How much power for crossfire 290s?

A

///AMG

2[H]4U
Joined
Sep 19, 2012
Messages
3,839
I am wondering how much power does crossfire 290 Pros use? I am thinking about buying them today and using them as I plan out my build? I have a seasonic x-760 do you guys think its enough? Or should I buy a bigger PSU? Rig in Sig.
 
I'd say 760 watts isn't going to be enough, especially if you overclock. I'd probably get a 1000watt+ to be safe and have plenty of wiggle room.
 
LordEC911 said:
Good to go if you don't plan on overclocking much.
Click to expand...

Thanks Ill try it out, I dont overclock my GPUs at all. I will also buy a new PSU just in case. I can always return it if I dont need it but if I need it it will be there. Time for some BF4 lol.
 
You'd get away with it, but assuming you correct the fan speed, you might be running it fairly tight, which you ideally don't want on a long term basis.

I ran two HD4870X2s (286W official, a lot more in a stress test) with the i5 750 I still have clocked at 4.1Ghz at 1.35V, which gave it a stress test power draw of around the 200W mark. In the games with the highest draw, I was pulling around 800W from the wall, or about 700W from the PSU. Under a combined burn test (not real life ofc), I was pulling around 1050W from the wall, around 920W ish from the PSU. I'd expect the draw of the 290 to be a bit less, but given how much power they draw even when confined to a lower fan speed, I reckon at full load in properly optimised games your system might be drawing something like 600W from the PSU, so around 80% load. I ideally like to keep PSUs at 75% or less, but with the aforementioned HD4870X2s I did run my current 850W Zalman around the 87-88% mark in Left 4 Dead 1&2 for a good couple of hundred hours total, so far no ill effects <touches wood> :p
 
I would go with a high quality 1000w unit to be safe. Something like a ax860i would work too but with no real overclocking room.
 
I run my pair on a 1000W with a 3930k OC'd and have very little wiggle room at 1075 core. Only have wall readings so its a ballpark, but in stress tests the whole rig pulls down 950-1000W so maybe around 850W acutal. First time I ever heard the fan on my 1kw unit so I know its getting a workout.
 
MrMike said:
I agree, 760w seems borderline to me on a 1366 rig.
Click to expand...

Well, seems like you guys are going to get me to upgrade now too. I created a new thread here. I am going to go ahead and buy a new motherboard and proc today as well. Just cant decide on 2011 or 1150.
 
Just because it runs doesn't mean you PSU is powerful enough, PSUs can and will pull much more wattage then they are rated for, I have seen a 500W PSU power a 800W rig for a few months before blowing and taking all the components with it.

Just because it works doesn't mean it is a good idea.
 
Spazturtle said:
Just because it runs doesn't mean you PSU is powerful enough, PSUs can and will pull much more wattage then they are rated for, I have seen a 500W PSU power a 800W rig for a few months before blowing and taking all the components with it.

Just because it works doesn't mean it is a good idea.
Click to expand...

You have a point. I was thinking that since the MC deal right now on the 4770k I might just buy that and the 290s and have fun with it until I see a deal on a good PSU so thats why I asked. But if I need it now I dont mind buying a new one.
 
///AMG said:
You have a point. I was thinking that since the MC deal right now on the 4770k I might just buy that and the 290s and have fun with it until I see a deal on a good PSU so thats why I asked. But if I need it now I dont mind buying a new one.
Click to expand...

Better to go big with the PSU and not need it than the other way around. I bought my Cooler Master V1000 when I had a rig that needed ~400W max, now I'm really glad I did when I switched over to all these heavy duty parts.
 
If running at stock.. then a quality 750W is fine.

Im running a 1100T with a H100 and a 290 + 290X with 6 HDDs (2 platter, 4 SSD) 32GB ram and no issues at all at defaults on Corsair 750W.
 
If [H] test rig pulls 90watt alone and adding the 290 under load makes it 440watts then that's 350 watts.. so 2 cards is 700 watts (stock) then you need to find out how much your system pulls alone and then you want some over head and not at what you come up with..

My i7-930 system could pull 150 watts easy with fans/drives/ram/water pump so thats 850watts load (stock) and I would not want a 850watt power supply but more like 950 to 1000 watt.
 
FrameBuffer said:
If running at stock.. then a quality 750W is fine.

Im running a 1100T with a H100 and a 290 + 290X with 6 HDDs (2 platter, 4 SSD) 32GB ram and no issues at all at defaults on Corsair 750W.
Click to expand...

1100t would bottleneck the crap out of 1 card let alone 2. Of course your psu is fine when your only getting half the usage out of each at the best of times.
 
I would say 1000 watts+ as others have recommended. I ran a GTX 780 SLi setup on a 750 watts psu and whilst it ran fine, the PSU fan became extremely loud indicating that it was getting raped. Since moving to the 1050 watts PSU that I have now, no such issues. Just be mindful of how much load you put on a 760 watts psu.
 
Nvm I guess if it doesnt state it specifically then it doesnt have it...
 
With PSUs: quality over quantity. I would rather run a QUALITY 850w silver or gold rated PSU for a high-end SLI/CFX setup than a yum-cha branded 1100w. Take for instance, at my workplace I sell both an aerocool StrikeX 1100w PSU and a CoolerMaster Silentpro M2 850w. They both cost the same.

I currently run the CM 850w in my system. Why? Because a GOOD 850w PSU should be able to run any sort of dual-card/GPU setup, providing the number of HDDs is a single digit. Even overclocking is accounted for with that wattage. Buying a bargain-bin 1100w would be stupid for the same price, as it would most likely die in a fireball if it had to draw anywhere close to 1100w, and at an ~800w draw it would be woefully inefficient.
 
