How Much Power Does Your Graphics Card Need?

[Guest]

I love you Tom's Hardware. I was looking for a test like this, since I'm planing on buying a new 3D card and I need a new power supply as well.

 

[rooket]

I'm assuming the top 9800 GTX is actually the GTX+ since it was listed in the test setup. A lot of web pages are recommending a 24amp rail for that card in particular, this review shows that it only needs a 13amp rail. I'm glad tom's hardware clears up deceptive information. Mine's working fine off an 18amp rail.

 

[nukemaster]

Most manufacturers recommend 24 amps for the full system. It adds allot of confusion as people think its the card on its own.

In my sig there is another link to VGA power use some may find useful

 

[rooket]

I understand that, in case more than just the video card is on that particular 12V rail since the PSU only has 3 12V rails as far as I read on the web. If I had to replace this PSU, I'd get a pc power and cooling one. I think that's the brand I'll buy from now on, too many people have problems with the brands I have been using at work: enermax and antec. I've had to RMA a few enermax and a few antecs, those were all around 430 watt.

 

[joyonta]

my system
intel core 2 duo 2.2 ghz
mother board gigabyte g 31 fsb 1333
ram 2 gb ddr2
psu delux 420 watt

is it ok for radeon hd 4650???

 

[Onus]

Yes.

 

[nukemaster]

I have......
e6600
P5W DH
4gigs of DDR2(4 sticks)
2 hard drvies in raid(120gigs each, yeah this machine is made of my old parts 😛)
8800GTX

All jammed(that video card is almost touching the end of the case well the hard drive rack to be more correct) into a Sonata II with the included 450 watt SP 2.0 power supply(its not even that powerful on its 12 volt rails)....it's still going strong.

 

[whwollyman007]

I have EN9600GT but it shows 256mb memory why is that? Is it because of my 350watts huntkey psu? ( please bear with me am in china as a student,because of the huntkey thingy!)

 

[rooket]

I'd recommend a corsair 750watt psu if you're that worried about how many amps are on that 12V rail. I think it puts out 69amps and this card will only draw 13 from that pool. I have read a lot of horror stories about pc power and cooling power supplies and it looks like a cheap company called OCZ makes them so I guess it makes sense. I think I'll stick with antec and corsair for psu's from now on. I've had a lot of problems with enermax as well. I remember a while back sparkle/power man psu's worked pretty well. Not sure what happened to all of that.

 

[Guest]

Okay here it says a GTX280 uses 204.4W under full load but in the GTX285 review a few days later the GTX280 peaks at 316W. I would figure under full load (full meaning it can't take anymore) then the consumption should be the same as any peak consumption since it can't have anymore load on it when it peaked then when it has a full load.

So why such a huge difference in the results? makes using these results useless for choosing a PSU espically when looking at the differences for the 4870x2

 

[Guest]

I have a system running without graphics card at the moment, here's the specs:

Intel Dual Core E2140 @ 2.8Ghz
Asus VR Guard HSF
Asrock Conroe 1333 D667 r2.0
2GB Transcend DDR2 667
1 x 250GB PATA
1 x 80GB SATA
1 x DVD-R/W

currently, im running with a 500w generic powersupply that came in with my case. So far no problems at all. but lets say i'll be adding in either a 9600GT or an 8800GT, how much true rated power will my system's gonna need?

actually before using my onboard graphics my system ran with 8500GT GDDR3 and later on(upgrade) 2600XT GDDR4 without a hitch..

 

[Onus]

That would be a good post to use to request advice in the Forumz.

 

[Guest]

sorry to bring this up but it's not just about the powerpack i bought a hd3850 (agp) absolutely gorgeous but i've only got a xp 3000 @ 2.16ghz 333fsb and wish someone had told me that i needed a heck of a lot better processor to power it as although it'll play alot of games it just can't hack the latest ones,and just locks up the whole pc which is a big shame as it was bought as a replacement for a radeon 9700,which was starting to burn the 5 volt power cable.anyway this page has made me hugry for a brand new pc,and yep i'd like to see the GTX 295 and 285 in single and SLI configurations tested and this page refreshed with the data please
madmax2

 

[harry_callahan]

Having more power on tap than you need is never a bad thing. A 500w psu has to work harder and make more heat and put more stress and on psu components to make the same power shortning the life of psu.
which has easier time pulling the same trailer, the F150 V8 or the Ranger V6? You make the call

 

[nukemaster]

The heat output is a direct relation of efficiency. So a 1000 watt psu running a 250 watt load will actually in most cases put out MORE heat then a 400-500 watt psu doing the same thing.

