Will my PSU power a 280x?

NirK

NirK

NirK

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Antec EA650 +3.3V +5V +12V1 +12V2 +12V3 -12V +5VSB
25A 25A 22A 22A 25A 0.5A 2.5A
Max Power 160W [ 540W ]
650W

My Antec earthwatts 650 PSU has 3 x 12v rails rated at 22A 22A and 25a, the 12v3 rail has the 8 pin and 6 pin graphics card connectors, on a review of 280x it says TDP 250w, average ~240w, max ~340w. So I don't think the 12V3 at 25a will be able to run the 280x properly.... Is it possible to use adapters to get some of the power from another rail? Is that what the 8 pin > 2 molex adapters are for? Or do I just need to buy a different GPU with lower TDP? Thanks.
 
If some of the power to the GPU is coming from the PCI-express slot, 75w or something, would that be from a different 12v rail? So it would be split with 75w + 150w on the 8 pin + 6 pin from the 12v3 25a rail and the rest would come from another rail via the motherboard eg. 12v1 or 12v2? Trying to check if my PSU will work with a 280x before I buy one... so if its 25a on the 8+6 pins that is pushing it for the 280x but another ~75w through the PCI-express slot would come from another rail making it probably work ok? Am I right?
 
Can someone help me plz!

If 12v3 has the 2 PCI connectors (8 pin + 6 pin) which would supply about 250w or something, does the rest of the power (about 75w) come through the PCI-express 3.0 slot? Which would be on one of the other 2 rails? Eg. 12v1 or 12v2 which is for the motherboard / CPU power?

If not could I use a molex > 6pin adapter to split the rails and run the card across to rails so I have more amps eg. 8 pin > 12v3 (25a) and 6 pin > Molex adapter > 12v2 (22a) so I would have more amps spare so the card does not run out of power on a single 25a rail?
 
12v3 = 6 + 8 pin 25a rated = ~300w

PCI Express 2.0/3.0 slot = ~75w (from another rail I think)

So this PSU should be able to supply 375w across 2 of the rails to one graphics card? If not I can use a 2 x molex > 6 pin adapter? Am I correct? Please help I need to know if it will work before I buy a 280x or 290 !!
 
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I read the review and did some more reading about it and it should be alright I think, its just on the techpowerup review of 280x it says the MAX consumption of 280x using furmark is something silly like 360w, average during games is about 260w. But I read that PCI-E 3.0 can supply more power to the card so it would not be the whole load of the graphics card on one rail as the PCI slot will give it some more power from a different 12v rail, so it should work alright. If it isn't then I think I should be able to use the 6 pin > 2 x molex adapter and use that on a different rail?

Do you think a 290 would run on my PSU as well? Might get a 290 instead of a 280x. The PSU cost me about £80 for a grey box with no modular etc. so I will be disappointed if it cannot run a 280x / 290.
 
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RJC said:
Is this your PSU unit below:

http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=705314&fid=5022027&lan=nz

But generally antics units are good and will power your new card fine.
Click to expand...

No its this one, http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=705006

Its about 2 years old and is discontinued now, cost about £80 for a grey box with no modular or sleeved cables so I bought it hoping that the money would be spent on good quality parts inside instead of modular and cable sleeving etc. so hopefully it will be OK with a 280x, not sure about a 290, which is about 30w more than the 280x.
 
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Another question, is it normal for a slight buzz from the power supply? I am not sure if it is the fan motor or the PSU but it sounds more like an electrical buzzing than a fan motor, by slight buzz I mean I have to put my ear within about 5-10cm of the back of the PSU to be able to hear it, cannot hear it from 30cm. I had a plasma once which I could clearly hear from about 5 metres away so I guess some very quiet buzzing from power supply is not a problem?
 
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The link works for me, I got this email from Antec... Not sure if they are trying to flog me another PSU, but I think they might be right as the 280x and 290 are quite ridiculous for power consumption, the GTX770 is a lot less power and would have no problems but only 2gb Vram.

Thank you for contacting Antec Inc. in regards to your inquiry, your video card is a high end video card and the EA-650 is a good PSU but the components on the PSU is not compatible with the power consumption of the R9-280. The EA-650 uses a standard capacitors and these are not a heavy duty capacitors and in the long run, the video card will put strain on the PSU. I would recommend get a high end PSU for your high end system. The EA-650 would work but with your high end system, the longevity is shorter on the EA-650 if you'll be running it on your system. I recommending upgrading the PSU
 
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