What graphics card could I get away with on a full system w/ 450W PSU?

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

And his psu can easily handle 500w, I think he will be a-ok
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
Using your link, what makes you think he has some high end motherboard thats going to use 50W?

If he's doing massive OCing then maybe perhaps he'll need something else. I would like to see a review of a 3.4GHz Q6600 using 170W all by itself. Assuming its a G0 stepping Q6600, it nearly doubled its TDP.
 
Even if the PSU consumes 430/440/450W, it won't be efficient enough to work 24/7, the coils & capacitors will heat up and the PSU will crack.

I didn't think he has a high end bord, can't you read in that table ? Mid range board with graphics 50W

You think i made up the 170W thing, here's the review
http://www.behardware.com/articles/651-2/intel-core-2-quad-q6600.html
With this motherboard we have had more flexibility with FSB and with this processor we reached 9x378 MHz, or 3.4 GHz. The configuration was stable with four Prime 95s for 30 minutes. To reach this frequency we had to increase the voltage to 1.45V in the bios. It’s important to know that with this card and despite the CPU block power supply of 8 phases, there is a strong voltage reduction in practice with the Kentsfield; 1.4V in stand by and falls to 1.35V in use. With this voltage our meter went a little crazy and measured 172 watts in use or 70 watts more than with initial settings. In consequence, it will be difficult to cool the processor silently.
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
Even if the PSU consumes 430/440/450W, it won't be efficient enough to work 24/7

??? PSUs output, not consume. Not sure what you were getting at there.

I didn't think he has a high end bord, can't you read in that table ? Mid range board with graphics 50W

"with graphics" means it has an IGP. If it doesn't have an IGP it will consume less power. This means, according to them, 35W. I haven't seen a 35W board since the days of the NF4. Where you have two separate chips, and they run hot. It's been a long time since I've seen hard numbers, but I'd bet most Intel based P4x board run a lot closer to 15-20W, assuming no IGP.

As for the 170W Q6600, interesting. Even if a 175W CPU and a 200W GPU, you're only at 375W. 75W less then the rated output. 125W less then tested output. You can also OC less to get more power leeway. I'm not sure why you are fighting this so hard. It's a beast of a PSU. Its ok to load it. Nothing should blow up. You are literally loading a Seasonic built PSU.
 
Sorry i meant PC.

Regardless the MOBO power consumption, Are you only thinking of the system as a CPU and a GPU? You forgot RAM, HDDS,ODDS, ADD IN Cards, FANS.

And i'm not fighting, and i said with the beginning of my first post, there's no problem at all but i just indicated a case where the PSU will fall down. The OP won't even try it, but in fact there are some few enthusiasts who might consider it that way.