XFX 6800 Ultra on a 300W PSU?

[BustaRomeo]

Got my XFX 6800 Ultra yesterday! I'm so happy. Anyway I want to know why NVidia are freaking out about this cards power requirements, cuz they say it must be either a 350, 450, or 480W PSU (different sources, all lead to NVidia, though :confused: ) Anyway I'm running my card on a 300W Freetech power supply and it's doing fine, so I just want to know why they make such a big thing out of it? Are they just trying to make you spend more money on a potent PSU on top of the money you just spent on the card?

Needless to say, I'm don't feel entirely safe running it this way, but due to unforseen circumstances (lol) I had to end up using it instead of a 480W PSU which my dad must use so he can power his SATA hard drive. Will I be ok? If I get a new PSU will I see any increase in performance? I'm upgrading my computer very slowly so maybe I'll save up, get a 400W Zalman PSU, and get that out of the way. :) What do you guys think I should do?

[Tin]

your video card needs that 480W way more than that SATA drive does. if that 300W doesnt have the SATA power connector, you can always buy an adaptor.

[kingoftowns]

the 6800 ultras are power hungry, it may burn out your psu, they set power requirements for a reason, better to spend the 100 bucks or so on a good psu then to have a weak one short out or something and fry everything in your pc, its not likely but stranger things have happened

[Nav]

I would highly recommend at least a 450w antec or enermax psu. After spending that much on hardware, you dont want to buy another system just because you pinched pennies on the supply. trust me i learned the hard way:)

[BustaRomeo]

OK so I'm not being very clever. So which power supply should I go for? I'd like it to be a very quiet one, my computer is noisy enough already (the graphics card is so noisy!)

[BustaRomeo]

Forgot to ask; in the meantime while I wait for a better PSU should I use just one instead of two power connectors for the graphics card? Apparently that would make the memory run at 550MHz instead of 1.1GHz, which I guess would be much safer? Shouldn't have rushed into buying this thing!

[Ob1]

pc power and cooling PSU. might cost a liitle more then others but you will get a quiet PSU
http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=S47ATX

[Nav]

I'll be getting this for my new rig:
http://www.enermax.com.tw/products_page.php?Tid=1&gon=263&Gid=18&Gid2=45
Im getting it at www.canadacomputers.com for $93CDN. Not bad for a 535w sli ready psu from a reputable brand. It may be expensive in your area though. I'll try my best to keep you updated. Till then, cheers

[Hi Ho]

You don't have to spend a lot to get a good quiet PSU. The XClio 450w (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817189003) would work fine and from what I hear it is nice and quiet. There is also the Thermaltake TR2 430w (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153023).

EDIT: I see you're in South Africa. Newegg won't work there.

[casey]

Got my XFX 6800 Ultra yesterday! I'm so happy. Anyway I want to know why NVidia are freaking out about this cards power requirements, cuz they say it must be either a 350, 450, or 480W PSU (different sources, all lead to NVidia, though :confused: ) Anyway I'm running my card on a 300W Freetech power supply and it's doing fine, so I just want to know why they make such a big thing out of it? Are they just trying to make you spend more money on a potent PSU on top of the money you just spent on the card?

Needless to say, I'm don't feel entirely safe running it this way, but due to unforseen circumstances (lol) I had to end up using it instead of a 480W PSU which my dad must use so he can power his SATA hard drive. Will I be ok? If I get a new PSU will I see any increase in performance? I'm upgrading my computer very slowly so maybe I'll save up, get a 400W Zalman PSU, and get that out of the way. :) What do you guys think I should do?

The following Power supplies are available locally:
Antec
Thermaltake
Vantec
Aopen
Coolermaster
Zalman
& other
If you want to mail me I can direct you to a sales outlet closest to you.
Your 300 watt is a BOMB waiting to go off.

[BustaRomeo]

OK well most of the power supplies you guys suggest aren't available here in South Africa; casey has given you a list of all the PSU's I can get. As you well know, I'll need a PSU with a LOT of power cables (the graphics card alone wants 2 dedicated power cables, no sharing of the cables). Also, if possible, could it have power cables for SATA drives? I should be getting a new hard-drive in the near future.

I'm asking again; what do you guys think of the Zalman 400W? I know it's extremely quiet, and it perfroms very well under load. The question is whether a good 400W is enough?

