Do I Need A New PSU for the 7870?

[DevonDoesGFX]

ok so, im thinking of buying the Radeon HD 7870 but im not sure if its gonna blow up my rig as im running on 450psu - the recommended psu is 500 for this card but I figured they over estimated.
specs -
8 Gigabytes RAM
FX-6300 3.6ghz
Radeon HD 6770 2GB
Corsair VS450 psu

if a 7870 doesnt work, would a 7850? These cards seem high performance.

 

[JimmoR3M]

That should still be fine really, you don't have any other big hitters on your wattage.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Radeon HD 7850 would be the better fit because you only have 1 - 6 pin power on that PSU.

 

[ohyouknow]

It will run but if you plan to OC your CPU and GPU it wouldn't be such a good idears.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

7870 - http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/7000/7870/Pages/radeon-7870.aspx#2

500W (or greater) power supply with one 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connector recommended7

600W power supply (or greater) with four 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connectors recommended for AMD CrossFire™ technology.

7850 - http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/7000/7850/Pages/radeon-7850.aspx#2

500W (or greater) power supply with one 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connector recommended7
600W power supply (or greater) with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connectors recommended for AMD CrossFire™ technology.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_radeon_hd_7850_and_7870_review,7.html

Here is Guru3D's power supply recommendation:

Radeon HD 7850 - On your average system the card requires you to have a 500 Watt power supply unit and 650 Watt if you go with two cards in Crossfire mode.
Radeon HD 7870 - On your average system the cards require you to have a 550 Watt power supply unit as minimum and 700 Watt if you go with two cards in Crossfire mode

.

For 450 watts, I'd highly recommend the 650 Ti Boost which is faster than the 7850. Agaiun, Id be more comfy w/ a 500 watter here but as long as it meets nVidia's requirements you won't blow ya warranty.

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-650ti-boost/specifications

Thermal and Power Specs:
134 WMaximum Graphics Card Power (W)
450 WMinimum System Power Requirement (W)4
One 6-pinSupplementary Power Connectors

 

[DevonDoesGFX]

7870 - http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/7000/7870/Pages/radeon-7870.aspx#2

500W (or greater) power supply with one 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connector recommended7

600W power supply (or greater) with four 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connectors recommended for AMD CrossFire™ technology.

7850 - http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/7000/7850/Pages/radeon-7850.aspx#2

500W (or greater) power supply with one 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connector recommended7
600W power supply (or greater) with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connectors recommended for AMD CrossFire™ technology.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_radeon_hd_7850_and_7870_review,7.html

Here is Guru3D's power supply recommendation:

Radeon HD 7850 - On your average system the card requires you to have a 500 Watt power supply unit and 650 Watt if you go with two cards in Crossfire mode.
Radeon HD 7870 - On your average system the cards require you to have a 550 Watt power supply unit as minimum and 700 Watt if you go with two cards in Crossfire mode

.

For 450 watts, I'd highly recommend the 650 Ti Boost which is faster than the 7850. Agaiun, Id be more comfy w/ a 500 watter here but as long as it meets nVidia's requirements you won't blow ya warranty.

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-650ti-boost/specifications

Thermal and Power Specs:
134 WMaximum Graphics Card Power (W)
450 WMinimum System Power Requirement (W)4
One 6-pinSupplementary Power Connectors

Thanks. haha, im getting mixed answers. Is it possilbe to run the 7850 on my rig then? Im just slightly pissed off because when I brought the PC it stated that it was 500w. Is there any chance that this could be "overclocked" somewhat?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Yes, you can easily run the 7850.

 

[DevonDoesGFX]

Yes, you can easily run the 7850.

ok, well sorry for "going on" but I just really dont want any thing to go wrong with my rig! - Why is the recommended PSU 500? Will I Be able to run smoothly? Now considering the 650ti but dont know which to go for!

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Thanks. haha, im getting mixed answers. Is it possilbe to run the 7850 on my rig then? Im just slightly pissed off because when I brought the PC it stated that it was 500w. Is there any chance that this could be "overclocked" somewhat?

There are two ways of looking at it ..... will it work, and will you be supported if something goes wrong ?

The company that made the card says no. Thatz the only opinion that really counts come warranty time. The Corsair VS series is not exactly designed for being hit hard as it's a "small budget" quality unit. However it is well known that the VS450 is in fact capable of delivering 500 watts (when new). It is also known as having poor voltage regulation which could be problematic (again think warranty) and was build using very "low end" capacitors. This is a very significant issue due to what is called "capacitor aging"..... Over time, the output will drop and as you continue to pull wattage close to its rated level, things can go boom.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2243530

Any type of overclocking is outta the question....and PSU's can't be overclocked. If it was a light duty PC, I'd chance it but .... you have a faster GFX card option which if installed will meet the manufacturers stated system requirements. If you put in the 7850, Im 99% sure ya won't have a problem but....

1. Why risk warranty issues (you always could lie)
2. Why put in a slower card when the faster card requires only 450 watts

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Get the 650ti , your PSU has enough amps on the 12v rail to handle it.