Can I Crossfire with 850W?

[noahhull]

I'm going to be getting a single 290, and an i7-4790k (When it comes out) For my new computer. Would an 850 Watt Gold + power supply be enough to crossfire 290's, and slight overclocking on the i7? Or should I get a higher wattage PSU?

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Any good 850W PSU can handle 290 CF with OCing.

However, there are some PSUs that, despite being certified, are not high quality. Make sure you get one from the second link of my sig.

 

[Ubrales]

For a single card you need 550 watts system power.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290-and-290x,3728-4.html - based on this 850 watts total power may not make it. Considering some OC, I suggest a good brand 1,000 watts PSU - Corsair AX, Seasonic, XFX.

 

[cdrkf]

A good quality 850 watt supply should be fine for that.

 

[wdmfiber]

No, for that set-up AMD calls for a 1000 watt PSU.
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

You prob wouldn't want it anyway. Too much heat. Plus if you put off getting the second 290 for too long(next year) they'll be obsolete. The next gen GPU are getting close now and their promising double the graphical processing power per watt. And the early "Maxwell" GPU's are proving it. Much more power for 4K and better(higher Hz) monitors coming too.

 

[noahhull]

Any good 850W PSU can handle 290 CF with OCing.

However, there are some PSUs that, despite being certified, are not high quality. Make sure you get one from the second link of my sig.

So would an EVGA 850W work with the 2? If not, I can always get the Supernova @ 1000W.

 

[noahhull]

No, for that set-up AMD calls for a 1000 watt PSU.
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

You prob wouldn't want it anyway. Too much heat. Plus if you put off getting the second 290 till next year, they'll be obsolete. The next gen GPU are getting close now and their promising double the graphically processing power per watt. And the early "Maxwell" GPU's are proving it. Much more power for 4K and better(higher Hz) monitors coming too.

If I'm upgrading at all, it would be within 5 or 6 months. I'll still get the 290, I've already decided on that because of Mantle.

 

[Ubrales]

[/quotemsg]
So would an EVGA 850W work with the 2? If not, I can always get the Supernova @ 1000W.[/quotemsg]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290-and-290x,3728-4.html

You need 1,000 watts.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

You should still be fine at 850W, unless you OC the GPUs much. While they have very short term spikes, the peak power output of most PSUs is ~20% higher than rated power. Peaks that short will come straight out of the caps.

 

[noahhull]

I'm just gonna be safe and get the 1000W for an extra $30. Better safe than sorry, right? Especially when it's a $2,500 dollar PC. Who knows, that $30 might save my PC's life.

 

[Ubrales]

I'm just gonna be safe and get the 1000W for an extra $30. Better safe than sorry, right? Especially when it's a $2,500 dollar PC. Who knows, that $30 might save my PC's life.

Good choice! It will also compensate for some capacitors aging, and leave some room for add-on HDDs, fans.

 

[wdmfiber]

TSCM pumps out the chips for both Nvidia and AMD(Radeon GPU's, not CPU's). So AMD should have the successors to their high-end GPU's out too. All current GPU's are based on 28nm technology and it's really dated; late 2011.

However, get a 290(or two) if you like.
But as an enthusiast I'm thrilled that new GPU's are finally coming! All we have got for the last several years were refreshes/name changes. So personally, I won't spend a dime on a 28nm card.
_____________________
Good choice to the 1000. You have to protect your investment and properly power your hardware.

 

[17seconds]

Here is Guru3D's power supply recommendation:
•AMD R9 290 - On your average system the card requires you to have a 550 Watt power supply unit.
•AMD R9 290 Crossfire - On your average system the cards require you to have a 700 Watt power supply unit as minimum
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/radeon_r9_290_review_benchmarks,10.html

 

[cdrkf]

TSCM pumps out the chips for both Nvidia and AMD(Radeon GPU's, not CPU's). So AMD should have the successors to their high-end GPU's out too. All current GPU's are based on 28nm technology and it's really dated; late 2011.

However, get a 290(or two) if you like.
But as an enthusiast I'm thrilled that new GPU's are finally coming! All we have got for the last several years were refreshes/name changes. So personally, I won't spend another dime a 28nm card.

The danger of this approach is there is *always* something new coming out... Admittedly 28nm has limited what AMD and Nvidia have been able to do lately- but the R7 260X (ok released early as HD 7790), R9 290 / 290X and Nvidias 750 and 750ti cards were all brand new dies out recently, even if they were on the same process node.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

IIRC the 20nm node is delayed, and isn't expected until next year. Pirate islands and 1st-gen maxwell are going to be 28nm.