Enermax Liberty 500W able to run Crossfire?

W

whitewarrior11

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 31, 2005
Messages
268
Hi guys,

I am in the process of upgrading my rig with a second Radeon 4850 card. My PSU is a Enermax Liberty 500W. Will I run out of power (or worse)?

Lmk. Thanks!
 
im sporting the same power supply, and so far everything in the rig below is fine....ive been considering crossfire as well...two of those 4770's sound sweet!
 
P3N1X0R said:
im sporting the same power supply, and so far everything in the rig below is fine....ive been considering crossfire as well...two of those 4770's sound sweet!
Click to expand...

In your case, the Enermax Liberty would be enough if you stick to solely the HD4770 CF setup. If my math is correct, you'll be using close to 80% of the PSU's total +12V wattage. Then again, that's assuming that the Enermax Liberty is still capable of providing its rated wattage on the +12V rail.
 
Well, here's a quick rundown of my actual setup:

Core 2 Duo E6600 (non-OC'd)
6 gb DDR2 ram
Visiontek Radeon 4850 (non-OC'd)
2 x SATA hard drives
1 DVD writer
2 120 mm case fans
Couple of USB devices
ASUS P5K-Deluxe mobo

Basically, I would replace the P5K-Deluxe with a P5Q-Pro and will add a second Radeon 4850.
 
whitewarrior11 said:
Well, here's a quick rundown of my actual setup:

Core 2 Duo E6600 (non-OC'd)
6 gb DDR2 ram
Visiontek Radeon 4850 (non-OC'd)
2 x SATA hard drives
1 DVD writer
2 120 mm case fans
Couple of USB devices
ASUS P5K-Deluxe mobo

Basically, I would replace the P5K-Deluxe with a P5Q-Pro and will add a second Radeon 4850.
Click to expand...

The Enermax Liberty will not be enough for HD4850 CF in your setup. Here's the breakdown:
384W total on the +12V rail on that Enermax
- 65W: E6600
- 220W: 2 x HD4850 at 110W each
- 50W: Startup power for two hard drives.
------
49W leftover with the mobo, RAM, DVD drive, and case fans not factored in. Even if all of the remaining parts fit under 49W, you're still running the PSU at close to 100% of its rated +12V specs. Not a good thing to do on such an old PSU.

I recommend getting a PSU wth at least 40A on the +12V rail if you still want HD4850 Crossfire. Right now you can get the excellent BFG LS-550 with 41A on the +12V rail for only $58 from buy.com:
$58 - BFG Tech LS-550 550W PSU
 
I concur with Danny's recommendation.

If you want a bit more juice for the future, consider the Corsair TX650, PC Power & Cooling 750W, and Corsair TX750.
 
One last thing: anyone can recommend a modular PSU suitable for the job? I found the OCZ ModXStream 700W, which seems to be priced very aggressively but is this PSU a good choice?
 
whitewarrior11 said:
One last thing: anyone can recommend a modular PSU suitable for the job? I found the OCZ ModXStream 700W, which seems to be priced very aggressively but is this PSU a good choice?
Click to expand...

No. Don't go with OCZ ripple for 2 reasons. #1 is that they have out-of-spec ripple at voltages above 500-550W. #2 is that there are better quality units and you don't want to save $100 but put your components at risk as you approach full load.

Some PSUs I'd recommend (in no particular order):
Enermax Revolution85+ 850W - $250 ($50 rebate)
SeaSonic M12D 850W - $200
Corsair 620HX - $150 ($30 rebate)
Antec Signature SG850 850W - $230
Silverstone ST75F 750W - $160 ($20 rebate)
Antec Signature 650W - $170
 
It really doesn't sound like its worth it to me. Just buy a better single card. Get a 4890 or GTX285. Both should be able to work on your setup. I used a GTX285 on the same PSU without issues.

Why upgrade your motherboard, PSU, and pay for a second video card?
 
JohnleMVP said:
It really doesn't sound like its worth it to me. Just buy a better single card. Get a 4890 or GTX285. Both should be able to work on your setup. I used a GTX285 on the same PSU without issues.
Click to expand...



who remembers how COOL it was back when we had voodoo 2 SLI....the OOOHHH and AAAAHHH.....i know i do, and i was 15 when that was around....

some people, like me, want to see that cool ass 2 card sli setup again(or for the first time...and i know SLI isnt ati, so yeh)

Why upgrade your motherboard, PSU, and pay for a second video card?
Click to expand...

Because thats [H]ard!
 
P3N1X0R said:
Because thats [H]ard!
Click to expand...

P35 to X58 would be [H]ard. P35 to P45 is a waste in this situation.

P45 MB $100 (ASUS P5Q)
PSU $100-120
4850 $100-130
= $300-$350

GTX285 or 4890
= ~$230-280 or less minus whatever you can sell your 4850 for. (Dell 25% coupon for $270ish GTX285 OCE)

I'll take 1 high end card over 2 mid range cards any day. At this performance level I'd rather not deal with CF or SLI issues.
 
