Power Supply Up For The Challenge?

[Niavlys77]

Hey everybody, so I have an Enermax MODU82+ 625w PSU and I'm thinking of going SLI with 2 EVGA GTX260 core 216's. Here's the rest of the stuff in my system:

ASUS Striker II Formula

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400

2x2Gb Mushkin DDR2-1066

3 SATA Western Digital HD's (160Gb, 320Gb, and a 1Tb)

Thermaltake Blue Orb II

HP DVDRW/CDRW IDE Drive

And 3 120mm fans + 1 240mm fan

So my question is, will this PSU be enough for me to go SLI with 2 GTX260's? Thanks in advance.

 

[Sihastru]

Your PSU has 3 +12V rails with 25 amps each. If the red PCIe connectors are distributed in the right way across these rails (and I don't see why they wouldn't be) it will work just fine. The maximum load isn't actually 75A it's 50A. But it's still enough.

If you are afraid that it can't take it, start your system with the fans disconnected (keep the case open) and with just one HDD, and add them gradually, monitoring the voltages in the mean time using any utility your motherboard is compatible with.

I know that integrated sensors in the MB aren't accurate, but what you need to look for is that voltages don't jump around very much during the same session and that they don't drop very much between sessions.

You can have variations for the +12V from 11.8 to 12.3 and that would be just fine. Usually, when overloaded, the 12V would drop far below that.

 

[Rastalovich]

Personally, if I had faith in the Enermax, I'd be happy to give it a go.

If I were going to oc everything, like I know u want to , I'd probably want a bit of an overhead - perhaps 700w or so. Quality psu ofc.

I'm thinking if those were 280s instead of 260s, u'd be very lucky to be stable even b4 oc'ing.

U'r probably right at the point of having enough power, but as I hinted, I'd be a little weary if I was to oc everything and do something like folding when I'm not gaming.

 

[Sihastru]

It's not that much of an OC, and it's just a dual core cpu. He can OC the video cards too, and still remain stable. Anyway he has much more to gain from overclocking the CPU (remove any possible SLI bottleneck) then from overclocking the SLI'ed videocards (10%-15% OC here won't get you anywhere).

Easy thing to do is start a search on google to see what kind of setups people with 625W PSU's are running.

I know a guy with dual 4870X2's in CF, Phenom X4, 8GB of ram, 2 HDD, 1 Optical, the CPU is overclocked and it's running a PC Power&Cooling 750W (the red one ).

I didn't believed it until I saw it with my own eyes. All "experts" told him he needs a ~1KW PSU.

 

[Rastalovich]

Yeah, I don't know of many @home setups that would require a 1kw tbh. Only good thing u can settle on with those can be the great selection of cables that come with them, excusing almost 300w of overhead.

I'm guilty of running a demanding setup on a 500w atm. But if I have to advise someone else, I'd never tell them to get it cos I know if I push mine I don't have that overhead.

I'd still rather he had in the region of 700w of quality on the sli setup he suggests, 650 would be borderline for my advising conscience. That is if he wants to go over stock setting with stuff. If he stays at stock, I'd give the 625 a go.

 

[Niavlys77]

Hmm ok yeah I'll give it a go and see how it works out. If it does run stock and not OC'd then I would be perfectly fine with that really. I just don't want to have to buy another PSU since I bought this one not too long ago and its a very very quiet PSU which is what I love about it. Not to mention its a pretty high quality PSU according to quite a bit of reviews. So anyways thanks for the responses guys, and I'll be back once I try it out and I'll let ya'll know how it goes.

 

[Mul.]

In my opinion, I think it'll power it just fine even with a bit of an overclock. Applying a heavy load on the system for an extended period of time should remove all doubt. The PSU should be up for it and if it fails, you're well within your right to send it back. Enermax's are unlikely to cause any damage to your machine if it does keel over.

 

[Grimreaper123]

It should power that ok, with a bit of overclocking, only problem is there would be no room for upgrades, but its your choice, depending on how often you upgrade it should be fine.

 

[Niavlys77]

Well I got my second GTX 260 and have had it working for about 2 weeks without any problems at all. I don't think I'll be needing another upgrade for a while haha these things run games sooo good. Thanks for the input guys. I'm soo happy it worked.

 

[Lynx]

any way you can tell how much power your pc is usin?

 

[alexhull24]

any way you can tell how much power your pc is usin?

You can use one of those plug in power meters that go between the wall socket and plug from the PSU, though bear in mind you will also have to take into account the PSU efficiency (i.e. ~80% etc). Though, to be honest, if it's close enough that the efficiency matters i'd be looking at replacing the unit for something with more power in case you upgrade something else.

 

[Lynx]

cool hanks might invest in one to see how much leci im using 24/7

 

[Niavlys77]

Yeah I'm kinda interested in knowing my power useage too. I'll see if I can find one of them things. What kinda shops would you find something like that anyways? Home Hardware?

 

[Youngie1337]

You can find them in dare I say it Wilko's, hate that shop from the bottom of my heart lol. I use it for switches and thats about it .

 

[Niavlys77]

Haha I just realised most you guys are in the UK while I'm in Canada, so I guess nvm lol. There's no Wilko's around here so I'm assuming our stores would not be the same.

 

[Youngie1337]

Haha I just realised most you guys are in the UK while I'm in Canada, so I guess nvm lol. There's no Wilko's around here so I'm assuming our stores would not be the same.

Most computer stores or general megastores will surely have them Niavlys.

 

[Niavlys77]

Mmkay thanks Youngie.