PSU for 4-way SLI Titan?

whyscotty · 26 Apr 2014 at 13:17

http://www.add2psu.com/

Kaapstad · 26 Apr 2014 at 13:17

goochinbuda said:
I've managed to track down another Titan card but before I commit to buying it I'm just wondering about my PSU options. I don't plan on overclocking the Titans as my original ones are not great overclockers to be honest and any OCs didnt seem to improve FPS that I could see so I'm wondering if 1500w will suffice?

1. Has anyone here used a 1500w+ PSU that has 8 PCI-E connectors?
Corsair's AX1500i 80 Plus Titanium PSU is due in Q2 of this year. Havent come across it for sale yet though.

2. Using a 2nd PSU: Again, if anyone has done this please advise on any issues here. i.e how to ensure that both PSUs start together etc.

Thanks

I use an EVGA 1500 Watt PSU which works fine with 4 Titans, it can get a little noisy when I overclock the cards though.

I also use 2 x 1200i corsair PSUs in another PC but for normal use it is a lot of hassle as you need the right case like a 900D and two PSUs prevents you from fitting more rads.

ndaar · 26 Apr 2014 at 14:14

There are still brand new titans available online. Ive seen some today priced from £600-£700 pounds.

Think everyone has got you covered in terms of PSU.

Since money doesnt seem to be your primary concern an other option would be to sell the existing three titans which would still command a reasonable price and opt for 2 titan zs which come out Tuesday next week, this gives you the power of 4 GPUs with less heat and power and taking up less room. Still a crazy amount of money though.

goochinbuda · 26 Apr 2014 at 15:57

Thanks chaps for all your feedback.

Definitely wont sell the Titans to replace them with Titan Z's though as I doubt the performance gains would be much at all. More than I'd want to spend too.

goochinbuda · 26 Apr 2014 at 15:58

MilanoChris said:
You can buy a cable for a few quid that trips the second PSU when you power up the main one. Ran this on a mining rig for a couple of months with no issues.

Any chance you could post a link to the cable you where using? Thanks.

goochinbuda · 28 Apr 2014 at 10:27

Was thinking a bit more about my options over the weekend and considering that 6GB versions of the 780 (and 780ti??) are coming out here soon, would 3 x 6GB 780's outperform 3 Titans in gaming by a noticable margin??
Like my Titans I'd put them under water straight away and correct me if I'm wrong but arent 780's(or ti's) much better overclockers than the Titans? (or was this mainly due to it having 3GB of vram less?)

Just to recap, I game on 7860x1600 so I need the 6GB for sure. Checked the usage on Skyrim last with just the main high res texture mod enabled and average vram usage varied from 4.3 GB to 4.8GB depending on where you were in the map. FPS was perfectly smooth.

Kaapstad · 28 Apr 2014 at 10:33

goochinbuda said:
Was thinking a bit more about my options over the weekend and considering that 6GB versions of the 780 (and 780ti??) are coming out here soon, would 3 x 6GB 780's outperform 3 Titans in gaming by a noticable margin??
Like my Titans I'd put them under water straight away and correct me if I'm wrong but arent 780's(or ti's) much better overclockers than the Titans? (or was this mainly due to it having 3GB of vram less?)

Just to recap, I game on 7860x1600 so I need the 6GB for sure. Checked the usage on Skyrim last with just the main high res texture mod enabled and average vram usage varied from 4.3 GB to 4.8GB depending on where you were in the map. FPS was perfectly smooth.

Slowest to fastest

GTX 780s - Titan's - GTX 780ti's

goochinbuda · 28 Apr 2014 at 10:48

Kaapstad said:
Slowest to fastest

GTX 780s - Titan's - GTX 780ti's

Does that still hold true with them all under water?

The angle I'm coming at it from is that I could never get my Titans to overclock a whole lot even under water, possibly due to silicon lottery etc, but Ive seen benchmarks were some people have gotten some very impressive OC's on their 780ti's.

Note, I'd only be doing this if going Quad SLI so that rules out the 780 as only the 780ti and Titan support it?

Evil-I · 28 Apr 2014 at 11:27

goochinbuda said:
Hi folks,
I currently have a 1200watt PSU for an overclocked 3930K and Tri-SLI Titans (non-black). I'm considering adding a 4th Titan (if I can source an original) but not sure if 1200watt is cutting it too fine or just plainly not enough??

