Antec HCG 900W + Support my system?

[ddavij]

G'day! I'm just wondering if my PSU will support my system with no problem, here are my specs:

Intel i7 3770k - Will be over clocked to 4.5Ghz
ASUS P8Z77-V-Deluxe Motherboard
32GB G.Skill Trident X 2400MHZ 1.65V RAM
1x 128GB Corsair SSD
1x 3000GB Seagate Baracuda
3x 320GB Seagate/Western Digital
1x LG Blu-Ray Writer
2x MSI Lightning 7970 - Both over clocked to 1150/1500, maybe 1200/1500 if PSU allows
NZXT Phantom Case with all 7 Fans installed

Will my 900W Antec HCG support this system?
I don't want to turn my PC on until I'm sure about this, I want to turn it on so BAD!

Thank you!

 

[abekl]

No problem, you have power to spare.

 

[ddavij]

No problem, you have power to spare.

Great! But will my PSU still be sufficient even when all components are at max load?
I'm just really worried about stuffing up my whole PC when using it as an entertainment gaming PC for long periods of time?

Thank you for replying too!

 

[JJ1217]

I believe the HCG has 4 12V rails, so be careful about that and not overloading a rail.

 

[ddavij]

I believe the HCG has 4 12V rails, so be careful about that and not overloading a rail.

Yeah each rail is 40A, would that be sufficient for my over clocking?
Thanks for replying too!

 

[ddavij]

bump, kind of desperate for some advice :/ :/

 

[kitsunestarwind]

Having owned a Antec HCG-900 I can personally say you will not have a single problem at all I ran a overclocked AMD P2 X6, and 2x HD5970 (so quad gpu) + 6 hdd's and didn't even come close to maxing it out

You will have tonnes of power to spare even with overclocking of all your components

 

[ddavij]

Having owned a Antec HCG-900 I can personally say you will not have a single problem at all I ran a overclocked AMD P2 X6, and 2x HD5970 (so quad gpu) + 6 hdd's and didn't even come close to maxing it out

You will have tonnes of power to spare even with overclocking of all your components

Oh those cards are some power hungry wh*res lol! That's a system like mine!

Though when referring to this I seem to have my doubts with my two cards:

http://images.tweaktown.com/content/4/6/4641_42_msi_radeon_hd_7970_lightning_3gb_video_cards_in_crossfire_overclocked.png

My cards can use up to 940W's when maxed? You think that's OK for my power supply? Sorry I'm not that savvy when it comes to power supplies!

Thanks for making me feel a little more confident too!

Thank you so much for replying too!

 

[Scott_D_Bowen]

Each of those video cards will pull about 250 watts at load at default clocks.
- Still that leaves you with at least 260 watts for all the other hardware which does have headroom (assuming 320 watts per video card, just in case).

I'd say it's got comfortable headroom, maxing out the number of HDD's might push it though.

Most honest review of it on the Internet is probably here:
- http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=211

If you have issues just start by disabling the extra fans.

 

[ddavij]

Each of those video cards will pull about 250 watts at load at default clocks.
- Still that leaves you with at least 260 watts for all the other hardware which does have headroom (assuming 320 watts per video card, just in case).

I'd say it's got comfortable headroom, maxing out the number of HDD's might push it though.

Most honest review of it on the Internet is probably here:
- http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=211

If you have issues just start by disabling the extra fans.

From that perspective, I see that this PSU is absolutely crap.

It sucks to be handicapped by a PSU, and not allowed to overclock to you're hearts extent or have as many devices connected as you wish...

I wouldn't want to disable the fans tho 😛 I spent over $100 on the extra fans

What kind of PSU do you suggest? That's probably 1200 watts ish?

Thank you very much for you're reply!

 

[ko888]

For a system using two Radeon HD 7970 graphics cards in 2-way CrossFire mode AMD specifies a minimum of an 750 Watt or greater power supply. The power supply should also have a maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 59 Amps or greater and have at least two 6-pin and two 8-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors.

