What kind of a power supply do I need for 2 R9 270X?

Steffen Meyer

New member
Hello!
I want to build a second R9 270X in my system but I'm not sure if the 500W PSU that I have now is enough to manage all the stuff that I have in my system.
Some friends told me that I need at least 800W, some said 750 or 600 and some said that my 500W PSU is enough. So I thought I better ask some people who know what they are saying

Here is my system:

Intel Core i5 4570 @ 3.20GHz

8,00GB Dual Channel DDR3 @ 799MHz

ASRock B85 Pro4

1 TB HDD 7200 rpm ( maybe also a SSD in the future)

R9 270 X 2GB @ 1070 MHz

be quiet! System Power 7 500W

I let the CPU, RAM and GPU run at 100% at the same time and I had a power draw of 250 watts. I guess just from the numbers the 500W PSU should handle a second R9 270X but I want to make sure before nuking my computer :D

I would really appreciate if someone here could help me!
 
your psu chould handle it but it would be at its upper limit I guess
second why 2x 270x? the microstutter will kill you
 
Well it's a good quality PSU so I reckon it'll be fine as the system will probably draw 400 Watts max, and that's when running everything at 100% which, let's be honest never happens in real life situations.

I agree with TPC though, I'd get rid of the first 270x and opt for a single higher end card.
 
your psu chould handle it but it would be at its upper limit I guess
second why 2x 270x? the microstutter will kill you
Is it really that bad? I can get a cheap 270X from a friend and I thought "why not?" I heard that they killed the most issues with micro stuttering with the latest drivers and from what I read from tests and benchmarks there isn't really a big problem with micro stuttering anymore.
 
The microstuttering isn't nearly as much of an issue anymore. It can be evident on new Crossfire profiles on some games sometimes though.

I'd always go for one strong card over two weaker ones as when a crossfire/SLi profile(or support) isn't there you're only running on one card and that means goodbye frames :(.
 
I'd always go for one strong card over two weaker ones as when a crossfire/SLi profile(or support) isn't there you're only running on one card and that means goodbye frames :(.

+ more noise + more heat + more driver issues + more power draw when you go SLI/ CrossfireX
 
+ more noise + more heat + more driver issues + more power draw when you go SLI/ CrossfireX

+ double hardware failure rate.


I don't think drivers and support are a big issue anymore. Heat and Noise are the significant factors in my opinion.

JR
 
I guess 500W would be okay but for ease of mind i'd go for a 600W PSU.

I guess from a little research the evga supernova NEX 650W or RM 650 seems to be good maybe even a CS550M Though i wonder if your current PSU would be okay, but those ones i guess are to be on the safe side
 
I was lazy and just went for what I saw in Tom's videos often which is the Corsair AX760i. I guess it's a good choice too.
 
I'd listen to the guys here, punt your existing 270 and get a better single card, that way you won't need to change your power supply :). You would actually be upgrading your system, especially for games that don't support crossfire.

I think that's what your mate is trying to do by selling his 270 to you ;).
 
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