Antec 500w x2 4890s

S

seancky2

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
Messages
302
I have an antec 500w PSU I got from Frys a few weeks ago which was originally going to power 1 4890. I came across a second one and just popped it in a week ago without considering if the PSU could handle it. The frys guy had said it would handle crossfire but what does he know. What are minimum specs for x2 4890s, when it comes to rails and what not? When I get home I'll post my PSU specs. Can everest or CPU report the power usage and if so where? I have been playing bfbc2 without problem so it seems.

Any info is welcomed.

EDIT:

Turns out it is 550W and it is modular if that makes any difference...and these are the specs:
5V - 26A / 3.3V - 28A / 12V1 - 22A / 12V2 22A / 12V3 - 25A / -12v - 0.5A / 5Vsb 2.5A

SS from Everest:



I really have no idea what any of these mean :S
 
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Voltages from Everest or any other software are completely worthless. Is your PSU the Antec Truepower New 550W? If so, then you're fine.
 
I would not try dual 4890's on any 550 watt power supply myself. Thats really pushing the envelope. Plus he is overclocking his CPU and looks like his 4890s are OC models also.
 
Zero82z said:
Is your PSU the Antec Truepower New 550W? If so, then you're fine.
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I dunno man. For two HD 4890 in Crossfire, that's pushing it just a tad bit IMO. Especially in light of this recent GPU power consumption review:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gpu-power-consumption-2010.html

Two HD 4890s would use about 400W of power if fully loaded. That would leave about 140W leftover for the CPU + mobo + RAM + HDD, etc, etc. That would be worst case scenario however.

Then again most CF setups probably won't fully load both GPUs. The Crysis benchmark they used did show a dramatic power drop compared to the OCCT GPU Test for the HD 5970 which is essential Crossfire on one board.
 
I would not try dual 4890's on any 550 watt power supply myself.
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I have to agree here. It maybe able to handle it, but by a slim margin at full load and looking at your CPU your going to be drawing close to 140 watts, if not over that with the voltage you are using for your overclock.

The thing that worries me the most is accidentally overloading one of the 12V rails by just placing the modular cables in a random spot and not knowing which rail the amperage comes from.
 
mmmmmdonuts said:
I have to agree here. It maybe able to handle it, but by a slim margin at full load and looking at your CPU your going to be drawing close to 140 watts, if not over that with the voltage you are using for your overclock.

The thing that worries me the most is accidentally overloading one of the 12V rails by just placing the modular cables in a random spot and not knowing which rail the amperage comes from.
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You mean you should put one of the plugs in a specific spot? I just randomly placed these in...lol what should I do?

I have been playing many games including BFBC2, Mass Effect 2, and Just Cause 2 without any problems so the PSU seems to be handling it ok. But, as many of you have said I am probably really pushing the envelope here. I did one of those online wattage calculators and it said I should be using about 495w.

I guess I should try to return this PSU and find me a good quality 750w? What wattage would you recommend, eventually I plan on adding another 1 or 2 HDDs and replacing the 4890s with 5850's but i believe those actually use less power.
 
seancky2 said:
You mean you should put one of the plugs in a specific spot? I just randomly placed these in...lol what should I do?
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Don't worry about it. Your PSU's rails are already balanced.
seancky2 said:
I guess I should try to return this PSU and find me a good quality 750w? What wattage would you recommend, eventually I plan on adding another 1 or 2 HDDs and replacing the 4890s with 5850's but i believe those actually use less power.
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750W is what I would recommend if you want a more powerful PSU. This is one of the better 750W PSU deals available right now: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153104
 
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