Power Requirements and Specs For Popular Graphic Cards Guide

[saaiello]

This is a reference to help guide you in the right direction for a power supply based on you graphics card.

Tom's did a really good review sometime back on Graphic's cards and Total System power consumption its a little old but still a good read.
Tom's Hardware Power Usage Review

Power Supplies
Guide to buying PSUs
A list of PSUs (a bit out of date but most recommendations still apply)

■Suggested Brands
Corsair, Antec, SilverStone, Seasonic, and OCZ. Read the reveiws for the OCZ's some arent as good as others so be careful when choosing a power supply.

■350 watt This will be enough for any processor and an entry level GPU

■400 watt This will be enough for any processor with a low to mid range GPU

■500 watt This will be enough for any processor and just about any mid range GPU

■550 to 650 watt This will be more then enough to run just about any single GPU, except for the HD 5970,HD 4870 x2, GTX 480, and GTX 295.

For Dual GPU setups add another 75 to 100 watts for low to mid range GPUS for the upper midrange to the high end add a 150 watts on average per GPU. See my list for more info on some popular GPUs and what I suggest for them.

To figure out how many amps you need on the 12 volt rail use this formula (watts / 12 = amps) so if the card requires 650 watts simply divide 650 by 12. This formula only works for 12 volt for different voltages there are different dividers.
■650/12=54.16 so if it requires 650 watt PSU it will need 54 amps on the 12 volt rail, for PSU with multiple 12 volt rails you will need to find the max combined output for it. Now this number may be a bit higher then it actually needs but it will give you a rough estimate since AMD and Nvidia dont give the amperage requirements for all their cards.

High End ATI Cards

Radeon HD 6970

Core Engine Clock: 880 MHz
Stream Processors: 1536
Memory Size: 2GB GDDR5
Memory Clock: 1375 MHz
Interface: 256-bit
Max Power Consumption: 287 Watts
Average Consumption: 157 Watts
Idle: 22 Watts

■A 550 Watt unit with one 8 pin PCI-E connector is recommended. Power supply should have at the very least 38 Amps on the 12 volt rails combined.
■For Crossfire I would recommend getting a 750 watt unit with a minimum of 56 Amps combined on the 12 volt rail.

Radeon HD 6870

Core Engine Clock: 900 MHz
Stream Processors: 1120
Memory Size: 1GB GDDR5
Memory Clock: 1050 MHz
Max Power Consumption: 163 Watts
Average Consumption: 108 Watts
Idle: 17 Watts

■A 500 Watt unit with two 6-pin PCI Express® power connectors is recommended.
■For Crossfire I would recommend nothing less than 600 watts.


Radeon HD 5970 (Hemlock) 2GB 512 (256 x 2)-bit GDDR5

Core Clock: 2x725 MHz
Stream Processors: 3200 (1600 x 2)
Effective Memory clock: 4000 MHz
Power consumption on Idle: 51 watts
Power consumption full load: 300+watts

■This is a sick graphics card will give great performance for years to come will need at least 650 watt PSU with one 6 pin PCI Express connector and 2 150 watt 8 pin connectors but this will definitely test any 650 watt PSU to its max. If you plan on overclocking it I would recommend a 750 watt PSU to allow some head room. 850 watt PSU is recommended for crossfire but I would suggest going with a 1000watt PSU for this beast to allow for overclocking.
■ Recommended 54 Amps on the 12 volt rail for a single card and 70 Amps for Crossfire.

Radeon HD 4870x2 2GB 512-bit(256-bitx2) GDDR5 N/A not manufactured anymore

Core Clock: 750mhz x2
Stream Processors: 3200(1600x2)
Effective Memory Clock: 3600Mhz
Power Consumption at Idle: 49 watts
Power Consumption at Full Load: 300+watts

■Recommended is a 650 watt PSU with one 6 pin PCI Express connector and one 8pin connector. 1000 watt PSU with two 6 pin and two 8 pin connectors is recommended for crossfire.
■Recommended 54 Amps on the 12 volt rail for single card and 70 Amps for Crossfire.

Radeon HD 5870 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 Eyefinity 6 Edition

Core Clock: 850MHz
Stream Processors: 1600
Effective Memory Clock: 4800 MHz
Power consumption on Idle: 34watts
Power consumption at full load: 228watts

■600 Watt or greater power supply is recommended with one 75W 6-pin and one 150W 8-pin PCI Express power connector required 900 Watt and 2 6-pin and 2 8-pin connectors for CrossFireX
■Recommended 50 Amps pn 12 volt rail for single card 75 Amps for crossfire.

Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 $399.99 to $499.99

Core Clock: 850MHz
Stream Processors: 1600
Effective Memory Clock: 4800 MHz
Power consumption on Idle: 27 watts
Power consumption at full load: 190 watts

■Recommended is a 500 watt PSU with two 6 pin 75watt PCI Express connectors. If you plan to crossfire you will need a 750 watt PSU.
■Recommended 42 Amps on the 12 volt rail for single card and 63 Amps for Crossfire.

Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit DDR5 $299.99 to $369.99

Core Clock: 725 MHz
Stream Processors: 1440
Effective Memory Clock: 4000mhz
Power Consumption on Idle: 27 watts
Power Consumption on Full Load: 150 watts

■Recommended is a 500watt PSU with two 75 watt 6 pin PCI express connectors. 600 watt PSU with four 6 pin connectors to run crossfire is recommended but I suggest a 650 watt for some head room.
■Recommended 36 Amps on the 12 volt rail for single card and 50 Amps for Crossfire.

Radeon HD 5830 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 $229.99 to $279.99

Core Clock: 800 MHz
Stream Processors: 1120
Effective Memory Clock: 4000 MHz
Power Consumption at Idle: 25 watts
Power Consumption at Full Load: 175 watts

■Recommended is a 500 watt PSU with two 75 watt PCI Express connectors. 600watt with four 6 pin connectors is recommended to run crossfire I would suggest 650 watt for some head room.
■Recommended 36 Amps on the 12 volt rail for single card and 50 Amps for Crossfire.

For all the above Cards you should have atleast 40 amps on the 12 volt rail.

Mid Range ATI Cards

Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 $134.99 to $179.99

Core Clock: 850 MHz
Stream Processors: 800
Effective Memory Clock: 4800 MHz
Power Consumption at Idle: 18 watts
Power Consumption at Full Load: 108 watts

■Recommended is a 450 watt PSU with one 75 watt 6 pin PCI Express connector, but could be run on a quality 400 watt PSU. 600 watt with two 6 pin connectors will be needed for crossfire.
■Recommended 37 Amps on 12 volt rail for single card and 50 Amps for crossfire. This card can run on lesser this is just recommended and will be able to run with at least 30 Amps on 12 volt rail.

Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 $97.99 to $129.99

Core Clock: 625mhz
Stream Processors: 800
Effective Memory Clock: 1900mhz
Power Consumption at Idle: 58 watts
Power Consumption at Full Load: 187 watts

■Recommended is a 450 watt PSU with one 75 watt PCI Express connector. A 550 watt PSU is recommended for crossfire I suggest 600 watt for some head room.
■Recommended 36 Amps on 12 volt rail for single card and 46 Amps for Crossfire. This card can run on lesser this is just recommended and will be able to run with at least 30 Amps on 12 volt rail.

Entry Level Gaming cards

Radeon HD 5670 (Redwood) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 $79.99 to $129.99

Core Clock: 775mhz
Stream Processors: 400
Effective Memory Clock: 4000 MHz
Power Consumption at Idle: 15 watts
Power Consumption at Full Load: 64 watts

■Recommended is a 400 watt PSU to run this card no 6 pin connectors required this card. You will have no problems running on a 300 to 350watt PSU. 500 watt PSU is reccommended to crossfire this card you could get away with using 450 watt no problem.
■Recommended 30 Amps on the 12 volt rail for single card and 41 Amps for crossfire but this card will run on units with as little as 25 Amps on 12 volt rail.

Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 $62.99 to $122.99

Core Clock: 600mhz - 750mhz
Stream Processors: 320
Effective Memory Clock:1600mhz
Power Consumption at Idle: 14 watts
Power Consumption at Full Load: 64 watts
■It is recommended to have a 400 watt PSU but you will be able to run this with a 350 watt PSU no problem on most systems and 300 watt if its a good PSU. The 4670 does not require any additional power connectors. For Crossfire 550 watt is recommended but you will have no problem running this on 400 to 450 watt PSU.
■Recommended 30 Amps on the 12 volt rail for single card and 41 Amps for crossfire but this card will run on units with as little as 25 Amps on 12 volt rail.