I did a quick PSU calculation using the Extreme PSU calculator on 4 x titans and your PSU clocked to 4.8 (guessed at 1.45v). With 1 x optical drive, 4 x SSD and 2 x D5 pumps and 10 fans and a fan controller (guessed what you might have installed....) and that came to 1247 watts.

So 1500 watt should be ample!

E-I

whyscotty · 28 Apr 2014 at 12:20

goochinbuda said:
Does that still hold true with them all under water?

The angle I'm coming at it from is that I could never get my Titans to overclock a whole lot even under water, possibly due to silicon lottery etc, but Ive seen benchmarks were some people have gotten some very impressive OC's on their 780ti's.

Note, I'd only be doing this if going Quad SLI so that rules out the 780 as only the 780ti and Titan support it?

Is this with a stock bios?

If so, the biggest problem with the Titans is that they exceed the power limit very quickly.

To get the best from them you need to run a modded bios

Kaapstad · 28 Apr 2014 at 12:58

Evil-I said:
I did a quick PSU calculation using the Extreme PSU calculator on 4 x titans and your PSU clocked to 4.8 (guessed at 1.45v). With 1 x optical drive, 4 x SSD and 2 x D5 pumps and 10 fans and a fan controller (guessed what you might have installed....) and that came to 1247 watts.

So 1500 watt should be ample!

E-I

I think you need a new calculator, I have not got round to measuring 4 Titans but I did measure 3 Titans and a 3970X all overclocked and they were using more than 1100 watts.

whyscotty · 28 Apr 2014 at 13:13

Kaapstad said:
I think you need a new calculator, I have not got round to measuring 4 Titans but I did measure 3 Titans and a 3970X all overclocked and they were using more than 1100 watts.

And with a modded bios around 1400w

EVGAdominik · 28 Apr 2014 at 13:14

Hi, jfyi, we will release a 1600W platinum model soon. Probably mid of mai.

goochinbuda · 28 Apr 2014 at 13:17

whyscotty said:
Is this with a stock bios?

If so, the biggest problem with the Titans is that they exceed the power limit very quickly.

To get the best from them you need to run a modded bios

Yes, stock bios.

I know there is a guide here somewhere that shows how it can be unlocked. I'll have a look but something I'd be a bit hesitant to do on my Titans. I'm an engineer by profession so its something I should be able to do but when its your own stuff on the line.........

Kaapstad · 28 Apr 2014 at 13:19

EVGAdominik said:
Hi, jfyi, we will release a 1600W platinum model soon. Probably mid of mai.

I use one of your 1500 watt PSUs, one thing I really don't like about it is the chrome plated handle. It is way too weak as people are tempted to use it when picking up the case.

whyscotty · 28 Apr 2014 at 13:31

goochinbuda said:
Yes, stock bios.

I know there is a guide here somewhere that shows how it can be unlocked. I'll have a look but something I'd be a bit hesitant to do on my Titans. I'm an engineer by profession so its something I should be able to do but when its your own stuff on the line.........

I know that feeling :eek:

Same as when I sat there and ripped 3 Titans apart to put blocks on

goochinbuda · 28 Apr 2014 at 14:11

whyscotty said:
I know that feeling

Same as when I sat there and ripped 3 Titans apart to put blocks on

I hear ya. When I put blocks on my 3 Titans, at the same time I also put blocks on the CPU, all the RAMs and the Motherboard, then spent ages plumbing it all together. Turning on that power switch was one nerve wracking moment I'll never forget.

Getting back to the 6GB GPU question. I've a few options to consider:

1. Replace the Titans with 4 6GB 780ti's when/if they're available
(I'm gonna assume that such cards will be a lot cheaper than 4 Titan blacks. I'm ruling out Titan blacks)

2. Mod the bios on the cards I have in order overvolt and OC them some more. Risk is that I damage them straight away or over time.

3. Add another original Titan card and leave all at stock bios. Might only give me small gains depending on Quad SLI support.

4. Get some sense and leave well enough alone.

whyscotty · 28 Apr 2014 at 16:15

My call would be option 4.

pugheaven · 28 Apr 2014 at 16:28

Well it's not the same and I don't know what Watts the Titans draw, but I'm running the below spec (Quadfire) on a 1200 Antec 100% reliable.

Kaapstad · 28 Apr 2014 at 21:07

pugheaven said:
Well it's not the same and I don't know what Watts the Titans draw, but I'm running the below spec (Quadfire) on a 1200 Antec 100% reliable.

Quadfire can pull a few watts as well, I measured my 4 AMD GPUs and a 4930k overclocked the other week using 1778 watts on the Firestrike Extreme bench.