Total Power Supply Wattage is NOT the crucial factor in power supply selection!!! Total Combined Continuous Power/Current Available on the +12V Rail(s) rated at 45°C-50°C is the most important factor.

The Antec High Current Gamer Series 900W (HCG-900), with its maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 70.8 Amps and with four (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors, is more than sufficient to power your system configuration with two Radeon HD 7970 in 2-way CrossFire mode. The OCP set point on each of the +12V rails of this PSU is set at 52 Amps.

An MSI Radeon HD 7970 Lightning overclocked to 1250 MHz GPU, 1.3 Volts Vcore and 1600 MHz memory has a measured power draw of 336.97 Watts during gaming.

If the graphics card is overclocked to 1170 MHz GPU and 1600 MHz memory the measured power draw is 246.51 Watts during gaming.

Since there are two (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors on +12V3 and two on +12V4 you will not encounter any power problems to each of the graphics cards.

 

[ddavij]

For a system using two Radeon HD 7970 graphics cards in 2-way CrossFire mode AMD specifies a minimum of an 750 Watt or greater power supply. The power supply should also have a maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 59 Amps or greater and have at least two 6-pin and two 8-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors.

Total Power Supply Wattage is NOT the crucial factor in power supply selection!!! Total Combined Continuous Power/Current Available on the +12V Rail(s) rated at 45°C-50°C is the most important factor.

The Antec High Current Gamer Series 900W (HCG-900), with its maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 70.8 Amps and with four (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors, is more than sufficient to power your system configuration with two Radeon HD 7970 in 2-way CrossFire mode. The OCP set point on each of the +12V rails of this PSU is set at 52 Amps.

An MSI Radeon HD 7970 Lightning overclocked to 1250 MHz GPU, 1.3 Volts Vcore and 1600 MHz memory has a measured power draw of 336.97 Watts during gaming.

If the graphics card is overclocked to 1170 MHz GPU and 1600 MHz memory the measured power draw is 246.51 Watts during gaming.

Since there are two (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors on +12V3 and two on +12V4 you will not encounter any power problems to each of the graphics cards.

Firstly have to thank you for you're much detailed and appreciated post!

You have given me a greater understanding of how 'power supplies' actually work haha!
Yes, under normal gaming conditions it would use the amount of Watts as you suggested, but what if I was to run a benchmark? Just to test it's stability when overclocking the card? Because I'll need to benchmark .

Regarding that OCP point, you mean that, both the cards can theoretically draw it's maximum of 500~ watts each and theoretically still have enough power to supply power to the rest of the system?

Thank you so much for you're response!!!!!!!

EDIT:

When refering to this review:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/03/20/msi_r7970_lightning_video_card_review/9

It shows that whilst playing battlefield 3, the graphics card used ~400w, minus the wattage of the other system components which is 160watts. Mind blowing?

 

[ko888]

Firstly have to thank you for you're much detailed and appreciated post!

You have given me a greater understanding of how 'power supplies' actually work haha!
Yes, under normal gaming conditions it would use the amount of Watts as you suggested, but what if I was to run a benchmark? Just to test it's stability when overclocking the card? Because I'll need to benchmark .

Regarding that OCP point, you mean that, both the cards can theoretically draw it's maximum of 500~ watts each and theoretically still have enough power to supply power to the rest of the system?

Thank you so much for you're response!!!!!!!

Single MSI Radeon HD 7970 Lightning actual measured power consumption of the graphics card only:

FurMark GPU Stress Test:

Factory Clocks (i.e. Core Clock: 1070 MHz, Memory Clock: 1400 MHz) : 305.61 Watts

Overclock - no voltage tweak (Core Clock: 1170 MHz, Memory Clock: 1600 MHz) : 348 Watts

Overclock - 1.3V Vcore tweak (Core Clock: 1250 MHz, Memory Clock: 1600 MHz) : 470 Watts


The OCP set point is the maximum current value, that when reached, will trigger the power supply unit's Over Current Protection circuit to cause the PSU to shut itself down.

