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8800GTX SLI

M

Mansize_tissue

2[H]4U
Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Messages
2,501
Hello everyone.
I will be building a new rig soon with an 8800GTX but i'm unsure what power supply to get.
I may add another 8800GTX into the mix in the future, so i understand that it will need 4 6-pin PCI-e wires.

I was wondering, what power supplies are people using in their 8800GTX SLI systems?
Or what would you recommend that would fit my needs.

Thanks in advance.
 
if money isnt a concern, you can get the pc power and cooling 1,000 watt PSU...

http://www.pcpower.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=T1KWSR

or the Enermax Galaxy 1,000 watt PSU which I have....

http://www.enermax.com.tw/english/product_Display1.asp?PrID=60

they are calling it crossfire certified now....

i had an antec 550watts PSU with my two 7900GTO's SLI before and my system just shut down while gaming couldnt handle it.. got angry and got the buff eneramx 1,000 watt PSU.....

but if your on a budget.. then a 700watt PSU should be safe for you...
 
Thank you.
I am aiming for a 700-750w PSU, which should handle everything as well as future upgrades.
I am on a budget, i'm afraid, so those 1kw PSUs are a bit out of the question. Do you know of any power supplies which are 600-850w with 4 6-pin PCI-e wires?
 
Good reviews coming in for the Corsair HX series..either 510 or 620. They're relatively cheap. Under 100 for the 510 and $123 AR at ZZF for the 620. My 620 should be coming today but I don't have an 8800 series card(s)
 
Yep. 700W is all you need unless you're doing dual processor (not just dual core.)

Seasonic M12 700W and Ultra X-Pro 750W both work well (tested personally.)
 
CbtEngr said:
Good reviews coming in for the Corsair HX series..either 510 or 620. They're relatively cheap. Under 100 for the 510 and $123 AR at ZZF for the 620. My 620 should be coming today but I don't have an 8800 series card(s)
Click to expand...

Not to sure if the 620HX will handle 2 8800gtx in Sli... Id go for something in the kW range.
 
Thanks for all the input everyone. :D

I so want to get a Corshair/Seasonic power supply, but i can't seem to find any with 4 pci-e wires.

What brands would you say are reputable? This will definitely help to narrow down my search.

Thanks again.
 
I have another question. Since this is the first rig i'm going to build, i have no idea what connectors are used for what. Are 4-pin molex connectors used to connect case fans? And are fans connected to the motherboard or directly to the PSU? Sorry for the lame questions, but i guess i have to start somewhere!
 
n3g471v3 d3c1b3l said:
Not to sure if the 620HX will handle 2 8800gtx in Sli... Id go for something in the kW range.
Click to expand...

The HX620 will do 8800GTX SLI no problem, and the HX510 can do it, but you really can't have much else in the system as far as hard drives go.

Both these PSU's have a tremendous amount of AMPs on the 12v rail, far more than many 700 and 800 watt PSUs. Because of this, they can do it.

I have the HX620, an 8800GTX, and an overclocked E6600, plus 3 hard drives, and it runs exquisitely.
 
HX 620 only has 2. If you want 4, break out the adaptors.
 
Ok, thanks. I'm pretty sure i'm going to go with the 700w seasonic m12, since all i hear is good things about its predecessors.
 
And another thing (Oh aren't i just full of questions today), how many amps should their be per +12v rail on a PSU for a 8800GTX. Will 18A be enough?
 
Mansize_tissue said:
And another thing (Oh aren't i just full of questions today), how many amps should their be per +12v rail on a PSU for a 8800GTX. Will 18A be enough?
Click to expand...

I thought that the +12v rail had to be over 30a to power one 8800 series card? I have seen alot fo issues with people buying cheaper psus wiht low a on the +12 and the computer only does a 10 second light show and then shuts off
 
watertown28 said:
I thought that the +12v rail had to be over 30a to power one 8800 series card?
Click to expand...