For all the above Cards you should have atleast 30 amps on the 12 volt rail.

Low Powered Cards

Radeon HD 5450 (cedar) 1GB 64-bit DDR3 & 512MB DDR2 Low Profile $42.99 to $69.99

Core Clock: 650mhz
Stream Processors: 80
Effective Memory Clock: DDR2 800mhz DDR3 1600mhz
Power Consumption at Idle: 6.4 watts
Power Consumption at Full Load: 19.1 watts

■They suggest 400 watt PSU but I have no doubts that you can run this with a 300 to watt PSU no 6 pin connector needed. No crossfire for this card.

Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit DDR2 Low Profile card $39.99 to $124.99

Core Clock: 600 MHz
Stream Processors: 80
Effective Memory Clock: 1600 MHz
Power Consumption at Idle: 5 watts
Power consumption at Full Load: 25 watts
■300 watt PSU will be more than enough for this card. 350 watt for crossfire. The more expensive ones for this model are the ones that support crossfire.

Note: Radeon HD 4550's are the same as the 4350's just with 1GB memory instead of 512MB Power draw is Identical between the two. They would make great low powered HTPC video cards.

 

[tzagasdog]

or maybe this one?
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?S=1207&ID=1502

 

[shovenose]

the 700w has slightly better quality-and is 80plus silver cert so it has very high efficciency so less heat so less noise..
however, thermaltake psus arent as good as corsair, antec, seasonic, and stuff like that...
However, i think it would be able to power 2 5770s.

 

[tzagasdog]

yes I know but I have a discount for thermaltaki psu so thats why Im stuck with them

 

[shovenose]

well, i just took a look at jonnyguru.com and it seems that some models of thermaltake are very good (i read one got 9.5 out of 10), and some suck. however, i would say that, on average, they are improving. i would recommend the 700w thermaltake, becasuse, as i said b4, it has much higher efficiency.

 

[tzagasdog]

which one would be better a 65Amps 700W 2rail (80+ silver) psu or a 750Watt 4 rail but 60Amp (80plus) psu, both are thermaltakes psu's.

 

[shovenose]

the 1st one

 

[saaiello]

which one would be better a 65Amps 700W 2rail (80+ silver) psu or a 750Watt 4 rail but 60Amp (80plus) psu, both are thermaltakes psu's.

Yes the first choice with the 80+ silver cert would be the best choice.

 

[Ubrales]

When I say The Recommended is that is what the AMD and NVIDA website suggest then I write my suggestion. You have anything else you think I should include in this?

Excellent compilation! Hats off to you for your time and effort in creating something like this!

 

[randomizer]

This topic has been desticky in top of the forum by Randomizer

Added link to here from master sticky

 

[BorNej]

What do you think of the Ultra X4 1200w modular with lifetime warranty if registered ??? I have a Coolmax 950 green power and have now read after the fact that they Really Stink!!(but so far haven't had problems) I now want to upgrade to something Good before I have issues.

 

[saaiello]

What do you think of the Ultra X4 1200w modular with lifetime warranty if registered ??? I have a Coolmax 950 green power and have now read after the fact that they Really Stink!!(but so far haven't had problems) I now want to upgrade to something Good before I have issues.

I have heard the Ultra PSU'a are pretty reliable, but my problem is that they under powered power on their 12 volt rails compared to other units at the same price point from Corsair or Antec.

 

[BorNej]

Can you suggest a 1200w fully modular for the same price as the Ultra X4 $249.00? If your asking ,Why 1200w I want plenty of head room to power anything I put in my box.

 

[saaiello]

Can you suggest a 1200w fully modular for the same price as the Ultra X4 $249.00? If your asking ,Why 1200w I want plenty of head room to power anything I put in my box.

1200 watts is an absurd amount of power, but if I were to get a unit that big I would go with the Antec TPQ-1200. This unit has 100 amps on the 12 volt rail compared to the 85 amps of the Ultra also the Ultra X-4 gets very bad reviews and is very expensive for what it is.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371032

Review

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=174

 

[BorNej]

Yeah I saw that review. I may go with the corsair AX1200 great reviews on Jonny guru.com. but a little pricey at $370

 

[prljamm1]

I have a Dell Dimension E521 with an AMD-64 Dual Core. My current power supply is 305W, and was wondering how high can I upgrade the CPU with my current configuration? Thanks in advance!

