Another Question About: GTX 770, 42 amps required on +12V Rail

[DCNemesis]

Hey gang.. I've seen similar questions asked and answered, but none spoke directly to the question that I have regarding my setup...

I am looking to buy a GTX 770 4gb, which states that it requires 42 amps on the +12V rail

I have a Thermaltake Toughpower 850 from a few years ago, and I saw this review posted recently that threw me for a loop:

I bought this psu in August 2007 and have used it continuously. I've had no need to upgrade until now. Sadly, it can not power the latest high end graphics cards. I bought an EVGA GTX 770 that requires 42A on the 12V rail. This unit has 4, but maxes out at 30A. I want to take advantage of the power management features of the new Haswell processors and this PSU isn't certified or capable. Sadly, it will no longer power my primary rig, but will find a welcome home in my secondary machine. Apart from those two deficiencies this is the best power supply I've ever owned.

Is this indeed the case? When I bought this PSU, I went overboard considering I'm running an i7 920 @ stock speed, and a Radeon 6950 also @ stock speed. I bought it for future expansions into Crossfire or SLI. Seems I'm not going to get to continue using it if I go with the GTX 770 - is that correct? I also intend to upgrade the rest of my rig, but that's another story for now...

Here's a snapshot of the PSU Specs:

Thanks in advance.

 

[simmons33]

You have 62Amps on your 4 +12V Rails so you should be more than fine.

Im not an SLI/X-Fire Wiz but for a single 770, Your Golden.

with 850W (744W Available) you should be able to SLI 770s

744W \ 12(V) = 62Amps

I think whomever wrote than review/post was misinformed..

 

[cst1992]

I agree. He is an idiot. Maxed out at 30 A.. Seriously.

However see how many PCI-Express connectors are there on the PSU. 1 6pin and 1 8 pin each are needed to power the two cards that you want to install. So you'll need two of each.

 

[DCNemesis]

thanks for the quick responses

I hadn't considered that my +12v capacity was actually the sum of all my +12 rails. Makes perfect sense, actually.

It seems that I will be able to upgrade my system at the pace I would like, then.

I'll check out the pin config for sure, but for now I'm just going to run a single card anyway.

Much appreciated!

 

[cst1992]

I hadn't considered that my +12v capacity was actually the sum of all my +12 rails.

Not really.
It is not the sum of 12V rails.
A rough estimate is that you can pull off 80% of the current from a given rail.
So the PSU you mentioned, the rails are 18, 18, 30 and 30 A respectively. The 30A rails are meant for the graphics card. The 18 A rails are meant for low power components like fans.
Total sum of four rails is 96A. 80% gives 76.8A. This PSU must have been built using a higher margin, that's why it's rated at 62A.

If not given, use this guideline.

TL;DR: Each rail is built keeping a current margin in mind, given is max current. The max current is generally given separately(62A). If not given, use 80% as guideline.

 

[PLH_CN]

First of all, sorry for necroing this but I am uncertain about my PSU and if it can handle this card.

I am a tech-idiot and I didn't quite get the explanation about the 80%, the amps and the rails Cst1992 gave... so here goes!

So far I've had a gtx 670 for about 4 years but it recently gave up on me... I've been looking around and I really like the 770 SC from EVGA
I have a raidmax 700ac and it runs an i5-3570k @ 3.4GHz.

PSU: http://www.cnet.com/products/raidmax-rx-700ac-power-supply-700-watt/specs/

According to that site it has 2 6 pin pci-e connectors but when I look at it I see each has an aditional 2 connectors hanging on the side of each cable. I read somewhere that they effectively count as 8 pin connectors then.


Output Current
+3.3V - 24 A
+5V - 24 A
+12V1 - 24 A
+12V2 - 24 A
-12V - 0.5 A
+5VSB - 2.5 A

Can I run it?
Please correct me if I am wrong, and please forgive any broken English
If I can't run, what would you suggest as an alternative?

Thank you all in advance.

 

[cst1992]

A 770 consumes 230 watts, so it must be having 1 6 pin and 1 8 pin connector. Each 6 pin provides 75 watts and each 8 pin provides 150 watts. Plus, the PCI-E slot provides 75 watts power to your card.
If your power supply has 2 6+2-pin connectors, then you should be able to connect your card.

The two main components that consume power from the +12V rail are your card and your CPU. Your CPU typically consumes 77 watts of power. Using these numbers, you should be able to use the PSU for your system.


However, I'd advise you go for some better brand of power supply than Raidmax. Those PSU's don't have a very good reputation, and there's a good chance your PSU won't output its rated power.