On your truck the transmission converts the motors spinning action(rotation) into the right speeds(rotation) and power to drive the wheels(As such getting the needed towing power can be done with a lower engine running at a slightly higher RPM, it is designed for this). That said its more down the the transition then anything now days(do not get me wrong, the F150 is better built, but the ranger is still going to tow if needed). In fact most modern V6's can out tow and accelerate older V8's.

It will agree that running near the edge of the psu limmits is bad, but if you are running a Q6600 + single 4870 video + 2 drives + 4 sticks of ram + a few other things you will not need a 1000 watt psu a 600-700 will have no issues. This article was about knowing how much power a card actually uses. Many users have bought overpriced units to run a system that DID NOT need it to be stable.

 

[KyleSTL]

I believe the 280 and 260 SLI consumption numbers are reversed. According to the chart the 280 SLI consumes 70W less.

 

[Guest]

Hi,
just a question that should interest all folding people:
Would the power consumption of running an fah client be the same as running full 3D graphics or would it be somewhat less as some execution units are not needed?
I would be grateful for a knowledgeable answer.

 

[Guest]

i currently use a evga 650i mb, with c2d 1.8 ghz intel processor, 4 gb crucial ballistix 800 mghz ram, and a amd radeon hd4870, 2 hitachi 7200 rpm 500 gb hdd in raid 0 array, 1 hitachi 400 gb hdd for ubuntu, 1 320 gb hdd for windows xp and vista. all powered by a 600 watt psu. plus a dvd writer, 1 blue ray dvd reader for hdtv movie viewing. i plan to updgrade to a crossfire config. using two hd 4870's replacing the mb, cpu, and ram to a fsb speed of 1333 do you think my psu should be upgraded too? normansbro@yahoo.com

 

[Onus]

I think you should ask that question in the forum. I'm sure you'll get good answers.

 

[greatgooglymugly]

Excellent article- I havent seen an article this good on Tom's in a while. Clearly shows where the power goes, something I havent seen explained (at least not like this) anywhere else, at least not all in one article.

 

[neon]

its a great article.. thanks a lot tom.. i was so confuse with my xfx 9800 GTX+ Black Edition card and thermaltake ATX 500W PSU.. now its clear..its working like champ.. thanks again tom.. that's why i love this site..

neon

intel c2d 2.2GHz(oc 2.4GHz)
gegabyte G31
transend 2x1GB DDR2 800
samsung 320GB SATA HDD 16MB + Hitachi 80GB SATA HDD
ASUS DVD writer x 2
XFX 9800GTX+ Black Edition 512MB DDR3
17" CRT Monitor
Thermaltake 500W ATX powersupply

 

[kansur0]

You know what would be really cool? If they had a database strapped to a little component selector so you could select all the components in your system and then it would add it all up and give you 2D idle and 3D full wattage totals.

 

[nukemaster]

you can get a maximum super loaded reading from the eXtreme PSU calc

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp

In my sig there is a link to many video cards power use in idle and 3d. The numbers are off a bit as all psu's have different efficiencies.

 

[Guest]

hmm.. now i know, my 4870cf is actually eats up more power than 3 21" television sets!! (one tv = 70w)

 

[Trulipan]

Great guide, but does it take all things into consideration:
Cards take 75W from the PCIe slot and the rest from 6+6 pin cable on 12V rail (e.g. in case of nvidia GTX260).
Great number of PSU provide certain number (from 2-6) 12V rails of 17-20A, only few of them have one 12V rail with "huge" amount of Ampers on your disposal.
So, eg. in case of 580W PSU with 2 12V rails of 17A you should have on your disposal some 408W (the remaining power goes to -12V, 3.3V and 5V rails)... anyway, that should be enough for GTX260+nVidia MBO (from chapter 4 -> 150W + 232W) and the PSU should work in its "optimal" load.
But does it? I am just theorizing, what is the power distribution in that particular case? How much Amps is already spent on one 12V rail from MBO/CPU or is it distributed to both rails equally?
And if we connect mentioned GPU can it easily overload one of the rails?

I am very much against buying overpowered PSU in any case and would always prefer using the optimal one (minimal offcourse ).

I would like to hear what you guys think about this.