I thought the G2 was pretty good seeing as how Johnny Guru gave it a great review.



They just came in. I love FedEx at least they deliver it in the morning every time, UPS delivers at the last possible moment.
 
Got a question is:

Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0

FPS:
59.2
Score:
1492
Min FPS:
28.8
Max FPS:
121.7
System

Platform:
Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1) 64bit
CPU model:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770K CPU @ 3.50GHz (3499MHz) x4
GPU model:
AMD Radeon R9 200 Series 13.250.18.0 (4095MB) x2
Settings

Render:
Direct3D11
Mode:
2560x1440 8xAA fullscreen
Preset
Custom
Quality
Ultra
Tessellation:
Normal

A decent score? I forgot to benchmark just one card. Also my APC UPS starts beeping like crazy when I ran it.
 
rerun the test at all highest settings and at 1920x1200 resolution, then I could at least compare your score with mine.
 
Check the BIOS versions on each card, if one has a newer one then flash that tot he other, if not then just pick one to flash to the other. Cards work better if they have BIOSs from the same manufacturer.

As all 290X are currently reference they can be flashed to any bios.
 
Spazturtle said:
Check the BIOS versions on each card, if one has a newer one then flash that tot he other, if not then just pick one to flash to the other. Cards work better if they have BIOSs from the same manufacturer.

As all 290X are currently reference they can be flashed to any bios.
Click to expand...

I did not know that. I reran the heaven benchmark it I dont think my second 290 was running at all.

samuelmorris said:
Over the rating for VA I presume. How much is it loaded up, and what rating is it?
Click to expand...

700VA, which is 420W thats what the UPS said. I guess Ill have to take the 1500VA from outside.

Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0

FPS:
45.8
Score:
1155
Min FPS:
19.8
Max FPS:
90.0
System

Platform:
Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1) 64bit
CPU model:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770K CPU @ 3.50GHz (3499MHz) x4
GPU model:
AMD Radeon R9 200 Series 13.250.18.0 (4095MB) x2
Settings

Render:
Direct3D11
Mode:
1920x1200 8xAA windowed
Preset
Custom
Quality
Ultra
Tessellation:
Extreme
 
Hmm flashed my Power Color Rom to my XFX and now I know for sure its not running correctly.
 
///AMG said:
Hmm flashed my Power Color Rom to my XFX and now I know for sure its not running correctly.
Click to expand...

you are getting a low unigine score because you are not running it fullscreen. your 2nd card will not work running it in windowed mode . I get almsot 2600pts with my oced 290's in crossfire in heaven benchmark on all highest settings at 1920x1200res and full screen.
I cannot comment on your native resolution scores because I have no idea how it would perform, and benchmarks on websites are very sparse in providing the exact details of the settings they used for the run.
 
Last edited:
bigbeard86 said:
you are getting a low unigine score because you are not running it fullscreen. your 2nd card will not work running it in windowed mode . I get almsot 2600pts with my oced 290's in crossfire in heaven benchmark on all highest settings at 1920x1200res and full screen.
Click to expand...

Didnt realize it made a difference. I switched the cards around now my XFX is in my first PCI-E lane and the Powercolor in the second. Its exhibiting the same thing. My second card gets no activity in BF4. I dont know why.
 
///AMG said:
Didnt realize it made a difference. I switched the cards around now my XFX is in my first PCI-E lane and the Powercolor in the second. Its exhibiting the same thing. My second card gets no activity in BF4. I dont know why.
Click to expand...

did you make sure all connection are secure to and from the psu and cards?
also, did you check what pcie slot you are supposed to use? you are using pci 3.0 at 8x or 16x each? some slots will only do 4x or 2.x, so you need to check your mobo manual as to which slot is which. make sure crossfire in active in CCC, even though my cards automatically activated. your not using a crossfire bridge right (I don't even know if it is possible wit these cards).?
 
bigbeard86 said:
did you make sure all connection are secure to and from the psu and cards?
also, did you check what pcie slot you are supposed to use? you are using pci 3.0 at 8x or 16x each? some slots will only do 4x or 2.x, so you need to check your mobo manual as to which slot is which. make sure crossfire in active in CCC, even though my cards automatically activated. your not using a crossfire bridge right (I don't even know if it is possible wit these cards).?
Click to expand...

I ran the Heaven Benchmark in Full Screen and you were right,

Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0

FPS:
83.6
Score:
2105
Min FPS:
25.5
Max FPS:
180.9
System

Platform:
Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1) 64bit
CPU model:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770K CPU @ 3.50GHz (3499MHz) x4
GPU model:
AMD Radeon R9 200 Series 13.250.18.0 (4095MB) x2
Settings

Render:
Direct3D11
Mode:
1920x1200 8xAA fullscreen
Preset
Custom
Quality
Ultra
Tessellation:
Extreme

But that seems a little low right? I saw the second card light up. Maybe playing BF4 in borderless is why. Either way I have to go out to microcenter and buy a new UPS. I think 1500VA should be enough right? Jeez, I unexpectedly bought a new PSU and UPS this week along with the 2 290s and the new MB and CPU.
 
Thanks for letting me know. BF4 now working in full screen. Never knew CF doesnt work in anything but FS. First time with CF lol.
 
Yep, always has been the case IIRC. People never understand why I don't run games in fullscreen-windowed and choose to moan about alt-tab delays :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top