[glc]

A good 400w should be fine, compare the amps on the 5 and 12 volt rails for a more meaningful idea of load capacity. The 6 brands that Casey posted are all decent.

You can easily get splitters and SATA adapters, don't sweat the connectors. Some SATA drives still have the legacy Molex connector too.

[casey]

OK well most of the power supplies you guys suggest aren't available here in South Africa; casey has given you a list of all the PSU's I can get. As you well know, I'll need a PSU with a LOT of power cables (the graphics card alone wants 2 dedicated power cables, no sharing of the cables). Also, if possible, could it have power cables for SATA drives? I should be getting a new hard-drive in the near future.

I'm asking again; what do you guys think of the Zalman 400W? I know it's extremely quiet, and it perfroms very well under load. The question is whether a good 400W is enough?

I am in Cape Town.
The Antec is the Best of those listed.
What is your system specs ?
Will check tomorrow for a retailer in JHB.

Antec True Power 2 430 watt = R 765 PCI Express
Antec True Power 2 480 watt = R 865 PCI Express
Antec True Power 2 550 watt = R1175 PCI Express

Antec True 430 430 watt = R 685

Antec Smart Power 2 400 watt = R 650 PCI Express
Antec Smart Power 2 450 watt = R 750 PCI Express
Antec Smart Power 2 500 watt = R 975 PCI Express

Antec Smart Power 400 watt = R 535
Antec Smart Power 450 watt = R 635

All have a 3 year warranty.
Prices are as on 4 August 2005

[casey]

Zalman 400 watt R 810
Vantec 420 watt R 810
Vantec 520 watt R1,785

[casey]

for those interested:
1x US$ = R6.50

[BustaRomeo]

compare the amps on the 5 and 12 volt rails for a more meaningful idea of load capacity

What do you mean? I see tables that say something about Vout, Imin, Imax, Ipeak and Combined Power. The higher the better?

[flanzig1]

Vout= volts
I=amps
Combined Power=number of Watts that the PSU can supply from all the different voltages.

[casey]

Read this.
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

[BustaRomeo]

Read this.
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/
LOL, I actually looked at that power supply calculator earlier today. It comes to exactly 300 watts. :p Go figure.

Forgot to ask; in the meantime while I wait for a better PSU should I use just one instead of two power connectors for the graphics card? Apparently that would make the memory run at 550MHz instead of 1.1GHz, which I guess would be much safer?
Well?

[Nav]

if preformance is noticable(probly is) then use one connector. But if your a stickler for preformance, then two would be the way to go. But i would use one connector until you get a new psu.

[RazorDX]

AMD recommended at least 300Watts for their Athlon XP series CPUs... I ignored them and ran it on a 160Watt budget power supply. It actually ran well for about 2 years, but after going to a 450Watt power supply (the old one died, go figure), I realized there was quite a performance increase. That can really bottleneck your AGP card and CPU like that, and I don't know about you but I wouldn't pay 200-250 for a card and have it run like a 100 dollar budget card. I'd go ahead and order a decent 450Watt power supply (try the ever popular Xclio, they make antec's parts). It's only 50 bucks, and it's well spent when you consider that you are gambling all the internal components of your computer. The Xclio I mentioned is the cheapest decent PSU with dual 12V rails.

[BustaRomeo]

PSU with dual 12V rails.I take it that's important? We don't get XClio here in South Africa.
The following Power supplies are available locally:
Antec
Thermaltake
Vantec
Aopen
Coolermaster
ZalmanThose are the only PSU's we get here, please refer to this list!

Most of you are saying 400+ or 450W PSU's, so I guess it'll be 450W. I think I'll go with either Antec or Thermaltake, which of them is best? Again, I need one that's as quiet as possible. And preferably with a low price :) Although I guess that's how I got in this mess :D Your pick!

[glc]

If your motherboard has a 20 pin ATX connector, do not get a 2.0 power supply. Those are all 24 pin. No need for dual +12v in this case, just look for the best +5 and +12 volt amps you can find in a quality brand.

This one should do fine:

Antec Smart Power 450 watt = R 635

[BustaRomeo]

OK I finally got the Antec TrueBlue 2.0 480W power supply at a gaming expo that was held this past weekend. I'm sure it'll do just fine :D