Radeon 290 really need 750 watt power supply?

[Etherflyer]

I've noticed that that some of the 290s are showing PSU requirements all the way up to 750 watts. 😵 I find this hard to believe since I'm running an OCed 7850 and the 290 I wouldn't think would be more than 120 watts or so more.

Basically I'm looking at doing one last upgrade for my current rig to get me through the next two years before I build a new one and just turn it into a HTPC/console machine.

So anyways here's my current PSU.
http://www.antarespro.com/6003953-item-OCZ-OCZ-ZT650W.aspx
Bronze rated, 650 watt, 54 amp on the 12V, 2 x 6+2-pin PCI-E

Here's the worst power draw 290 I could find (just by requirement section)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202103

Rest of my rig is:
i5 3570k
8 GB DDR3
2 7200 RPM hds
a wireless card
and a DVD rom
and like 4-5 case fans.

Is a Radeon 290 even an option or should I just be looking at the 780 gtx due to power constraints?

Thanks in advance. I'm getting close to buying in a month or two so will be so happy to know what options I really have.

 

[Hjgrove]

You do need a PSU that big as its having to run 3 fans and the r9 290 has a very high frequency for the processor and RAM, meaning that mass heat is produced and more power is needed from the PSU and on top of that you have to run everything else in your system.
Hope this helps!

 

[oczdude8]

You are fine, it would certainly work with your PSU. You have enough amps on 12v. Your system will probably use around 300W in a game.
http://www.techspot.com/review/736-amd-radeon-r9-290/page8.html

 

[Hjgrove]

I totally disagree 300w is an average, not the max its going to use, if it uses more power consumption than the PSU can provide it will overload the system and it will then shutdown...

 

[BlankInsanity]

The reason for various requirments in the R9 290 cards is because of what the third-party companies do with the card, new PCBs could mean better overclockability which in turns relates to higher power requirments, also with the addition of new types of phase powers this could affect the amount of amps/watts the card will pull, let's not forget the fans however this could be neglible.

The Sapphire Vapor-X is a hefty card, with a large phase power and 2x 8-pin connectors needed you should realise that the card is going to release alot of heat. Much like this card, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127754. It's an OC enthusiast cards and most OC enthusiast OC alot which means alot of watts being pulled, the Sapphire Vapor-X is much like.

All in all, if you have a decent silver-gold 650W PSU You can run the card just fine, but if you ask me I like to be +100W than the required for various reasons and when I want to add peripherals to my computer I wouldn't be worried.

 

[chris987]

that gpu has custom PCB and needs 2x6+2pcie power connectors your psu can provide. an 650w with ~ 55A 12v rail psu would be more than enough even for oveclocking. the thing is that your psu exhibited some issues, outputing its rated power as seen at these trusted reviews

jonnyguru - Unit shut down with 43°C intake temperatures, although unit is rated for 45°C continuous operation
hardocp - the unit would only deliver 75% of its rated output without shutting down

i would go easy on that psu with overclocking.

 

[Etherflyer]

Actually don't plan on ocing a 290 unless it was already given to me that way. The extra power draw/heat compared to the percent frames increase just wasn't worth it from what I saw in the reviews(where as with 7000 series were insane not to). Sucks about the 75% on my PSU wish I'd seen that before I bought.

Given that guess I need to be safe and just wait for the Nvidia ones to get done with whatever their lil spike is and maybe go back to AMD for the second revision of pirate islands or something. That or wait for the price differential to get so huge it covers the PSU. Thanks guys! 😀