Last edited:
whitewarrior11 said:
Ok, question #1 back again: would a single card like the GTX285 work with this PSU? :p
Click to expand...

The math again:
384W total on the +12V rail on that Enermax
- 65W: E6600
- 183W: GTX 285
- 50W: Startup power for two hard drives.
------
86W leftover with the mobo, RAM, DVD drive, and case fans not factored in. Even if all of the remaining parts fit under 86W, you're still running the PSU at close to 100% of its rated +12V specs. Not a good thing to do on such an old PSU.
 
dont do it, its a trap!

i know when i upgrade my GFX card, im likely to upgrade my PSU as well....i hope i dont have to, but the way things are now a days, ill need more power....my 9800gtx+ already takes 2 6pin pci-e connectors, crazy!
 
whitewarrior11 said:
Ok, question #1 back again: would a single card like the GTX285 work with this PSU? :p
Click to expand...

JohnleMVP said:
It really doesn't sound like its worth it to me. Just buy a better single card. Get a 4890 or GTX285. Both should be able to work on your setup. I used a GTX285 on the same PSU without issues.
Click to expand...

I'm not the only one who has used it. It worked just fine with a GTX260 (192sp) and GTX285. Its a quality PSU and will run just fine.


Danny Bui said:
The math again:
384W total on the +12V rail on that Enermax
- 65W: E6600
- 183W: GTX 285
- 50W: Startup power for two hard drives.
------
86W leftover with the mobo, RAM, DVD drive, and case fans not factored in. Even if all of the remaining parts fit under 86W, you're still running the PSU at close to 100% of its rated +12V specs. Not a good thing to do on such an old PSU.
Click to expand...

How much power is the CPU and GPU using during boot? How much power are the harddrives using after boot?
No doubt a new PSU is in his future but I don't think its required now. The PSU is really not that old and its not a POS so age really shouldn't be an issue.
 
Last edited:
JohnleMVP said:
How much power is the CPU and GPU using during boot? How much power are the harddrives using after boot?
No doubt a new PSU is in his future but I don't think its required now. The PSU is really not that old and its not a POS so age really shouldn't be an issue.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming worst-case scenario. And in a worst-case scenario that Enermax is not a good choice.And yes the Enermax is old at 4 years old. Regardless of the quality, age is still an important factor when it comes to a PSU. In addition, just because you used the PSU without issue with a GTX 285 doesn't necessarily mean that's the case for every Enermax Liberty.

Oh and most hard drives take up around 12W during read/write ops and roughly 7-8W idle.
 
Danny Bui said:
In addition, just because you used the PSU without issue with a GTX 285 doesn't necessarily mean that's the case for every Enermax Liberty.
Click to expand...

If we went off that basis than we couldn't give an estimate for anything.

My point with the hard drives is the worst case scenario will never occur. During boot the CPU and GPU won't be pull max power and once the hard drives spin up they will consume very little power.



Here is another thread on this PSU and a GTX285
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=594935
 
Well, I think mainly my idea was to push my LGA775 rig to the max before upgrading in a year or two. I mean, getting a new mobo is only to allow Crossfire x8 on both cards and the new PSU will still last me 3-4 years at least (I hope so).
 
technically a "good" 500 watter would be plenty (I think the one you have is so so at best) Because the PS is the backbone of the comp its probably wise to pick up a better quality one in the 550-650 range.

I ran a water cooled SLI comp (dual core and 2 8600GTs) on a 235 watt ps. And use a good passive cooled 400 for my OCd 9600GTsli comps...

My new comp uses a 510 to run a 940 and 2 4870s with Raptors in Raid0.

I had some problems with defective Sparkle 9600GTs, when I contacted their customer support the idiot (and thats being kind) said I should be using a 800watt PS for the 2 9600GTs.

There is a huge amount of unclear/false info spread around.
 
Last edited:
Sell your HD4850 and buy two new HD4770 video cards.
In that case you won't need to replace your PSU because an HD4770 only consumes around 50W at full load..
 
PC_User said:
510W for 2 x 4870s? :eek:
Click to expand...
Zero82z said:
It's not that surprising. Not ideal, but that kind of load is well within the capabilities of many +12V-weighted ~500W PSUs.
Click to expand...

Sorry....
I should be clear, Im using a HIGHLY MODIFIED PC Power & Cooling 510. Please dont think I am saying in any way any ol 500 watt PS will do that comfortably..Its much better if you are not an expert to have a bit of a cushion.
 
whitewarrior11 said:
Well, I think mainly my idea was to push my LGA775 rig to the max before upgrading in a year or two. I mean, getting a new mobo is only to allow Crossfire x8 on both cards and the new PSU will still last me 3-4 years at least (I hope so).
Click to expand...

Well than you could consider getting a new PSU and a 4870X2 instead. Sell your 4850. Getting a new MB just for CF seems like a waste.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top