Is 525w enough for i7 overclocked to 4GHz and dual xfire 5770\'s?

[samhfoley]

Have enermax 525w and am now running stable 4.02 GHz, but am looking to add two crossfire 5770 graphics cards. Will I have enough power?

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Probably not.

Here are the official ATI recommended power supply requirements for the ATI Radeon HD 5770 and 5750 video cards that just became available:


450 Watt or greater power supply with one 75 watt, 6-pin PCI Express® power connector recommended

600 Watt or greater power supply with two 75 wat,t 6-pin PCI Express® power connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode recommended.

The recommendations are for an entire pc system..

 

[samhfoley]

So what would be my best choices if I wanted to step up to a 650 or 750W power supply?

 

[JohnnyLucky]

If price is not an issue, then two new Seasonic Gold Certified power supplies:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010090058+50001697+1409743843+1297819680&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&Subcategory=58&description=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

650 watt technical reviews:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=169

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Seasonic_X650

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/837

750 watt technical reviews:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/09/25/seasonic_x_series_x750_power_supply_review/

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2470

 

[kbits]

A bit cheaper than Seasonic, and also very good.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012&Tpk=650hx

 

[JohnnyLucky]

^5 +1 what zipzoomflyhigh and kbits said.

I've been using Corsair exclusively in builds for myself and others. When I read the first technical reviews of the new Seasonic models I decided to try one.

Those high quality Corsair power supplies are definitely a lot cheaper than the brand new Seasonic psu's. I often recommend Corsair over other brands. They consistently earn high marks in technical reviews. They are stable, reliable, and come with a 5 year warranty.

 

[D_ii_4_I3_L_o]

Here is when I come in with some question about the ATi reccomendations from their website.

I'm currently looking for a PSU myself, for my new GC that I hope to get very soon. But i'm still thinking if I should CF my newly incoming Sapphire Vapor-X HD 5870 later on when it drop 25-50% for its price. So now i'm recommended a 550W for the single card and from having people help me and from some experiance, i'm guessing I would have to go with an 750-850W PSU to go in CF mode. But ever since I looked into your ATi recommendation list Johnny, I'd realized that they made their recommendations a bit harsh & high for single carded 5870's 5770's & 5850's

Here an example http://ati.amd.com/products/certified/powersupplies.html#pstop

 

[JohnnyLucky]

The ATI power requirements that I list are direct from ATI.

Here is what I post for the ATI Radeon HD 5870:

ATI Radeon™ HD5870 System Requirements:

PCI Express® based PC is required with one X16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard.

500 Watt or greater power supply with two, 75 watt, 6-pin, PCI Express® power connectors.

600 Watt or greater power supply with four, 75 watt, 6-pin, PCI Express® connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode.

The power supply recommendations are for an entire pc system.


Here is the complete information over at ATI:

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-5000/hd-5870/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-5870-system-requirements.aspx

The power requirements are the same. Please remember they are recommendations.

The list you linked to is different. It refers to "certified single card" power supplies. That means ATI has actually tested the power supplies and certified they worked with a single video card listed. I couldn't help but notice the list is not complete. The ATI Radeon HD 5770, 5750, and 5970 cards are missing. That tells me the list is not up to date. In addition some of the Corsair power supplies are missing. There are additional high quality power supplies that are quite capable of powering the cards that are missing. I do not know if ATI did or did not test other psu's. That can happen.

You'll also notice that some of the psu's listed are more than capable of powering a system with mutiple video cards in Crossfire mode. A good example would be the Corsair HX1000. It is quite capable of supplying power to an overclocked system with three ATI HD Radeon video cards but that is not mentioned in the list. The list represents psu's that were only tested with a single video card.

If you look at advertising you'll see phrases like "Crossfire Certified" and "Crossfire Ready". The first refers to power supplies that were actually tested and certified by ATI. The second phrase refers to a manufacturers claim that a psu can power mutiple video cards. The same goes for Nvidia - "SLI certified" and "SLI ready".

That's not necessarily a reason to purchase "certified" psu's only. Video card manufacturers only test a handful of psu's. They simply can't test every single psu that is available. It works the same way with motherboards and memory. The motherboard manufacturers only test a handful of the memory modules for compatibility.

I have found that technical reviews are an excellent way to sort things out.

 

[D_ii_4_I3_L_o]

Well played, I noticed that they didn't mention those specific 5xxx series cards. Your post was well structed and helpful for K/A

 

[samhfoley]

I opted for this one to err on the side of caution..... CORSAIR CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power ... - Retail

 

[samhfoley]

Best answer selected by samhfoley.