You thought wrong.

The 30A number is taking into consideration the +12V load for the entire system. The card itself is only using about 8 or 10A.

Besides, the current Seasonics (like the M12) don't really have four +12V rails. They just say they do so they can call themselves "ATX12V."
 
jonnyGURU said:
You thought wrong.

The 30A number is taking into consideration the +12V load for the entire system. The card itself is only using about 8 or 10A.

Besides, the current Seasonics (like the M12) don't really have four +12V rails. They just say they do so they can call themselves "ATX12V."
Click to expand...

Well i wasnt really wrong then ...just wrong about the 8800 card needing the 30a to run, so he still needs a PSU w 30+ amps min to run his sytem.. at least safely
 
Mansize_tissue said:
Thank you.
I am aiming for a 700-750w PSU, which should handle everything as well as future upgrades.
I am a budget, i'm afraid, so those 1kw PSUs are a bit out of the question. Do you know of any power supplies which are 600-850w with 4 6-pin PCI-e wires?
Click to expand...

Silencer 750 Quad (4 PCIe cables) 60A on the single 12V rail
http://www.pcpowercooling.com/home/

dunno about UK availability though. . .the Seasonic was a top contender for mmy last build, but the PC P&C won.
 
Okay, than you for the confirmation.
So, what's the actual amp rating on the +12v rail?
Also, would it be enough to hold me over for future upgrades?
I will probably get a quadcore/penryn processor next year, 3 hard drives, 6 fans, dual 8800 GTX etc. since i see many people with the 620w version with similar systems.
Is the Seasonic 700w M12 better than the 620w modular versions in every way?

Thanks again.
 
watertown28 said:
Well i wasnt really wrong then ...just wrong about the 8800 card needing the 30a to run, so he still needs a PSU w 30+ amps min to run his sytem.. at least safely
Click to expand...

Sure. But, not to split hairs, a decent 500W has that much on the +12V. But enough about that... he's running SLI, needs four PCI-e connectors and at least 50A on the combined 12V rails.

Mansize_tissue said:
Thanks for all the input everyone. :D

I so want to get a Corshair/Seasonic power supply, but i can't seem to find any with 4 pci-e wires.
Click to expand...

Both of my suggestions I made 7 posts ago have four PCI-e connectors.

The Ultra has 50A on a single 12V rail and the M12 has 56A.

Like I said, I've used them both with builds with 8800GTX SLI.
 
Okay then. M12 it is then, as long as it does actually have 56a on the +12v rail and it's enough to run a 2 8800 GTXs in SLI.

Thank you for all your help, everyone.
 
Thank you very much jonnyGURU for your review. I want to know if the power supply can easily handle 2 8800GTXs or whether it's only just up to the job, since intend on keeping it for a LONG time.
 
IMO, it can EASILY handle two 8800GTX cards in SLI. If I can use it to power two in a board with a pair of FX72's, I think you're not going to have a problem. :)
 
I'm in a similar situation. I've specced out a new system that consists of:

2x 8800GTX cards
E6700 Core 2 Duo CPU
2x 500GB 7200rpm WD Caviar Drives, raided together for backup (mode 1?)
2 GB PC2-8888 SDRAM
680i mobo (not sure which one yet, waiting for a more stable selection)
1x DVD-RW
1x DVD-R
and other misc. stuff

I calculated the peak load of this to be around 450 W, give or take, during intensive gaming action.

So, based upon this excerpt:

"A PSU will perfrom most efficiently when the system uses around half what the SU can deliver. This means that when you purchase a PSU you will need one that is double what your system actually needs. For instance when you are building a Core 2 Duo E6700 system as we have in this test that uses 220 Watt you should buy a PSU that can deliver a minium of 450 Watt. "

which I got from here: http://www.hardware.info/en-US/articles/amdnY2pvZGOa/Research_actual_power_usage_modern_PCs/

I've decided to get an 850W PSU. Either a Etasis ET850 PSU ($220) or a Silverstone ST85ZF (~$250). Folks here tell me they're the same (Etasis makes the core for the Silverstone)
 
Actually, you're taking something that someone was trying to make easy for the masses to understand and taking it extremely literal.

