How do I know if I have a sufficiant enough power suppy for my graphics card?

[Scrapz]

Recently a friend sent me a new Video card the AMD Radeon HD XFX 6790 and I've been experiencing a lot of Unintended system shutdowns and reboots I think it may be my power supply but I can't tell can someone help please my power supply is the LS (Lifetime Series) 500-Watt ATX Power Supply.

I don't know if this will help or not but here's the Error that I got after I would reboot my PC after a crash/reboot.

Source
Windows

Summary
Video hardware error

Date
?11/?23/?2013 9:27 PM

Status
Not reported

Description
A problem with your video hardware caused Windows to stop working correctly.

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: LiveKernelEvent
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

Files that help describe the problem
WD-20131119-2208.dmp
sysdata.xml
WERInternalMetadata.xml

Extra information about the problem
BCCode: 117
BCP1: FFFFFA8007258010
BCP2: FFFFF88004339E80
BCP3: 0000000000000000
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_1_7600
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 256_1

 

[tigerg]

Did you look at the box or the AMD website to see the minimum required PSU for the card?

 

[Scrapz]

Did you look at the box or the AMD website to see the minimum required PSU for the card?

Yes I did it says that it requires at least a 500W PSU and I have one but I don't know if it's PCI-E Connector pulls the 75W it needs to run with no problems.

 

[AxlFone]

Try first other video card. That card takes only 150w power so.
Never heard about that psu but then you buy better if it is not good.
PSU can drop power when it gets older.

Try to run some benchmarks it can show when systen comes unstable.

 

[Scrapz]

Try first other video card. That card takes only 150w power so.
Never heard about that psu but then you buy better if it is not good.
PSU can drop power when it gets older.

Try to run some benchmarks it can show when systen comes unstable.

Before this I had a video card that required a significantly less amount of Wattage (Nvidia GeForce 210) and of course it ran perfectly and as for a benchmark which one would you recommend?

Edit: Also 150W?? I think your looking at the wrong card this card says it needs 500W or 600W(CF'd)

 

[tigerg]

The card requires you to give it external power, not just the power coming from the PCI-e slot. You need to plug in the cables from the PSU. You're plugging in those, right?

 

[jimthenagual]

Your PSU puts out 28amps on the +12v rail, the XFX 6790 wants 25A and a 450W PSU minimum.

So technically, you should be ok. The potential problem is, is that unit filled with cheap capacitors and putting out dirty power. Ultra has a wide range of series they put out, but in general, they are not known for high quality. If you look at the link below, they do not have the LS series listed, but Ultra does have a few models in the 'tier 5' category, which is reserved for PSUs that are considered dangerous to your system and should be replaced.

They also have one model in the tier 1 category too. None of the PSUs listed are made by the same OEM maker as the LS series or I'd be able to answer your question a little better. I am unable to find reviews by the major PSU testing sites on that particular model.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

 

[Scrapz]

The card requires you to give it external power, not just the power coming from the PCI-e slot. You need to plug in the cables from the PSU. You're plugging in those, right?

Yes I did plug in the external connector and I was wondering if the connector it's self was pushing enough power through it to run the card good.

 

[Scrapz]

Your PSU puts out 28amps on the +12v rail, the XFX 6790 wants 25A and a 450W PSU minimum.

So technically, you should be ok. The potential problem is, is that unit filled with cheap capacitors and putting out dirty power. Ultra has a wide range of series they put out, but in general, they are not known for high quality. If you look at this page, they do not have the LS series listed, but Ultra does have a few models in the 'tier 5' category, which is reserved for PSUs that are considered dangerous to your system and should be replaced.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

I know how bad Ultra is with their PSUs but it was and still is all I can afford at the moment I was just wondering if it had enough power in the PCI-e connector to have the card running efficiently. Also on AMD's website I've had a hard time actually finding my video card I just keep ending up with this link but it looks nothing like the card I have here in my PC. http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/amd-radeon-hd-6000/hd-6790/pages/amd-radeon-hd-6790-overview.aspx#2

 

[tigerg]

You have the XFX version of the card, not the AMD reference design.

They both have the same essential electrical characteristics, so that's why you can look to the AMD site to see the power requirements. They just lay out the board and cooling system differently. That's why it looks different.

 

[Scrapz]

You have the XFX version of the card, not the AMD reference design.

They both have the same essential electrical characteristics, so that's why you can look to the AMD site to see the power requirements. They just lay out the board and cooling system differently. That's why it looks different.

Oh ok thanks I didn't know that.

 

[AxlFone]

Here is couple new psu. (cheap)
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-ssr550rm

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/antec-power-supply-hcg620m

 

[jimthenagual]

$25.99 XFX Core Edition PRO 550W
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1550sxxb9

Made by Seasonic. This is an incredible deal right now.

 

[Scrapz]

Here is couple new psu. (cheap)
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-ssr550rm

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/antec-power-supply-hcg620m

$25.99 XFX Core Edition PRO 550W
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1550sxxb9

Made by Seasonic. This is an incredible deal right now.

Oh ok cool I'll be sure to start saving up to get my self this PSU as a replacement! Also I don't know if it'd help but I edited my post to include the Error Message I got after I rebooted my computer

 

[AxlFone]

WoW 26$ for quality psu ^^ That's really amazing deal

 

[Scrapz]

Thank you all for the help ^^ I'll probably be getting a new PSU for Christmas!!

 

[Bsmith1164]

can a corsair cx600 run a msi geforce gtx 750 ti