Need some PSU help

[Eeka]

Hello all... New to the Forums, and would like to ask you all a question, or better yet, for some help.

Im not a Overclocker, and dont really mod anything just so you know.

I tried getting some help with this on the Nvidia Forum, but Im starting to think no one posts over there.

I have a xfx 8800gt Alpha Dog Extreme Edition, and I just purchased a new Antec 550W Neopower PSU because my old antec was starving the gfx card from the Amps it wanted, causing it to auto Underclock itself.

The new PSU I bought has 3 +12V rails at 18A a piece. I never really had to worry about PSU's before the 8Series Cards decided they want a TON of Ampage to run correctly, so I am pretty new to PSU's, and their Detailed setup.

Doing some reading around, I came across a few places referring to Balancing a Multi Railed PSU, but did not go into detail on the correct way to do this.

So my question is, how do I correctly Balance the Rails? I have tried looking through all the documentation for the PSU I bought, and suprise suprise, nothing is mentioned about what cables are drawing from which Rails.

Some help with this would be greatly appreciated by a newb to detailed PSU setup.

 

[Eeka]

Anyone? Basicly what I am wondering, is do I have to use the Adapter that came with the card (2x 4pin to 1x 6pin PCI-E) in order to pull from 2 12V Rails to get the 24A that the 8800gt Wants? If so, How do I find out which ouputs are pulling from which Rails?

For reference my power supply is this right here

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews.php?/power_supply/antec_neohe_modular_550w_psu/1

Although it was in a Diff Box LOL this is the Same PSU

 

[JN]

What's the rest of your hardware setup?

If you're only running one graphics card then there's no need to 'balance your rails'. Your PSU's output will be split between GPU, Motherboard, CPU and Hard disks.

 

[Eeka]

What's the rest of your hardware setup?

If you're only running one graphics card then there's no need to 'balance your rails'. Your PSU's output will be split between GPU, Motherboard, CPU and Hard disks.

Thanks you Much for the Info. I set it all up, and it seems to run Fine.

I Overclocked my 8800gt just a tad.

Original was 640/950

OC is 680/1000

Im actually amazed how well it is holding up. I kept hearing about how Hot these cards run, but mine idles at 50-51, and I just played Crysis for about 45 mins, and it spiked at first to about 66, then cooled back down, and held at around 56-58. Its a xfx 8800gt Alpha Dog Extreme Edition. I never seen a card, or noticed how it did that. Going up to about 66 then after a few mins, dropping down to 56-58 and holding steady.

What you all think? Did I get lucky with a good card, or do you think Rivatuner not reading my temps right? I didnt see any glitches, like artifacts or what not

 

[JN]

Nah that sounds about right. IIRC your card is a G92 model, so its based around a 65nm manufacturing process and should run a bit cooler than the older 8800 cards.

 

[Eeka]

Nah that sounds about right. IIRC your card is a G92 model, so its based around a 65nm manufacturing process and should run a bit cooler than the older 8800 cards.

Sounds good

I dont think I will need to really overclock this card for awhile anyways. Im pretty pleased with it now. The new PSU seemed to help, I am getting better performance under Demanding Games like Crysis. I.E. like 5+ FPS, which IMO is not bad for Crysis LOL.

I really appreciate the Reply. I dont plan on going SLI, cause I live on a College budget, and will be on one for a couple more years, so I think my Setup should do me JUST fine for quite some time