You can't make the blanket statement that "a PSU is going to be most efficient at 50% load" and think it applies to every scenario. And then to take what you think your PC is going to use, multiply it by 2 and think that's going to be the most efficient PSU for your build. That's completely bass-ackwards.

But whatever.

FYI: The Etasis is probably most efficient between 45 and 65% load, but it's still not as efficient as the Seasonic at ANY load. ;)

But the Etasis is still a good choice. It's a better build quality than the Seasonic.
 
Juardis, I've just been looking at the Silverstone ST85ZF and it looks very nice.
I think, for me, it's going to be a toss-up between the Silverstone ST85F (modular version) and the Seasonic M12 700w. Both seem to be very good contenders, but i'm beginning to lean over to the Silverstone PSU due to the higher wattage and amps on the +12v rail.
 
The ST85F IS NOT a modular version of the ST85ZF.

It's not the same OEM (ST85F is Enhance and ST85ZF is Etasis) or level of quality.

IMO: ST85ZF > M12-700 > ST85F
 
Okay, that sucks, but thank you for telling me. So the Silverstone Strider range isn't anywhere near as good as the Zeus range, huh?
I was hoping to get a nice Silverstone 750w or 850w PSU, looks like will either have to ditch modular if i go this route (and get something from the zeus range) or go with the Seasonic one. What do you think? Silverstone ST85ZF (which is a little too expensive), ST75ZF or Seasonic M12 700w?

And one more thing, what connectors are used for connecting basic case fans? And how many do each of the above PSUs have?

Thank you for all your time, jonnyGURU. I really appreciate it.
 
jonnyGURU said:
Actually, you're taking something that someone was trying to make easy for the masses to understand and taking it extremely literal.

You can't make the blanket statement that "a PSU is going to be most efficient at 50% load" and think it applies to every scenario. And then to take what you think your PC is going to use, multiply it by 2 and think that's going to be the most efficient PSU for your build. That's completely bass-ackwards.
Click to expand...
well, I don't know if it's bass ackwards, but you're right, each build uses different components and thus different peak power requirements and each PSU runs at different optimum point of efficiency vs. load. But as a ball park, you can start at about 50%. And that's what the article said, around 50%, not at 50%.

FYI: The Etasis is probably most efficient between 45 and 65% load, but it's still not as efficient as the Seasonic at ANY load. ;)
Click to expand...
yep, and yep. I think the Etasis is right at 80% efficiency at it's optimum load (per the tests I've seen at bjorn3d.com) but, as you said, not as efficient as the Seasonic (per your tests). But I also gather that it is quieter than the Seasonic (based on subjective reviews at bjorn3d and your site), which to me is also an important consideration.
 
Juardis said:
well, I don't know if it's bass ackwards, but you're right, each build uses different components and thus different peak power requirements and each PSU runs at different optimum point of efficiency vs. load. But as a ball park, you can start at about 50%. And that's what the article said, around 50%, not at 50%.

yep, and yep. I think the Etasis is right at 80% efficiency at it's optimum load (per the tests I've seen at bjorn3d.com) but, as you said, not as efficient as the Seasonic (per your tests). But I also gather that it is quieter than the Seasonic (based on subjective reviews at bjorn3d and your site), which to me is also an important consideration.
Click to expand...

The Etasis is not quieter than the Seasonic and I have an Etasis and Silverstone review of the 850W as well:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=50

http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=15
 
jonnyGURU, can i please have your opinion on the following PSUs:
- Silverstone Zeus ST85ZF
- Silverstone Zeus ST75ZF
- Silverstone Zeus ST85F
- Silverstone Zeus ST75F
- Etasis ET850
- Seasonic M12 700W

I have read your reviews of them, but can you order them from good to bad, please.