 

[infernox_01]

which graphics card would you suggest to go with this power supply?

ill be using a dual core e4500 @ 2.2ghz with 3gb ddr2 ram at 1280x1024.

 

[saaiello]

which graphics card would you suggest to go with this power supply?

ill be using a dual core e4500 @ 2.2ghz with 3gb ddr2 ram at 1280x1024.

An HD 5770 would fit perfectly in your system and would match well with your processor.

 

[jomelsontanco]

I have an acbel ipower 660 that powers an i7 and 5870, my comp built it for me and i've been using it for two months now. I heard that the ipower sucks, still is it okay for me to use it? I don't think the comp shop accept replacements after one week of purchase.

 

[nephrahim]

I'm curious about the Ampage requirements that are listed under the cards. Is that how much the CARD needs, or you need on the 12v for the entire system?

I've got a (Relatively) old TP3-430 that has 3 rails, at at 16 amps (IE, +12V1@16A,+12V2@16A,+12V3@16A) While most of these cards, even the lower-mid range ones, have requirements like 25-30 amps. Do I need a PSU that has 30 amps on a single rail to run a card you're suggesting requires it?

 

[amirp]

i have an lsp550 watt ultra power supply, with 360 watt output on the 12v rail so it only has 30 amp. Currently i run a Q6600 at 3.0ghz and a 4850 with no problems at all. I was wondering if I would be able to run a 5850 with this power supply, i hear it is a pretty low power card. Is 30 amp too risky to even try?

thanks for your time

 

[saaiello]

i have an lsp550 watt ultra power supply, with 360 watt output on the 12v rail so it only has 30 amp. Currently i run a Q6600 at 3.0ghz and a 4850 with no problems at all. I was wondering if I would be able to run a 5850 with this power supply, i hear it is a pretty low power card. Is 30 amp too risky to even try?

thanks for your time

30 amps is cutting way too close the 5850 will peak out at 36 amps so 30 amps will most likely cause some bad instabilities.

 

[amirp]

EDIT for reference to this post i have this power supply: ULTRA LSP550 watt with 30amps on one 12v rail

thanks, but one more question,
looking at the above charts the 4850 and 5850 are identical in their maximum power usage (both at ~150watts) why is it that the 4850 can run on a 30A but the 5850 cannot? Can I also ask where you are obtaining this information from I cannot find it on the ATI website.
Also using this website: http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp with my system as it is currently configured with a 5850 (if i buy one) i need a recommended 350 watts, (which is still probably a little much)
and applying the formula to this: current (amps) = power (watts) / voltage (volts), wouldnt I need 350/12 = 29.2 amps of power? I am just confused how you obtain such higher values.
Thanks in advance

EDIT: checking with other sites like anandtech and the charts here on Toms the 4850 and 5850 end up with the same system power under load. So still I am confused as to why the 5850 requires a higher amperage?

 

[infernox_01]

.....I seem to have made a mistake with which power supplies are compatible with my system. same system specs (dual core e4500 @ 2.2ghz with 3gb ddr2 ram at 1280x1024. ) but I'm going to have to make do with this power supply.

 

[saaiello]

EDIT for reference to this post i have this power supply: ULTRA LSP550 watt with 30amps on one 12v rail

thanks, but one more question,
looking at the above charts the 4850 and 5850 are identical in their maximum power usage (both at ~150watts) why is it that the 4850 can run on a 30A but the 5850 cannot? Can I also ask where you are obtaining this information from I cannot find it on the ATI website.
Also using this website: http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp with my system as it is currently configured with a 5850 (if i buy one) i need a recommended 350 watts, (which is still probably a little much)
and applying the formula to this: current (amps) = power (watts) / voltage (volts), wouldnt I need 350/12 = 29.2 amps of power? I am just confused how you obtain such higher values.
Thanks in advance

EDIT: checking with other sites like anandtech and the charts here on Toms the 4850 and 5850 end up with the same system power under load. So still I am confused as to why the 5850 requires a higher amperage?

All the power recommendations are from AMD.com and they suggest a 450 watt unit for the 4850 and a 500 watt unit for the 5850 why this is when it looks like the 4850 is more power hungry I have no clue.

 

[amirp]

alright im probably going to try and run it on my 30amp 550watt power supply and hope for the best, if it doesnt have enough power it wont kill my system will it?