Power Requirements and Specs For Popular Graphic Cards Guide

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saaiello

saaiello

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Oct 13, 2009
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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A list of PSUs (a bit out of date but most recommendations still apply)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
device_6970_242W_lo_res.png

■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
device-6870_242W.png

■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
14-102-887-TS

■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
43863.png

■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
14-161-336-TS

■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
14-103-084-TS

■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
14-102-885-TS

■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
14-102-879-TS

■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
ATrHD5770_242x193.gif

■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
43862.png

■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
14-150-467-TS

■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
14-150-471-TS

■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.
 
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Your Corsair hx750 is a great power supply and can power just about any dual GPU setup but like I said before we dont know enough about the GTX 480 to be sure if it would. I think it could but you might have some stability issues when you push ths cards. Now to your corsair can produce almost 900 watts in the right conditions as long as its staying cool so it probably could if it was some no name brand no you wouldnt have a chance in hell of running dual GTX 480s and that is why NVIDIA and AMD overstate there power requirements. So your freind is right it has a very good chance of running them but I would feel safer if it was atleast an 850 watt PSU for those cards.

As for the explanation of the 80 plus certifications check out this site.
 
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Need help. Just a tech question... I own a Dell XPS 420 w/ Quad Core Q8200 @2.33Ghz 6gb DDR2 RAM @ 800mhz with a 375 watt PSU. My current video card is crap. I have a ATI Radeon 3450 that I want to upgrade. Only issue is that the Video cards I want to buy all recommend PSU's with over 450 watts. DELL told me I could only upgrade my PSU to 425 watts??? Is this accurate? Would I blow out my motherboard or something if I purchase a higher wattage PSU? I am obivously not the most computer knowledable but I feel confident I can do the upgrade myself. I hope anyone with expert knowledge will provide some sound advise as Dell has been no help what so ever. I have spent hours going round and round. Their tech support rep knew less about computer components and their function than myself. The rep couldn't even answer basic motherboard specs for me so any advise would be helpful. I am hoping to purchase a mid to upper range GPU with the needed PSU to upgrade my system and just want to make sure I buy the best compatible choices. Any help would be so appreciated. Thank you. Nic
 
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Like I said in your original post dell has no clue what they are talking about you can use however big of PSU you want and need. That Dell PSU can handle most cards just fine something like an HD 5770 should be pretty safe on that PSU but if you want you can put any PSU you want in that box it uses a standard ATX power supply so there will be no problems in upgrading it.
 
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this is a good thread, but one thing that u mentioned 5770 as mid range card but actually it closely comes under HIGH END CARDS...... wat do u say, as we all know its the solid card which supports higher resolution games(1920x1080)
 
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That is why I have it at the top of the mid range cards. Its close its a very solid performer but it really does fall into the mid range category for 1 real main reason and thats its price at about $179.99 it is priced as a mid level card.
 
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To leave your self plenty of head room for overclocking and crossfire I would get a 650 watt unit.

I like Corsair power supplies alot they are built so well and really are priced pretty good for the Quality of unit you get.

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
The Corsair 550 watt unit would be able to run it no problem but its only a $5 difference between units so might as well get the 650 watt unit.

Now I am not an expert on crossfire but from what I know is that the differences is that crossfire was the first generation of ATI's dual GPUs setups and they had to be the same model of cards to run (eg. 3850 3850) and you had to use a Y connector on the DVI dongle to connect the cards. CrossfireX was the second generation of their multiple GPU setup which allowed to use more then 2 cards and they also incorporated the straps to connect the cards internally. CrossfireX also allows you to use different models of cards together (eg. 4870x2 4850).

There may be a little more to this but thats as much as I know I have always used Nvidia cards for all my setups and know more about SLI so hope this helps a little I am sure if you google it you will find tons of info on it that could maybe explain it better.
 
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I still use a 9800 GTX it still fits my needs fine. When I do upgrade my system I will probably go for an ATI card. I also want to see what else Nvidia is coming out with but if their new line up doesn't show some real performance I will get an HD5870 but I am waiting since its a little out of my reach at the moment.
 
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You have to understand who you are talking too. You are talking to someone who will only take you down a line of reasoning that will sell you more Dell stuff. That is what they are paid to do. The reason they say 425 watts is the max, is because that is the largest PSU Dell offers for your system. If you want to do more on your own, then you are on your own! There are more important things however, much more important, than total wattage. That is why I asked SAAIELLO to list these numbers as well if you are going to all the trouble to a comprehensive power requirement listing. When a card manufacturer says "You need 450 watts", that is a way generalized statement that takes into consideration there are many cheap made PSU's out there. What is most important when considering a video card is number of amps the 12 volt rails can push in your PSU. In other words, a well made 375 watt PSU can actually be a better stronger unit than a 550 watt rated cheap unit. Now, having said all that, Dell uses very good PSU's. Very good. Your 375 watt PSU should run most mid range modern ATI cards just fine.
 
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you guys say most of ocz psu are junk and there are some good ones, which leads to my question: is the OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Power Supply of any exception? it comes down to my budget ($80) and provides 25amps for the 5770 that i'll be using soon.

many thanks.
 
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That is one of OCZ better PSU's but for around $80 there are better PSU's to be had Antec and Corsair both have a few. If you are just running 1 5770 then all you need is a 450 watt PSU.

Corsair 550 watt 74.99 after $10.00 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003

This will be more then you need but will leave you with plenty of head room for upgrade. Also is a much more higher quality then the OCZ.

I have noticed that the OCZ model you listed goes for about $50 after mail in rebate so if you get it for that its not that bad of a deal but if you are paying $80 go with the Corsair.
 
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^ I bought an OCZ psu and am running on 2x5770s in crossfire, do you recommend that I change my psu? It's such a waste though, It's still new(only a month old)
I got the one mentioned above which is the OCZ 600W ModxStream pro which has two 12V rails@25A each. Is it really that crappy? I should have done my homework first >_<
 
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No reason to change it the ModXstream PSU's are the better OCZ's unit I would just leave it alone. It wouldn't be the first PSU I would pick but it has plenty of power for your 2 5770's
 
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A quality 650 watt unit like a Corsair, SeaSonic, or Antec will be more then plenty to run 2 5850's and will still leave you room to overclock. For a Single card a good 500 or 550 watt unit would be enough. Since you think you might want to crossfire get the 650 watt unit but please I cant stress this enough get a good quality unit the brands I listed are great companies and have great support too.
 
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