Also, how many molex connectors do each of them have (if molex is indeed the connection used to connect fans, if not can you tell me what is)?

Thank you for your time.
 
Mansize_tissue said:
jonnyGURU, can i please have your opinion on the following PSUs:
- Silverstone Zeus ST85ZF
- Silverstone Zeus ST75ZF
- Silverstone Zeus ST85F
- Silverstone Zeus ST75F
- Etasis ET850
- Seasonic M12 700W
Click to expand...

I reviewed all but the ST85F and the ST85F is just a bigger version of the ST75F. If you want my opinion, read the reviews. Even if you just read the summary.

Mansize_tissue said:
I have read your reviews of them, but can you order them from good to bad, please.
Click to expand...

Read the summary where I score the PSU and point out what I feel are the good and bad points of the product.

Mansize_tissue said:
Also, how many molex connectors do each of them have (if molex is indeed the connection used to connect fans, if not can you tell me what is)?
Click to expand...

Page one of each review has a table that lists how many of each connector is on each PSU.

Fans should have three pin headers that plug into the motherboard. Most motherboards have three of these. If you use more fan that this, your PC will sound like a vacuum cleaner. If your fan doesn't have a three pin header and can not plug into the motherboard, it will have the same type of 4-pin peripheral Molex as your optical drives, PATA hard drives, etc.
 
Okay, thank you. So if a fan has a 4-pin socket, will it have to be plugged straight into the PSU? And if i had a Stacker 830, for example, and wanted 4 fans on the side, how would they all be connected?

Would you say that the ST85F > M12 700w > ST75F? And where was the Etasis come into the equations. I have read the reviews and scores, but it doesn't give a direct comparison between the PSUs i'm looking at.
 
Mansize_tissue said:
Okay, thank you. So if a fan has a 4-pin socket, will it have to be plugged straight into the PSU? And if i had a Stacker 830, for example, and wanted 4 fans on the side, how would they all be connected?
Click to expand...

If you wanted your PC to sound like a jet taking off you plug all of those fans into the power supply's 4-pin peripheral Molexes. Yes.

Would you say that the ST85F > M12 700w > ST75F? And where was the Etasis come into the equations. I have read the reviews and scores, but it doesn't give a direct comparison between the PSUs i'm looking at.[/QUOTE]

I don't often do direct comparisons because I expect people to READ.

ET850 == ST85ZF

ST85ZF > M12-700W > ST85F > ST75F.

I'm done with this thread. I feel like I'm herding a cat.
 
Sorry i went on for so long. I'm going to go with the Etasis ET850.

Thank you everyone for all your help.
 
jonnyGURU said:
The Etasis is not quieter than the Seasonic and I have an Etasis and Silverstone review of the 850W as well:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=50

http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=15
Click to expand...
First, thanks for posting. When I was doing research on the Etasis, your review had not come out yet.

Couple of observations. You said the Seasonic got noisy when the fans kicked into high speed at about 400W. You also said the Etasis/Silverstone were quiet. Thus my comment that the Etasis/Silverstone were quieter, but I was mainly talking about at peak full gaming load. I guess you're saying at loads less than 400W the Seasonic is quieter, or that's what I'll assume since you're done with this thread ;) . Which probably explains my second observation...

Between 350W and 550W, the Etasis temperature rise was 2-5 °C while the Seasonic was more 6-8 °C. (and the difference was even greater at lower loads). That's a useful piece of data for those of us worried about overheating our computer rooms. Thanks for posting that.
 
The Seasonic is only louder because of that damn 60MM fan. If it wasn't for that, it would be super quiet. But the 120MM alone doesn't cool the inside of the M12 well enough to not go with the 60MM fan. They probably should have gone with an 80MM fan like the Etasis.
 
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