A is strong yeah, should be fine with that. It looks as though I'm going to have to get a different PSU!

Anyone else got anything to add?

Hellfire260 · 9 Jan 2007 at 23:26

i dont know if this is true but if your psu has dual 12v rails with 18 amps on each, then you combine the total to make 32 amps.

EDIT: it seems that yours has 3 12v rails with 18 amps on each.

Spetznaz · 9 Jan 2007 at 23:30

Hellfire260 said:
i dont know if this is true but if your psu has dual 12v rails with 18 amps on each, then you combine the total to make 32 amps.

EDIT: it seems that yours has 3 12v rails with 18 amps on each.

Depends on the PSU I think but I run a X1900XT(X) fine on a coolermaster 650w which has 2x 12v rails both 18A, XTX I think uses quite a bit more ampage than the Pro so I doubt it was your PSU.

mishima · 9 Jan 2007 at 23:33

Yeah it has 3 12V rails, 18A. Just wondering if those rails can combine to give more power.

It says on the Antec website - "The new generation of power supplies has arrived with Antec’s TruePower Trio series. The three +12V rails allow you to distribute your power more evenly, which will result in a more stable system."

SkeeterUK · 9 Jan 2007 at 23:42

Well gibbo told me my akasa 400w is fine and thats just dual rails 15a 12+V1 and 14a on 12+V2. I was a bit weird about it but i presume its combined so is ok for the card, i will be getting one of the HIS 512mb agp when it is on "this week special" well er when its on and hope its on soon lol.

fornowagain · 9 Jan 2007 at 23:51

Hellfire260 said:
i dont know if this is true but if your psu has dual 12v rails with 18 amps on each, then you combine the total to make 32 amps.

EDIT: it seems that yours has 3 12v rails with 18 amps on each.

No in 99% of cases you can't combined the rails. The value to look for is the combined 12v wattage, on the Antec its

* +12V1, 12V2,12V3 maximum output 504 Watts max.

mishima · 9 Jan 2007 at 23:53

Interesting stuff, thanks for the input guys. Just been reading a few reviews on my PSU. It seems the 3 rails distribute so I should really be ok, the reviews also test a 7950GT and it handled that fine, infact they said it was an extremely solid PSU.

mishima · 9 Jan 2007 at 23:55

fornowagain said:
No in 99% of cases you can't combined the rails. The value to look for is the combined 12v wattage, on the Antec its

What do u mean then?

Big.Wayne · 10 Jan 2007 at 00:00

mishima said:
they said it was an extremely solid PSU.

It is a very good PSU (just installed one) and it easily good enough to power the X1950 Pro (which is a fairly undemanding card power wise). I've got that PSu installed now powering a X1950Pro, CD2, 2x HDD, 1xOptical etc no problems . . .

Either you had a faulty/or overheating card or perhaps there was some driver junk left over in your system from your previous card?

Which brand of X1950 pro was it btw? (Sapphire?)

marc2003 · 10 Jan 2007 at 00:04

i couldn't find much on the antec site but on the reviews page for that psu there is this link.....

http://www.cluboverclocker.com/reviews/power/antec/TruepowerTrio550/Page2.htm

Here we can see exactly what this unit is capable of. Especially worthy of noting is the 12V rail configurations. Each rail is capable of 18A, and all three can handle 42A total. This is because the rails are actually from the same supply, which is a good thing because if one is overloaded, it will use power from one of the other rails automatically. This is especially good for SLI/Crossfire systems where there is a large load on the 12V lines.

mishima · 10 Jan 2007 at 00:06

Big.Wayne said:
It is a very good PSU (just installed one) and it easily good enough to power the X1950 Pro (which is a fairly undemanding card power wise). I've got that PSu installed now powering a X1950Pro, CD2, 2x HDD, 1xOptical etc no problems . . .

Either you had a faulty/or overheating card or perhaps there was some driver junk left over in your system from your previous card?

Which brand of X1950 pro was it btw? (Sapphire?)

It was a Gecube I sent back, used drivercleaner pro to remove all the junk the drivers leave after uninstall too. Going to get a HIS from OcUK next.

marc2003: thanks, yeah thats one of the reviews i read, good review that.

marc2003 · 10 Jan 2007 at 00:25

mishima said:
marc2003: thanks, yeah thats one of the reviews i read, good review that.

and did you read the bit i quoted? why did you post about only 18a if you knew it could do 42a? :confused:

fornowagain · 10 Jan 2007 at 00:27

mishima said:
What do u mean then?

You, the consumer cannot take the values for each rail, 12v1, 12v2 etc and simply sum them for a value. The manufacturer will normally in one way or another specify a value for the combined 12V source. Usually written as the maximum combined 12v wattage or the 12v1,12v2 cannot exceed.....

Theguy · 10 Jan 2007 at 12:09

just putting my 2p in.. my 380watt targon (22amp on 12v), had no problem powering the x1950, 256 mind (if theres a difference with the 512?). i have a number of HDs and external bits and bobs, with some overclocking going on as well.

i was testing the card for a friend you see, heh i was sad when he wanted it back!