Since each graphics card should be connected to only one of the +12V3 or +12V4 rails, even with the worst case 470 Watt scenario, you will not trigger the OCP. The PSU will be unable to provide the amount of continuous current required by the two graphics cards though (i.e. over 75 Amps for both graphics cards themselves excluding anything that the CPU and the rest of the system requires).

You would definitely require a reputable name brand 1200 Watt PSU if you want your system to be able to survive running FurMark stability testing with two voltage tweaked overclocked MSI Radeon HD 7970 Lightning's. Antec, Corsair, Seasonic and XFX have some excellent 1200 or 1250 Watt PSUs that are up to the task.

 

[ddavij]

Single MSI Radeon HD 7970 Lightning actual measured power consumption of the graphics card only:

FurMark GPU Stress Test:

Factory Clocks (i.e. Core Clock: 1070 MHz, Memory Clock: 1400 MHz) : 305.61 Watts

Overclock - no voltage tweak (Core Clock: 1170 MHz, Memory Clock: 1600 MHz) : 348 Watts

Overclock - 1.3V Vcore tweak (Core Clock: 1250 MHz, Memory Clock: 1600 MHz) : 470 Watts


The OCP set point is the maximum current value, that when reached, will trigger the power supply unit's Over Current Protection circuit to cause the PSU to shut itself down.

Since each graphics card should be connected to only one of the +12V3 or +12V4 rails, even with the worst case 470 Watt scenario, you will not trigger the OCP. The PSU will be unable to provide the amount of continuous current required by the two graphics cards though (i.e. over 75 Amps for both graphics cards themselves excluding anything that the CPU and the rest of the system requires).

You would definitely require a reputable name brand 1200 Watt PSU if you want your system to be able to survive running FurMark stability testing with two voltage tweaked overclocked MSI Radeon HD 7970 Lightning's. Antec, Corsair, Seasonic and XFX have some excellent 1200 or 1250 Watt PSUs that are up to the task.

You have convinced me to get a new power supply now 🙂
I'm now looking at high range 1200-1500 watt power supplies, and I'm not sure if a single 100amp +12v rail would be better then 6 30amp +12v rails..

The power supplies I'm looking at are:

Corsair AX1200w
Thermaltake tough power 1500w
Seasonic x-1250w
Enermax platimax 1200W - not in stock atm.

Which one would be absolutely best for my system? Low fan noise, low ripple, all those goodies! Thank you very much everyone!

 

[ko888]

You have convinced me to get a new power supply now 🙂
I'm now looking at high range 1200-1500 watt power supplies, and I'm not sure if a single 100amp +12v rail would be better then 6 30amp +12v rails..

The power supplies I'm looking at are:

Corsair AX1200w
Thermaltake tough power 1500w
Seasonic x-1250w
Enermax platimax 1200W - not in stock atm.

Which one would be absolutely best for my system? Low fan noise, low ripple, all those goodies! Thank you very much everyone!

This is the order I would rank them based on their electrical performance:

1. Seasonic X-Series 1250W (SS-1250XM)

2. Corsair AX1200i Digital ATX PSU (CP-9020008-NA)

3. ENERMAX Platimax 1200W (EPM1200EWT)

4. Thermaltake Toughpower 1500W (TP-1500M)

For the Corsair model I'm assuming you're referring to the AX1200i because the CMPSU-1200AX model is discontinued.

 

[ddavij]

This is the order I would rank them based on their electrical performance:

1. Seasonic X-Series 1250W (SS-1250XM)

2. Corsair AX1200i Digital ATX PSU (CP-9020008-NA)

3. ENERMAX Platimax 1200W (EPM1200EWT)

4. Thermaltake Toughpower 1500W (TP-1500M)

For the Corsair model I'm assuming you're referring to the AX1200i because the CMPSU-1200AX model is discontinued.

Nah it's not that I, my computer store has them available ;-)
Awesome, you're advice is amazing, ty!

 

[ddavij]

Best answer selected by ddavij.